Ultrafast optical nonlinearity in the quasi-one-dimensional mott insulator Sr2CuO3

Unlocking Giant Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity in (MA)2CuX4 through Introducing Jahn-Teller Distortion

Nonlinear absorption coefficient and modulation depth stand as pivotal properties of nonlinear optical (NLO) materials, while the existing NLO materials exhibit limitations such as low nonlinear absorption coefficients and/or small modulation depths, thereby severely impeding their practical application. Here we unveil that introducing Jahn-Teller distortion in a Mott-Hubbard system, (MA)2CuX4 (MA=methylammonium; X=Cl, Br) affords the simultaneous attainment of a giant nonlinear absorption coefficient and substantial modulation depth. The optimized compound, (MA)2CuCl4, demonstrates a nonlinear absorption coefficient of (1.5±0.08)×105 cm GW-1, a modulation depth of 60 %, and a relatively low optical limiting threshold of 1.22×10-5 J cm-2. These outstanding attributes surpass those of most reported NLO materials. Our investigation reveals that a more pronounced distortion of the [CuX6]4- octahedron emerges as a crucial factor in augmenting optical nonlinearity. Mechanism study involving structural and spectral characterization along with theoretical calculations indicates a correlation between the compelling performance and the Mott-Hubbard band structure of the materials, coupled with the Jahn-Teller distortion-induced d-d transition. This study not only introduces a promising category of high-performance NLO materials but also provides novel insights into enhancing the performance of such materials.

Terahertz radiation by quantum interference of excitons in a one-dimensional Mott insulator

Nearly monocyclic terahertz waves are used for investigating elementary excitations and for controlling electronic states in solids. They are usually generated via second-order optical nonlinearity by injecting a femtosecond laser pulse into a nonlinear optical crystal. In this framework, however, it is difficult to control phase and frequency of terahertz waves. Here, we show that in a one-dimensional Mott insulator of a nickel-bromine chain compound a terahertz wave is generated with high efficiency via strong electron modulations due to quantum interference between odd-parity and even-parity excitons produced by two-color femtosecond pulses. Using this method, one can control all of the phase, frequency, and amplitude of terahertz waves by adjusting the creation-time difference of two excitons with attosecond accuracy. This approach enables to evaluate the phase-relaxation time of excitons under strong electron correlations in Mott insulators. Moreover, phase- and frequency-controlled terahertz pulses are beneficial for coherent electronic-state controls with nearly monocyclic terahertz waves.

Quantum Monte Carlo Method in the Steady State

We present a numerically exact steady-state inchworm Monte Carlo method for nonequilibrium quantum impurity models. Rather than propagating an initial state to long times, the method is directly formulated in the steady state. This eliminates any need to traverse the transient dynamics and grants access to a much larger range of parameter regimes at vastly reduced computational costs. We benchmark the method on equilibrium Green's functions of quantum dots in the noninteracting limit and in the unitary limit of the Kondo regime. We then consider correlated materials described with dynamical mean field theory and driven away from equilibrium by a bias voltage. We show that the response of a correlated material to a bias voltage differs qualitatively from the splitting of the Kondo resonance observed in bias-driven quantum dots.

Asymptotically Exact Theory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Random Quantum Magnets

We study nonlinear response in quantum spin systems near infinite-randomness critical points. Nonlinear dynamical probes, such as two-dimensional (2D) coherent spectroscopy, can diagnose the nearly localized character of excitations in such systems. We present exact results for nonlinear response in the 1D random transverse-field Ising model, from which we extract information about critical behavior that is absent in linear response. Our analysis yields exact scaling forms for the distribution functions of relaxation times that result from realistic channels for dissipation in random magnets. We argue that our results capture the scaling of relaxation times and nonlinear response in generic random quantum magnets in any spatial dimension.

High Harmonic Generation in a Correlated Electron System

High harmonic generation in crystalline solids has been examined so far on the basis of one-body energy-band structures arising from electron itineracy in a periodic potential. Here, we show the emergence of high harmonic generation signals which are attributed to the dynamics of many-body states in a low-dimensional correlated electron system. An interacting fermion model and its effective pseudospin model on a one-dimensional dimer-type lattice are analyzed. Observed high harmonic generation signals in a spontaneously symmetry-broken state, where charge densities are polarized inside of dimer units, show threshold behavior with respect to light amplitude and are interpreted in terms of tunneling and recombination of kink-antikink excitations in an electric field.

High pressure synthesis of a quasi-one-dimensional GdFeO3-type perovskite PrCuO3 with nearly divalent Cu ions

A new perovskite-type cuprate PrCuO₃ with unusual oxidation state and quasi-one-dimensional Cu–O chains has been synthesized by high-pressure oxygen annealing.

Redetermination of Sr2PdO3 from single-crystal X-ray data

The crystal structure redetermination of Sr2PdO3 (distrontium palladium trioxide) was carried out using high-quality single-crystal X-ray data. The Sr2PdO3 structure has been described previously in at least three reports [Wasel-Nielen & Hoppe (1970 ▸). Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 375, 209-213; Muller & Roy (1971 ▸). Adv. Chem. Ser. 98, 28-38; Nagata et al. (2002 ▸). J. Alloys Compd. 346, 50-56], all based on powder X-ray diffraction data. The current structure refinement of Sr2PdO3, as compared to previous powder data refinements, leads to more precise cell parameters and fractional coordinates, together with anisotropic displacement parameters for all sites. The compound is confirmed to have the ortho-rhom-bic Sr2CuO3 structure type (space group Immm) as reported previously. The structure consists of infinite chains of corner-sharing PdO4 plaquettes inter-spersed by SrII atoms. A brief comparison of Sr2PdO3 with the related K2NiF4 structure type is given.

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

Ultra-fast spectroscopy can reveal the interplay of charges with low energy degrees of freedom, which underlies the rich physics of correlated materials. As a potential glue for superconductivity, spin fluctuations in Mott insulators are of particular interest. A theoretical description of the coupled spin and charge degrees of freedom is challenging, because magnetic order is often only short-lived and short-ranged. In this work we theoretically investigate how the spin-charge interactions influence the relaxation of a two-dimensional Mott-Hubbard insulator after photo-excitation. We use a nonequilibrium variant of the dynamical cluster approximation, which, in contrast to single-site dynamical mean-field theory, captures the effect of short-range correlations. The relaxation time is found to scale with the strength of the nearest-neighbor spin correlations, and can be 10–20 fs in the cuprates. Increasing the temperature or excitation density decreases the spin correlations and thus implies longer relaxation times. This may help to distinguish the effect of spin-fluctuations on the charge relaxation from the influence of other bosonic modes in the solid.

Magnetic Orderings in Li2Cu(WO4)2 with Tungstate-Bridged Quasi-1D Spin-1/2 Chains

By both experimental measurements and theoretical calculations, we investigated the magnetic and electronic properties of Li2Cu(WO4)2 as a tungstate-bridged quasi-one-dimensional (1D) copper spin-(1/2) chain system. Interestingly, magnetic susceptibility χ(T) and specific heat measurements show that the system undergoes a three-dimensional antiferromagnetic (AF)-like ordering at TN ≈ 3.7 K, below a broad χ(T) maximum at ∼8.9 K indicating a low-dimensional short-range AF spin correlation. Bonner-Fisher model fitting of χ(T) leads to an AF intrachain exchange constant of J/kB = 15.8 ± 0.1 K, and mean-field theory estimation gives an interchain coupling constant of J⊥/kB = 1.6 K, which supports the quasi-1D nature of this spin system. Theoretical evaluation of exchange coupling constants within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) plus on-site Coulomb interaction (U) shows that the dominant AF exchange interaction is of ∼13.9 K along the a-axis with weak interchain coupling, in agreement with the experimental result of a quasi-1D spin-(1/2) chain system. The GGA+U calculations also predict that Li2Cu(WO4)2 is a charge transfer-type AF semiconductor with a direct band gap of 1.5 eV.

Excitation-photon-energy selectivity of photoconversions in halogen-bridged Pd-chain compounds: Mott insulator to metal or charge-density-wave state

Ultrafast photoinduced transitions of a one-dimensional Mott insulator into two distinct electronic phases, metal and charge-density-wave (CDW) state, were achieved in a bromine-bridged Pd-chain compound [Pd(en)2Br](C5-Y)2H2O (en=ethylenediamine and C5-Y=dialkylsulfosuccinate), by selecting the photon energy of a femtosecond excitation pulse. For the resonant excitation of the Mott-gap transition, excitonic states are generated and converted to one-dimensional CDW domains. For the higher-energy excitation, free electron and hole carriers are produced, giving rise to a transition of the Mott insulator to a metal. Such selectivity in photoconversions by the choice of initial photoexcited states opens a new possibility for the developments of advanced optical switching and memory functions.

Nonlinear current response of an isolated system of interacting fermions

Nonlinear real-time response of interacting particles is studied on the example of a one-dimensional tight-binding model of spinless fermions driven by electric field. Using equations of motion and numerical methods we show that for a nonintegrable case at finite temperatures the major effect of nonlinearity can be taken into account within the linear response formalism extended by a renormalization of the kinetic energy due to the Joule heating. On the other hand, integrable systems show on constant driving a different universality with a damped oscillating current whereby the frequency is related but not equal to the Bloch oscillations.

Terahertz conductivity of localized photoinduced carriers in a Mott insulator YTiO(3) at low excitation density, contrasted with the metallic nature in a band semiconductor Si

We performed optical-pump terahertz-probe measurements of a Mott insulator YTiO(3) and a band semiconductor Si using a laser diode (1.47 eV) and a femtosecond-pulse laser (1.55 eV). Both samples possess long energy-relaxation times (1.5 ms for YTiO(3) and 15 µs for Si); therefore, it is possible to extract terahertz complex conductivities of photoinduced carriers under equilibrium. We observed highly contrasting behaviour-Drude conductivity in Si and localized conductivity possibly obeying the Jonscher law in YTiO(3). The carrier number at the highest carrier-concentration layer in YTiO(3) is estimated to be 0.015 per Ti site. Anisotropic conductivity of YTiO(3) is determined. Our study indicates that localized carriers might play an important role in the incipient formation of photoinduced metallic phases in Mott insulators. In addition, this study shows that the transfer-matrix method is effective for extracting an optical constant of a sample with a spatially inhomogeneous carrier distribution.

Photoinduced phase transition in VO2 nanocrystals: ultrafast control of surface-plasmon resonance

We study the ultrafast insulator-to-metal transition in nanoparticles of VO2, obtained by ion implantation and self-assembly in silica. The nonmagnetic, strongly correlated compound VO2 undergoes a reversible phase transition, which can be photoinduced on an ultrafast time scale. In the nanoparticles, prompt formation of the metallic state results in the appearance of surface-plasmon resonance. We achieve large, ultrafast enhancement of optical absorption in the near-infrared spectral region that encompasses the wavelength range for optical-fiber communications. One can further tailor the response of the nanoparticles by controlling their shape.

Spinons in the strongly correlated copper oxide chains in SrCuO2

We have investigated the spin dynamics in the strongly correlated chain copper oxide SrCuO2 for energies up to greater, similar 0.6 eV using inelastic neutron scattering. We observe a gapless continuum of magnetic excitations, which is well described by the "Müller ansatz" for the two-spinon continuum in the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chain. The lower boundary of the continuum extends up to approximately 360 meV, which corresponds to an exchange constant J=226(12) meV.

Dimerization in a half-filled one-dimensional extended hubbard model

We use a density-matrix renormalization group method to study quantitatively the phase diagram of a one-dimensional extended Hubbard model at half filling by investigating the correlation functions and structure factors. We confirmed the existence of a novel narrow region with long-range bond-order-wave order that was highly controversial recently between the charge-density-wave phase and Mott insulator phase. We determined accurately the position of the bicritical point U(b) approximately 7.2t, V(b) approximately 3.746t, which is quite different from previous studies.

Ultrafast optical switching to a metallic state by photoinduced mott transition in a halogen-bridged nickel-chain compound

We demonstrate the ultrafast photoinduced Mott transition from a charge transfer insulator to a metal in a halogen-bridged Ni-chain compound by pump-probe reflection spectroscopy. Upon the irradiation of a 130-femtosecond laser pulse, the spectral weight of the gap transition is transferred to the inner-gap region. When the photoexcitation density exceeds 0.1/Ni site, the Drude-like high-reflection band appears in the infrared region, signaling the formation of a metallic state. The photogeneration of the metallic state and the subsequent recovery to the original gapped state occur within a few picoseconds.

Evidence for two types of low-energy charge transfer excitations in Sr2CuO3

A comparative analysis of electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) spectra for the 1D insulating cuprate Sr2CuO3 with transferred momentum q--> axially and radially to the chain axis allows one to elucidate the structure of the charge transfer gap in in-chain response. It is determined by the superposition of two types of excitations with different magnitudes of dispersion. The low-energy response with q--> radially to the chain direction, but yet within the plane of CuO4 plaquettes, exhibits also a dispersionless peak near 2 eV. The theoretical simulation of the EELS data using exact diagonalizations of an appropriate extended Hubbard Hamiltonian for relevant clusters requires the explicit consideration of low-lying oxygen 2p pi states within the CuO4 plaquette plane beyond the standard pd sigma extended Hubbard model widely used for cuprates with corner-shared CuO4 plaquettes.

Dynamics of photoexcited states in strongly correlated electron systems

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of the photoexcited state in the strongly correlated low-dimensional electron systems. In the two-dimensional case, the ultrafast relaxation originating from the transfer of photogenerated charges in the antiferromagnetic background is followed by the slower one originating from the spin structure rearrangement with the new charge distributions. This clearly shows the difference in the relaxation between charge and spin degrees of freedom. In the one-dimensional case, spin-charge separation holds and the mechanical coherence is preserved.

Large third-order optical nonlinearity of Cu-O chains investigated by third-harmonic generation spectroscopy

Spectra of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility chi((3)) have been investigated for one-dimensional Mott insulators, Sr(2)CuO(3) and Ca(2)CuO(3), by applying the third-harmonic generation (THG) spectroscopy on their single-crystalline thin films. The three-photon resonance to the lowest charge-transfer (CT) state with odd parity strongly enhances chi((3)), which is of the order of 10(-9) esu. The two-photon resonant structure unravels the even-CT state, located close to the odd-CT state. Two types of chi((3)) spectra obtained from THG and the electroreflectance measurements are explained based on the concept of spin-charge separation.

Origin of giant optical nonlinearity in charge-transfer-mott insulators: a new paradigm for nonlinear optics

Neither pure Mott insulators nor pure charge-transfer insulators have ever been considered as a possible candidate for nonlinear optical (NLO) materials since individually neither the strong correlation (U) nor the large charge transfer (Delta) is favorable to the NLO response. However, in their composites, charge-transfer-Mott insulators, jointly Delta and U can enhance the hyperpolarizability (gamma) by guiding the ground states into the antiferromagnetic phase and the excited states into the charge-transfer phase. These Delta and U that maximize gamma form a unique golden Delta-U line, on which the recently observed giant nonlinear optical effect is just a single point, whose physical origin is that the system is driven into a phase-separated region for the ground and excited states. This novel mechanism may suggest a conceptually new paradigm to explore an even larger optical nonlinearity.