0000000000648545
AUTHOR
Maximilian Eichberger
Cooperative atomic motion probed by ultrafast transmission electron diffraction
In numerous solids exhibiting broken symmetry ground states, changes in electronic (spin) structure are accompanied by structural changes. Femtosecond time-resolved techniques recently contributed many important insights into the origin of their ground states by tracking dynamics of the electronic subsystem with femtosecond light pulses. Moreover, several studies of structural dynamics in systems with periodic lattice modulation (PLD) were performed. Since intensities of the super-lattice diffraction peaks are in the first approximation proportional to the square of the PLD amplitude, their temporal dynamics provides access to cooperative atomic motion. This process takes place on a fractio…
Ultrafast Metamorphosis of a Complex Charge Density Wave in Tantalumdiselenite
Using ultrafast electron diffraction, we record the transformation between a nearly-commensurate and an incommensurate charge-density-wave in 1T-TaS2, which takes place orders of magnitude faster than previously observed for commensurate-to-incommensurate transitions.
Ultrafast Metamorphosis of a Complex Charge-Density Wave
Modulated phases, commensurate or incommensurate with the host crystal lattice, are ubiquitous in solids. The transition between such phases involves formation and rearrangement of domain walls and is generally slow. Using ultrafast electron diffraction, we directly record the photoinduced transformation between a nearly commensurate and an incommensurate charge-density-wave phase in 1T-TaS(2). The transformation takes place on the picosecond time scale, orders of magnitude faster than previously observed for commensurate-to-incommensurate transitions. The transition speed and mechanism can be linked to the peculiar nanoscale structure of the photoexcited nearly commensurate phase.