Coherent control of a surface structural phase transition

Active optical control over matter is desirable in many scientific disciplines, with prominent examples in all-optical magnetic switching1,2, light-induced metastable or exotic phases of solids3–8 and the coherent control of chemical reactions9,10. Typically, these approaches dynamically steer a system towards states or reaction products far from equilibrium. In solids, metal-to-insulator transitions are an important target for optical manipulation, offering ultrafast changes of the electronic4 and lattice11–16 properties. The impact of coherences on the efficiencies and thresholds of such transitions, however, remains a largely open subject. Here, we demonstrate coherent control over a metal–insulator structural phase transition in a quasi-one-dimensional solid-state surface system. A femtosecond double-pulse excitation scheme17–20 is used to switch the system from the insulating to a metastable metallic state, and the corresponding structural changes are monitored by ultrafast low-energy electron diffraction21,22. To govern the transition, we harness vibrational coherence in key structural modes connecting both phases, and observe delay-dependent oscillations in the double-pulse switching efficiency. Mode-selective coherent control of solids and surfaces could open new routes to switching chemical and physical functionalities, enabled by metastable and non-equilibrium states.