Photoinduced phase switching from Mott insulator to metallic state in the quarter-filled Peierls-Hubbard model

Utilizing the exact diagonalization method, we investigate the one-dimensional Peierls-Hubbard model at quarter filling, where it manifests as an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator in units of dimers. By increasing the on-site Coulomb repulsion $U$, we observe a significant suppression of the Drude peak, based on a nonequilibrium linear-response theory capable of capturing the zero-frequency (Drude) weight of the optical conductivity under periodic boundary conditions. However, after the ultrafast photoirradiation of this model with large $U$, we detect a distinct enhancement of the Drude peak, signifying the onset of a photoinduced insulator-metal transition. Comparing these dynamics with the half-filled Hubbard model and a noninteracting spinless half-filled Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model (corresponding to the quarter-filled Peierls-Hubbard model with infinite $U$), we propose a mechanism for the photoinduced metallic state: The empty-occupied and double-occupied dimers serve as the photoinduced charge carriers, akin to the holons and doublons in the Hubbard model.