2018/08/10 by Andrea Marini, Marini, Andrea, Alessandro Ciattoni +4
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic Crystals and Applications #Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1808.03669
arxiv created 2018/08/10 · openalex publication_date 2018/08/10 · arxiv updated 2018/08/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We explore the nonlinear response of plasmonic materials driven by ultrashort pulses of electromagnetic radiation with temporal duration of few femtoseconds and high peak intensity. By developing the Fokker-Planck-Landau theory of electron collisions, we solve analytically the collisional integral and derive a novel set of hydrodynamical equations accounting for plasma dynamics at ultrashort time scales. While in the limit of small light intensities we recover the well established Drude model of plasmas, in the high intensity limit we observe nonlinear quenching of collision-induced damping leading to absorption saturation. Our results provide a general background to understand electron dynamics in plasmonic materials with promising photonic applications in the manipulation of plasma waves with reduced absorption at the femtosecond time scale.