Journal Article

PUBDB-2025-02006

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Observation of polarization density waves in SrTiO$_3$

Orenstein, G. ; Krapivin, V. ; Huang, Y. ; Zhang, Z. ; de la Peña Muñoz, G. ; Duncan, R. A. ; Nguyen, Q. ; Stanton, J. ; Teitelbaum, S. ; Yavas, H. ; Sato, T. ; Hoffmann, M. C.DESY* ; Kramer, P. ; Zhang, J. ; Cavalleri, A. ; Comin, R. ; Dean, M. P. M. ; Disa, A. S. ; Först, M. ; Johnson, S. L. ; Mitrano, M. ; Rappe, A. M. ; Reis, D. A.Extern*XFEL.EU* ; Zhu, D. ; Nelson, K. A. ; Trigo, M. (Corresponding author)Extern*XFEL.EU*

2025
Nature Publishing Group Basingstoke

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02874-0

Abstract: The nature of the incipient ferroelectric transition in SrTiO$_3$ has been a long-standing puzzle in condensed matter physics. One explanation involves the competition between ferroelectricity and an instability characterized by the mesoscopic modulation of the polarization. These polarization density waves, which should intensify near the quantum critical point, break local inversion symmetry and are difficult to characterize with conventional X-ray scattering methods. Here we probe inversion symmetry breaking at finite momenta and visualize the instability of the polarization at the nanometre scale in SrTiO$_3$ by combining a femtosecond X-ray free-electron laser with terahertz coherent control methods. We found polar-acoustic collective modes that are soft, particularly at the tens of nanometre scale. These precursor collective excitations provide evidence for the conjectured mesoscopic-modulated phase in SrTiO$_3$.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. DOOR-User (DOOR ; HAS-User)
2. European XFEL Projekt Team (Eur.XFEL)
3. Forschungsgruppe für strukturelle Dynamik (MPSD)

Research Program(s):

1. 6G13 - Accelerator of European XFEL (POF4-6G13) (POF4-6G13)

Experiment(s):

1. No specific instrument

Appears in the scientific report 2025

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Database coverage:
; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences ; DEAL Nature ; Ebsco Academic Search ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 15 ; JCR ; Nationallizenz ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection

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