We predict a dynamic metallization effect where an ultrafast (single-cycle) optical pulse with a field less or on the order of 1 V/Angstrom causes plasmonic metal-like behavior of a dielectric film with a few-nm thickness. This manifests itself in plasmonic oscillations of polarization and a significant population of the conduction band evolving on a femtosecond time scale. These phenomena are due a combination of both adiabatic (reversible) and diabatic (for practical purposes irreversible) pathways.
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