Ultrafast dynamics of vibrational symmetry breaking in a charge-ordered nickelate.

ABSTRACT: The ability to probe symmetry-breaking transitions on their natural time scales is one of the key challenges in nonequilibrium physics. Stripe ordering represents an intriguing type of broken symmetry, where complex interactions result in atomic-scale lines of charge and spin density. Although phonon anomalies and periodic distortions attest the importance of electron-phonon coupling in the formation of stripe phases, a direct time-domain view of vibrational symmetry breaking is lacking. We report experiments that track the transient multi-terahertz response of the model stripe compound La_1.75Sr_0.25NiO₄, yielding novel insight into its electronic and structural dynamics following an ultrafast optical quench. We find that although electronic carriers are imm

SUBMITTER: Coslovich G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5706742 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature