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Updated: Jul 23, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Optical properties in nonequilibrium phase transitions
1Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Abstract:
An open question about the dynamical behavior of materials is how phase transition occurs in highly nonequilibrium systems. One important class of study is the excitation of a solid by an ultrafast, intense laser. The preferential heating of electrons by the laser field gives rise to initial states dominated by hot electrons in a cold lattice. Using a femtosecond laser pump-probe approach, we have followed the temporal evolution of the optical properties of such a system. The results show interesting correlation to nonthermal melting and lattice disordering processes. They also reveal a liquid-plasma transition when the lattice energy density reaches a critical value.
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