High harmonic generation reflecting the sub-cycle evolution of the Mott transition under a mid-infrared electric field

High harmonic generation reflecting the sub-cycle evolution of the Mott transition under a mid-infrared electric field | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article High harmonic generation reflecting the sub-cycle evolution of the Mott transition under a mid-infrared electric field Hiroshi Okamoto, Ryohei Ikeda, Yuta Murakami, Daiki Sakai, Tatsuya Miyamoto, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7287112/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Solids in an intense laser field show high-harmonic generation (HHG), which can provide information on carrier dynamics and band structures in weakly correlated systems. In strongly correlated systems, a laser field can induce a transition between the various electronic phases formed by the entanglement of charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom via carrier generation. The HHG accompanying this process should contain information on the nonequilibrium electronic-state dynamics along the oscillating field—an aspect that remains unresolved to date. Here, we show that an intense mid-infrared (MIR) pulse induces a Mott insulator–metal transition in a one-dimensional cuprate, Sr 2 CuO 3 , the evolution of which is reflected by the spectral features of HHs. When the electric-field amplitude exceeds 6 MV/cm, carriers are efficiently generated and each harmonic frequency decreases from odd multiples of the MIR frequency. Dynamical mean-field theory indicates that these redshifts originate from a series of electronic-structure reconstructions in each electric-field cycle during the melting of the Mott-insulator state, which modifies the radiation phase from carrier recombination cycle-by-cycle. This phenomenon is negligible in rigid-band systems. This experimental-theoretical study confirms that HH spectroscopy research can potentially unravel the sub-cycle dynamics of nonequilibrium phase transitions in correlated materials. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/High-harmonic generation Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Nonlinear optics Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Ultrafast photonics Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for optics/Nonlinear optics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SM202583final.pdf Supplementary information: High harmonic generation reflecting the sub-cycle evolution of the Mott transition under a mid-infrared electric field Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7287112","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":502185701,"identity":"01cc1247-dfad-4aa5-9463-7f1eb1109c67","order_by":0,"name":"Hiroshi 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In strongly correlated systems, a laser field can induce a transition between the various electronic phases formed by the entanglement of charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom via carrier generation. The HHG accompanying this process should contain information on the nonequilibrium electronic-state dynamics along the oscillating field—an aspect that remains unresolved to date. Here, we show that an intense mid-infrared (MIR) pulse induces a Mott insulator–metal transition in a one-dimensional cuprate, Sr\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eCuO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e, the evolution of which is reflected by the spectral features of HHs. When the electric-field amplitude exceeds 6 MV/cm, carriers are efficiently generated and each harmonic frequency decreases from odd multiples of the MIR frequency. Dynamical mean-field theory indicates that these redshifts originate from a series of electronic-structure reconstructions in each electric-field cycle during the melting of the Mott-insulator state, which modifies the radiation phase from carrier recombination cycle-by-cycle. This phenomenon is negligible in rigid-band systems. 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