More Like this

1. Weyl Fermions and broken symmetry phases of laterally confined 3 He films

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/acf42b  

   Wu, Hao ; Sauls, J. A. ( September 2023 , Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter)

   Broken symmetries in topological condensed matter systems have implications for the spectrum of Fermionic excitations confined on surfaces or topological defects. The Fermionic spectrum of confined (quasi-2D)³He-A consists of branches of chiral edge states. The negative energy states are related to the ground-state angular momentum,$L_z=(N/2)\hslash$, for$N/2$Cooper pairs. The power law suppression of the angular momentum,$L_z(T)\simeq (N/2)\hslash [1-\frac{2}{3}(\pi T/\mathrm{\Delta }{)}^2]$for$0⩽T\ll T_c$, in the fully gapped 2D chiral A-phase reflects the thermal excitation of the chiral edge Fermions. We discuss the effects of wave function overlap, and hybridization between edge states confined near opposing edge boundaries on the edge currents, ground-state angular momentum and ground-state order parameter of superfluid³He thin films. Under strong lateral confinement, the chiral A phase undergoes a sequence of phase transitions, first to a pair density wave (PDW) phase with broken translational symmetry at$D_{c2}\sim 16{\xi }_0$. The PDW phase is described by a periodic array of chiral domains with alternating chirality, separated by domain walls. The period of PDW phase diverges as the confinement length$D\to D_{c_2}$. The PDW phase breaks time-reversal symmetry, translation invariance, but is invariant under the combination of time-reversal and translation by a one-half period of the PDW. The mass current distribution of the PDW phase reflects this combined symmetry, and originates from the spectra of edge Fermions and the chiral branches bound to the domain walls. Under sufficiently strong confinement a second-order transition occurs to the non-chiral ‘polar phase’ at$D_{c1}\sim 9{\xi }_0$, in which a single p-wave orbital state of Cooper pairs is aligned along the channel.

    

   more » « less
2. Transient grating measurements at ultralow probe power

   https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.377545  

   Lu, Baozhu ; Abramchuk, Mykola ; Tafti, Fazel ; Torchinsky, Darius H. ( January 2020 , Journal of the Optical Society of America B)

   We report on an ultralow probe-power transient grating apparatus with probing based on a laser diode pulser, a digital delay generator, and a data acquisition card. The electronic triggering of the diode pulser permits stroboscopic measurement of arbitrarily slow laser-induced dynamics using pulses of probe light with average power$\sim <\#comment/>5\mathrm{n}\mathrm{W}$, significantly lower than what is currently used by continuous wave measurement. The proposed method also allows for flexibility in selection of the probe wavelength limited only by availability of low threshold current laser diodes. Examples of impulsive stimulated thermal scattering measurements are presented on liquid isopropanol, single crystal solid${\mathrm{C}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{C}\mathrm{l}}_3$, and a thin film of Cu vapor deposited on a Si substrate, demonstrating the flexibility of the technique.

    

   more » « less
3. Modifications of ion beam sputtered tantala thin films by secondary argon and oxygen bombardment

   https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.59.00A150  

   Yang, Le ; Randel, Emmett ; Vajente, Gabriele ; Ananyeva, Alena ; Gustafson, Eric ; Markosyan, Ashot ; Bassiri, Riccardo ; Fejer, Martin ; Menoni, Carmen ( January 2020 , Applied Optics)

   Amorphous tantala (${\mathrm{T}\mathrm{a}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$) thin films were deposited by reactive ion beam sputtering with simultaneous low energy assist${\mathrm{A}\mathrm{r}}^{+}$or${\mathrm{A}\mathrm{r}}^{+}/{\mathrm{O}}_2^{+}$bombardment. Under the conditions of the experiment, the as-deposited thin films are amorphous and stoichiometric. The refractive index and optical band gap of thin films remain unchanged by ion bombardment. Around 20% improvement in room temperature mechanical loss and 60% decrease in absorption loss are found in samples bombarded with 100-eV${\mathrm{A}\mathrm{r}}^{+}$. A detrimental influence from low energy${\mathrm{O}}_2^{+}$bombardment on absorption loss and mechanical loss is observed. Low energy${\mathrm{A}\mathrm{r}}^{+}$bombardment removes excess oxygen point defects, while${\mathrm{O}}_2^{+}$bombardment introduces defects into the tantala films.

    

   more » « less
4. Phase-factor spectra of turbulent phase screens

   https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.429928  

   Muschinski, Andreas ( August 2021 , Journal of the Optical Society of America A)

   The optical phase$\mathrm{\varphi <\#comment/>}$is a key quantity in the physics of light propagating through a turbulent medium. In certain respects, however, the statistics of the phasefactor,$\mathrm{\psi <\#comment/>}=\exp <\#comment/>(i\mathrm{\varphi <\#comment/>})$, are more relevant than the statistics of the phase itself. Here, we present a theoretical analysis of the 2D phase-factor spectrum$F_{\mathrm{\psi <\#comment/>}}(\mathit{\kappa <\#comment/>})$of a random phase screen. We apply the theory to four types of phase screens, each characterized by a power-law phase structure function,$D_{\mathrm{\varphi <\#comment/>}}(r)=(r/r_c{)}^{\mathrm{\gamma <\#comment/>}}$(where$r_c$is the phase coherence length defined by$D_{\mathrm{\varphi <\#comment/>}}(r_c)=1{\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}}^2$), and a probability density function$p_{\mathrm{\alpha <\#comment/>}}(\mathrm{\alpha <\#comment/>})$of the phase increments for a given spatial lag. We analyze phase screens with turbulent ($\mathrm{\gamma <\#comment/>}=5/3$) and quadratic ($\mathrm{\gamma <\#comment/>}=2$) phase structure functions and with normally distributed (i.e., Gaussian) versus Laplacian phase increments. We find that there is a pronounced bump in each of the four phase-factor spectra$F_{\mathrm{\psi <\#comment/>}}(\mathrm{\kappa <\#comment/>})$. The precise location and shape of the bump are different for the four phase-screen types, but in each case it occurs at$\mathrm{\kappa <\#comment/>}\sim <\#comment/>1/r_c$. The bump is unrelated to the well-known “Hill bump” and is not caused by diffraction effects. It is solely a characteristic of the refractive-index statistics represented by the respective phase screen. We show that the second-order$\mathrm{\psi <\#comment/>}$statistics (covariance function, structure function, and spectrum) characterize a random phase screen more completely than the second-order$\mathrm{\varphi <\#comment/>}$counterparts.

    

   more » « less
5. Heterogeneous integration of superconducting thin films and epitaxial semiconductor heterostructures with lithium niobate

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/acd7f9  

   Lienhart, Michelle ; Choquer, Michael ; Nysten, Emeline D. S. ; Weiß, Matthias ; Müller, Kai ; Finley, Jonathan J. ; Moody, Galan ; Krenner, Hubert J. ( June 2023 , Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics)

   We report on scalable heterointegration of superconducting electrodes and epitaxial semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) on strong piezoelectric and optically nonlinear lithium niobate. The implemented processes combine the sputter-deposited thin film superconductor niobium nitride and III–V compound semiconductor membranes onto the host substrate. The superconducting thin film is employed as a zero-resistivity electrode material for a surface acoustic wave resonator with internal quality factors$Q\approx 17000$representing a three-fold enhancement compared to identical devices with normal conducting electrodes. Superconducting operation of$\approx 400\mathrm{M}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$resonators is achieved to temperatures$T>7\mathrm{K}$and electrical radio frequency powers$P_{\mathrm{r}\mathrm{f}}>+9\mathrm{d}\mathrm{B}\mathrm{m}$. Heterogeneously integrated single QDs couple to the resonant phononic field of the surface acoustic wave resonator operated in the superconducting regime. Position and frequency selective coupling mediated by deformation potential coupling is validated using time-integrated and time-resolved optical spectroscopy. Furthermore, acoustoelectric charge state control is achieved in a modified device geometry harnessing large piezoelectric fields inside the resonator. The hybrid QD—surface acoustic wave resonator can be scaled to higher operation frequencies and smaller mode volumes for quantum phase modulation and transduction between photons and phonons via the QD. Finally, the employed materials allow for the realization of other types of optoelectronic devices, including superconducting single photon detectors and integrated photonic and phononic circuits.

    

   more » « less