Eur. Phys. J. D 45, 369-389 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00251-1

Non-equilibrium electron and phonon dynamics in metals under femtosecond laser pulses

¹ Istituto di Metodologie Inorganiche e dei Plasmi (IMIP), CNR, sez. Bari, via Amendola 122/D, 70126 Bari, Italy
² Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy

Corresponding author: ^a daniela.pietanza@ba.imip.cnr.it

Received: 22 March 2007
Published online: 10 August 2007

Abstract

Different models for relaxation dynamics of electrons and phonons in a thin metal film heated by femto-pico second laser pulses have been discussed. The traditional two-temperature approach reveals to be inaccurate due to deviations of electrons and phonons from Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein distributions, respectively. Coupled Boltzmann kinetic equations have been adapted for the quantum statistics to study the energy distribution of electrons and phonons in metals. Theoretical details have been discussed and a new solution method has been proposed overcoming numerical problems and improving stability, allowing the study of the dynamics until the complete relaxation. Numerical results have been compared with photoemission spectroscopy experimental data.