Laser-induced ultrafast insulator-metal transition in BaBiO_3

We investigate ultra-fast coherent quantum dynamics of undoped BaBiO_3 driven by a strong laser pulse. Our calculations demonstrate that in a wide range of radiation frequencies and intensities the system undergoes a transient change from the insulating to the metallic state, where the charge density wave and the corresponding energy spectrum gap vanish. The transition takes place on the ultra-fast time scale of tens femtoseconds, comparable to the period of the corresponding lattice vibrations. The dynamics are determined by a complex interplay of the particle-hole excitation over the gap and of the tunnelling through it, giving rise to the highly non-trivial time evolution which comprises high harmonics and reveals periodic reappearance of the gap. The time evolution is obtained by solving the dynamical mean-field theory equations with the realistic parameters for the system and radiation. Results are summarized in the phase diagram, helpful for a possible experimental setup to achieve a dynamical control over the conduction state of this and other materials with the similarly strong electron-phonon interaction.