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Impulsive excitation of a solid by extreme contrast, high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses

Sagar Dam1,*, J. F. Ong2,†, Sk Rakeeb1, Ameya Parab1, Aparajit C3, Anandam1, Amit D. Lad1, Yash M. Ved1, M. Krishnamurthy1,4 et al.

K. A. Tanaka2,5 and G. Ravindra Kumar1,‡

  • *Contact author: sagar.dam@tifr.res.in
  • †Contact author: jianfuh.ong@eli-np.ro
  • ‡Contact author: grk@tifr.res.in
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023017 – Published 6 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/dtc5-ftnd

Abstract

We present the ultrafast dynamics of the interaction between a high-intensity extreme contrast (expected to be around ∼10−18 at hundreds of picoseconds timescale) femtosecond laser and a solid. Simultaneous measurements of probe Doppler spectrometry and reflectivity in pump-probe experiments reveal the presence of extreme pressure in the solid density region, which triggers a long-lived (∼15 ps) strong inward shock. Hydrodynamic simulations accurately replicate these observations, providing a detailed explanation of the underlying physics.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023017– Published 6 April, 2026
  • Received 18 August 2025
  • Accepted 31 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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