Coherent phonons

The excitation and detection of coherent phonon states in semiconductors
with femtosecond laser pulses reveals detailed insight into phonon dynamics on ultrashort time scales. I will review the generation mechanism responsible for
coherent phonon generation in different materials. I will present recent results on
the coupling of coherent electronic excitations to Bloch oscillations in superlattices
and the detection of phonon co-variances and their relation to squeezed phonon states.