Theory of photoinduced ultrafast switching to a spin-orbital ordered hidden phase

Li, Jiajun; Strand, Hugo U. R.; Werner, Philipp; Eckstein, Martin

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07051-x

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Journal article

Theory of photoinduced ultrafast switching to a spin-orbital ordered hidden phase

Li, Jiajun Department of Physics, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
Strand, Hugo U. R. Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Flatiron Institute, New York, USA - Department of Quantum Matter Physics, University of Geneva, Switzerland. - Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Werner, Philipp Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Eckstein, Martin Department of Physics, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

02.11.2018

Published in:

Nature Communications. - 2018, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 4581

English Photo-induced hidden phases are often observed in materials with intertwined orders. Understanding the formation of these non-thermal phases is challenging and requires a resolution of the cooperative interplay between different orders on the ultra-short timescale. In this work, we demonstrate that non-equilibrium photo-excitations can induce a state with spin-orbital orders entirely different from the equilibrium state in the three-quarter-filled two-band Hubbard model. We identify a general mechanism governing the transition to the hidden state, which relies on a non-thermal partial melting of the intertwined orders mediated by photoinduced charge excitations in the presence of strong spin-orbital exchange interactions. Our study theoretically confirms the crucial role played by orbital degrees of freedom in the light-induced dynamics of strongly correlated materials and it shows that the switching to hidden states can be controlled already on the fs timescale of the electron dynamics.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Physique

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