Observation of Coherent Ferrons
Abstract
Excitation of ordered quantum phases gives rise to collective modes and quasiparticles, as exemplified by spin waves and magnons emerging from magnetic order. Extending this paradigm to ferroelectric materials suggests the existence of polarization waves and their fundamental quanta, ferrons. Here, we report the generation and transport of polarization waves, i.e., coherent ferrons, in the van der Waals ferroelectric material NbOI2. Upon excitation by a short laser pulse, the polarization wave emits intense and narrow-band terahertz (THz) radiation at the ferroelectric transverse optical phonon frequency, modulates the ferroelectric order parameter, and propagates uniaxially along the polar axis at hypersonic velocities of ~105 m/s. These long-lived, uniaxial, and dipole-carrying polarization waves may find applications in narrow-band THz emission, ferronic information processing, and coherent electric control.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2505.22559,
title = {Observation of Coherent Ferrons},
author = {Jeongheon Choe and Taketo Handa and Chun-Ying Huang and André Koch Liston and Jordan Cox and Jonathan Stensberg and Yongseok Hong and Daniel G. Chica and Ding Xu and Fuyang Tay and Samra Husremovic and Vinicius da Silveira Lanza Avelar and Eric A. Arsenault and Zhuquan Zhang and James McIver and Dmitri N. Basov and Milan Delor and Xavier Roy and X. -Y. Zhu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.22559},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
40 pages, 4 figures, 10 supporting figures