Onset of coherent phonon motion in Peierls-distorted antimony by attosecond transient absorption

Optical excitation of carriers can launch coherent lattice motion by changing the energy landscape of solids. But how does the relaxation of optically excited carriers affect this coherent motion? Using extreme ultraviolet transient absorption spectroscopy with few-femtosecond temporal resolution, the authors investigate here the onset of coherent phonon motion in Peierls-distorted antimony and find that the carrier relaxation during the first 100 fs following excitation leaves a lasting impact on the phase of the coherent lattice motion.