Effective mass in picosecond laser-produced high-density plasma in silicon

Picosecond laser-produced plasmas in silicon attain carrier densities of about 10²¹/cm³and temperatures of up to the melting point of about 1700 K. The optical data indicate only a slight increase of about 20 percent in the optical effective mass from the value at low density and room temperature. A simple model calculation is presented which confirms this behavior.