Optical surface texture control of coexisting electronic phases

Phase competition and coexistence are hallmarks of strongly-correlated materials and directly related to intriguing phenomena such as colossal magnetoresistance and high-temperature superconductivity. Active control over phase textures further promises nanoscale tunable electronic material properties. Light allows for tilting the balance between distinct correlated states and phases with a prominent example given by the optical switching of an insulator to a metal. However, optical excitation generally lacks the specificity to select sub-wavelength domains. In this work, we employ orbital-selectice photodoping of correlated electronic states to demonstrate control over the domains and texture of a quasi-one-dimensional Peierls insulator. Specifically, we exploit the anisotropic absorption of nanowire domains by tuning both the photon energy and the polarization to the transition matrix elements most strongly coupled to the structural transformation. The reduction in electronic excess energy facilitates a minimal-entropy pathway to domain-specific switching and a prolonged metastable lifetime. The photoinduced formation of metallic surrounded by insulating nano-domains represents the controlled preparation of electronic textures, suggesting avenues for optically engineered electronic percolation and quantum-confinement in 'Peierls heterostructures'.