Ultrafast separation of photo-doped carriers in Mott antiferromagnets

We use inhomogeneous nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory to investigate the spreading of photo-excited carriers in Mott insulating heterostructures with strong internal fields. Antiferromagnetic correlations are found to affect the carrier dynamics in a crucial manner: An antiferromagnetic spin background can absorb energy from photo-excited carriers on an ultrafast timescale, thus enabling fast transport between different layers and the separation of electron and hole-like carriers, whereas in the paramagnetic state, carriers become localized in strong fields. This interplay between charge and spin degrees of freedom can be exploited to control the functionality of devices based on Mott insulating heterostructures with polar layers, e.g., for photovoltaic applications

Cluster Monte Carlo Algorithms for Dissipative Quantum Systems

We review efficient Monte Carlo methods for simulating quantum systems which couple to a dissipative environment. A brief introduction of the Caldeira-Leggett model and the Monte Carlo method will be followed by a detailed discussion of cluster algorithms and the treatment of long-range interactions. Dissipative quantum spins and resistively shunted Josephson junctions will be considered.Comment: to be publushed in Proceedings of the Yukawa Symposium 200

Field-induced polaron formation in the Holstein-Hubbard model

We study the effect of strong DC and pulsed electric fields on a Mott insulating system with coupling to optical phonons. A DC field of the order of the gap induces a metallic state characterized by polaronic features in the gap region and a partially inverted population. In this quasi-steady state, the field-induced doublon-hole production is balanced by a phonon-enhanced doublon-hole recombination. The photo-excitation of carriers by a pulsed field leads to similar modifications of the electronic structure in the gap region, and an associated reduction of the doublon life-time. We demonstrate that the field-induced localization of electrons effectively enhances the phonon coupling, an effect which should be measureable with time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy