Related papers: Ultrafast lattice disordering can be accelerated b…
Understanding the non-equilibrium behavior of stainless steel under extreme electronic excitation remains a critical challenge for laser processing and radiation science. We employ a hybrid framework integrating density-functional tight…
At high dissipation levels, vortex motion in a superconducting film has been observed to become unstable at a certain critical vortex velocity v*. At substrate temperatures substantially below Tc, the observed behavior can be accounted for…
Ultrafast manipulation of vibrational coherence is an emergent route to control the structure of solids. However, this strategy can only induce long-range correlations and cannot modify atomic structure locally, which is required in many…
We use an x-ray free-electron laser to study the ultrafast lattice dynamics following above band-gap photoexcitation of the incipient ferroelectric potassium-tantalate, \kto. % We use ultrafast near-UV (central wavelength 266\,nm and 50 fs…
Ultrafast lattice deformation of tens to hundreds of nanometer thick metallic crystals, after femtosecond laser excitation, was measured directly using 8.04 keV subpicosecond x-ray and 59 keV femtosecond electron pulses. Coherent phonons…
We propose a kinetic model of transient nonequilibrium phenomena in metals exposed to ultrashort laser pulses when heated electrons affect the lattice through direct electron-phonon interaction. This model describes the destruction of a…
The ability to control the structure of a crystalline solid on ultrafast timescales bears enormous potential for information storage and manipulation or generating new functional states of matter [1]. In many materials where the ultrafast…
The ultrafast photoinduced insulator-metal transition in VO2 is studied at different temperatures and excitation fluences using multi-THz probe pulses. The spectrally resolved mid-infrared response allows us to trace separately the dynamics…
We study the ultrafast structural dynamics, in response to electronic excitations, in heterostructures composed of Au$_{923}$ nanoclusters on thin-film substrates with the use of femtosecond electron diffraction. Various forms of atomic…
Metal to insulator transitions (MITs) driven by strong electronic correlations are common in condensed matter systems, and are associated with some of the most remarkable collective phenomena in solids, including superconductivity and…
Nonequilibrium states of quantum materials can exhibit exotic properties and enable unprecedented functionality and applications. These transient states are inherently inhomogeneous, characterized by the formation of topologically protected…
Thermal fluctuations and disorder play an essential role in high-T$_c$ superconductors. After reviewing the mean-field phase diagram we describe significant modifications that result when the effects of finite temperature and disorder are…
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices offer a unique platform for investigating disorder-driven phenomena. While static disordered site potentials have been explored in a number of optical lattice experiments, a more general control over…
Excursions far from their equilibrium structures can bring crystalline solids through collective transformations including transitions into new phases that may be transient or long-lived. Direct spectroscopic observation of…
There is growing interest in using ultrafast light pulses to drive functional materials into nonequilibrium states with novel properties. The conventional wisdom is that above gap photoexcitation behaves similarly to raising the electronic…
We report the observation and control of ultrafast non-equilibrium many-body electron dynamics in Rydberg-excited spatially-ordered ultracold atoms created from a three-dimensional unity-filling atomic Mott insulator. By implementing…
Control of order-disorder phase transitions is a fundamental materials science challenge, underpinning the development of energy storage technologies such as solid oxide fuel cells and batteries, ultra-high temperature ceramics, and durable…
The complex interplay between several active degrees of freedom (charge, lattice, orbtial and spin order) is thought to determine the electronic properties of many oxides, but the respective role of the various contributions is often…
Photoinduced non-thermal phase transitions are new paradigms of exotic non-equilibrium physics of strongly correlated materials. An ultrashort optical pulse can drive the system to a new order through complex microscopic interactions that…
Ultrafast photoexcitation is an emerging route to selective control of phase transitions. However, it is difficult to determine which modes govern the transformation and how effectively they are targeted by photoexcitation. This is…