Electronic origin of ultrafast laser-induced ferroelectricity in SrTiO3

Electronic origin of ultrafast laser-induced ferroelectricity in SrTiO3 | 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 Electronic origin of ultrafast laser-induced ferroelectricity in SrTiO 3 Cui Zhang, Chenchen Song, Qing Yang, Xinbao Liu, Hui Zhao, Sheng Meng This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1737005/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Following an ultrafast laser excitation, paraelectric SrTiO 3 can be driven non-thermally into a metastable ferroelectricity state. Despite achieving ultrafast control of ferroelectricity, the fundamental mechanism and dynamics of the photoinduced phase transition remain ambiguous. Here, the determinant formation mechanism of ultrafast ferroelectricity in SrTiO 3 is traced by non-adiabatic dynamics simulations. That is, the selective excitation of multiple phonons, induced by photoexcited electrons through the strong correlation between electronic excitation and lattice distortion, result in the breaking of the crystal central symmetry and the onset of ferroelectricity on the ultrafast time scale. Laser illumination leads to a uniaxially stretched lattice deformation along the laser polarization direction, generated by nonequilibrium forces from optically excited electrons. The accompanying population transition between 3d z 2 and 3d (x 2 -y 2 ) orbitals excites multiple phonon branches, including the two high-energy longitudinal optical modes, so as to drive titanium ion away from the center of oxygen octahedron and generate a metastable ferroelectric phase. These findings provide new insights into the understanding and manipulation of laser-induced ferroelectric phase transition, and suggests new schemes for the optical control of electronic and structural quantum states in complex materials. ultrafast phase transition electron-phonon coupling selective phonon excitation non-adiabatic dynamics simulations Full Text Additional Declarations (Not answered) Supplementary Files Supplementaryinfonpj.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted 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. 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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-1737005","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":114572500,"identity":"5fab91dd-14da-4fab-9e46-1e497036b79d","order_by":0,"name":"Cui 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simulations","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1737005/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1737005/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Following an ultrafast laser excitation, paraelectric SrTiO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e can be driven non-thermally into a metastable ferroelectricity state. Despite achieving ultrafast control of ferroelectricity, the fundamental mechanism and dynamics of the photoinduced phase transition remain ambiguous. Here, the determinant formation mechanism of ultrafast ferroelectricity in SrTiO\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e is traced by non-adiabatic dynamics simulations. That is, the selective excitation of multiple phonons, induced by photoexcited electrons through the strong correlation between electronic excitation and lattice distortion, result in the breaking of the crystal central symmetry and the onset of ferroelectricity on the ultrafast time scale. Laser illumination leads to a uniaxially stretched lattice deformation along the laser polarization direction, generated by nonequilibrium forces from optically excited electrons. The accompanying population transition between \u003ci\u003e3d\u003c/i\u003e\u003csub\u003ez\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e and \u003ci\u003e3d\u003c/i\u003e\u003csub\u003e(x\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e-y\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e)\u003c/sub\u003e orbitals excites multiple phonon branches, including the two high-energy longitudinal optical modes, so as to drive titanium ion away from the center of oxygen octahedron and generate a metastable ferroelectric phase. These findings provide new insights into the understanding and manipulation of laser-induced ferroelectric phase transition, and suggests new schemes for the optical control of electronic and structural quantum states in complex materials.","manuscriptTitle":"Electronic origin of ultrafast laser-induced ferroelectricity in SrTiO3","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2022-06-22 19:47:38","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-1737005/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3f2e6cb3-576b-4a76-8eb0-75cec1597b41","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 22nd, 2022","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2022-09-19T08:16:38+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2022-06-22 19:47:38","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-1737005","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-1737005","identity":"rs-1737005","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"_2-kVJe1T_tPrBINL-cwx","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}