Cohesion of Solids under Very High Electronic Excitation Conditions

When a solid is subject to an intense electronic excitation, it is expected that its cohesive properties differ from the non‐excited state. The variation of crystal instability temperature, T c , with the concentration of excited electron–hole pairs is examined theoretically. Using a phenomenological model of electron–phonon–defect interactions, it is shown that T c decreases quasi‐linearly with increasing electron–hole pair density. The consequences of this on diffraction broadening, threshold energy for transformation, premelting, and optical properties are discussed.