Disentangling thermal birefringence and strain in the all-optical switching of ferroelectric polarization
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866910543561883648 |
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| author | Kwaaitaal, Maarten Lourens, Daniel G. Davies, Carl S. Kirilyuk, Andrei |
| author_facet | Kwaaitaal, Maarten Lourens, Daniel G. Davies, Carl S. Kirilyuk, Andrei |
| contents | Recent works have demonstrated that the optical excitation of crystalline materials with intense narrow-band infrared pulses, tailored to match the frequencies at which the crystal's permittivity approaches close to zero, can drive a permanent reversal of magnetic and ferroelectric ordering. However, the physical mechanism that microscopically underpins this effect remains unclear, as well as the precise role of laser-induced heating and macroscopic strains. Here, we explore how infrared pulses can simultaneously give rise to strong temperature-dependent birefringence and strain in ferroelectric barium titanate. We develop a model of these two coexisting effects, allowing us to use polarization microscopy to disentangle them through their spatial distributions, temporal evolutions and spectral dependencies. We experimentally observe strain-induced patterns that are an order of magnitude larger than that which can be accounted for by laser-induced heating alone, suggesting that non-thermal effects must also play a role. Our results reveal the distinct fingerprints of heat- and strain-induced birefringence, shedding new light on the process of all-optical switching of order parameters in the epsilon-near-zero regime. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_18598 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Disentangling thermal birefringence and strain in the all-optical switching of ferroelectric polarization Kwaaitaal, Maarten Lourens, Daniel G. Davies, Carl S. Kirilyuk, Andrei Materials Science Optics Recent works have demonstrated that the optical excitation of crystalline materials with intense narrow-band infrared pulses, tailored to match the frequencies at which the crystal's permittivity approaches close to zero, can drive a permanent reversal of magnetic and ferroelectric ordering. However, the physical mechanism that microscopically underpins this effect remains unclear, as well as the precise role of laser-induced heating and macroscopic strains. Here, we explore how infrared pulses can simultaneously give rise to strong temperature-dependent birefringence and strain in ferroelectric barium titanate. We develop a model of these two coexisting effects, allowing us to use polarization microscopy to disentangle them through their spatial distributions, temporal evolutions and spectral dependencies. We experimentally observe strain-induced patterns that are an order of magnitude larger than that which can be accounted for by laser-induced heating alone, suggesting that non-thermal effects must also play a role. Our results reveal the distinct fingerprints of heat- and strain-induced birefringence, shedding new light on the process of all-optical switching of order parameters in the epsilon-near-zero regime. |
| title | Disentangling thermal birefringence and strain in the all-optical switching of ferroelectric polarization |
| topic | Materials Science Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.18598 |