Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Collective Excitations in Solids, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1997 NATO Science Series B: Series, Vol. 356

This book presents the proceedings of the course "Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Collective Excitations in Solids" held in Erice, Italy from June 17 to July 1, 1995. This meeting was organized by the International School of Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. The purpose of this course was to present and discuss physical models, mathematical formalisms, experimental techniques and applications relevant to the subject of collective excitations in solids. By bringing together specialists in the field of solid state spectroscopy, this course provided a much needed forum for the critical assessment and evaluation of recent and past developments in the physics of solids. A total of 83 participants came from 57 laboratories and 20 different countries (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The secretaries of the course were Stamatios K yrkos and Daniel Di Bartolo. 45 lectures divided in 13 series were given. In addition 8 (one or two-hour) "long seminars," 1 "special lecture," 2 interdisciplinary lectures, 29 "short seminars," and 16 posters were presented. The sequence of lectures was in accordance with the logical development of the subject of the meeting. Each lecturer started at a rather fundamental level and ultimately reached the frontier of knowledge in the field.

Nonlinear Optics and Collective Excitations.- Fundamentals of Spectroscopy of Collective Excitations in Solids.- Light-Matter Interaction – Experimental Aspects.- Theoretical Description of Collective Excitations: Bloch Equations and Relaxation Mechanisms.- Linear and Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy: Spectral, Temporal and Spatial Resolution.- The Study of Collective Excitations in Solids by Inelastic Neutron Scattering.- Excitation Dynamics in Organic Molecules, Solids, Fullerenes and Polymers.- The IR Vibrational Properties of Composite Solids and Particles: The Lyddane-Sachs-Teller Relation Revisited.- Intrinsic Localized Modes in Anharmonic Lattices.- Collective Excitations in Magnetic Materials.- Plasmons and Surface Plasmons in Bulk Metals, Metallic Clusters, and Metallic Heterostructures.- Enlightenment on Luminescent Materials.- Techniques of Ultrafast Spectroscopy.- Interaction of Ultrashort Laser Pulses with Solids.- Collective Excitations in the Optical Spectroscopy of Magnetic Insulators.- Long Seminars.- Spectroscopy and Development of Solid State Lasers at Nasa.- New Developments of Laser Crystals.- Optical Excitation and Relaxation of Solids with Defects.- Newly Developed Solid State Lasers.- Energy Transfer and Migration of Excitation in Solids and Confined Structures.- Broad Band Centers Applied for Laser Materials: Example of Tetrahedrally Coordinated Centers.- Interdisciplinary Lectures.- Cosmology: The Universe in Evolution.- Unification of the Fundamental Interactions: Problems and Perspectives.- Short Seminars.- Determination of Two Dimensional Electron Gas Population Enhancement within Illuminated Semiconductor Heterostructures by Persistent Photoconductivity.- Excitons in J-Aggregates: Beyond the Heitler-London Approximation.- Photochemistry ofVibrationally Excited HCl in Rare Gas Matrices.- Nonlinear Wake in the Random-Phase Approximation.- Scanning Tunneling Optical Spectroscopy on Nanostructures.- Dynamics of Luminescence and Bleaching of Localized States in CdS1-xSex.- Intermolecular Interactions in Supramolecular Systems Based on Chlorophyll-Related Compounds.- High-Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy of Gaseous Samples.- Collisional Effects on the Lineshape of Ammonia Transitions.- Numerical and Analytical Calculations of the Superheating Field for a Superconducting Half-Space.- MBE Cleaved Edge Overgrowth of Quantum Wires.- Excitons in C60 Studied by Temperature Dependent Optical Second-Harmonic Generation.- The Simulation of Energy-Level Schemes of Selected Rare Earth Oxyfluorides.- Plasma Modes in Layered Metallic Systems.- Relaxations and Losses in a Photoacoustic Resonator.- Formation of Large Bipolarons.- Near-Infrared to Visible Upconversion in Cs2NaYX6: 10% Er3+ (X=C1, Br).- Structural Aspects of Energy Transfer in Cubic Crystals.- 300 V Cathodoluminescent Efficiency and Degradation.- Application of Spectral Hole-Burning in Combination with Holographic Recording Techniques.- Lanthanides Probes Spectroscopy at Araraquara — Brazil.- FROG- A Method for Ultrashort Pulse Measurement.- Absorption Edge Singularities for a Nonequilibrium Fermi Sea.- The Femtosecond Fifth-Order Nonlinear Response of Nuclear Motion in Liquids.- Laser Processes and Optical Nonlinearities in ZnSe-based Heterostructures.- Optical Properties of Er3+ Doped Disordered Melilite Laser Material.- Rate Equation Modeling of Tm ? Ho Energy Transfer in LiYF4.- Spectroscopy of Excited States in CdSe Quantum Dots.- Two-photon Spectroscopy of ZnSe under Uniaxial Stress.- Posters.- Nonlinear Quantum Hydrodynamic Model for the ElectronGas.- Optical Properties of InGaAs/GaAs Quantum Well Heterostructures: Excitation Energy Dependence.- LIBS Technique for Environmental Measurements.- Yb3+-Doped Nonlinear LiNbO3: Elaboration by Laser Heated Pedestal Growth and Optical Properties.- Investigation of Striae Patterns in Laser Crystals.- Spin Quantum Beats in GaAs.- Real-time Spectroscopy of Cage Relaxation Process Applied to NO Embedded in Rare Gas Crystal.- Application of the Shell Model for Cross Relaxation to the 4G5/2 State of Sm3+ in Cs2NaSmxGd1-xCl6.- A New Quantum Effect in the Dynamics of a Two-mode Field Coupled to a Two-level Atom by Two-photon Processes.- UV Emission in Natural Diamonds.- Influence of the Cross-Relaxation on ESA-Process in Tm3+ Doped Fluorophosphate Glass.- A Physical Characterization of the Ground State of the Spin-Boson Interaction.- Nanoscale Carbon Nanotubes Studied by Raman Spectroscopy.- Optical Studies on GaN Samples.- Ultra High Spectral Density Flat Continuum Light Source for Dynamic Spectroscopy.- Luminescence of ZnSe Films.- Summary of the School.- Picture of the Participants.- Participants.