Light-Driven Ultrafast Control of Time-Reversal Symmetry in SrTiO3
Abstract
Light-driven control of material symmetry enables the engineering of phenomena forbidden in equilibrium. Although electromagnetic fields have been used to break time-reversal symmetry, its dynamic control on ultrafast timescales in nonmagnetic insulating oxides remains virtually unexplored. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous magnetic symmetry lowering and timereversal-symmetry breaking in cubic SrTiO3 driven by an off-resonant, elliptically polarized THz pulse. Second harmonic generation (SHG) polarimetry reveals emergent SHG circular dichroism inconsistent with third-order nonlinear processes under cubic m3m symmetry. The SHG polar patterns exhibit mirror-symmetry breaking, indicating a transient reduction to tetragonal 4/mm'm' magnetic symmetry. Furthermore, the SHG response scales linearly with the angular momentum of THz pulse, providing direct evidence for THz-field-induced timereversal-symmetry breaking. These results establish a direct pathway for ultrafast symmetry control in non-magnetic oxides, enabling dynamic manipulation of emergent phases on ultrafast timescales.
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BibTeX
@misc{choi2026lightdriven,
title = {{Light-Driven Ultrafast Control of Time-Reversal Symmetry in SrTiO3}},
author = {In Hyeok Choi and Sergei Urazhdin and Shivasheesh Varshney and Seung Gyo Jeong and Bharat Jalan and Keith A. Nelson},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09497},
eprint = {2609.09497},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09497},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Light-Driven Ultrafast Control of Time-Reversal Symmetry in SrTiO3
AU - In Hyeok Choi
AU - Sergei Urazhdin
AU - Shivasheesh Varshney
AU - Seung Gyo Jeong
AU - Bharat Jalan
AU - Keith A. Nelson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09497
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09497
AB - Light-driven control of material symmetry enables the engineering of phenomena forbidden in equilibrium. Although electromagnetic fields have been used to break time-reversal symmetry, its dynamic control on ultrafast timescales in nonmagnetic insulating oxides remains virtually unexplored. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous magnetic symmetry lowering and timereversal-symmetry breaking in cubic SrTiO3 driven by an off-resonant, elliptically polarized THz pulse. Second harmonic generation (SHG) polarimetry reveals emergent SHG circular dichroism inconsistent with third-order nonlinear processes under cubic m3m symmetry. The SHG polar patterns exhibit mirror-symmetry breaking, indicating a transient reduction to tetragonal 4/mm'm' magnetic symmetry. Furthermore, the SHG response scales linearly with the angular momentum of THz pulse, providing direct evidence for THz-field-induced timereversal-symmetry breaking. These results establish a direct pathway for ultrafast symmetry control in non-magnetic oxides, enabling dynamic manipulation of emergent phases on ultrafast timescales.
ER -