High transmission efficiency of intense sub-THz coherent phonons in strongly correlated VO2/TiO2 heterojunction

Abstract

High-frequency coherent acoustic phonons hold immense value in characterizing the coupling between magnetic, lattice, and electronic properties, offering nanometer-scale spatial resolution within the ultrafast timescale. However, efficiently propagating intense sub-THz coherent acoustic phonons across diverse materials remains a formidable challenge. Here, we demonstrate that using vanadium dioxide (VO2) as a transducer can induce enhanced coherent acoustic pulses that propagate efficiently (∼90%) into TiO2 due to excellent acoustic impedance matching and minor lattice interface mismatch compared with traditional metals such as Pt, Au, and Cu. Employing time-resolved pump–probe reflectivity spectroscopy, we observe pronounced coherent phonon oscillations reaching up to 0.164 THz from the longitudinal acoustic mode along the c axis in VO2/TiO2. Furthermore, the temperature and pump fluence dependence of the coherent phonon oscillation signals suggest that the metallic state of VO2 responds to these large coherent acoustic phonons.