2007/09/01 by Matteo Rini, R. Tobey, Nicky Dean +5 · 9 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
paper · doi:10.1038/nature06119
openalex publication_date 2008/06/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24
Controlling a phase of matter by coherently manipulatingspecific vibrational modes has long been an attractive (yet elusive) goalfor ultrafast science. Solids with strongly correlated electrons, inwhich even subtle crystallographic distortions can result in colossalchanges of the electronic and magnetic properties, could be directedbetween competing phases by such selective vibrational excitation. Inthis way, the dynamics of the electronic ground state of the systembecome accessible, and new insight into the underlying physics might begained. Here we report the ultrafast switching of the electronic phase ofa magnetoresistive manganite via direct excitation of a phonon mode at 71meV (17 THz). A prompt, five-order-of-magnitude drop in resistivity isobserved, associated with a non-equilibrium transition from the stableinsulating phase to a metastable metallic phase. In contrast withlight-induced, and current-driven phase transitions, the vibrationallydriven bandgap collapse observed here is not related to hot-carrierinjection and is uniquely attributed to a large-amplitude Mn-Odistortion. This corresponds to a perturbation of theperovskite-structure tolerance factor, which in turn controls theelectronic bandwidth via inter-site orbital overlap. Phase control bycoherent manipulation of selected metal--oxygen phonons should findextensive application in other complex solids--notably in copper oxidesuperconductors, in which the role of Cu-O vibrations on the electronicproperties is currently controversial.