Ultrafast optical melting of trimer superstructure in layered 1T′-TaTe2

Advanced time-resolved structural probes are enabling new views of rapid interactions and optical switching between symmetry-broken phases in quantum materials. Here, using relativistic ultrafast electron diffraction the authors investigate the dynamics of TaTe2 and chart the evolution of a distinct superstructure of trimer clusters which dissolve and form on picosecond time scales.