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Title: Probing the pathway of an ultrafast structural phase transition to illuminate the transition mechanism in Cu2S

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5032132 · OSTI ID:1473656
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [5];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [6]; ORCiD logo [6];  [1];  [7];  [1];  [1]
  1. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department
  2. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Department of Physics
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials
  4. American Physical Society, Ridge, NY (United States)
  5. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Accelerator Test Facility
  6. Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (United States). Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  7. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Department of Chemistry

Disentangling the primary order parameter from secondary order parameters in phase transitions is critical to the interpretation of transition mechanisms in strongly correlated systems and quantum materials. Here in this work, we present a study of structural phase transition pathways in superionic Cu2S nanocrystals that exhibit intriguing properties. Utilizing ultrafast electron diffraction techniques sensitive to both the momentum-space and the time-domain, we distinguish the dynamics of crystal symmetry breaking and lattice expansion in this system. We are able to follow the transient states along the transition pathway, and so observe the dynamics of both the primary and secondary order parameters. Based on these observations, we argue that the mechanism of structural phase transition in Cu2S is dominated by the electron-phonon coupling. Lastly, this mechanism advances the understanding from previous results, where the focus was solely on dynamic observations of the lattice expansion.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; FG02-98ER45706
OSTI ID:
1473656
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1461568; OSTI ID: 1595079
Report Number(s):
BNL--209066-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 113; ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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