Spatiotemporal Coherent Control of Lattice Vibrational Waves

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1078726
• Publication Date: 2003-01-16T22:12:11Z
• Authors: T. Feurer; Joshua C. Vaughan; Keith A. Nelson
• Keywords: Coherent control; Lattice (music)

We achieved automated optical control over coherent lattice responses that were both time- and position-dependent across macroscopic length scales. In our experiments, spatiotemporal femtosecond pulse shaping was used to generate excitation light fields directed toward distinct regions of crystalline samples, producing terahertz-frequency vibrational waves emanated outward from their multiple origins at lightlike speeds. Interferences among the resulted in fully specified far-field responses, including tilted, focusing, or amplified wavefronts. Generation amplification terahertz traveling phased-array generation also demonstrated.