Ultrafast Mott transition driven by nonlinear electron-phonon interaction
Abstract
Nonlinear phononics holds the promise for controlling properties of quantum materials on the ultrashort timescale. Using nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory, we solve a model for the description of organic solids, where correlated electrons couple nonlinearly to a quantum phonon mode. Unlike previous works, we exactly diagonalize the local phonon mode within the noncrossing approximation to include the full phononic fluctuations. By exciting the local phonon in a broad range of frequencies near resonance with an ultrashort pulse, we show it is possible to induce a Mott insulator-to-metal phase transition. Conventional semiclassical and mean-field calculations, where the electron-phonon interaction decouples, underestimate the onset of the quasiparticle peak. This fact, together with the nonthermal character of the photoinduced metal, suggests a leading role of the phononic fluctuations and of the dynamic nature of the state in the vibrationally induced quasiparticle coherence.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2005.14100,
title = {Ultrafast Mott transition driven by nonlinear electron-phonon interaction},
author = {Francesco Grandi and Jiajun Li and Martin Eckstein},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.14100},
year = {2021}
}