We show evidence that the competition between the antiferromagnetic metallic phase and the charge- and orbital-ordered insulating phase at the reentrant phase boundary of a layered manganite, LaSr2Mn2O7, can be manipulated using ultrafast optical excitation. The time-dependent evolution of the Jahn-Teller superlattice reflection, the indicator of the formation of charge and orbital order, was measured at different laser fluences. The laser-induced change in the Jahn-Teller reflection intensity shows a reversal of sign between earlier (∼10 ns) and later (∼150 ns) times during the relaxation of the sample. This is consistent with a physics picture whereby the laser excitation modulates the local competition between the metallic and the insulating phases.

A series of laser pump, x-ray probe experiments show that above band gap photoexcitation can generate a large out-of-plane strain in multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films. The strain decays in a time scale that is the same as the photo-induced carriers measured in an optical transient absorption spectroscopy experiment. We attribute the strain to the piezoelectric effect due to screening of the depolarization field by laser induced carriers. A strong film thickness dependence of strain and carrier relaxation is also observed, revealing the role of the carrier transport in determining the structural and carrier dynamics in complex oxide thin films.

In semiconductor epitaxy, a central challenge for the formation of ordered arrays of nanostructures, such as quantum dot islands, is the realization of processing routes to control surface-mediated growth mechanisms with high spatial precision and reproducibility across macroscopic lengths. To this end we have recently demonstrated a simple route for the directed assembly of heteroepitaxial islands based on rudimentary metal patterning. Here we show that the same metal patterns on the silicon surface that lead to island ordering radically modify island morphology resulting in shapes such as nanorods and truncated pyramids that are set by the choices of metal species and substrate orientation. These effects reflect a remarkable combination of metal-mediated growth phenomena that may be exploited to tailor the functionality of island arrays.

X-ray diffraction and x-ray standing waves (XSW) have been used to investigate the quality of epitaxial ultra-thin Ge films grown on Si(001) with and without Te as a surfactant. The efficacy of Te as a surfactant in this application has been debated. We measured samples between 1 and 10 ML in thickness and our results clearly indicate that Ge films grown with Te are superior to those grown without Te. The coherent positions and coherent fract ons determined from XSW analysis agree well with those predicted by linear elasticity theory for Ge/Si(001). Furthermore, grazing incidence diffraction measurements (GIXD) suggests that 9 ML Ge grown on Si(001) with Te is strained in-plane while the same film grown without Te is relaxed.