Nonequilibrium dynamics of spontaneous symmetry breaking into a hidden state of charge-density wave

Faran Zhou, Joseph Williams, Shuaishuai Sun, Christos D. Malliakas, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Alexander F. Kemper and Chong-Yu Ruan ()
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Faran Zhou: Michigan State University
Joseph Williams: Michigan State University
Shuaishuai Sun: Michigan State University
Christos D. Malliakas: Northwestern University
Mercouri G. Kanatzidis: Northwestern University
Alexander F. Kemper: North Carolina State University
Chong-Yu Ruan: Michigan State University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Nonequilibrium phase transitions play a pivotal role in broad physical contexts, from condensed matter to cosmology. Tracking the formation of nonequilibrium phases in condensed matter requires a resolution of the long-range cooperativity on ultra-short timescales. Here, we study the spontaneous transformation of a charge-density wave in CeTe3 from a stripe order into a bi-directional state inaccessible thermodynamically but is induced by intense laser pulses. With ≈100 fs resolution coherent electron diffraction, we capture the entire course of this transformation and show self-organization that defines a nonthermal critical point, unveiling the nonequilibrium energy landscape. We discuss the generation of instabilities by a swift interaction quench that changes the system symmetry preference, and the phase ordering dynamics orchestrated over a nonadiabatic timescale to allow new order parameter fluctuations to gain long-range correlations. Remarkably, the subsequent thermalization locks the remnants of the transient order into longer-lived topological defects for more than 2 ns.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20834-5

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