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

Junjie Li; Kai Sun; Jun Le; Qingping Meng; Xuewen Fu; Wei Guo Yin; Deyu Lu; Yan Li; Marcus Babzien; Mikhail Fedurin; Christina Swinson; Robert Malone; Mark Palmer; Leanne Mathurin; Ryan Mason; Jingyi Chen; Robert M. Konik; Robert J. Cava; Yimei Zhu; Jing Tao

doi:10.1063/1.5032132

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

Junjie Li, Kai Sun, Jun Le, Qingping Meng, Xuewen Fu, Wei Guo Yin, Deyu Lu, Yan Li, Marcus Babzien, Mikhail Fedurin, Christina Swinson, Robert Malone, Mark Palmer, Leanne Mathurin, Ryan Mason, Jingyi Chen, Robert M. Konik, Robert J. Cava, Yimei Zhu, Jing Tao

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Abstract

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, 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. This mechanism advances the understanding from previous results, where the focus was solely on dynamic observations of the lattice expansion.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	041904
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	113
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5032132
State	Published - Jul 23 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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10.1063/1.5032132

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Li, J., Sun, K., Le, J., Meng, Q., Fu, X., Yin, W. G., Lu, D., Li, Y., Babzien, M., Fedurin, M., Swinson, C., Malone, R., Palmer, M., Mathurin, L., Mason, R., Chen, J., Konik, R. M., Cava, R. J., Zhu, Y., & Tao, J. (2018). Probing the pathway of an ultrafast structural phase transition to illuminate the transition mechanism in Cu₂S. Applied Physics Letters, 113(4), [041904]. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5032132

@article{2dd1e23f035b4d8d9b59d823d5691cef,

title = "Probing the pathway of an ultrafast structural phase transition to illuminate the transition mechanism in Cu2S",

abstract = "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, 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. This mechanism advances the understanding from previous results, where the focus was solely on dynamic observations of the lattice expansion.",

author = "Junjie Li and Kai Sun and Jun Le and Qingping Meng and Xuewen Fu and Yin, {Wei Guo} and Deyu Lu and Yan Li and Marcus Babzien and Mikhail Fedurin and Christina Swinson and Robert Malone and Mark Palmer and Leanne Mathurin and Ryan Mason and Jingyi Chen and Konik, {Robert M.} and Cava, {Robert J.} and Yimei Zhu and Jing Tao",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Dr. Lijun Wu and Tatiana Konstantinova for their discussion of the work. The research was sponsored by DOE-BES Early Career Award Program, by DOE-BES and by DOE-HEP Accelerator Stewardship Program under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. The work at the University of Michigan was supported by NSF-EFMA-1741618 and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. D.L. was supported by the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, which is a U.S. DOE Office of Science Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory. J.C., L.M., and R.M. were supported in part by the University of Arkansas and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Center for Advanced Surface Engineering under Grant No. OIA-1457888 and the Arkansas EPSCoR Program, ASSET III to J.C. The work at Princeton was supported by Department of Energy, Division of Basic Energy Sciences, Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER45706. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Author(s).",

year = "2018",

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doi = "10.1063/1.5032132",

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Li, J, Sun, K, Le, J, Meng, Q, Fu, X, Yin, WG, Lu, D, Li, Y, Babzien, M, Fedurin, M, Swinson, C, Malone, R, Palmer, M, Mathurin, L, Mason, R, Chen, J, Konik, RM, Cava, RJ, Zhu, Y & Tao, J 2018, 'Probing the pathway of an ultrafast structural phase transition to illuminate the transition mechanism in Cu₂S', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 113, no. 4, 041904. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5032132

TY - JOUR

T1 - Probing the pathway of an ultrafast structural phase transition to illuminate the transition mechanism in Cu2S

AU - Li, Junjie

AU - Sun, Kai

AU - Le, Jun

AU - Meng, Qingping

AU - Fu, Xuewen

AU - Yin, Wei Guo

AU - Lu, Deyu

AU - Li, Yan

AU - Babzien, Marcus

AU - Fedurin, Mikhail

AU - Swinson, Christina

AU - Malone, Robert

AU - Palmer, Mark

AU - Mathurin, Leanne

AU - Mason, Ryan

AU - Chen, Jingyi

AU - Konik, Robert M.

AU - Cava, Robert J.

AU - Zhu, Yimei

AU - Tao, Jing

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Dr. Lijun Wu and Tatiana Konstantinova for their discussion of the work. The research was sponsored by DOE-BES Early Career Award Program, by DOE-BES and by DOE-HEP Accelerator Stewardship Program under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. The work at the University of Michigan was supported by NSF-EFMA-1741618 and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. D.L. was supported by the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, which is a U.S. DOE Office of Science Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory. J.C., L.M., and R.M. were supported in part by the University of Arkansas and the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Center for Advanced Surface Engineering under Grant No. OIA-1457888 and the Arkansas EPSCoR Program, ASSET III to J.C. The work at Princeton was supported by Department of Energy, Division of Basic Energy Sciences, Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER45706. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Author(s).

PY - 2018/7/23

Y1 - 2018/7/23

N2 - 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, 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. This mechanism advances the understanding from previous results, where the focus was solely on dynamic observations of the lattice expansion.

AB - 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, 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. This mechanism advances the understanding from previous results, where the focus was solely on dynamic observations of the lattice expansion.

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U2 - 10.1063/1.5032132

DO - 10.1063/1.5032132

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85050765844

SN - 0003-6951

VL - 113

JO - Applied Physics Letters

JF - Applied Physics Letters

IS - 4

M1 - 041904

ER -

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

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