The spontaneous symmetry breaking in Ta₂NiSe₅ is structural in nature.

ABSTRACT: The excitonic insulator is an electronically driven phase of matter that emerges upon the spontaneous formation and Bose condensation of excitons. Detecting this exotic order in candidate materials is a subject of paramount importance, as the size of the excitonic gap in the band structure establishes the potential of this collective state for superfluid energy transport. However, the identification of this phase in real solids is hindered by the coexistence of a structural order parameter with the same symmetry as the excitonic order. Only a few materials are currently believed to host a dominant excitonic phase, Ta₂NiSe₅ being the most promising. Here, we test this scenario by using an ultrashort laser pulse to quench the broken-symmetry phase of this transition met

SUBMITTER: Baldini E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10151608 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature