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Intense terahertz pulses are used to induce metastable magnetization with a remarkably long lifetime of more than 2.5 milliseconds in a van der Waals antiferromagnet, FePS₃.

Polaritons, light-matter hybridized quasiparticles, are the fundamental excitation of strong coupling systems and are widely applicable in information technologies. Here the authors applied the concept of time-of-flight measurement in terahertz induced second harmonic generation experiments in various systems to comprehensively study the dispersion relation of phonon-polaritons and reveal potential spin-lattice couplings.

Magnons—quanta of spin waves—have potential applications in signal processing technology. But it is challenging to obtain coupling between different magnons. Now a study achieves this by demonstrating nonlinear magnon mixing in an antiferromagnet.

Inducing coherent interactions between distinct magnon modes—collective excitations of magnetic order—has been challenging. A canted antiferromagnet has demonstrated coherent magnon upconversion induced by terahertz laser pulses.

Topological insulators offer lossless surface transport because of the suppression of conduction-electron backscattering from defect sites. Here, the authors show that the nanoscale voltage drops caused by such scattering can be directly measured using scanning tunnelling potentiometry.

All-optical, mode-selective manipulation of the crystal lattice can be used to enhance and stabilize ferromagnetism in YTiO₃ well above its equilibrium ordering temperature and for many nanoseconds, enabling dynamic engineering of practically useful non-equilibrium functionalities in fluctuating electronic systems.

Electron diffraction is used to show that the melting of crystalline bismuth after laser excitation occurs exceptionally fast, within half the period of a lattice vibration. The extraordinary fast melting is attributed to profound laser-induced changes in the potential energy surface of the bismuth lattice: in the changed potential, the atoms experience strong driving forces that launch them from their initial equilibrium positions and towards the disorder typical of liquids.

Intense light pulses can induce symmetry breaking, as for the generation of ferroelectricity in SrTiO₃. Using ultrafast X-ray diffuse scattering at a free-electron laser, nonlinear phonon interactions that occur on such mid-IR excitation are observed, with a theory for the dynamics presented.

Ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses can drive atoms far from their equilibrium positions in LiNbO₃, exciting high phonon harmonics and providing a way to map the interatomic potential.

A structural transition in an atomic indium wire on a silicon substrate proceeds as fast as the indium atom vibrations and is facilitated by strong In–Si interface bonds.

Light-induced superconductivity is a recent phenomenon where many aspects of the underlying physics are still to be fully understood. Here, the authors analyse coupled Ginzburg-Landau and Maxwell equations to investigate the dynamics of the quantum states when a superconductor is irradiated by a laser pulse.