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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Novel Techniques for Observing Structural Dynamics of Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 29, 2018
Coherent interactions of terahertz strain solitons and electronic two-level systems in photoexcited ruby
Otto L Muskens1, Andrey V Akimov, Jaap I Dijkhuis
1Debye Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utrecht, P.O. Box 80 000, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. O.L.Meskens@phys.uu.nl
Abstract:
We observe coherent interactions between an ultrashort, longitudinal acoustic soliton train and the 29-cm(-1) electronic transition in photoexcited ruby. Propagation of the strain pulses over millimeter distance through an excited zone reveals striking behavior of the induced electronic population, which has been explained by impulsive excitation of the two-level systems, combined with the nonlinear properties of the solitons in the resonant medium. This opens up new possibilities for coherent manipulation of ultrashort acoustic pulses by local electronic centers.
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