Multiple Supersonic Phase Fronts Launched at a Complex-Oxide Heterointerface
M Först (Center for Free Electron Laser Science)
K. R. Beyerlein (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY)
R Mankowsky (Center for Free Electron Laser Science)
W Hu (TU Delft - ImPhys/Optics)
G. Mattoni (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QN/Caviglia Lab)
S. Catalano (Université de Genève)
M. Gibert (Université de Genève)
O. Yefanov (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY)
J. N. Clark (Stanford Synchrotron Laboratory)
A. Frano (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
J. M. Glownia (Stanford Synchrotron Laboratory)
M. Chollet (Stanford Synchrotron Laboratory)
HU Lemke (Paul Scherrer Institut)
B. Moser (Diamond Light Source)
SH Collins (Diamond Light Source)
SS Dhesi (Diamond Light Source)
A. Caviglia (Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QN/Caviglia Lab)
J. M. Triscone (Université de Genève)
A Cavalleri (University of Oxford)
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Abstract
Selective optical excitation of a substrate lattice can drive phase changes across heterointerfaces. This phenomenon is a nonequilibrium analogue of static strain control in heterostructures and may lead to new applications in optically controlled phase change devices. Here, we make use of time-resolved nonresonant and resonant x-ray diffraction to clarify the underlying physics and to separate different microscopic degrees of freedom in space and time. We measure the dynamics of the lattice and that of the charge disproportionation in NdNiO3, when an insulator-metal transition is driven by coherent lattice distortions in the LaAlO3 substrate. We find that charge redistribution propagates at supersonic speeds from the interface into the NdNiO3 film, followed by a sonic lattice wave. When combined with measurements of magnetic disordering and of the metal-insulator transition, these results establish a hierarchy of events for ultrafast control at complex-oxide heterointerfaces.