• DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-15079-1
• Corpus ID: 198953387

Collapse of layer dimerization in the photo-induced hidden state of 1T-TaS2

@article{Stahl2019CollapseOL,
  title={Collapse of layer dimerization in the photo-induced hidden state of 1T-TaS2},
  author={Quirin E. Stahl and Maximilian Kusch and Florian Heinsch and Gast{\'o}n Garbarino and Norman Kretzschmar and Kerstin Hanff and Kai Rossnagel and Jochen Geck and Tobias Kasper Skovborg Ritschel},
  journal={Nature Communications},
  year={2019},
  volume={11}
}

• Q. Stahl, M. Kusch, +6 authors T. Ritschel
• Published 26 July 2019
• Physics
• Nature Communications

Photo-induced switching between collective quantum states of matter is a fascinating rising field with exciting opportunities for novel technologies. Presently, very intensively studied examples in this regard are nanometer-thick single crystals of the layered material 1T-TaS2, where picosecond laser pulses can trigger a fully reversible insulator-to-metal transition (IMT). This IMT is believed to be connected to the switching between metastable collective quantum states, but the microscopic nature of this so-called hidden quantum state remained largely elusive up to now. Here, we characterize the hidden quantum state of 1T-TaS2 by means of state-of-the-art x-ray diffraction and show that the laser-driven IMT involves a marked rearrangement of the charge and orbital order in the direction perpendicular to the TaS2-layers. More specifically, we identify the collapse of interlayer molecular orbital dimers as a key mechanism for this non-thermal collective transition between two truly long-range ordered electronic crystals. The microscopic understanding of photo-induced insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) in 1T-TaS2 remains elusive. Here, Stahl et al. identify the collapse of interlayer molecular orbital dimers during a collective electronic phase transition as a key mechanism for the IMT in 1T-TaS2.