Multi-mode excitation drives disorder during the ultrafast melting of a C4-symmetry-broken phase.

ABSTRACT: Spontaneous C₄-symmetry breaking phases are ubiquitous in layered quantum materials, and often compete with other phases such as superconductivity. Preferential suppression of the symmetry broken phases by light has been used to explain non-equilibrium light induced superconductivity, metallicity, and the creation of metastable states. Key to understanding how these phases emerge is understanding how C₄ symmetry is restored. A leading approach is based on time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory, which explains the coherence response seen in many systems. However, we show that, for the case of the single layered manganite La_0.5Sr_1.5MnO_4, the theory fails. Instead, we find an ultrafast inhomogeneous disordering transition in which the mean

SUBMITTER: Perez-Salinas D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8752725 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature