Ultrafast orbital manipulation and Mott physics in multi-band correlated materials

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in ultrafast light pulse techniques to manipulate orbital polarization in multiorbital correlated materials, revealing new transient states and deepening understanding of complex quantum phases.

Contribution

It introduces novel methods for controlling orbital polarization in multi-band systems, enabling exploration of transient properties and phase manipulation.

Findings

Discovery of high-energy Mottness in cuprates

Instability of Mott insulators under photoexcitation

Manipulation of orbital correlations in iron-based superconductors

Abstract

Multiorbital correlated materials are often on the verge of multiple electronic phases (metallic, insulating, super- conducting, charge and orbitally ordered), which can be explored and controlled by small changes of the external parameters. The use of ultrashort light pulses as a mean to transiently modify the band population is leading to fundamentally new results. In this paper we will review recent advances in the field and we will discuss the pos- sibility of manipulating the orbital polarization in correlated multi-band solid state systems. This technique can provide new understanding of the ground state properties of many interesting classes of quantum materials and offers a new tool to induce transient emergent properties with no counterpart at equilibrium. We will address: the discovery of high-energy Mottness in superconducting copper oxides and its impact on our understanding of the cuprate phase diagram; the instability of the Mott insulating phase in photoexcited vanadium oxides; the manipulation of orbital-selective correlations in iron-based superconductors; the pumping of local electronic excitons and the consequent transient effective quasiparticle cooling in alkali-doped fullerides. Finally, we will discuss a novel route to manipulate the orbital polarization in a a k-resolved fashion.