Intertwined chiral charge orders and topological stabilization of the light-induced state of a prototypical transition metal dichalcogenide

Abstract

The fundamental idea that the constituents of interacting many body systems in complex quantum materials may self-organise into long range order under highly non-equilibrium conditions leads to the notion that entirely new and unexpected functionalities might be artificially created. However, demonstrating new emergent order in highly non-equilibrium transitions has proven surprisingly difficult. In spite of huge recent advances in experimental ultrafast time-resolved techniques, methods that average over successive transition outcomes have so far proved incapable of elucidating the emerging spatial structure. Here, using scanning tunneling microscopy, we report for the first time the charge order emerging after a single transition outcome in a prototypical two-dimensional dichalcogenide 1T-TaS${}_2$ initiated by a single optical pulse. By mapping the vector field of charge displacements of the emergent state, we find surprisingly intricate, long-range, topologically non-trivial charge order in which chiral domain tiling is intertwined with unique unpaired dislocations which play a crucial role in enhancing the emergent states remarkable stability. The discovery of the principles that lead to metastability in charge-ordered systems open the way to designing novel emergent functionalities, particularly ultrafast all-electronic non-volatile cryo-memories.

preprint version of the paper published in npj Quantum Materials

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Cited by in corpus (31)

• Collapse of layer dimerization in the photo-induced hidden state of 1T-TaS2
• Ultrafast jamming of electrons into an amorphous entangled state
• Nonequilibrium Charge-Density-Wave Order Beyond the Thermal Limit
• Atomic-Scale Visualization of Chiral Charge Density Wave States and Their Reversible Transition
• Light-induced hexatic state in a layered quantum material
• Mott versus hybridization gap in the low-temperature phase of $1T$-TaS${}_2$
• Ultrafast formation of topological defects in a 2D charge density wave
• A time-domain phase diagram of metastable states in a charge ordered quantum material
• Zoology of domain walls in quasi-2D correlated charge density wave of 1T-TaS2
• Snapshots of a light-induced metastable hidden phase driven by the collapse of charge order
• Surface structure and stacking of the commensurate $\left(\sqrt{13}\times \sqrt{13}\right)$R13.9° charge density wave phase of 1T-TaS${}_2$(0001)
• Quantum billiards with correlated electrons confined in triangular transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer nanostructures created by laser quench
• Configurational Electronic States in Layered Metallic Dichalcogenides
• Two Dimensional Multigap Superconductivity in Bulk 2H-TaSSe
• Photo-induced charge dynamics in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Ultra-Efficient Resistance Switching between Charge Ordered Phases in 1T-TaS${}_2$ with a Single Picosecond Electrical Pulse
• Doping a Wigner-Mott insulator: Exotic charge orders in transition-metal dichalcogenide moiré heterobilayers
• A high-efficiency programmable modulator for extreme ultraviolet light with nm feature size based on an electronic phase transition
• Pump induced motion of an interface between competing orders
• Thickness dependent charge density wave networks on thin 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Lattice-Driven Chiral Charge Density Wave State in 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Dynamic phase transition into a mixed-CDW state in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$ via a thermal quench
• Interlayer Hopping between Surface Mott Insulator and Bulk Band Insulator in layered 1T-TaS_{2}
• Chiral charge density wave and backscattering-immune orbital texture in monolayer 1T-TiTe2
• First-order kinetics bottleneck during photoinduced ultrafast insulator-metal transition in 3D orbitally-driven Peierls insulator CuIr${}_2$S${}_4$
• Identification of metastable lattice distortion free charge density wave at photoinduced interface via TRARPES
• Uncovering the nature of transient and metastable non-equilibrium phases in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Imaging of electrically controlled van der Waals layer stacking in 1T-TaS2
• Effect of Interlayer Stacking on the Electronic Properties of 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Nonvolatile optical control of interlayer stacking order in 1T-TaS2
• Scanning tunneling microscopy study of hidden phases in atomically thin 1T-TaS${}_2$