Applied Sciences (Feb 2019)
Kinetics of a Phonon-Mediated Laser-Driven Structural Phase Transition in Sn<sub>2</sub>P<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>6</sub>
- Martin Kubli,
- Matteo Savoini,
- Elsa Abreu,
- Bulat Burganov,
- Gabriel Lantz,
- Lucas Huber,
- Martin J. Neugebauer,
- Larissa Boie,
- Vincent Esposito,
- Elisabeth M. Bothschafter,
- Sergii Parchenko,
- Sebastian Grübel,
- Michael Porer,
- Jochen Rittmann,
- Paul Beaud,
- Urs Staub,
- Makina Yabashi,
- Yoshikazu Tanaka,
- Tetsuo Katayama,
- Tadashi Togashi,
- Anton A. Kohutych,
- Yulian M. Vysochanskii,
- Steven L. Johnson
Affiliations
- Martin Kubli
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Matteo Savoini
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Elsa Abreu
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Bulat Burganov
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Gabriel Lantz
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Lucas Huber
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Martin J. Neugebauer
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Larissa Boie
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- Vincent Esposito
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Elisabeth M. Bothschafter
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Sergii Parchenko
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Sebastian Grübel
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Michael Porer
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Jochen Rittmann
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Paul Beaud
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Urs Staub
- Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
- Makina Yabashi
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Yoshikazu Tanaka
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Tetsuo Katayama
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Tadashi Togashi
- RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan
- Anton A. Kohutych
- Institute for Physics and Chemistry of Solid State, Uzhgorod National University, 88000 Uzhgorod, Ukraine
- Yulian M. Vysochanskii
- Institute for Physics and Chemistry of Solid State, Uzhgorod National University, 88000 Uzhgorod, Ukraine
- Steven L. Johnson
- Institute for Quantum Electronics, Physics Departement, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/app9030525
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 9,
no. 3
p. 525
Abstract
We investigate the structural dynamics of the incommensurately modulated phase of Sn 2 P 2 Se 6 by means of time-resolved X-ray diffraction following excitation by an optical pump. Tracking the incommensurable distortion in the time domain enables us to identify the transport effects leading to a complete disappearance of the incommensurate phase over the course of 100 ns. These observations suggest that a thin surface layer of the high-temperature phase forms quickly after photo-excitation and then propagates into the material with a constant velocity of 3.7 m/s. Complementary static structural measurements reveal previously unreported higher-order satellite reflection in the incommensurate phase. These higher-order reflections are attributed to cubic vibrational terms in the Hamiltonian.
Keywords
- structural dynamics
- time-resolved diffraction
- ferroelectricity
- incommensurate structure
- phase transition
