Article

Abstract

• Strongly driven antiferromagnetic Mott insulators have the potential to exhibit exotic tran- sient phenomena that are forbidden in thermal equilibrium. However, such far-from- equilibrium regimes, where conventional time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau descriptions fail, are experimentally challenging to prepare and to probe especially in solid state systems. Here we use a combination of time-resolved second harmonic optical polarimetry and coherent magnon spectroscopy to interrogate n-type photo-doping induced ultrafast magnetic order parameter dynamics in the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator Sr2IrO4. We find signatures of an unusual far-from-equilibrium critical regime in which the divergences of the magnetic correlation length and relaxation time are decoupled. This violation of conventional thermal critical behavior arises from the interplay of photo-doping and non-thermal magnon popu- lation induced demagnetization effects. Our findings, embodied in a non-equilibrium phase diagram, provide a blueprint for engineering the out-of-equilibrium properties of quantum matter, with potential applications to terahertz spintronics technologies.

Creator

• Harter, John W.
• Cao, Gang
• Buchhold, Michael
• Laurita, Nicholas J.
• Chen, Xiang
• Averitt, Richard D.
• Baum, Yuval
• Zhang, Gufeng
• Wilson, Stephen D.
• Zhao, Liuyan
• Seyler, Kyle L.
• de la Torre,Alberto
• Refael, Gil
• Phinney, Isabelle
• Hsieh, David

Date Issued

• 2022

Academic Affiliation

• Physics

Journal Title

• Communications Physics Journal

Journal Issue/Number

• 1

Journal Volume

• 5

Last Modified

• 2024-12-23

Resource Type

• Article

Rights Statement

• In Copyright

DOI

•  https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-022-00813-6

ISSN

• 2399-3650

Language

• English [eng]

License

• Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 International

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