Photoinduced phase transitions in a Peierls system

A theory is constructed that explains photoinduced phase transitions in a Peierls system being irradiated by light with a finite width of the optical spectrum and a central frequency close to the upper van Hove singularity of the first kind in the combined density of electron states. The electron spectrum and the matrix elements of the dipole-moment operator are calculated by Bogolyubov’s method of canonical transformations. The interaction with the light is described by the Liouville equation for the density matrix of the electron subsystem in the dipole approximation. The light field is considered a quasimonochromatic time-independent random process with a Lorentzian spectrum. The derived equations are analyzed for two limits: (1) when the width of the optical spectrum tends to zero (a monochromatic light field), and (2) when the width of the optical spectrum is close to the upper limit (a bifurcation point) at which a photoinduced phase transition can still be observed. An existence criterion for such a transition is obtained, and the main parameters of the transition (the critical points and the size of the hysteresis loop) are calculated. The broadening of the optical spectrum of the incident light is shown to narrow the range of values of the central frequency of the light field and to reduce the size of the hysteresis loop. Finally, near the phase transition point, cavityless optical bistability sets in in the system, with light absorption increasing in the process.