Theory of photoinduced ultrafast switching to a spin-orbital ordered hidden phase

Jiajun Li (), Hugo U. R. Strand, Philipp Werner and Martin Eckstein
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Jiajun Li: University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Hugo U. R. Strand: Flatiron Institute
Philipp Werner: University of Fribourg
Martin Eckstein: University Erlangen-Nürnberg

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Photo-induced hidden phases are often observed in materials with intertwined orders. Understanding the formation of these non-thermal phases is challenging and requires a resolution of the cooperative interplay between different orders on the ultra-short timescale. In this work, we demonstrate that non-equilibrium photo-excitations can induce a state with spin-orbital orders entirely different from the equilibrium state in the three-quarter-filled two-band Hubbard model. We identify a general mechanism governing the transition to the hidden state, which relies on a non-thermal partial melting of the intertwined orders mediated by photoinduced charge excitations in the presence of strong spin-orbital exchange interactions. Our study theoretically confirms the crucial role played by orbital degrees of freedom in the light-induced dynamics of strongly correlated materials and it shows that the switching to hidden states can be controlled already on the fs timescale of the electron dynamics.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07051-x

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