Sub-10 fs spectroscopy of K-TCNQ crystal for observation of intramolecular vibration modulation in melting of the Peierls dimer

Abstract

K-TCNQ crystals show photoinduced phase transition (PIPT) between a Mott insulator and a spin Peierls (SP) phase, having ${T}_{c}=395$ K (= and the crystal has ${T}_{c}=395$ K of the PIPT). We report the intra-molecular vibrations in the excited K-TCNQ crystal after impulsive excitation using a sub 9.4 fs pulse laser in the reflection spectrum. The frequencies of the vibrations are close to the Raman frequencies of molecules. The frequencies increase with melting of the SP phase, and then decrease with rearrangement of the dimerization. In addition, the frequencies of the vibrations are time-resolved to be modulated by the intermolecular optical phonon with 510 fs period corresponding to 65 $\mathrm{cm}{}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. This modulation is associated with the periodical change of coupling strengths of intermolecular charge transfer and/or the dipolar coupling between the counterpart molecules in the neighboring chains.