Phonon-assisted Formation of Spin Density Wave Order in Cr Thin Film

ORAL

Abstract

Electronic instabilities drive ordering transitions in condensed matter. Despite many advances in sophisticated microscopic models of the ordered state, a more nuanced, yet profound, question often remains unanswered: How do collective excitations influence the formation of electronic order? Using time-resolved free electron X-ray diffraction technique, we monitor the laser-induced quench and subsequent recovery of a spin density wave (SDW) in a 28 nm thick Cr film. In this talk, we will discuss how the formation of SDW in antiferromagnetic Cr thin film after its quench by a femtosecond (fs) laser is influenced by an acoustic phonon launched by the laser. Our results demonstrate how a coherent ionic lattice vibration markedly modifies the out-of-equilibrium pathway in energy diagram of an electronic phase transformation, highlighting the opportunity for using collective excitations for guiding electronic instabilities.

*The data was collected at the X-ray free electron laser LCLS at SLAC. The work at Cornell was supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contracts No. DE-SC0019414.

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Presenters

  • Jiaruo Li

    • Materials Science and Engineering Department, Cornell University

Authors

  • Jiaruo Li

    • Materials Science and Engineering Department, Cornell University

  • Oleg Gorobtsov

    • Materials Science and Engineering Department, Cornell University
    • Cornell University

  • Sheena Kusum Kishor Patel

    • University of California, San Diego
    • Center for Memory and Recording Research, University of California, San Diego

  • Nelson Hua

    • University of California, San Diego
    • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  • Benjamin Gregory

    • Materials Science and Engineering Department, Cornell University
    • Department of Physics, Cornell University

  • Anatoly Shabalin

    • University of California, San Diego
    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego

  • Rajasekhar Medapalli

    • Center for Memory and Recording Research, University of California, San Diego

  • Stjepan B Hrkac

    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego

  • Jim Wingert

    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego

  • Devin Cela

    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego

  • James M Glownia

    • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  • Matthieu Chollet

    • SLAC national laboratory
    • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  • Diling Zhu

    • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  • Eric Fullerton

    • University of California, San Diego
    • Center for Memory and Recording Research, University of California, San Diego
    • CMRR, University of California, San Diego

  • Oleg Shpyrko

    • University of California, San Diego
    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego

  • Andrej Singer

    • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University
    • Materials Science and Engineering Department, Cornell University
    • Cornell University