Exchange-Striction Driven Ultrafast Nonthermal Lattice Dynamics in NiO
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Date
2021
Volume
126
Issue
14
Journal
Physical review letters
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Publisher
College Park, Md. : APS
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Abstract
We use femtosecond electron diffraction to study ultrafast lattice dynamics in the highly correlated antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconductor NiO. Using the scattering vector (Q) dependence of Bragg diffraction, we introduce Q-resolved effective temperatures describing the transient lattice. We identify a nonthermal lattice state with preferential displacement of O compared to Ni ions, which occurs within ∼0.3 ps and persists for 25 ps. We associate this with transient changes to the AFM exchange striction-induced lattice distortion, supported by the observation of a transient Q asymmetry of Friedel pairs. Our observation highlights the role of spin-lattice coupling in routes towards ultrafast control of spin order.
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Windsor, Y. W., Zahn, D., Kamrla, R., Feldl, J., Seiler, H., Chiang, C.-T., et al. (2021). Exchange-Striction Driven Ultrafast Nonthermal Lattice Dynamics in NiO (College Park, Md. : APS). College Park, Md. : APS. https://doi.org//10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.147202
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CC BY 4.0 Unported