Ultrafast nanoimaging of the order parameter in a structural phase transition

Watching a phase transition unfold

The layered material 1 T-polytype of tantalum disulfide has several intricate charge-ordered phases. How exactly one phase transitions into another is tricky to observe directly with current technologies. Danz et al. used pump-probe ultrafast dark-field electron microscopy to follow such a transition with fine spatial and temporal resolution (see the Perspective by Kogar). To achieve that goal, they shaped the electron beam used as the probe to bring out the features peculiar to the transition.

层状TaS2材料拥有复杂的电荷有序相。如何观察从一个相变过程具有非常大挑战性。Danz 等人使用泵浦-探测的超快暗场电子显微镜，在一定空间和时间分辨率下观察到了相变过程。需要把电子束作为探测光来观察到相变特有的特征。

Abstract

Understanding microscopic processes in materials and devices that can be switched by light requires experimental access to dynamics on nanometer length and femtosecond time scales. Here, we introduce ultrafast dark-field electron microscopy to map the order parameter across a structural phase transition. We use ultrashort laser pulses to locally excite a 1T-TaS2 (1T-polytype of tantalum disulfide) thin film and image the transient state of the specimen by ultrashort electron pulses. A tailored dark-field aperture array allows us to track the evolution of charge-density wave domains in the material with simultaneous femtosecond temporal and 5-nanometer spatial resolution, elucidating relaxation pathways and domain wall dynamics. The distinctive benefits of selective contrast enhancement will inspire future beam-shaping technology in ultrafast transmission electron microscopy.

理解光引发的材料和器件中的微观过程需要试验上能改在纳米空间尺度和飞秒时间尺度上观察的实验设备。这里介绍了超快暗场电子显微镜技术能够为结构相变过程提供信息。首先使用超快激光局域激发1T-TaS2薄膜，然后对样品用超快电子束对样品的瞬态过程进行成像。定制的暗场孔径阵列能够追踪电荷密度波的演化，在fs和5nm尺度激发下，理解弛豫的过程和畴壁动力学。选择对比加强的独特优势能够对于启发未来超快电子显微镜中的光束整形技术。

Snapshots of a light-triggered transition Anshul Kogar, 对于pump-probe技术有一个科普性的介绍，对于此项技术的应用领域有一个简要的介绍。

In an iconic 1964 photo of a bullet piercing an apple, Harold “Doc” Edgerton captured a snapshot that took a mere millionth of a second (