arXiv · 2201.10009
Photoinduced structural dynamics of multiferroic TbMnO$_3$
Abstract
We use time-resolved hard x-ray diffraction to investigate the structural dynamics of the multiferroic insulator TbMnO$_3$ in the low temperature antiferromagnetic and ferroelectrically ordered phase. The lattice response following photoexcitation at 1.55 eV is detected by measuring the (0 2 4) and (1 3 -5) Bragg reflections. A 0.02% tensile strain, normal to the surface, is seen to arise within 20 - 30 ps. The magnitude of this transient strain is over an order of magnitude lower than that predicted from laser-induced heating, which we attribute to a bottleneck in the energy transfer between the electronic and lattice subsystems. The timescale for the transient expansion is consistent with that of previously reported demagnetization dynamics. We discuss a possible relationship between structural and demagnetization dynamics in TbMnO$_3$, in which photoinduced atomic motion modulates the exchange interaction, leading to a destruction of the magnetic order in the system.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Elsa Abreu, Matteo Savoini, Larissa Boie, Paul Beaud, Vincent Esposito, Martin Kubli, Martin J. Neugebauer, Michael Porer, Urs Staub, Bulat Burganov, Chris Dornes, Angel Rodriguez-Fernandez, Lucas Huber, Gabriel Lantz, José R. L. Mardegan, Sergii Parchenko, Jochen Rittmann, Cris Svetina, Gerhard Ingold, Steven L. Johnson. 2022-01-24. Photoinduced structural dynamics of multiferroic TbMnO$_3$. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.106.214312
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.