Observation of negative terahertz photoconductivity in strongly correlated electron-doped CaMnO₃ thin film

Abstract

Electron-doped Ca0.96Ce0.04MnO3 (CCMO) possesses a unique band structure and exhibits a giant topological Hall effect contrary to other correlation-driven manganites known for insulator-to-metal transition, magnetoresistance, complex magnetic order, etc. The interaction mechanisms among the fundamental entities and their dynamical evolutions responsible for this unusual topological phase are yet to be understood. Here, we employ time-averaged and sub-picosecond time-resolved terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to explore the low-energy steady-state and ultrafast carrier dynamics, respectively, to unravel the complexity of charge carriers during their transition from a non-equilibrium to the ground state in CCMO thin film. The THz optical conductivity confirms the presence of dichotomic charge carriers, i.e., heavy and light carriers throughout the temperature range of 15-300 K. A rare observation of both positive and negative photoconductivities along with a sharp crossover between the two resolved to a few picoseconds of illumination confirms the formation of polaron with a lifetime of a few nanoseconds. These optical evidences of dichotomic charge carriers, along with manipulation of the sign of photoconductivity induced by dynamics of related quasiparticles could facilitate a new mechanism for ultrafast optoelectronic switching devices.