TY  - JOUR
A1  - de Jong, S.
A1  - Kukreja, R.
A1  - Trabant, C.
A1  - Pontius, N.
A1  - Chang, C. F.
A1  - Kachel, T.
A1  - Beye, Martin
A1  - Sorgenfrei, Florian
A1  - Back, C. H.
A1  - Braeuer, B.
A1  - Schlotter, W. F.
A1  - Turner, J. J.
A1  - Krupin, O.
A1  - Doehler, M.
A1  - Zhu, D.
A1  - Hossain, M. A.
A1  - Scherz, A. O.
A1  - Fausti, D.
A1  - Novelli, F.
A1  - Esposito, M.
A1  - Lee, W. S.
A1  - Chuang, Y. D.
A1  - Lu, D. H.
A1  - Moore, R. G.
A1  - Yi, M.
A1  - Trigo, M.
A1  - Kirchmann, P.
A1  - Pathey, L.
A1  - Golden, M. S.
A1  - Buchholz, Marcel
A1  - Metcalf, P.
A1  - Parmigiani, F.
A1  - Wurth, W.
A1  - Föhlisch, Alexander
A1  - Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian
A1  - Duerr, H. A.
T1  - Speed limit of the insulator-metal transition in magnetite
JF  - Nature materials
N2  - As the oldest known magnetic material, magnetite (Fe3O4) has fascinated mankind for millennia. As the first oxide in which a relationship between electrical conductivity and fluctuating/localized electronic order was shown(1), magnetite represents a model system for understanding correlated oxides in general. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of the insulator-metal, or Verwey, transition has long remained inaccessible(2-8). Recently, three- Fe- site lattice distortions called trimeronswere identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase(9). Here we investigate the Verwey transition with pump- probe X- ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, and show how trimerons become mobile across the insulator-metal transition. We find this to be a two- step process. After an initial 300 fs destruction of individual trimerons, phase separation occurs on a 1.5 +/- 0.2 ps timescale to yield residual insulating and metallic regions. This work establishes the speed limit for switching in future oxide electronics(10).
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3718
SN  - 1476-1122
SN  - 1476-4660
VL  - 12
IS  - 10
SP  - 882
EP  - 886
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pontius, N.
A1  - Kachel, T.
A1  - Schüssler-Langeheine, C.
A1  - Schlotter, W. F.
A1  - Beye, Martin
A1  - Sorgenfrei, Florian
A1  - Chang, C. F.
A1  - Föhlisch, Alexander
A1  - Wurth, W.
A1  - Metcalf, P.
A1  - Leonov, I.
A1  - Yaresko, A.
A1  - Stojanovic, N.
A1  - Berglund, Martin
A1  - Guerassimova, N.
A1  - Duesterer, S.
A1  - Redlin, H.
A1  - Duerr, H. A.
T1  - Time-resolved resonant soft x-ray diffraction with free-electron lasers  femtosecond dynamics across the Verwey transition in magnetite
JF  - Applied physics letters
N2  - Resonant soft x-ray diffraction (RSXD) with femtosecond (fs) time resolution is a powerful tool for disentangling the interplay between different degrees of freedom in strongly correlated electron materials. It allows addressing the coupling of particular degrees of freedom upon an external selective perturbation, e. g., by an optical or infrared laser pulse. Here, we report a time-resolved RSXD experiment from the prototypical correlated electron material magnetite using soft x-ray pulses from the free-electron laser FLASH in Hamburg. We observe ultrafast melting of the charge-orbital order leading to the formation of a transient phase, which has not been observed in equilibrium.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3584855
SN  - 0003-6951
VL  - 98
IS  - 18
PB  - American Institute of Physics
CY  - Melville
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Eschenlohr, Andrea
A1  - Battiato, M.
A1  - Maldonado, R.
A1  - Pontius, N.
A1  - Kachel, T.
A1  - Holldack, K.
A1  - Mitzner, Rolf
A1  - Föhlisch, Alexander
A1  - Oppeneer, P. M.
A1  - Stamm, C.
T1  - Ultrafast spin transport as key to femtosecond demagnetization
JF  - Nature materials
N2  - Irradiating a ferromagnet with a femtosecond laser pulse is known to induce an ultrafast demagnetization within a few hundred femtoseconds. Here we demonstrate that direct laser irradiation is in fact not essential for ultrafast demagnetization, and that electron cascades caused by hot electron currents accomplish it very efficiently. We optically excite a Au/Ni layered structure in which the 30 nm Au capping layer absorbs the incident laser pump pulse and subsequently use the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism technique to probe the femtosecond demagnetization of the adjacent 15 nm Ni layer. A demagnetization effect corresponding to the scenario in which the laser directly excites the Ni film is observed, but with a slight temporal delay. We explain this unexpected observation by means of the demagnetizing effect of a superdiffusive current of non-equilibrium, non-spin-polarized electrons generated in the Au layer.
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3546
SN  - 1476-1122
VL  - 12
IS  - 4
SP  - 332
EP  - 336
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - GEN
A1  - Eschenlohr, Andrea
A1  - Battiato, Mario
A1  - Maldonado, P.
A1  - Pontius, N.
A1  - Kachel, T.
A1  - Holldack, K.
A1  - Mitzner, Rolf
A1  - Föhlisch, Alexander
A1  - Oppeneer, P. M.
A1  - Stamm, Christian
T1  - Optical excitation of thin magnetic layers in multilayer structures Reply
T2  - Nature materials
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3851
SN  - 1476-1122
SN  - 1476-4660
VL  - 13
IS  - 2
SP  - 102
EP  - 103
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  -