Robust spin order and fragile charge order in Na0.5CoO2 as revealed by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy

Near-infrared (NIR) pump-terahertz (THz) probe spectroscopy is used to investigate the charge and spin exciations in a strongly correlated electron compound Na0.5CoO2. This compound exhibits a coexistence of various charge and spin orders arising from intricate interactions among charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom. NIR pulses create significantly diverse effects on the charge and spin orders; while the charge order is easily melted,coherent magnon excitations are present in all fluences examined. Furthermore, a novel π phase shift of the coherent magnon oscillations is observed in the pump-induced change of the terahertz electric field between regions of increasing and decreasing field change. These results unequivocally illustrate that ultrashort laser pulses enable the disentanglement of different interactions within complex systems characterized by multiple orders, providing a fresh perspective on the interplay between itinerant and localized electrons within the Co 3d t2g multiplets.