title: Elastically driven cooperative response of a molecular material impacted by a laser pulse.
abstract: Photoinduced phase transformations occur when a laser pulse impacts a material, thereby transforming its electronic and/or structural orders, consequently affecting the functionalities. The transient nature of photoinduced states has thus far severely limited the scope of applications. It is of paramount importance to explore whether structural feedback during the solid deformation has the capacity to amplify and stabilize photoinduced transformations. Contrary to coherent optical phonons, which have long been under scrutiny, coherently propagating cell deformations over acoustic timescales have not been explored to a similar degree, particularly with respect to cooperative elastic interactions. Herein we demonstrate, experimentally and theoretically, a self-amplified responsiveness in a spin-crossover material during its delayed volume expansion. The cooperative response at the material scale prevails above a threshold excitation, significantly extending the lifetime of photoinduced states. Such elastically driven cooperativity triggered by a light pulse offers an efficient route towards the generation and stabilization of photoinduced phases in many volume-changing materials.
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, Institut de Physique de Rennes, UMR UR1-CNRS 6251, F-35000 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bertoni
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, Institut de Physique de Rennes, UMR UR1-CNRS 6251, F-35000 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorenc
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, Institut de Physique de Rennes, UMR UR1-CNRS 6251, F-35000 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cailleau
authors.affiliation: Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tissot
authors.affiliation: Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laisney
authors.affiliation: Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay, Université Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Boillot
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 700506 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Laurentiu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stoleriu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 700506 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Alexandru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stancu
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, 700506 Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Enachescu
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, Institut de Physique de Rennes, UMR UR1-CNRS 6251, F-35000 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Collet