Speed limit of the insulator-metal transition in magnetite
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| Publication date | 2013 |
| Journal | Nature Materials |
| Volume | Issue number | 12 |
| Pages (from-to) | 882-886 |
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| Abstract |
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 shown1, 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 inaccessible2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Recently, three-Fe-site lattice distortions called trimerons were identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase9. 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 electronics10.
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| Document type | Article |
| Language | English |
| Published at | https://doi.org/10.1038/NMAT3718 |
| Published at | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat3718 |
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