Collapse of layer dimerization in the photo-induced hidden state of 1T-TaS2

Abstract

Photo-induced switching between collective quantum states of matter is a fascinating rising field with exciting opportunities for novel technologies. Presently very intensively studied examples in this regard are nanometer-thick single crystals of the layered material 1T-TaS2 , where picosecond laser pulses can trigger a fully reversible insulator-to-metal transition (IMT). This IMT is believed to be connected to the switching between metastable collective quantum states, but the microscopic nature of this so-called hidden quantum state remained largely elusive up to now. Here we determine the latter by means of state-of-the-art x-ray diffraction and show that the laser-driven IMT involves a marked rearrangement of the charge and orbital order in the direction perpendicular to the TaS2-layers. More specifically, we identify the collapse of inter-layer molecular orbital dimers, which are a characteristic feature of the insulating phase, as a key mechanism for the non-thermal IMT in 1T-TaS2, which indeed involves a collective transition between two truly long-range ordered electronic crystals.

References in corpus (16)

• Coupled spin and valley physics in monolayers of MoS2 and other group-VI dichalcogenides
• Emerging Device Applications for Semiconducting Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
• Evidence of Ising pairing in superconducting NbSe${}_2$ atomic layers
• Ultrafast switching to a stable hidden topologically protected quantum state in an electronic crystal
• Memristive phase switching in two-dimensional crystals
• Orbital textures and charge density waves in transition metal dichalcogenides
• A metallic mosaic phase and the origin of Mott insulating state in 1T-TaS2
• Nanoscale manipulation of the Mott insulating state coupled to charge order in 1T-TaS2
• Ultrafast melting of a charge-density wave in the Mott insulator 1T-TaS2
• Disrupted orbital order and the pseudo-gap in layered 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Ultrafast doublon dynamics in photo-excited 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Correlated electronic states at domain walls of a Mott-charge-density-wave insulator 1T-TaS2
• Intertwined chiral charge orders and topological stabilization of the light-induced state of a prototypical transition metal dichalcogenide
• Pressure dependence of the charge density wave in 1T-TaS2 and its relation to superconductivity
• Emergent Honeycomb Network of Topological Excitations in Correlated Charge Density Wave
• Stacking order dynamic in the quasi-two-dimensional dichalcogenide 1T-TaS${}_2$ probed with MeV ultrafast electron diffraction

Cited by in corpus (44)

• Time- and Angle-Resolved Photoemission Studies of Quantum Materials
• Direct identification of Mott Hubbard band pattern beyond charge density wave superlattice in monolayer 1T-NbSe2
• Distinguishing a Mott Insulator from a Trivial Insulator with Atomic Adsorbates
• In-situ exfoliation method of large-area 2D materials
• Photoinduced multistage phase transitions in Ta2NiSe5
• Preferential out-of-plane conduction and quasi-one-dimensional electronic states in layered 1T-TaS2
• Effect of Stacking Order on the Electronic State of 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Light-induced dimension crossover in 1T-TiSe${}_2$ dictated by excitonic correlations
• Light-induced hexatic state in a layered quantum material
• Out-of-plane transport of 1T-TaS2/graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures
• A time-domain phase diagram of metastable states in a charge ordered quantum material
• Coherent phonons and the interplay between charge density wave and Mott phases in 1$T$-TaSe${}_2$
• Snapshots of a light-induced metastable hidden phase driven by the collapse of charge order
• Exploring the Charge Density Wave phase of 1$T$-TaSe${}_2$: Mott or Charge-transfer Gap?
• Spin-orbit and exchange proximity couplings in graphene/1T-TaS${}_2$ heterostructure triggered by a charge density wave
• Large optical tunability from charge density waves in 1T-TaS${}_2$ under incoherent illumination
• Modified interlayer stacking and insulator to correlated-metal transition driven by uniaxial strain in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Endotaxial Stabilization of 2D Charge Density Waves with Long-range Order
• Structures of bulk hexagonal post-transition-metal chalcogenides from dispersion-corrected density-functional theory
• Doublon-like excitations and their phononic coupling in a Mott charge-density-wave system
• Charge density wave surface reconstruction in a van der Waals layered material
• Mobile Kink Solitons in a Van der Waals Charge-Density-Wave Layer
• Phase-resolved frequency-domain analysis of the photoemission spectra for photoexcited 1T-TaS2 in the Mott insulating charge density wave state
• A high-efficiency programmable modulator for extreme ultraviolet light with nm feature size based on an electronic phase transition
• Effects of Structural Distortions on the Electronic Structure of T-type Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
• Distinguishing and controlling Mottness in 1T-TaS${}_2$ by ultrafast light
• Understanding the magnetic response of the Quantum spin liquid compound 1T-TaS2
• 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}
• Behavior under magnetic field of resonance at the edge of the upper Hubbard band in 1T-TaS2
• Unconventional orbital-charge density wave mechanism in transition metal dichalcogenide 1T-TaS2
• Hidden electronic phase in strained few-layer 1T-TaS2
• Ramp reversal memory in bulk crystals of 1T-TaS2
• Quantum Phases and Spin Liquid Properties of 1T-TaS2
• Effect of Interlayer Stacking on the Electronic Properties of 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Van der Waals devices for surface-sensitive experiments
• Time-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy of Quantum Materials Using High Harmonic Generation: Probing Electron-Phonon Interactions and Non-Equilibrium Dynamics
• Comment on "Identification of the Mott Insulating Charge Density Wave State in $1T$-TaS${}_2$"
• Topical review: the nature of the ground state and possibility of a quantum spin liquid in 1T metal dichalcogenides
• Uncovering the nature of transient and metastable non-equilibrium phases in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Nonvolatile optical control of interlayer stacking order in 1T-TaS2
• Imaging of electrically controlled van der Waals layer stacking in 1T-TaS2
• Non-local optical response of a multi-phased quantum material
• Emergent quantum phenomena in two-dimensional 1T-TaS2