Keldysh Space Control of Charge Dynamics in a Strongly Driven Mott Insulator

Abstract

The fate of a Mott insulator under strong low frequency optical driving conditions is a fundamental problem in quantum many-body dynamics. Using ultrafast broadband optical spectroscopy, we measured the transient electronic structure and charge dynamics of an off-resonantly pumped Mott insulator Ca₂RuO₄. We observe coherent bandwidth renormalization and nonlinear doublon-holon pair production occurring in rapid succession within a sub-100-fs pump pulse duration. By sweeping the electric field amplitude, we demonstrate continuous bandwidth tuning and a Keldysh crossover from a multiphoton absorption to quantum tunneling dominated pair production regime. Our results provide a procedure to control coherent and nonlinear heating processes in Mott insulators, facilitating the discovery of novel out-of-equilibrium phenomena in strongly correlated systems.

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