Andrea Cavalleri

Abstract:

In cuprate superconductors, tunnelling between planes makes three-dimensional superconductive transport possible. However, the interlayer tunnelling amplitude is reduced when an order-parameter-phase gradient between planes is established. As such, interlayer superconductivity along the c-axis can be weakened if a strong electric field is applied along the c-axis. In this Letter, we use high-field single-cycle terahertz pulses to gate interlayer coupling in La1.84Sr0.16CuO4. We induce ultrafast oscillations between superconducting and resistive states and switch the plasmon response on and off, without reducing the density of Cooper pairs. In-plane superconductivity remains unperturbed, revealing a non-equilibrium state in which the dimensionality of the superconductivity is time-dependent. The gating frequency is determined by the electric field strength. Non-dissipative, bi-directional gating of superconductivity is of interest for device applications in ultrafast nanoelectronics and represents an example of how nonlinear terahertz physics can benefit nanoplasmonics and active metamaterials. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We used ultrafast resonant soft x-ray diffraction to probe the picosecond dynamics of spin and orbital order in La(0.5)Sr(1.5)MnO(4) after photoexcitation with a femtosecond pulse of 1.5 eV radiation. Complete melting of antiferromagnetic spin order is evidenced by the disappearance of a (1/4,1/4,1/2) diffraction peak. On the other hand, the (1/4,1/4,0) diffraction peak, reflecting orbital order, is only partially reduced. We interpret the results as evidence of destabilization in the short-range exchange pattern with no significant relaxation of the long-range Jahn-Teller distortions. Cluster calculations are used to analyze different possible magnetically ordered states in the long-lived metastable phase. Nonthermal coupling between light and magnetism emerges as a primary aspect of photoinduced phase transitions in manganites.

Abstract:

One of the most intriguing features of some high-temperature cuprate superconductors is the interplay between one-dimensional "striped" spin order and charge order, and superconductivity. We used mid-infrared femtosecond pulses to transform one such stripe-ordered compound, nonsuperconducting La1.675Eu0.2Sr0.125CuO 4, into a transient three-dimensional superconductor. The emergence of coherent interlayer transport was evidenced by the prompt appearance of a Josephson plasma resonance in the c-axis optical properties. An upper limit for the time scale needed to form the superconducting phase is estimated to be 1 to 2 picoseconds, which is significantly faster than expected. This places stringent new constraints on our understanding of stripe order and its relation to superconductivity.

Abstract:

The transient optical conductivity of photoexcited 1T-TaS2 is determined over a three-order-of-magnitude frequency range. Prompt collapse and recovery of the Mott gap is observed. However, we find important differences between this transient metallic state and that seen across the thermally driven insulator-metal transition. Suppressed low-frequency conductivity, Fano phonon line shapes, and a midinfrared absorption band point to polaronic transport. This is explained by noting that the photoinduced metallic state of 1T-TaS2 is one in which the Mott gap is melted but the lattice retains its low-temperature symmetry, a regime only accessible by photodoping.

Abstract:

Competition between electron localization and delocalization in Mott insulators underpins the physics of strongly correlated electron systems. Photoexcitation, which redistributes charge, can control this many-body process on the ultrafast 1,2 timescale. So far, time-resolved studies have been carried out in solids in which other degrees of freedom, such as lattice, spin or orbital excitations 3-5 , dominate. However, the underlying quantum dynamics of bareg electronic excitations has remained out of reach. Quantum many-body dynamics are observed only in the controlled environment of optical lattices 6,7 where the dynamics are slower and lattice excitations are absent. By using nearly single-cycle near-infrared pulses, we have measured coherent electronic excitations in the organic salt ET-F 2 TCNQ, a prototypical one-dimensional Mott insulator. After photoexcitation, a new resonance appears, which oscillates at 25THz. Time-dependent simulations of the Mottg Hubbard Hamiltonian reproduce the oscillations, showing that electronic delocalization occurs through quantum interference between bound and ionized holong doublon pairs. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.