Excitation and Relaxation Dynamics of the Photo-Perturbed Correlated Electron System 1T-TaS2

We investigate the perturbation and subsequent recovery of the correlated electronic ground state of the Mott insulator 1T-TaS 2 by means of femtosecond time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in normal emission geometry. Upon an increase of near-infrared excitation strength, a considerable collapse of the occupied Hubbard band is observed, which reflects a quench of short-range correlations. It is furthermore found that these excitations are directly linked to the lifting of the periodic lattice distortion which provides the localization centers for the formation of the insulating Mott state. We discuss the observed dynamics in a localized real-space picture.