The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Theoretical studies of photoinduced dynamics and topological states in materials with strong electron-lattice couplings
Author:	Zhu, Linghua
View Online:	njit-etd2018-043 (xvii, 126 pages ~ 20.6 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Physics
Degree:	Doctor of Philosophy
Program:	Applied Physics
Document Type:	Dissertation
Advisory Committee:	Ahn, Ken Keunhyuk (Committee chair) Tyson, Trevor (Committee member) Sirenko, Andrei (Committee member) Murnick, Daniel Ely (Committee member) Ko, Dong Kyun (Committee member)
Date:	2018-08
Keywords:	Electron lattice coupling Photoinduced dynamics Strong interaction Tight binding Hubbard model Topological states Two dimensional
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	First, we study the nonequilibrium dynamics of photoinduced phase transitions in charge ordered (CO) systems with a strong electron-lattice interaction and analyze the interplay between electrons, periodic lattice distortions, and a phonon thermal reservoir. Simulations based on a tight-binding Hamiltonian and Boltzmann equations reveal partially decoupled oscillations of the electronic order parameter and the periodic lattice distortion during CO melting, which becomes more energy efficient with lower photon energy. The cooling rate of the electron system correlates with the CO gap dynamics, responsible for an order of magnitude decrease of the cooling rate upon the gap reopening. The work also find that the time-dependent frequency of coherent oscillation reflects the dynamics of the energy landscape, such as transition between single-well and double-well, which sensitively depends on the photon energy and the pump fluence. The results demonstrate the intricate nonequilibrium dynamics in CO materials. Second, a model for two-dimensional electronic, photonic, and mechanical metamaterial systems is presented, which has flat one-dimensional zero-mode energy bands and stable localized states of a topological origin confined within twin boundaries, antiphase boundaries, and at open edges. Topological origins of these flat bands are analyzed for an electronic system as a specific example, using a two-dimensional extension of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian with alternating shift of the chains. It is demonstrated that the slow group velocities of the localized flat band states are sensitively controlled by the distance between the boundaries and the propagation can be guided through designed paths of these boundaries. We also discuss how to realize this model in metamaterials. Third, the study of topological mechanical metamaterials system made of 1D or 2D arrays of spinners, as an experimental realization of electron models in the second part. Compared with experimental data for 1D case and makes prediction for 2D case of ribbon with open edges. And also show how they slow group velocity of localized edge modes depend on the width of the ribbon.