Prof.dr. Hermann A. Durr : How fast can an insulator become a metal?

ABSTRACT

One of the great drivers for understanding the spectacular, yet complex properties of strongly correlated electron materials is the desire to ultimately transcend the use of semiconductor electronics. The need to establish speed limits for electronic switching is clearly important for technology. However, it also serves fundamental science: it enables us to disentangle competing interactions in the time domain. In this talk I will focus on the prototypical insulator-to-metal transitions in magnetite (Fe3O4) and vanadium dioxide (VO₂). A combination of fs optical spectroscopy and fs x-ray diffraction at the Linac Coherent Light Source can be used to unravel their mechanism by separating electron and lattice dynamics. I will also show how intense THz pulses will ultimately allow us to address the feasibility of future oxide based electronics devices.