Photoinduced phase transitions

Optically induced ultrafast electronic excitations with sufficiently long lifetimes may cause strong effects on phase transitions like structural and nonmetal→metal ones and on supercooling, supersaturation, etc. Examples are the transitions diamond→graphite, graphite→graphene, non-metal→metal, solid→liquid and vapor→liquid, solid. Photoinduced formation of graphene and water condensation of saturated or supersaturated vapor due to increased bonding amongst water molecules are of particular interest. These nonequilibrium transitions are an ultrafast response, on a few hundred fs time scale, to the fast low to large energy electronic excitations. The energy of the photons is converted into electronic energy via electronic excitations changing the cohesive energy. This changes the chemical potential controlling the phase transition. In view of the advances in laser optics photon induced transitions are expected to become an active area in nonequilibrium physics and phase transition dynamics. Conservation laws like energy or angular momentum conservation control the time during which the transitions occur. Since the photon induced effects result from weakening or strengthening of the bonding between the atoms or molecules transitions like solid/liquid, etc can be shifted in both directions. Photoinduced transitions will be discussed from a unified point of view.