Photo-induced insulator-metal transition of a spin-electron coupled system

TL;DR

This paper investigates the photo-induced insulator-metal transition in a spin-electron coupled system using real-time quantum simulations, revealing threshold behaviors, particle-hole pair multiplication, and complex pattern formations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed numerical analysis of the dynamic transition, highlighting the roles of light intensity, energy, and polarization in pattern formation and phase coexistence.

Findings

Threshold behavior with respect to light intensity and energy

Multiplication of high-energy particle-hole pairs

Formation of stripe patterns and coexistence of phases

Abstract

The photo-induced metal-insulator transition is studied by the numerical simulation of real-time quantum dynamics of a double-exchange model. The spatial and temporal evolutions of the system during the transition have been revealed including (i) the threshold behavior with respect to the intensity and energy of light, (ii) multiplication of particle-hole (p-h) pairs by a p-h pair of high energy, and (iii) the space-time pattern formation such as (a) the stripe controlled by the polarization of light, (b) coexistence of metallic and insulating domains, and (c) dynamical spontaneous symmetry-breaking associated with the spin spiral formation imposed by the conservation of total spin for small energy-dissipation rates.