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Title: Single-Laser-Pulse-Driven Thermal Limit of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Magnetic Ordering in Sr 2 IrO 4

Abstract

Upon femtosecond-laser stimulation, generally materials are expected to recover back to their thermal- equilibrium conditions, with only a few exceptions reported. Here, we demonstrate that deviation from the thermal-equilibrium pathway can be induced in canonical 3D antiferromagnetically (AFM) ordered Sr2IrO4 by a single 100-fs-laser pulse, appearing as losing long-range magnetic correlation along one direction into a glassy condition. We further discover a "critical-threshold ordering"behavior for fluence above approximately 12 mJ/cm2, which we show corresponds to the smallest thermodynamically stable c-axis correlation length needed to maintain long-range quasi-two-dimensional AFM order. We suggest that this behavior arises from the crystalline anisotropy of the magnetic-exchange parameters in Sr2IrO4, whose strengths are associated with distinctly different timescales. As a result, they play out very differently in the ultrafast recovery processes, compared with the thermal-equilibrium evolution. Thus, our observations are expected to be relevant to a wide range of problems in the nonequilibrium behavior of low-dimensional magnets and other related ordering phenomena.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1828818
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1832768; OSTI ID: 1839687
Report Number(s):
BNL-222431-2021-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 2160-3308; PRXHAE; 041023
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357; SC0012704
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review. X
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review. X Journal Volume: 11 Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2160-3308
Publisher:
American Physical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; demagnetization; photoinduced effect; ultrafast magnetic effects

Citation Formats

Wang, R., Sun, J., Meyers, D., Lin, J. Q., Yang, J., Li, G., Ding, H., DiChiara, Anthony D., Cao, Y., Liu, J., Dean, M. P. M., Wen, Haidan, and Liu, X. Single-Laser-Pulse-Driven Thermal Limit of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Magnetic Ordering in Sr 2 IrO 4. United States: N. p., 2021. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041023.
Wang, R., Sun, J., Meyers, D., Lin, J. Q., Yang, J., Li, G., Ding, H., DiChiara, Anthony D., Cao, Y., Liu, J., Dean, M. P. M., Wen, Haidan, & Liu, X. Single-Laser-Pulse-Driven Thermal Limit of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Magnetic Ordering in Sr 2 IrO 4. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041023
Wang, R., Sun, J., Meyers, D., Lin, J. Q., Yang, J., Li, G., Ding, H., DiChiara, Anthony D., Cao, Y., Liu, J., Dean, M. P. M., Wen, Haidan, and Liu, X. Tue . "Single-Laser-Pulse-Driven Thermal Limit of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Magnetic Ordering in Sr 2 IrO 4". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041023.
@article{osti_1828818,
title = {Single-Laser-Pulse-Driven Thermal Limit of the Quasi-Two-Dimensional Magnetic Ordering in Sr 2 IrO 4},
author = {Wang, R. and Sun, J. and Meyers, D. and Lin, J. Q. and Yang, J. and Li, G. and Ding, H. and DiChiara, Anthony D. and Cao, Y. and Liu, J. and Dean, M. P. M. and Wen, Haidan and Liu, X.},
abstractNote = {Upon femtosecond-laser stimulation, generally materials are expected to recover back to their thermal- equilibrium conditions, with only a few exceptions reported. Here, we demonstrate that deviation from the thermal-equilibrium pathway can be induced in canonical 3D antiferromagnetically (AFM) ordered Sr2IrO4 by a single 100-fs-laser pulse, appearing as losing long-range magnetic correlation along one direction into a glassy condition. We further discover a "critical-threshold ordering"behavior for fluence above approximately 12 mJ/cm2, which we show corresponds to the smallest thermodynamically stable c-axis correlation length needed to maintain long-range quasi-two-dimensional AFM order. We suggest that this behavior arises from the crystalline anisotropy of the magnetic-exchange parameters in Sr2IrO4, whose strengths are associated with distinctly different timescales. As a result, they play out very differently in the ultrafast recovery processes, compared with the thermal-equilibrium evolution. Thus, our observations are expected to be relevant to a wide range of problems in the nonequilibrium behavior of low-dimensional magnets and other related ordering phenomena.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041023},
journal = {Physical Review. X},
number = 4,
volume = 11,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Nov 02 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Tue Nov 02 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}

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