Dokument-ID Dokumenttyp Verfasser/Autoren Herausgeber Haupttitel Abstract Auflage Verlagsort Verlag Erscheinungsjahr Seitenzahl Schriftenreihe Titel Schriftenreihe Bandzahl ISBN Quelle der Hochschulschrift Konferenzname Quelle:Titel Quelle:Jahrgang Quelle:Heftnummer Quelle:Erste Seite Quelle:Letzte Seite URN DOI Abteilungen OPUS4-34709 Wissenschaftlicher Artikel de Jong, S.; Kukreja, R.; Trabant, C.; Pontius, N.; Chang, C. F.; Kachel, T.; Beye, Martin; Sorgenfrei, Florian; Back, C. H.; Braeuer, B.; Schlotter, W. F.; Turner, J. J.; Krupin, O.; Doehler, M.; Zhu, D.; Hossain, M. A.; Scherz, A. O.; Fausti, D.; Novelli, F.; Esposito, M.; Lee, W. S.; Chuang, Y. D.; Lu, D. H.; Moore, R. G.; Yi, M.; Trigo, M.; Kirchmann, P.; Pathey, L.; Golden, M. S.; Buchholz, Marcel; Metcalf, P.; Parmigiani, F.; Wurth, W.; Föhlisch, Alexander; Schuessler-Langeheine, Christian; Duerr, H. A. Speed limit of the insulator-metal transition in magnetite 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). London Nature Publ. Group 2013 5 Nature materials 12 10 882 886 10.1038/NMAT3718 Institut für Physik und Astronomie