Publication Date:
2013-09-24
Description:
Nature Materials 12, 882 (2013). doi:10.1038/nmat3718 Authors: S. de Jong, R. Kukreja, C. Trabant, N. Pontius, C. F. Chang, T. Kachel, M. Beye, F. Sorgenfrei, C. H. Back, B. Bräuer, W. F. Schlotter, J. J. Turner, O. Krupin, M. Doehler, D. Zhu, M. A. Hossain, A. O. Scherz, D. Fausti, F. Novelli, M. Esposito, W. S. Lee, Y. D. Chuang, D. H. Lu, R. G. Moore, M. Yi, M. Trigo, P. Kirchmann, L. Pathey, M. S. Golden, M. Buchholz, P. Metcalf, F. Parmigiani, W. Wurth, A. Föhlisch, C. Schüßler-Langeheine & H. A. Dürr As the oldest known magnetic material, magnetite (Fe3O4) has fascinated mankind for millennia. As the first oxide in which a relationship between electrical conductivity and fluctuating/localized electronic order was shown, magnetite represents a model system for understanding correlated oxides in general. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of the insulator–metal, or Verwey, transition has long remained inaccessible. Recently, three-Fe-site lattice distortions called trimerons were identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase. Here we investigate the Verwey transition with pump–probe X-ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, and show how trimerons become mobile across the insulator–metal transition. We find this to be a two-step process. After an initial 300 fs destruction of individual trimerons, phase separation occurs on a 1.5±0.2 ps timescale to yield residual insulating and metallic regions. This work establishes the speed limit for switching in future oxide electronics.
Print ISSN:
1476-1122
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4660
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
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Natural Sciences in General
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Physics
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