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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.04662 |
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| _version_ | 1866908304625631232 |
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| author | Wei, Haoyu Kaplan, Daniel Xu, Haowei Li, Ju |
| author_facet | Wei, Haoyu Kaplan, Daniel Xu, Haowei Li, Ju |
| contents | An outstanding challenge in materials science and physics is the harnessing of light for switching charge order in e.g., ferroelectrics. Here we propose a mechanism through which electrons in ferroelectric bilayers excited with light cause ionic structural transitions. Using perturbation theory within a many-body formalism, we show that the ionic coupling is mediated by a resonant change in electronic occupation functions, ultimately governed by the quantum geometric tensor (QGT) of the ground state. Furthermore, we show that such transitions are generally accompanied by multiferroic order switching. We demonstrate two examples of light-induced structural and polarization switching under this mechanism using first-principle calculations on bilayer CrI$_{3}$ and MoTe$_{2}$. We show that the two materials can switch between atomic stackings with a light intensity threshold of only 10-100 GW/cm$^2$, a value 1-3 orders of magnitude lower than that required by direct light-ion coupling thanks to the superior efficiency of resonant light-electron coupling. Since such switching is fast, highly controllable, contactless, and reversible, it is promising for use in optically controlled nonvolatile memory, nanophotonics and polar electronics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_04662 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Ultrafast switchable polar and magnetic orders by nonlinear light-matter interaction Wei, Haoyu Kaplan, Daniel Xu, Haowei Li, Ju Materials Science Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Strongly Correlated Electrons An outstanding challenge in materials science and physics is the harnessing of light for switching charge order in e.g., ferroelectrics. Here we propose a mechanism through which electrons in ferroelectric bilayers excited with light cause ionic structural transitions. Using perturbation theory within a many-body formalism, we show that the ionic coupling is mediated by a resonant change in electronic occupation functions, ultimately governed by the quantum geometric tensor (QGT) of the ground state. Furthermore, we show that such transitions are generally accompanied by multiferroic order switching. We demonstrate two examples of light-induced structural and polarization switching under this mechanism using first-principle calculations on bilayer CrI$_{3}$ and MoTe$_{2}$. We show that the two materials can switch between atomic stackings with a light intensity threshold of only 10-100 GW/cm$^2$, a value 1-3 orders of magnitude lower than that required by direct light-ion coupling thanks to the superior efficiency of resonant light-electron coupling. Since such switching is fast, highly controllable, contactless, and reversible, it is promising for use in optically controlled nonvolatile memory, nanophotonics and polar electronics. |
| title | Ultrafast switchable polar and magnetic orders by nonlinear light-matter interaction |
| topic | Materials Science Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Strongly Correlated Electrons |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.04662 |