X-ray induced optical reflectivity

The change in optical reflectivity induced by intense x-ray pulses can now be used to study ultrafast many body responses in solids in the femtosecond time domain. X-ray absorption creates photoelectrons and core level holes subsequently filled by Auger or fluorescence processes, and these excitations ultimately add conduction and valence band carriers that perturb optical reflectivity. Optical absorption associated with band filling and band gap narrowing is shown to explain the basic features found in recent measurements on an insulator (silicon nitride, Si3N4), a semiconductor (gallium arsenide, GaAs), and a metal (gold, Au), obtained with ∼100 fs x-ray pulses at 500-2000 eV and probed with 800 nm laser pulses. In particular GaAs exhibits an abrupt drop in reflectivity, persisting only for a time comparable to the x-ray excitation pulse duration, consistent with prompt band gap narrowing.