Optical Processes in Solids

A unifying element that links the apparently diverse phenomena observed in optical processes is the dielectric dispersion of matter. It describes the response of matter to incoming electromagnetic waves and charged particles, and thus predicts their behavior in the self-induced field of matter, known as polariton and polaron effects. The energies of phonon, exciton and plasmon, quanta of collective motions of charged particles constituting the matter, are also governed by dielectric dispersion. Since the latter is a functional of the former, one can derive useful relations for their self-consistency. Nonlinear response to laser light inclusive of multiphoton processes, and excitation of atomic inner shells by synchrotron radiation, are also described. Within the configuration coordinate model, photo-induced lattice relaxation and chemical reaction are described equally to both ground and relaxed excited states, to provide a novel and global perspective on structural phase transitions and the nature of interatomic bonds. This book was first published in 2003.

Light, or electromagnetic wave, is the most powerful tool for probing the quantum mechanical motions of electrons and nuclei within molecules and condensed matter. Optical Processes in Solids describes the principles of this spectroscopic study with the help of illustrative comparisons of theoretical and experimental results that take into account the revolutionary progress brought about by the use of intense lasers and high-energy synchrotron light. In the final chapter Yutaka Toyozawa presents a speculative scenario on how solar light may have caused chemical reactions among atoms and molecules, leading to the creation and evolution of life on earth.

Light (electromagnetic radiation) is the most powerful tool for probing the quantum mechanical motions of electrons and nuclei within molecules and condensed matter. In this book the author describes the principles of such spectroscopic study with the help of illustrative comparison between theory and experimental studies Early in the nineteenth century, people already realized that light was better described by a wave model than by a corpuscular model on the basis of experimental confirmation of the interference effect.