Kinetics of a Phonon-Mediated Laser-Driven Structural Phase Transition in Sn₂P₂Se₆

• Main Authors: 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
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: structural dynamics; time-resolved diffraction; ferroelectricity; incommensurate structure; phase transition
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/3/525
• ISSN: 2076-3417

We investigate the structural dynamics of the incommensurately modulated phase of Sn<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mn>2</mn> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>P<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mn>2</mn> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula>Se<inline-formula> <math display="inline"> <semantics> <msub> <mrow></mrow> <mn>6</mn> </msub> </semantics> </math> </inline-formula> 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.