Dynamics of a Persistent Insulator-to-Metal Transition in Strained Manganite Films

Samuel W. Teitelbaum, B. K. Ofori-Okai, Yu Hsiang Cheng, Jingdi Zhang, Feng Jin, Wenbin Wu, Richard D. Averitt, Keith A. Nelson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Transition metal oxides possess complex free-energy surfaces with competing degrees of freedom. Photoexcitation allows shaping of such rich energy landscapes. In epitaxially strained La0.67Ca0.33MnO3, optical excitation with a sub-100-fs pulse above 2 mJ/cm2 leads to a persistent metallic phase below 100 K. Using single-shot optical and terahertz spectroscopy, we show that this phase transition is a multistep process. We conclude that the phase transition is driven by partial charge-order melting, followed by growth of the persistent metallic phase on longer timescales. A time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model can describe the fast dynamics of the reflectivity, followed by longer timescale in-growth of the metallic phase.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number267201
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume123
Issue number26
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 30 2019
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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