Transient energy dissipation at the Fermi velocity in a magnetocaloric metal

Realizing fast energy dissipation in crystalline materials over macroscopic length scales is critical for energy-efficient devices and applications toward a carbon-neutral society but is usually dominated by electron-lattice interactions that cap the energy dissipation at the phonon velocity. Going beyond this velocity has been the focus of many studies, and the physical limit is the Fermi velocity where the energy is predominantly carried away by electrons throughout the materials. However, whether and how the Fermi velocity can be reached over macroscopic distances experimentally remain largely elusive. Here we show ultrafast energy dissipation at the Fermi velocity in the magnetocaloric metal ${\mathrm{LaFe}}_{10.6}{\mathrm{Co}}_{1.0}{\mathrm{Si}}_{1.4}$. Using time-resolved powder x-ray diffraction, we observe negative thermal expansion of the lattice throughout the micron-sized crystals in less than 600 fs with an incident optical fluence higher than 8 $\mathrm{J}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. The ultrafast timescale is in sharp contrast to the normal energy dissipation and shows the existence of a macroscopic momentum-relaxing electron mean free path immediately after the optical excitation. Our findings open a different regime in energy dissipation and demonstrate the possibility of manipulating macroscopic material properties by strong optical pulses.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Published
2024-10-31
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.110.134323
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.12

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article

Transient energy dissipation at the Fermi velocity in a magnetocaloric metal

Zhigao Sheng, Osami Sakata, Fengxia Hu, Yue Cao et al.
1 citations
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
0.12
article

Transient energy dissipation at the Fermi velocity in a magnetocaloric metal

Zhigao Sheng, Osami Sakata, Fengxia Hu, Yue Cao, Baogen Shen, Katherine Harmon, Tao Sun, Kensuke Tono, Michael J. Bedzyk, Shigeki Owada, Michihiro Sugahara, Yanna Chen, Zhao Zhang, Zhe Zhang, Bing Li, Zhidong Zhang, Chunlin Chen, Houbo Zhou, Xuexi Yan
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Realizing fast energy dissipation in crystalline materials over macroscopic length scales is critical for energy-efficient devices and applications toward a carbon-neutral society but is usually dominated by electron-lattice interactions that cap the energy dissipation at the phonon velocity. Going beyond this velocity has been the focus of many studies, and the physical limit is the Fermi velocity where the energy is predominantly carried away by electrons throughout the materials. However, whether and how the Fermi velocity can be reached over macroscopic distances experimentally remain largely elusive. Here we show ultrafast energy dissipation at the Fermi velocity in the magnetocaloric metal ${\mathrm{LaFe}}_{10.6}{\mathrm{Co}}_{1.0}{\mathrm{Si}}_{1.4}$. Using time-resolved powder x-ray diffraction, we observe negative thermal expansion of the lattice throughout the micron-sized crystals in less than 600 fs with an incident optical fluence higher than 8 $\mathrm{J}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. The ultrafast timescale is in sharp contrast to the normal energy dissipation and shows the existence of a macroscopic momentum-relaxing electron mean free path immediately after the optical excitation. Our findings open a different regime in energy dissipation and demonstrate the possibility of manipulating macroscopic material properties by strong optical pulses.

Physical review. B./Physical review. BVol. 110(13)
Northwestern University (US), University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Argonne National Laboratory (US), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), National Institute for Materials Science (JP), University of Chicago (US), High Magnetic Field Laboratory (CN), SPring-8 (JP), Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JP), FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ), Institute of Physics (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology (CN), State Key Laboratory of Magnetism
U.S. Department of Energy, Northwestern University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Office of Science, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 65%
Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
0.12
DOISourceOpenAlex
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