Quantum fluctuations lead to glassy electron dynamics in the good metal regime of electron doped KTaO3

Shashank Kumar Ojha (), Sankalpa Hazra, Surajit Bera, Sanat Kumar Gogoi, Prithwijit Mandal, Jyotirmay Maity, Andrei Gloskovskii, Christoph Schlueter, Smarajit Karmakar, Manish Jain, Sumilan Banerjee (), Venkatraman Gopalan and Srimanta Middey ()
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Shashank Kumar Ojha: Indian Institute of Science
Sankalpa Hazra: Indian Institute of Science
Surajit Bera: Indian Institute of Science
Sanat Kumar Gogoi: Indian Institute of Science
Prithwijit Mandal: Indian Institute of Science
Jyotirmay Maity: Indian Institute of Science
Andrei Gloskovskii: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Christoph Schlueter: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Smarajit Karmakar: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Manish Jain: Indian Institute of Science
Sumilan Banerjee: Indian Institute of Science
Venkatraman Gopalan: The Pennsylvania State University
Srimanta Middey: Indian Institute of Science

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract One of the central challenges in condensed matter physics is to comprehend systems that have strong disorder and strong interactions. In the strongly localized regime, their subtle competition leads to glassy electron dynamics which ceases to exist well before the insulator-to-metal transition is approached as a function of doping. Here, we report on the discovery of glassy electron dynamics deep inside the good metal regime of an electron-doped quantum paraelectric system: KTaO3. We reveal that upon excitation of electrons from defect states to the conduction band, the excess injected carriers in the conduction band relax in a stretched exponential manner with a large relaxation time, and the system evinces simple aging phenomena—a telltale sign of glassy dynamics. Most significantly, we observe a critical slowing down of carrier dynamics below 35 K, concomitant with the onset of quantum paraelectricity in the undoped KTaO3. Our combined investigation using second harmonic generation technique, density functional theory and phenomenological modeling demonstrates quantum fluctuation-stabilized soft polar modes as the impetus for the glassy behavior. This study addresses one of the most fundamental questions regarding the potential promotion of glassiness by quantum fluctuations and opens a route for exploring glassy dynamics of electrons in a well-delocalized regime.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47956-4

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