Laser material interaction and structure formation in metals under controlled ultrashort laser pulse conditions are discussed in this work. A novel approach is presented describing the exact amount of energy deposited by a laser pulse in a gold surface, applicable under a variety of structuring conditions. The presented model is validated by a new introduced broad-band pump-probe reflectivity measurement method. A technique also applicable to investigate other phenomenas where 20 fs resolution combined with an octave ...

After an intense femtosecond-laser excitation extreme non-equilibrium conditions are induced in materials. The high photon density in such an ultrashort-laser pulse interacts directly with the electronic system of the material. By absorbing the photon energy the electrons are excited in high energy states, where they form a non-equilibrium distribution shortly after the excitation. Due to fast electron-electron scattering and cascading processes equilibrates the electronic system within several femtoseconds to a ...