Drude–Lorentz Model for Optical Properties of Photoexcited Transition Metals under Electron–Phonon Nonequilibrium

Evaluating the optical properties of matter under the action of ultrafast light is crucial in modeling laser–surface interaction and interpreting laser processing experiments. We report optimized coefficients for the Drude–Lorentz model describing the permittivity of several transition metals (Cr, W, Ti, Fe, Au, and Ni) under electron–phonon nonequilibrium, with electrons heated up to 30,000 K and the lattice staying cold at 300 K. A Basin-hopping algorithm is used to fit the Drude–Lorentz model to the nonequilibrium permittivity calculated using ab initio methods. The fitting coefficients are provided and can be easily inserted into any calculation requiring the optical response of the metals during ultrafast irradiation. Moreover, our results shed light on the electronic structure modifications and the relative contributions of intraband and interband optical transitions at high electron temperatures corresponding to the laser excitation fluence used for surface nanostructuring.