Ultrafast Dynamics in Quantum Solids

Prof. Dr. Simon Wall

Activities:

Ultrafast Dynamics of Quantum Solids (UDQS) investigates the properties of materials, such as high temperature superconductors, through their non-equilibrium electron, lattice and spin dynamics on femtosecond timescales (1x10^-15s) and nanoscale length scales (1x10^-9m). To do this we combine cutting edge optical experiments based at ICFO with X-ray techniques performed at scientific facilities around the world.

Research Topics:
• Phonons In Quantum Materials
• Spins In Quantum Materials
• Nanoscale X-ray Holographic Imaging

Collaborations:

Links:
• Group Homepage

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Ultrafast Dynamics in Quantum Solids

Prof. Dr. Simon Wall

Group Leader
• Prof. Dr. Simon Wall

Postdoctoral Researchers
• Dr. Allan Johnson
• Dr. Ernest Pastor

Research Engineers
• Dr. Luciana Vidas

PhD Students
• Emmanuel Amuah
• Hamidreza Fayaz Movahed
• Nina Fleischmann
• David Moreno Mencía
• Daniel Pérez Salinas

Undergrad & Postgrad Students
• Jordi Valls Conesa

ICFO Summer Fellows
• Simon Cichy

Former Group Members
• Elías Martínez, Postdoctoral researcher
• Timothy Alan Miller, Postdoctoral researcher
• Graciana Puentes, Research fellow
• Alberto Ramos, Postdoctoral researcher
• Vera Giulia Sala, Postdoctoral researcher
• Daniel Schick, Visiting scientist
• Luciana Vidas, PhD student
• Daniel Wegkamp, Postdoctoral researcher

Ultrafast Dynamics in Quantum Solids

Prof. Dr. Simon Wall

Regular Papers
• Ultrafast dynamics of spin and orbital correlations in quantum materials: an energy- and momentum-resolved perspective Y. Cao, D. G. Mazzone, D. Meyers, J. P. Hill, X. Liu, S. Wall, M. P. M. Dean Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 377, 20170480 (2019)
• Attosecond soft X-ray high harmonic generation A. S. Johnson, T. Avni, E. W. Larsen, D. R. Austin, J. P. Marangos Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 377, 20170468 (2019)
• Ultrafast disordering of vanadium dimers in photoexcited VO₂ S. Wall, S. Yang, L. Vidas, M. Chollet, J. M. Glownia, M. Kozina, T. Katayama, T. Henighan, M. Jiang, T. A. Miller, D. A. Reis, L. A. Boatner, O. Delaire, M. Trigo Science 362, 572-576 (2018)
• Imaging nanometer phase coexistence at defects during the insulator-metal phase transformation in VO₂ thin films by resonant soft X-Ray hol L. Vidas, C. Guenther, T. Miller, B. Pfau, D. Perez, E. Martinez, M. Schneider, E. Guehrs, R. E. Marvel, K. Hallman, R. F. Haglund, S. Eisebitt, S. Wall Nano Lett. 18, 3449-3453 (2018)
• Light control of orbital domains: case of the prototypical manganite La_0.5Sr_1.5MnO₄ T. Miller, M. Gensch, S. Wall Phys. Scripta 91, 124002 (2016)
• Resonant optical control of the structural distortions that drive ultrafast demagnetization in Cr₂O₃ V. G. Sala, S. Dal Conte, T. A. Miller, D. Viola, E. Luppi, V. Véniard, G. Cerullo, S. Wall Phys. Rev. B 94, 014430 (2016)
• Ultrafast optical response of the amorphous and crystalline states of the phase change material Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ T. A. Miller, M. Rudé, V. Pruneri, S. Wall Phys. Rev. B 94, 024301 (2016)
• Strain-engineered diffusive atomic switching in two-dimensional crystals J. Kalikka, X. Zhou, E. Dilcher, S. Wall, J. Li, R E. Simpson Nature Commun. 7, 11983 (2016)
• Ultrafast energy- and momentum-resolved dynamics of magnetic correlations in the photo-doped Mott insulator Sr₂IrO₄ M. P. M. Dean, Y. Cao, X. Liu, S. Wall, D. Zhu, R. Mankowsky, V. Thampy, X. M. Chen, J. G. Vale, D. Casa, J. Kim, A. H. Said, P. Juhas, R. Alonso-Mori, J. M. Glownia, A. Robert, J. Robinson, M. Sikorski, S. Song, M. Kozina,
  H. Lemke, L. Patthey, S. Owada, T. Katayama, M. Yabashi, Y. Tanaka, T. Togashi, J. Liu, C. Rayan Serrao, B. J. Kim, L. Huber, C.-L. Chang, D. F. McMorrow, M. F�rst, J. P. Hill Nature Mater. 15, 601-605 (2016)
• Ultrafast and broadband tuning of resonant optical nanostructures using phase-change materials M. Rudé, V. Mkhitaryan, A. E. Cetin, T. A. Miller, A. Carrilero, S. Wall, F. J. Garcia de Abajo, H. Altug, V. Pruneri Adv. Opt. Mater. 4, 1060-1066 (2016)
• High-field high-repetition-rate sources for the coherent THz control of matter B. Green [et al.] Sci. Rep. 6, 22256 (2016)
• Sub-nanometre resolution of atomic motion during electronic excitation in phase-change materials K. V. Mitrofanov, P. Fons, K. Makino, R. Terashima, T. Shimada, A. V. Kolobov, J. Tominaga, V. Bragaglia,
  A. Giussani, R. Calarco, H. Riechert, T. Sato, T. Katayama, K. Ogawa, T. Togashi, M. Yabashi, S. Wall,
  D. Brewe, M. Hase Sci. Rep. 6, 20633 (2016)
• Terahertz field control of in-plane orbital order in La_0.5Sr_1.5MnO₄ T. A. Miller, R. W. Chhajlany, L. Tagliacozzo, B. Green, S. Kovalev, D. Prabhakaran, M. Lewenstein,
  M. Gensch, S. Wall Nature Commun. 6, 8175 (2015)
• Time-domain separation of optical properties from structural transitions in resonantly bonded materials L. Waldecker, T. A. Miller, M. Rudé, R. Bertoni, J. Osmond, V. Pruneri, R. E. Simpson, R. Ernstorfer, S. Wall Nature Mater. 14, 991-995 (2015)
• Witnessing the formation and relaxation of dressed quasi-particles in a strongly correlated electron system F. Novelli, G. De Filippis, V. Cataudella, M. Esposito, I. Vergara, F. Cilento, E. Sindici, A. Amaricci, C. Giannetti,
  D. Prabhakaran, S. Wall, A. Perucchi, S. Dal Conte, G. Cerullo, M. Capone, A. Mishchenko, M. Grüninger,
  N. Nagaosa, F. Parmigiani, D. Fausti Nature Commun. 5, 5112 (2014)
• Entanglement engineering and topological protection by discrete-time quantum walks S. Moulieras, M. Lewenstein, G. Puentes J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 46, 104005 (2013) Highlighted in J. Phys. B Labtalk
• Tracking the evolution of electronic and structural properties of vanadium dioxide during the ultrafast photoinduced insulator-metal transition S. Wall, L. Foglia, D. Wegkamp, K. Appavoo, J. Nag, R. F. Haglund, Jr., J. Stähler, M. Wolf Phys. Rev. B 87, 115126 (2013)

Articles in Magazines
• Recent developments in ultrafast X-ray techniques for materials science applications S. Wall, M. Trigo Synchrotron Radiat. News 29, 13-18 (2016)

PhD Theses
• The insulator-metal phase transition in VO₂ measured at nanometer length scales and femtosecond time scales L. Vidas

Ultrafast Dynamics in Quantum Solids

Prof. Dr. Simon Wall

• 2019-07-02 New Tenured Group Leader Prof. Simon Wall awarded tenure at ICFO.
• 2019-05-02 Congratulations to New ICFO PhD graduate Dr. Luciana Vidas graduated with a thesis entitled “The Insulator-Metal Phase Transition in VO2 Measured at Nanometer Length Scales and Femtosecond Time Scales”
• 2018-11-05 Disorder plays a key role in phase transitions of materials Study published in Science provides a new perspective on how to control matter.
• 2018-05-25 Insulator-metal transition at the nanoscale An international team of researchers is able to probe the insulator-conductor phase transition of materials at the nanoscale resolution.
• 2017-09-06 ERC Starting Grant Awarded to Prof Simon Wall Starting Grant funding supports young researchers to establish themselves as independent research leaders.
• 2016-06-22 Engineering 2D materials A team of researchers has been able to engineer the strain in 2D materials to manipulate their function as well as their electronic and optical properties.
• 2016-05-09 Watching nano-scale magnetic spin waves An international team of researchers is able to reveal the dynamics of atomic spins using ultra-fast X-ray lasers.
• 2015-09-18 Controlling material properties THz pulses reveal driving force for orbital order in correlated solids.
• 2015-07-28 Controlling Phase Changes in solids A recent study demonstrates the rapid control of phase-changes in resonantly bonded materials
• 2014-10-13 The elusive physics of high temperature superconductors Witnessing the formation and relaxation of dressed quasi-particles in a strongly correlated electron system.
• 2012-09-10 New Junior Group Leader ICFO is happy to announce the arrival of new Nest Fellow, Dr. Simon Wall.