Ultrafast semiconductor-metal phase transition in vanadium dioxide induced by a femtosecond laser pulse

A model is proposed for a photoinduced Peierls-type semiconductor-metal phase transition that makes it possible to determine the time dependence of the bandgap width in the electronic spectrum of vanadium dioxide subjected to a light field and the dependence of the time at which a photoinduced semiconductor-metal phase transition occurs on the laser pulse duration. The theoretical results obtained are consistent with experimental data on the illumination of a VO₂ film with an intense laser pulse.