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We demonstrate full control of acoustic and thermal periodic deformations at solid surfaces down to subnanosecond time scales and few-micrometer length scales via independent variation of the temporal and spatial phase of two optical transient grating (TG) excitations. For this purpose, we introduce an experimental setup that exerts control of the spatial phase of subsequent time-delayed TG excitations depending on their polarization state. Specific exemplary coherent control cases are discussed theoretically and corresponding experimental data are presented in which time-resolved x-ray reflectivity measures the spatiotemporal surface distortion of nanolayered heterostructures. Finally, we discuss examples where the application of our method may enable the control of functional material properties via tailored spatiotemporal strain fields.
We measure the transient strain profile in a nanoscale multilayer system composed of yttrium, holmium, and niobium after laser excitation using ultrafast x-ray diffraction. The strain propagation through each layer is determined by transient changes in the material-specific Bragg angles. We experimentally derive the exponentially decreasing stress profile driving the strain wave and show that it closely matches the optical penetration depth. Below the Neel temperature of Ho, the optical excitation triggers negative thermal expansion, which is induced by a quasi-instantaneous contractive stress and a second contractive stress contribution increasing on a 12-ps timescale. These two timescales were recently measured for the spin disordering in Ho [Rettig et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 257202 (2016)]. As a consequence, we observe an unconventional bipolar strain pulse with an inverted sign traveling through the heterostructure.