Incoherent topological defect recombination dynamics in TbTe_3

TL;DR

This study investigates the dynamics of topological defect recombination in TbTe_3 during a rapid quench, revealing intrinsic defect annihilation around 30 ps and longer extrinsic defect relaxation timescales using advanced femtosecond spectroscopy.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel 3-pulse femtosecond spectroscopy method to distinguish intrinsic and extrinsic defect dynamics in charge-density-wave systems.

Findings

Intrinsic defect annihilation occurs at approximately 30 ps.

Extrinsic defect relaxation dominates at longer timescales.

The method effectively separates thermal effects from defect dynamics.

Abstract

We study the incoherent recombination of topological defects created during a rapid quench of a charge-density-wave system through the electronic ordering transition. Using a specially devised 3-pulse femtosecond optical spectroscopy technique we follow the evolution of the order parameter over a wide range of timescales. By careful consideration of thermal processes we can clearly identify intrinsic topological defect annihilation processes on a timescale ~30 ps and find a signature of extrinsic defect-dominated relaxation dynamics is found to occurring on longer timescales.