Coherent phonon dynamics in diamond detected via multiphoton absorption

Abstract

Coupling between ultrafast lattice dynamics and electronic polarization becomes increasingly important for generating terahertz frequency combs, monitor atomic potential landscapes, or high-speed information processing. Here, we show that the carrier population excited by multiphoton (5-photon) absorption in diamond crystal can be controlled at terahertz frequencies by coherent lattice vibrations-phonons. We introduce and compare two independent methods for direct monitoring of coherent phonon dynamics in diamond by using photoluminescence or photocurrent measurements on femtosecond time scale. We observe a strong signal enhancement compared to standard techniques due to transmission geometry and high-order nonlinearity of optical carrier generation.