Time-resolved diffraction is a pump-probe technique [1] that can directly probe the lattice response to photoexcitation [2-5]. The technique allows to study electron-phonon and phonon-phonon coupling as well as electronic and vibrational coupling across interfaces.

The ATM starts with an introduction to the technique, followed by hands-on experience in the lab. Activities in the lab include the following:

• Learning how the electron pulse, which is created by photoemission, depends on the optical pulse (e.g. color, focus), and optimizing the electron pulse
• Measuring and interpreting (static) diffraction patterns of the samples
• Optimizing pump-probe overlap
• Performing a time-resolved diffraction measurement

References:

[1]       Waldecker et al., J. Appl. Phys. 117, 044903 (2015).

[2]       Waldecker et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 119,036803 (2017).

[3]       Waldecker et al., Phys. Rev. X 6, 021003 (2016).

[4]       Waldecker et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 054302 (2017).

[5]       Vasileiadis et al., ACS Nano 12, 7710 (2018).