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Femtosecond resolved snapshots of a light induced phase transition at the nanoscale

ORAL

Abstract

Inhomogeneities are common in quantum materials and can radically impact emergent phenomena. In this talk, I will discuss femtosecond resolved nanoscale snapshots of an insulator to metal phase transition in a Vanadium Dioxide thin film [1,2]. The inhomogeneous development of a metallic phase is observed at nanometer length scales and picosecond timescales following femtosecond photoexcitation. Our time resolved data of the inhomogenious phase transition are found to correlate with heterogeneous spatial textures observed in the steady state including grain boundaries and twin domains. Following homogeneous photoexcitation, we identify that the energetic cost to produce a local metallic state varies in real space at the nanoscale.

[1] A. J. Sternbach et al. Nanotextured Dynamics of a Light-Induced Phase Transition in VO2. Nano Letters 21, 9052-9060, (2021).

[2] A. J. Sternbach et al. Inhomogeneous Photosusceptibility of VO2 Films at the Nanoscale. Physical Review Letters 132, 186903, (2024).

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Publication: [1] A. J. Sternbach et al. Nanotextured Dynamics of a Light-Induced Phase Transition in VO2. Nano Letters 21, 9052-9060, (2021).<br>[2] A. J. Sternbach et al. Inhomogeneous Photosusceptibility of VO2 Films at the Nanoscale. Physical Review Letters 132, 186903, (2024).<br>

Presenters

  • Aaron Sternbach

    University of Maryland, College Park

Authors

  • Aaron Sternbach

    University of Maryland, College Park

  • Frank L Ruta

    Columbia University

  • Yin Shi

    Penn State University

  • Tetiana Slusar

    ETRI

  • Jacob S Schalch

    University of California, San Diego

  • Guangwu Duan

    Boston University

  • Alexander S McLeod

    University of Minnesota

  • Xin Zhang

    Boston University

  • Mengkun Liu

    Stony Brook University (SUNY)

  • Andrew J Millis

    Columbia University

  • Hyun-Tak Kim

    Department of Physics, College of William & Mary, College of William & Mary, William & Mary

  • Long-Qing Chen

    Pennsylvania State University, The Pennsylvania State University, Penn State University

  • Richard D Averitt

    University of California, San Diego

  • Samuel Moore

    Columbia Univ

  • Xinzhong Chen

    Stony Brook University (SUNY)

  • Dimitri N Basov

    University of California, San Diego