Terahertz-driven ultrafast dynamics of rare-earth nickelates by controlling only the charge degree of freedom

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Prajapati, Gulloo Lal, Kovalev, Sergey, Ilyakov, Igor, Arshad, Atiqa, Dubey, Gaurav, Navale, Ketan S., Rana, Dhanvir Singh, Deinert, Jan-Christoph
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Prajapati, Gulloo Lal
Kovalev, Sergey
Ilyakov, Igor
Arshad, Atiqa
Dubey, Gaurav
Navale, Ketan S.
Rana, Dhanvir Singh
Deinert, Jan-Christoph
author_facet Prajapati, Gulloo Lal
Kovalev, Sergey
Ilyakov, Igor
Arshad, Atiqa
Dubey, Gaurav
Navale, Ketan S.
Rana, Dhanvir Singh
Deinert, Jan-Christoph
contents An important strategy for understanding the microscopic physics of strongly correlated systems and enhancing their technological potential is to selectively drive the fundamental degrees of freedom out of equilibrium. Intense terahertz (THz) pulses with photon energies of a few meV, can not only serve this purpose but also unravel their electronic and quantum nature. Here, we present THz-driven ultrafast dynamics of rare-earth nickelates $\text{RNiO}_{\text{3}}$, $\text{R}$ = rare-earth atom) - a prototype system to study the Mott insulator-metal transition (IMT). The THz drive of its Mott insulating state induces instantaneous IMT via quantum tunneling of valence electrons across the bandgap while the THz drive of its correlated metallic state leads to overall heating of the conduction electrons. The subsequent relaxations of excited electrons in these two states occur via a two-step process (electron-phonon thermalization and recovery of the charge-ordered insulating state) and a one-step process (electron-phonon scattering), respectively. The relaxation dynamics of the electrons and the absence of acoustic phonon modes, in particular, suggest that the THz photons drive only the charge degree of freedom. The purely electronic, ultrafast and local nature of the THz-induced IMT offers its applications in opto-electronics with enhanced performance and minimal device size and heat dissipation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_03650
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Terahertz-driven ultrafast dynamics of rare-earth nickelates by controlling only the charge degree of freedom
Prajapati, Gulloo Lal
Kovalev, Sergey
Ilyakov, Igor
Arshad, Atiqa
Dubey, Gaurav
Navale, Ketan S.
Rana, Dhanvir Singh
Deinert, Jan-Christoph
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Materials Science
An important strategy for understanding the microscopic physics of strongly correlated systems and enhancing their technological potential is to selectively drive the fundamental degrees of freedom out of equilibrium. Intense terahertz (THz) pulses with photon energies of a few meV, can not only serve this purpose but also unravel their electronic and quantum nature. Here, we present THz-driven ultrafast dynamics of rare-earth nickelates $\text{RNiO}_{\text{3}}$, $\text{R}$ = rare-earth atom) - a prototype system to study the Mott insulator-metal transition (IMT). The THz drive of its Mott insulating state induces instantaneous IMT via quantum tunneling of valence electrons across the bandgap while the THz drive of its correlated metallic state leads to overall heating of the conduction electrons. The subsequent relaxations of excited electrons in these two states occur via a two-step process (electron-phonon thermalization and recovery of the charge-ordered insulating state) and a one-step process (electron-phonon scattering), respectively. The relaxation dynamics of the electrons and the absence of acoustic phonon modes, in particular, suggest that the THz photons drive only the charge degree of freedom. The purely electronic, ultrafast and local nature of the THz-induced IMT offers its applications in opto-electronics with enhanced performance and minimal device size and heat dissipation.
title Terahertz-driven ultrafast dynamics of rare-earth nickelates by controlling only the charge degree of freedom
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.03650