Ultrafast melting of charge-density wave fluctuations at room temperature in 1T-TiSe2 monitored under non-equilibrium conditions

Abstract

We investigate the ultrafast lattice dynamics in 1T-TiSe2 using femtosecond reflection pump–probe and pump–pump–probe techniques at room temperature. The time-domain signals and Fourier-transformed spectra show the A1g phonon mode at 5.9 THz. Moreover, we observe an additional mode at ≈ 3 THz, corresponding to the charge-density wave (CDW) amplitude mode (AM), which is generally visible below Tc≈200 K. We argue that the emergence of the CDW amplitude mode at room temperature can be a consequence of fluctuations of order parameters based on the additional experiment using the pump–pump–probe technique, which exhibited suppression of the AM signal within the ultrafast timescale of ∼0.5 ps.