Picosecond strain dynamics in Ge2_{2}Sb2_{2}Te5_{5} monitored by time-resolved x-ray diffraction

Coherent phonons (CP) generated by laser pulses on the femtosecond scale have been proposed as a means to achieve ultrafast, non-thermal switching in phase-change materials such as Ge$_{2}$Sb$_{2}$Te$_{5}$(GST). Here we use ultrafast optical pump pulses to induce coherent acoustic phonons and stroboscopically measure the corresponding lattice distortions in GST using 100 ps x-ray pulses from the ESRF storage ring. A linear-chain model provides a good description of the observed changes in the diffraction signal, however, the magnitudes of the measured shifts are too large to be explained by thermal effects alone implying the presence of transient non-equilibrium electron heating in addition to temperature driven expansion. The information on the movement of atoms during the excitation process can lead to greater insight into the possibilities of using CP-induced phase-transitions in GST.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Phys. Rev. B, in pres

Entangled-photon Fourier optics

Entangled photons, generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion from a second-order nonlinear crystal, present a rich potential for imaging and image-processing applications. Since this source is an example of a three-wave mixing process, there is more flexibility in the choices of illumination and detection wavelengths and in the placement of object(s) to be imaged. Moreover, this source is entangled, a fact that allows for imaging configurations and capabilities that cannot be achieved using classical sources of light. In this paper we examine a number of imaging and image-processing configurations that can be realized using this source. The formalism that we utilize facilitates the determination of the dependence of imaging resolution on the physical parameters of the optical arrangement.Comment: 41 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in J. Opt. Soc. Am.