Non-thermal electrons open the non-equilibrium pathway of the phase transition in FeRh

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216305%3A26620%2F26%3A0198134" target="_blank" >RIV/00216305:26620/26:0198134 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-025-02066-5" target="_blank" >https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-025-02066-5</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02066-5" target="_blank" >10.1038/s42005-025-02066-5</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Non-thermal electrons open the non-equilibrium pathway of the phase transition in FeRh

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

The optical excitation of metals initially creates short-lived non-Fermi distributions of the electrons. The electrons and holes excited far above and below the Fermi level quickly relax to hot Fermi-distributions that subsequently cool via electron-phonon scattering. Here, we show that such non-thermal charge carriers beyond the Fermi-distribution speed up the prototypical first-order antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition in FeRh. In ultrafast x-ray diffraction experiments, we vary the maximum electron temperature by increasing the pump pulse duration up to 10 ps. For direct optical excitation of FeRh, ferromagnetic domains nucleate within 8 ps as soon as the successively deposited energy surpasses the site-specific threshold energy. In contrast, suppressing the direct optical excitation by an optically opaque Pt layer leads to a nucleation on a 50 ps timescale driven by the near-equilibrium heat transport. These findings unambiguously identify the photo-excitation of non-thermal electrons and not electron-phonon non-equilibria to enable the rapid phase transition in FeRh.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Non-thermal electrons open the non-equilibrium pathway of the phase transition in FeRh

Popis výsledku anglicky

The optical excitation of metals initially creates short-lived non-Fermi distributions of the electrons. The electrons and holes excited far above and below the Fermi level quickly relax to hot Fermi-distributions that subsequently cool via electron-phonon scattering. Here, we show that such non-thermal charge carriers beyond the Fermi-distribution speed up the prototypical first-order antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition in FeRh. In ultrafast x-ray diffraction experiments, we vary the maximum electron temperature by increasing the pump pulse duration up to 10 ps. For direct optical excitation of FeRh, ferromagnetic domains nucleate within 8 ps as soon as the successively deposited energy surpasses the site-specific threshold energy. In contrast, suppressing the direct optical excitation by an optically opaque Pt layer leads to a nucleation on a 50 ps timescale driven by the near-equilibrium heat transport. These findings unambiguously identify the photo-excitation of non-thermal electrons and not electron-phonon non-equilibria to enable the rapid phase transition in FeRh.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10300 - Physical sciences

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

—

Rok uplatnění

2025

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Communications Physics

ISSN

—

e-ISSN

2399-3650

Svazek periodika

8

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

1

Stát vydavatele periodika

GB - Spojené království Velké Británie a Severního Irska

Počet stran výsledku

9

Strana od-do

—

Kód UT WoS článku

001462015300001

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-105002742414