Tutorial EL02—Introduction to Ultrafast Optical and Structural Techniques in Materials Science

Instructors: Peijun Guo, Yale University; Burak Guzelturk, Argonne National Laboratory; Rebecca Milot, University of Warwick; Ajay Ram Srimath Kandada, Wake Forest University

This tutorial aims to provide the audience an overview of the various ultrafast techniques used for materials characterization and understanding. The topics of the tutorial include the basic concepts behind optical pump-probe spectroscopy, ultrafast optical microscopy and imaging, time-domain and time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy, and quantum nonlinear spectroscopy. In addition, the tutorial will cover the emerging ultrafast structural probes including time-resolved x-ray diffraction and ultrafast electron diffraction for studying lattice dynamics induced by pulsed optical (or electrical) excitations. The primary learning objectives are to acquaint the audience with the implementation and the critical parameters of these techniques, so that they know what material information these techniques can provide, how to prepare samples amenable to each of these methods, and the strengths and the limitations of these methods. After attending the tutorial, a student, postdoc, or faculty member, without any prior exposure to these techniques, should be able to find the right technique for characterizing their materials of interest.

Tutorial Schedule