Mechanisms of electron-phonon coupling unraveled in momentum and time: The case of soft-phonons in TiSe$_2$

Abstract

The complex coupling between charge carriers and phonons is responsible for diverse phenomena in condensed matter. We apply ultrafast electron diffuse scattering to unravel electron-phonon coupling phenomena in 1T-TiSe$_2$ in both momentum and time. We are able to distinguish effects due to the real part of the many-body bare electronic susceptibility, $\Re\left[\chi_0(\mathbf{q})\right]$, from those due to the electron-phonon coupling vertex, $g_{\mathbf{q}}$, by following the response of semi-metallic (normal phase) 1T-TiSe$_2$ to the selective photo-doping of carriers into the electron pocket at the Fermi level. Quasi-impulsive and wavevector-specific renormalization of soft zone-boundary phonon frequencies (stiffening) is observed, followed by wavevector-independent electron-phonon equilibration. These results unravel the underlying mechanisms driving the phonon softening that is associated with the charge density wave transition at lower temperatures.