60 research outputs found
Domain size effects on the dynamics of a charge density wave in 1T-TaS2
Recent experiments have shown that the high temperature incommensurate (I)
charge density wave (CDW) phase of 1T-TaS2 can be photoinduced from the lower
temperature, nearly commensurate (NC) CDW state. Here we report a time-resolved
x-ray diffraction study of the growth process of the photoinduced I-CDW
domains. The layered nature of the material results in a marked anisotropy in
the size of the photoinduced domains of the I-phase. These are found to grow
self-similarly, their shape remaining unchanged throughout the growth process.
The photoinduced dynamics of the newly formed I-CDW phase was probed at various
stages of the growth process using a double pump scheme, where a first pump
creates I-CDW domains and a second pump excites the newly formed I-CDW state.
We observe larger magnitudes of the coherently excited I-CDW amplitude mode in
smaller domains, which suggests that the incommensurate lattice distortion is
less stable for smaller domain sizes.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of the antiferrodistortive phase in Ca doped SrTiO3
The ultrafast dynamics of the octahedral rotation in Ca:SrTiO3 is studied by
time resolved x-ray diffraction after photo excitation over the band gap. By
monitoring the diffraction intensity of a superlattice reflection that is
directly related to the structural order parameter of the soft-mode driven
antiferrodistortive phase in Ca:SrTiO3, we observe a ultrafast relaxation on a
0.2 ps timescale of the rotation of the oxygen octahedron, which is found to be
independent of the initial temperaure despite large changes in the
corresponding soft-mode frequency. A further, much smaller reduction on a
slower picosecond timescale is attributed to thermal effects. Time-dependent
density-functional-theory calculations show that the fast response can be
ascribed to an ultrafast displacive modification of the soft-mode potential
towards the normal state, induced by holes created in the oxygen 2p states
Dynamic pathway of the photoinduced phase transition of TbMnO
We investigate the demagnetization dynamics of the cycloidal and sinusoidal
phases of multiferroic TbMnO by means of time-resolved resonant soft x-ray
diffraction following excitation by an optical pump. Using orthogonal linear
x-ray polarizations, we suceeded in disentangling the response of the
multiferroic cycloidal spin order from the sinusoidal antiferromagnetic order
in the time domain. This enables us to identify the transient magnetic phase
created by intense photoexcitation of the electrons and subsequent heating of
the spin system on a picosecond timescale. The transient phase is shown to be a
spin density wave, as in the adiabatic case, which nevertheless retains the
wave vector of the cycloidal long range order. Two different pump photon
energies, 1.55 eV and 3.1 eV, lead to population of the conduction band
predominantly via intersite - transitions or intrasite -
transitions, respectively. We find that the nature of the optical excitation
does not play an important role in determining the dynamics of magnetic order
melting. Further, we observe that the orbital reconstruction, which is induced
by the spin ordering, disappears on a timescale comparable to that of the
cycloidal order, attesting to a direct coupling between magnetic and orbital
orders. Our observations are discussed in the context of recent theoretical
models of demagnetization dynamics in strongly correlated systems, revealing
the potential of this type of measurement as a benchmark for such complex
theoretical studies
Femtosecond Quasiparticle and Phonon Dynamics in Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 Studied by Wideband Terahertz Spectroscopy
We measure the anisotropic mid-infrared response of electrons and phonons in
bulk YBa2Cu3O7 after femtosecond photoexcitation. A line shape analysis of
specific lattice modes reveals their transient occupation and coupling to the
superconducting condensate. The apex oxygen vibration is strongly excited
within 150 fs demonstrating that the lattice absorbs a major portion of the
pump energy before the quasiparticles are thermalized. Our results attest to
substantial electron-phonon scattering and introduce a powerful concept probing
electron-lattice interactions in a variety of complex materials.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures + supplementary materia
The ultrafast Einstein–de Haas effect
The Einstein-de Haas effect was originally observed in a landmark experiment1 demonstrating that the angular momentum associated with aligned electron spins in a ferromagnet can be converted to mechanical angular momentum by reversing the direction of magnetization using an external magnetic field. A related problem concerns the timescale of this angular momentum transfer. Experiments have established that intense photoexcitation in several metallic ferromagnets leads to a drop in magnetization on a timescale shorter than 100 femtoseconds—a phenomenon called ultrafast demagnetization2,3,4. Although the microscopic mechanism for this process has been hotly debated, the key question of where the angular momentum goes on these femtosecond timescales remains unanswered. Here we use femtosecond time-resolved X-ray diffraction to show that most of the angular momentum lost from the spin system upon laser-induced demagnetization of ferromagnetic iron is transferred to the lattice on sub-picosecond timescales, launching a transverse strain wave that propagates from the surface into the bulk. By fitting a simple model of the X-ray data to simulations and optical data, we estimate that the angular momentum transfer occurs on a timescale of 200 femtoseconds and corresponds to 80 per cent of the angular momentum that is lost from the spin system. Our results show that interaction with the lattice has an essential role in the process of ultrafast demagnetization in this system
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