Time-resolved structural dynamics of the out-of-equilibrium charge density wave phase transition in GdTe₃

We use ultrafast electron diffraction to study the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the charge density wave (CDW) phase transition in GdTe₃, a quasi-two-dimensional compound displaying a unidirectional CDW state. Experiments were conducted at different incident fluences and different initial sample temperatures below T. We find that following photo-excitation, the system undergoes a non-thermal ultrafast phase transition that occurs in out-of-equilibrium conditions. The intrinsic crystal temperature was estimated at each time delay from the atomic thermal motion, which affects each Bragg peak intensity via the Debye Waller factor. We find that the crystal temperature stabilizes with a 6 ps timescale in a quasi-equilibrium state at temperature $$. We then relate the recovery time of the CDW and its correlation lengths as a function of $$. The charge density wave is suppressed in less than a picosecond while its recovery time increases linearly with incident fluence and initial temperature. Our results highlight that the dynamics is strongly determined by the initial sample temperature. In addition, the transient CDW phase recently observed along the transverse direction in LaTe₃ and CeTe₃ is not observed in GdTe₃.