Project A02 -
Understanding and manipulating relaxation channels to tailor energy transport


PIs: Dr. Vasily Moshnyaga, Dr. Henning Ulrichs

A02 Understanding and manipulating relaxation channels to tailor energy transport (Münzenberg*, Krebs, Ulrichs)

Aim of this project is to study the electron relaxation states and energy dissipation channels in laser deposited multilayers and nanocomposites after short-pulse laser excitation to manipulate the relaxation channels and thermal transport. The project involves artificially structured materials with specifically designed gap in the phonon band structure or with phonon localization at soft/hard interfaces and the magnetic degrees of freedom. Using optical stimulation and detection, the evolution of the time and spatial dependence of the relaxation channels and transport properties will be studied.

A02_1

Fig. 1: We investigate thermal transport properties of multilayer systems, as schematically depicted above. The samples are grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition. Thermal diffusion and phonon spectra are investigated with optical pump-probe techniques. The bottom left inset shows a high-resolution TEM image of a W/ZrO2 multilayer, and the top right inset shows a typical dispersion diagram of a periodic superlattice.
*now University of Greifswald