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Evidence for topological defects in a photoinduced phase transition
- Zong, Alfred;
- Kogar, Anshul;
- Bie, Ya-Qing;
- Rohwer, Timm;
- Lee, Changmin;
- Baldini, Edoardo;
- Ergeçen, Emre;
- Yilmaz, Mehmet B;
- Freelon, Byron;
- Sie, Edbert J;
- Zhou, Hengyun;
- Straquadine, Joshua;
- Walmsley, Philip;
- Dolgirev, Pavel E;
- Rozhkov, Alexander V;
- Fisher, Ian R;
- Jarillo-Herrero, Pablo;
- Fine, Boris V;
- Gedik, Nuh
- et al.
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0311-9Abstract
Upon excitation with an intense ultrafast laser pulse, a symmetry-broken ground state can undergo a non-equilibrium phase transition through pathways dissimilar from those in thermal equilibrium. Determining the mechanism underlying these photo-induced phase transitions (PIPTs) has been a long-standing issue in the study of condensed matter systems. To this end, we investigate the light-induced melting of a unidirectional charge density wave (CDW) material, LaTe$_3$. Using a suite of time-resolved probes, we independently track the amplitude and phase dynamics of the CDW. We find that a quick ($\sim\,$1$\,$ps) recovery of the CDW amplitude is followed by a slower reestablishment of phase coherence. This longer timescale is dictated by the presence of topological defects: long-range order (LRO) is inhibited and is only restored when the defects annihilate. Our results provide a framework for understanding other PIPTs by identifying the generation of defects as a governing mechanism.
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