Snapshots of a light-induced metastable hidden phase driven by the collapse of charge order

Abstract

Nonequilibrium hidden states, both transient and long-lived, provide a unique window into thermally inaccessible regimes of strong coupling between microscopic degrees of freedom in quantum materials. Understanding the physical origin of these states is of both fundamental and practical significance, allowing the exploration of far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics and the development of optoelectronic devices with on-demand photoresponses. However, mapping the ultrafast formation of a long-lived hidden phase remains a long-standing challenge in physics since the initial state of the system is not recovered rapidly and conventional pump-probe methods are thus not applicable. Here, using a suite of state-of-the-art single-shot spectroscopy techniques, we present a direct ultrafast visualization of the photoinduced phase transition to both transient and long-lived hidden states in an electronic crystal, 1T-TaS2. Capturing the dynamics of this complex phase transformation in a single-shot fashion demonstrates a commonality in microscopic pathways, driven by the collapse of charge order, that the system undergoes to enter the hidden state and provides unambiguous spectral fingerprints that distinguish such state from thermally accessible phases. We present a theory of fluctuation-dominated process that explains both the dynamics and the nature of the metastable state. Our results settle the debate around the origin of this elusive metastable state and pave the way for the discovery of new quantum phases of matter.

References in corpus (39)

• Observation of Floquet-Bloch states on the surface of a topological insulator
• An optically stimulated superconducting-like phase in K3C60 far above equilibrium Tc
• Ultrafast switching to a stable hidden topologically protected quantum state in an electronic crystal
• Nonlinear phononics: A new ultrafast route to lattice control
• Terahertz-Field-Induced Ferroelectricity in Quantum Paraelectric SrTiO${}_3$
• Selective scattering between Floquet-Bloch and Volkov states in a topological insulator
• An effective magnetic field from optically driven phonons
• Orbital textures and charge density waves in transition metal dichalcogenides
• A metallic mosaic phase and the origin of Mott insulating state in 1T-TaS2
• Light-Induced Charge Density Wave in LaTe${}_3$
• Fast non-thermal switching between macroscopic charge-ordered quantum states induced by charge injection
• Microscopic origin of the Drude-Smith model
• Disentangling amplitude and phase dynamics of a charge density wave in a photo-induced phase transition
• Evidence for metastable photo-induced superconductivity in K${}_3$C${}_{60}$
• Cooperative photoinduced metastable phase control in strained manganite films
• How optical excitation controls the structure and properties of vanadium dioxide
• Femtosecond "snapshots "of gap-forming charge-density-wave correlations in quasi-two-dimensional dichalcogenides 1T-TaS2 and 2H-TaSe2
• Optical detection and manipulation of spontaneous gyrotropic electronic order in a transition-metal dichalcogenide semimetal
• Ultrafast manipulation of mirror domain walls in a charge density wave
• Collapse of layer dimerization in the photo-induced hidden state of 1T-TaS2
• Photo-enhanced metastable c-axis electrodynamics in stripe ordered cuprate La${}_{1.885}$Ba${}_{0.115}$CuO${}_4$
• Multi-messenger nano-probes of hidden magnetism in a strained manganite
• Ultrafast jamming of electrons into an amorphous entangled state
• Intertwined chiral charge orders and topological stabilization of the light-induced state of a prototypical transition metal dichalcogenide
• Polaronic conductivity in the photoinduced phase of 1T-TaS2
• Ultrafast electron calorimetry uncovers a new long-lived metastable state in 1T-TaSe${}_2$ mediated by mode-selective electron-phonon coupling
• Photoinduced multistage phase transitions in Ta2NiSe5
• Self-similar dynamics of order parameter fluctuations in pump-probe experiments
• Photoexcitation Induced Quantum Dynamics of Charge Density Wave and Emergence of a Collective Mode in 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Real-time observation of a coherent lattice transformation into a high-symmetry phase
• Discovery of the soft electronic modes of the trimeron order in magnetite
• A time-domain phase diagram of metastable states in a charge ordered quantum material
• Real-time observation of the coherent transition to a metastable emergent state in 1T-TaS${}_2$
• Zoology of domain walls in quasi-2D correlated charge density wave of 1T-TaS2
• Role of equilibrium fluctuations in light-induced order
• Probing the coupling between a doublon excitation and the charge-density wave in TaS2 by ultrafast optical spectroscopy
• Dynamics of a Persistent Insulator-to-Metal Transition in Strained Manganite Films
• Quench dynamics of superconducting fluctuations and optical conductivity in a disordered system
• Photoinduced Dynamics of Commensurate Charge Density Wave in 1T-TaS${}_2$ Based on Three-Orbital Hubbard Model

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Terahertz field-driven magnon upconversion in an antiferromagnet
• Mott materials: unsuccessful metals with a bright future
• Optical-pump terahertz-probe spectroscopy in high magnetic fields with kHz single-shot detection
• Ultrafast generation of hidden phases via energy-tuned electronic photoexcitation in magnetite
• Distinguishing and controlling Mottness in 1T-TaS${}_2$ by ultrafast light
• Mott resistive switching initiated by topological defects
• Dynamic phase transition into a mixed-CDW state in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$ via a thermal quench
• Fate of transient order parameter domain walls in ultrafast experiments
• Switching of an antiferromagnet controlled by spin canting in a laser-induced hidden phase
• Uncovering the nature of transient and metastable non-equilibrium phases in 1$T$-TaS${}_2$
• Electromagnon signatures of a metastable multiferroic state
• Excitations across the equilibrium and photoinduced `hidden' states of magnetoresistive manganites
• Ultrafast non-thermal suppression of ferroelectricity by carrier screening in LiNbO3