Work

Quenching the electronic order in a strongly-coupled charge-density-wave system by enhanced lattice fluctuations

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Charge-density-wave (CDW) materials having a strong electron-phonon coupling provide a powerful platform for investigating the intricate interplay between lattice fluctuations and a macroscopic quantum order. Here, using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES), we reveal that the CDW gap closure in VTe 2 is dominated by an incoherent process evolving on a sub-picosecond timescale, challenging the conventional view that the gap dynamics is primarily governed by the excitation of the CDW amplitude modes. Our findings, supported by a three-temperature model, show that the CDW gap evolution can be described by considering the population of a subset of strongly-coupled optical phonon modes, which leads to an increase in the lattice fluctuations. This microscopic framework extends beyond VTe 2 , offering a universal perspective for understanding the light-induced phase transition in strongly-coupled CDW systems.

Source: Communications Materials

DOI: 10.1038/s43246-025-00965-2