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1 PublicationPhotoinduced Melting of Antiferromagnetic Order in La0:5Sr1:5MnO4 Measured Using Ultrafast Resonant Soft X-Ray Diffraction
Ehrke, H.; Tobey, R. I.; Wall, S.; Cavill, S. A.; Fo¨Rst, M.; Khanna, V.; Garl, T.; Stojanovic, N.; Prabhakaran, D.; Boothroyd, A. T.; Gensch, M.; Mirone, A.; Reutler, P.; Revcolevschi, A.; Dhesi, S. S.; Cavalleri, A.
Abstract
We used ultrafast resonant soft x-ray diffraction to probe the picosecond dynamics of spin and orbital order in La0:5Sr1:5MnO4 after photoexcitation with a femtosecond pulse of 1.5 eV radiation. Complete melting of antiferromagnetic spin order is evidenced by the disappearance of a (0.25; 0.25; 0.5) diffraction peak. On the other hand, the (0.25; 0.25; 0) diffraction peak, reflecting orbital order, is only partially reduced. We interpret the results as evidence of destabilization in the short-range exchange pattern with no significant relaxation of the long-range Jahn-Teller distortions. Cluster calculations are used to analyze different possible magnetically ordered states in the long-lived metastable phase. Nonthermal coupling between light and magnetism emerges as a primary aspect of photoinduced phase transitions in manganites.
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Physical Review Letters 106(2011), 217401
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.217401
Cited 91 times in Scopus
Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-15703