Anharmonic phonon-polariton dynamics in ferroelectric LiNbO3 studied with single-shot pump-probe imaging spectroscopy

We demonstrate that single-shot pump-probe imaging spectroscopy with an echelon mirror enables us to disclose the ferroelectric phonon-polariton dynamics across a wide temperature range from 10 K to 375 K while avoiding the photorefractive effects that appear prominently at low temperatures. The E-mode phonon-polaritons corresponding to the two transverse optical modes, TO1 and TO3, up to similar to 7 THz were induced in LiNbO3 through an impulsive stimulated Raman scattering process. Subsequently, using single-shot pump-probe imaging spectroscopy over a minimal cumulative time, we successfully visualized the phonon-polariton dynamics in time-wavelength space even at low temperatures. We found that the phase-matching condition significantly affected the observed temperature-dependent phonon-polariton frequency shift. The anharmonicity of the TO1 and TO3 modes was then evaluated based on an anharmonic model involving higher-order interactions with acoustic phonons while eliminating the influence of the frequency shift due to the phase-matching condition. The observed wavenumber-dependent damping rate was analyzed by considering the bilinear coupling of the TO1 or TO3 modes with the thermally activated relaxation mode. We found that the phonon-polariton with a higher frequency and wavenumber had a higher damping rate at high temperatures because of its frequent interaction with the thermally activated relaxation mode and acoustic phonons. The TO3 mode displayed greater bilinear coupling than the TO1 mode, which may also have contributed to the observed high damping rate. Thus, using our unique single-shot spectroscopy technique, we could reveal the overall anharmonic characteristics of the E-mode phonon-polaritons arising from both the acoustic phonons and the relaxation mode. Published by AIP Publishing.