Ultra-fast photo-carrier relaxation in Mott insulators with short-range spin correlations

Anomalous Temperature Dependence of High-Harmonic Generation in Mott Insulators

We reveal the crucial effect of strong spin-charge coupling on high-harmonic generation (HHG) in Mott insulators. In a system with antiferromagnetic correlations, the HHG signal is drastically enhanced with decreasing temperature, even though the gap increases and the production of charge carriers is suppressed. This anomalous behavior, which has also been observed in recent HHG experiments on Ca_{2}RuO_{4}, originates from a cooperative effect between the spin-charge coupling and the thermal ensemble, as well as the strongly temperature-dependent coherence between charge carriers. We argue that the peculiar temperature dependence of HHG is a generic feature of Mott insulators, which can be controlled via the Coulomb interaction and dimensionality of the system. Our results demonstrate that correlations between different degrees of freedom, which are a characteristic feature of strongly correlated solids, have significant and nontrivial effects on nonlinear optical responses.

Electron-light interaction in nonequilibrium: exact diagonalization for time-dependent Hubbard Hamiltonians

We present a straightforward implementation scheme for solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for systems described by the Hubbard Hamiltonian with time-dependent hoppings. The computations can be performed for clusters of up to 14 sites with, in principle, general geometry. For the time evolution, we use the exponential midpoint rule, where the exponentials are computed via a Krylov subspace method, which only uses matrix-vector multiplication. The presented implementation uses standard libraries for constructing sparse matrices and for linear algebra. Therefore, the approach is easy to use on both desktop computers and computational clusters. We apply the method to calculate time evolution of double occupation and nonequilibrium spectral function of a photo-excited Mott-insulator. The results show that not only the double occupation increases due to creation of electron-hole pairs but also the Mott gap becomes partially filled.

Doublon-holon pairing mechanism via exchange interaction in two-dimensional cuprate Mott insulators

Coupling of charge and spin degrees of freedom is a critical feature of correlated electron oxides, as represented by the spin-related mechanism of a Cooper pair under high-T _c superconductivity. A doublon-holon pair generated on an antiferromagnetic spin background is also predicted to attract each other via the spin-spin interaction J, similar to a Cooper pair, while its evidence is difficult to obtain experimentally. Here, we investigate such an excitonic effect by electroreflectance spectroscopy using terahertz electric field pulses in undoped cuprates: Nd₂CuO₄, Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂, and La₂CuO₄. Analyses of the spectral changes of reflectivity under electric fields reveal that the splitting of odd-parity and even-parity excitons, a measure of doublon-holon binding energy, increases with J. This trend is reproduced by t-J-type model calculations, providing strong evidence of the spin-related doublon-holon pairing. Agreement with the calculations supports the s-wave symmetry of the doublon-holon pair in contrast to the d-wave Cooper pair in doped cuprates.

Ultrafast dynamics of spin and orbital correlations in quantum materials: an energy- and momentum-resolved perspective

Many remarkable properties of quantum materials emerge from states with intricate coupling between the charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. Ultrafast photo-excitation of these materials holds great promise for understanding and controlling the properties of these states. Here, we introduce time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (tr-RIXS) as a means of measuring the charge, spin and orbital excitations out of equilibrium. These excitations encode the correlations and interactions that determine the detailed properties of the states generated. After outlining the basic principles and instrumentations of tr-RIXS, we review our first observations of transient antiferromagnetic correlations in quasi two dimensions in a photo-excited Mott insulator and present possible future routes of this fast-developing technique. The increasing number of X-ray free electron laser facilities not only enables tackling long-standing fundamental scientific problems, but also promises to unleash novel inelastic X-ray scattering spectroscopies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Measurement of ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics with X-rays'.

Probing ultrafast spin-relaxation and precession dynamics in a cuprate Mott insulator with seven-femtosecond optical pulses

A charge excitation in a two-dimensional Mott insulator is strongly coupled with the surrounding spins, which is observed as magnetic-polaron formations of doped carriers and a magnon sideband in the Mott-gap transition spectrum. However, the dynamics related to the spin sector are difficult to measure. Here, we show that pump-probe reflection spectroscopy with seven-femtosecond laser pulses can detect the optically induced spin dynamics in Nd2CuO4, a typical cuprate Mott insulator. The bleaching signal at the Mott-gap transition is enhanced at ~18 fs. This time constant is attributable to the spin-relaxation time during magnetic-polaron formation, which is characterized by the exchange interaction. More importantly, ultrafast coherent oscillations appear in the time evolution of the reflectivity changes, and their frequencies (1400-2700 cm-1) are equal to the probe energy measured from the Mott-gap transition peak. These oscillations can be interpreted as the interference between charge excitations with two magnons originating from charge-spin coupling.

Nonequilibrium GW+EDMFT: Antiscreening and Inverted Populations from Nonlocal Correlations

We study the dynamics of screening in photodoped Mott insulators with long-ranged interactions using a nonequilibrium implementation of the GW plus extended dynamical mean-field theory formalism. Our study demonstrates that the complex interplay of the injected carriers with bosonic degrees of freedom (charge fluctuations) can result in long-lived transient states with properties that are distinctly different from those of thermal equilibrium states. Systems with strong nonlocal interactions are found to exhibit a self-sustained population inversion of the doublons and holes. This population inversion leads to low-energy antiscreening which can be detected in time-resolved electron-energy-loss spectra.

Ultrafast Photoinduced Electric-Polarization Switching in a Hydrogen-Bonded Ferroelectric Crystal

Croconic acid crystals show proton displacive-type ferroelectricity with a large spontaneous polarization reaching 20  μC/cm^{2}, which originates from the strong coupling of proton and π-electron degrees of freedom. Such a coupling makes us expect a large polarization change by photoirradiations. Optical-pump second-harmonic-generation-probe experiments reveal that a photoexcited croconic-acid crystal loses the ferroelectricity substantially with a maximum quantum efficiency of more than 30 molecules per one absorbed photon. Based on density functional calculations, we theoretically discuss possible pathways toward the formation of a one-dimensional domain with polarization inversion and its recovery process to the ground state by referring to the dynamics of experimentally obtained polarization changes.

Nature of Bosonic Excitations Revealed by High-Energy Charge Carriers

We address a long-standing problem concerning the origin of bosonic excitations that strongly interact with charge carriers. We show that the time-resolved pump-probe experiments are capable of distinguishing between regular bosonic degrees of freedom, e.g., phonons, and the hard-core bosons, e.g., magnons. The ability of phonon degrees of freedom to absorb essentially an unlimited amount of energy renders relaxation dynamics nearly independent of the absorbed energy or fluence. In contrast, the hard core effects pose limits on the density of energy stored in the bosonic subsystems resulting in a substantial dependence of the relaxation time on the fluence and/or excitation energy. Very similar effects can be observed also in a different setup when the system is driven by multiple pulses.