Ultra-fast electron diffraction at surfaces: from nanoscale heat transport to driven phase transitions

Many fundamental processes of structural changes at surfaces occur on a pico- or femtosecond time scale. In order to study such ultra-fast processes, we have combined modern surface science techniques with fs-laser pulses in a pump-probe scheme. Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) with grazing incident electrons ensures surface sensitivity for the probing electron pulses. Utilizing the Debye-Waller effect, we studied the cooling of vibrational excitations in monolayer adsorbate systems or the nanoscale heat transport from an ultra-thin film through a hetero-interface on the lower ps-time scale. The relaxation dynamics of a driven phase transition far away from thermal equilibrium is demonstrated with the In-induced (8×2) reconstruction on Si(111). This surface exhibits a Peierls-like phase transition at 100K from a (8×2) ground state to (4×1) excited state. Upon excitation by a fs-laser pulse, this structural phase transition is driven into an excited (4×1) state at a sample temperature of 20K. Relaxation into the (8×2) ground state occurs after more than 150 ps.