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cavity materials engineering, quantum paraelectric to ferroelectric transition, strong light–matter hybrids, polaritons, SrTiO3 cavity phase diagram
Abstract:
Controlling collective phenomena in quantum materials is a promising route toward engineering material properties on demand. Strong THz lasers have been successful at inducing ferroelectricity in SrTiO3. Here we demonstrate, from atomistic calculations, that cavity quantum vacuum fluctuations induce a change in the collective phase of SrTiO3 in the strong light–matter coupling regime. Under these conditions, the ferroelectric phase is stabilized as the ground state, instead of the quantum paraelectric one. We conceptualize this light–matter hybrid state as a material photo ground state: Fundamental properties such as crystal structure, phonon frequencies, and the collective phase of a material are determined by the quantum light–matter coupling in equilibrium conditions. Cavity-coupling adds a new dimension to the phase diagram of SrTiO3.
