Ultrafast structural dynamics of strongly-THz-driven materials

Strong Terahertz (THz) pulses provide a unique opportunity to excite low frequency modes of complex materials. Ultrafast structural probes such as femtosecond x-ray or ultrafast electron diffraction can then be used to investigate structural changes of the lattice in response to the excitation. Since the probe pulses can potentially be much shorter than a cycle of the THz excitation waveform, it is possible to analyze the instantaneous response of the lattice to the known excitation field.