Probing light-driven quantum materials with ultrafast resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

TL;DR

This paper reviews the emerging technique of time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (trRIXS) for studying ultrafast light-driven phenomena in quantum materials, highlighting recent experiments, theoretical progress, and future research directions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in trRIXS and discusses future opportunities for controlling quantum matter with light.

Findings

trRIXS offers unique insights into spin, charge, and orbital dynamics.

Recent experiments demonstrate trRIXS's capability to probe photoexcited states.

Theoretical models are advancing to interpret complex trRIXS data.

Abstract

Ultrafast optical pulses are an increasingly important tool for controlling quantum materials and triggering novel photo-induced phase transitions. Understanding these dynamic phenomena requires a probe sensitive to spin, charge, and orbital degrees of freedom. Time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (trRIXS) is an emerging spectroscopic method, which responds to this need by providing unprecedented access to the finite-momentum fluctuation spectrum of photoexcited solids. In this Perspective, we briefly review state-of-the-art trRIXS experiments on condensed matter systems, as well as recent theoretical advances. We then describe future research opportunities in the context of light control of quantum matter.