Large non-thermal contribution to picosecond strain pulse generation using the photo-induced phase transition in VO2

Iaroslav A. Mogunov (), Sergiy Lysenko, Anatolii E. Fedianin, Félix E. Fernández, Armando Rúa, Anthony J. Kent, Andrey V. Akimov and Alexandra M. Kalashnikova
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Iaroslav A. Mogunov: Ioffe Institute
Sergiy Lysenko: University of Puerto Rico
Anatolii E. Fedianin: Ioffe Institute
Félix E. Fernández: University of Puerto Rico
Armando Rúa: University of Puerto Rico
Anthony J. Kent: University of Nottingham
Andrey V. Akimov: University of Nottingham
Alexandra M. Kalashnikova: Ioffe Institute

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Picosecond strain pulses are a versatile tool for investigation of mechanical properties of meso- and nano-scale objects with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Generation of such pulses is traditionally realized via ultrafast laser excitation of a light-to-strain transducer involving thermoelastic, deformation potential, or inverse piezoelectric effects. These approaches unavoidably lead to heat dissipation and a temperature rise, which can modify delicate specimens, like biological tissues, and ultimately destroy the transducer itself limiting the amplitude of generated picosecond strain. Here we propose a non-thermal mechanism for generating picosecond strain pulses via ultrafast photo-induced first-order phase transitions (PIPTs). We perform experiments on vanadium dioxide VO2 films, which exhibit a first-order PIPT accompanied by a lattice change. We demonstrate that during femtosecond optical excitation of VO2 the PIPT alone contributes to ultrafast expansion of this material as large as 0.45%, which is not accompanied by heat dissipation, and, for excitation density of 8 mJ cm−2, exceeds the contribution from thermoelastic effect by a factor of five.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15372-z

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