Ultrafast Formation of Jahn–Teller Polarons Revealed by State-Selective Excitation in Correlated Spinel Co <sub>3</sub> O <sub>4</sub>
using ultrafast optical pulses, while monitoring the ensuing low-energy collective modes through the coherent time-domain response of the material. Our approach, which combines the comparative analysis of experimental fingerprints with the support from density functional theory calculations, is broadly applicable to systems in which Jahn-Teller polaron physics has been theoretically predicted but remains experimentally unverified, and it underscores the potential of electronic-state targeting as a route to selectively excite and probe quasiparticle dynamics in solids.
Authors
- Andrzej Ptok (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5566-2656)
- Francesco Barantani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2053-1365)
- Pietro Galinetto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2604-4039)
- Nicola Colonna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6106-6316)
- Daniele Pergolesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6231-0237)
- Jérémy R. Rouxel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3438-6370)
- Michele Puppin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1328-7165)
- Natacha Ohannessian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3071-3373)
- Oliviero Cannelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1844-4799)
- Gregory A. Fiete (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9477-0804)
- J. Teyssier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7590-2987)
- Carmelo Grova
- Camila Bacellar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2166-241X)
- Simone Restelli
- Paolo Usai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6961-9600)
- Edoardo Baldini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8131-9974)
- Oleg Dogadov
- Przemysław Piekarz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6339-2986)
- Malte Oppermann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3257-686X)
- Francesco Pennacchio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4967-7242)
- Ludmila Diniz Leroy
- Yue Meng
- Majed Chergui
- Mounir Mensi
- Swati Chaudhary
Institutions
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- University of Basel (CH)
- University of Pavia (IT)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A. (IT)
- Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
- Institute of Spectroscopy (RU)
- X-ray Instrumentation Associates (United States) (US)
- NIST Center for Neutron Research (US)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Universidad del Noreste (MX)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c23346
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic properties of thin films
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- W. M. Keck Foundation
- Laserlab-Europe
- European Commission
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Fondazione Cariplo
- Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
- Division of Materials Research
- Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division
- Army Research Office
- HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council