%0 Journal Article
%K Light
%K Lead titanate
%K Phase field models
%K Dielectric properties
%K Two phase flow
%K X-ray scattering
%K Magnetic phenomena
%K Nanoscale periodicity
%K Non-equilibrium phasis
%K Photo-induced charge
%K Three-dimensional structure
%K Two-phase equilibria
%K Ultrafast light pulse
%K Coherent scattering
%A V.A Stoica
%A N Laanait
%A C Dai
%A Z Hong
%A Y Yuan
%A Z Zhang
%A S Lei
%A M.R McCarter
%A Ajay K Yadav
%A A.R Damodaran
%A S Das
%A G.A Stone
%A J Karapetrova
%A D.A Walko
%A X Zhang
%A L.W Martin
%A Ramamoorthy Ramesh
%A L.-Q Chen
%A H Wen
%A V Gopalan
%A J.W Freeland
%B Nature Materials
%D 2019
%G eng
%I Nature Publishing Group
%P 377-383
%R 10.1038/s41563-019-0311-x
%T Optical creation of a supercrystal with three-dimensional nanoscale periodicity
%V 18
%X Stimulation with ultrafast light pulses can realize and manipulate states of matter with emergent structural, electronic and magnetic phenomena. However, these non-equilibrium phases are often transient and the challenge is to stabilize them as persistent states. Here, we show that atomic-scale PbTiO 3 /SrTiO 3 superlattices, counterpoising strain and polarization states in alternate layers, are converted by sub-picosecond optical pulses to a supercrystal phase. This phase persists indefinitely under ambient conditions, has not been created via equilibrium routes, and can be erased by heating. X-ray scattering and microscopy show this unusual phase consists of a coherent three-dimensional structure with polar, strain and charge-ordering periodicities of up to 30 nm. By adjusting only dielectric properties, the phase-field model describes this emergent phase as a photo-induced charge-stabilized supercrystal formed from a two-phase equilibrium state. Our results demonstrate opportunities for light-activated pathways to thermally inaccessible and emergent metastable states. © 2019, This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.