Synergistic chemical and optical switching of chiral symmetry breaking in 1T-TaS$_2$

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Qiu, Qingzheng, Zhao, Mengxian, Mankowsky, Roman, Lemke, Henrik Till, Zerdane, Serhane, Sander, Mathias, Tao, Zihao, Li, Qizhi, Zheng, Xiquan, Zhang, Shilong, Xiao, Qian, Jiang, Xinyi, Liu, Xin, Huang, Shih-Wen, Yang, Yang, Meng, Sheng, Peng, Yingying
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866915941561925632
author Qiu, Qingzheng
Zhao, Mengxian
Mankowsky, Roman
Lemke, Henrik Till
Zerdane, Serhane
Sander, Mathias
Tao, Zihao
Li, Qizhi
Zheng, Xiquan
Zhang, Shilong
Xiao, Qian
Jiang, Xinyi
Liu, Xin
Huang, Shih-Wen
Yang, Yang
Meng, Sheng
Peng, Yingying
author_facet Qiu, Qingzheng
Zhao, Mengxian
Mankowsky, Roman
Lemke, Henrik Till
Zerdane, Serhane
Sander, Mathias
Tao, Zihao
Li, Qizhi
Zheng, Xiquan
Zhang, Shilong
Xiao, Qian
Jiang, Xinyi
Liu, Xin
Huang, Shih-Wen
Yang, Yang
Meng, Sheng
Peng, Yingying
contents Optical control of symmetry-breaking quantum phases is a central goal in quantum materials, yet deterministic switching is often hindered by the stability of single-domain ground states. The chiral structure of the charge density wave (CDW) in 1T-TaS$_2$ provides a natural platform for such control, but the pristine material remains locked in a single chirality. Here we show that combining chemical doping with femtosecond optical excitation enables efficient direct and non-thermal switching of the chiral CDW state and reveal its microscopic mechanism. Ti substitution stabilizes a ground state with coexisting chiral domains, creating a tunable energy landscape for optical manipulation. Femtosecond photoexcitation then induces asymmetric and anisotropic switching from dominant to minority chiral domains, characterized by in-plane domain growth and a redistribution toward an achiral configuration. The switching occurs on a timescale comparable to a coherent phonon oscillation ($\sim$2 THz), revealing a phonon-mediated pathway that proceeds through a transient domain-wall state. Our work establishes a new paradigm for synergistic control of chiral order parameters using chemical and ultrafast optical tuning in quantum materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_22921
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Synergistic chemical and optical switching of chiral symmetry breaking in 1T-TaS$_2$
Qiu, Qingzheng
Zhao, Mengxian
Mankowsky, Roman
Lemke, Henrik Till
Zerdane, Serhane
Sander, Mathias
Tao, Zihao
Li, Qizhi
Zheng, Xiquan
Zhang, Shilong
Xiao, Qian
Jiang, Xinyi
Liu, Xin
Huang, Shih-Wen
Yang, Yang
Meng, Sheng
Peng, Yingying
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Optical control of symmetry-breaking quantum phases is a central goal in quantum materials, yet deterministic switching is often hindered by the stability of single-domain ground states. The chiral structure of the charge density wave (CDW) in 1T-TaS$_2$ provides a natural platform for such control, but the pristine material remains locked in a single chirality. Here we show that combining chemical doping with femtosecond optical excitation enables efficient direct and non-thermal switching of the chiral CDW state and reveal its microscopic mechanism. Ti substitution stabilizes a ground state with coexisting chiral domains, creating a tunable energy landscape for optical manipulation. Femtosecond photoexcitation then induces asymmetric and anisotropic switching from dominant to minority chiral domains, characterized by in-plane domain growth and a redistribution toward an achiral configuration. The switching occurs on a timescale comparable to a coherent phonon oscillation ($\sim$2 THz), revealing a phonon-mediated pathway that proceeds through a transient domain-wall state. Our work establishes a new paradigm for synergistic control of chiral order parameters using chemical and ultrafast optical tuning in quantum materials.
title Synergistic chemical and optical switching of chiral symmetry breaking in 1T-TaS$_2$
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22921