Observation of the quasiparticle Hall effect in superconducting YBa2Cu3O7- delta

Berry Curvature Spectroscopy from Bloch Oscillations

Artificial crystals such as moiré superlattices can have a real-space periodicity much larger than the underlying atomic scale. This facilitates the presence of Bloch oscillations in the presence of a static electric field. We demonstrate that the optical response of such a system, when dressed with a static field, becomes resonant at the frequencies of Bloch oscillations, which are in the terahertz regime when the lattice constant is of the order of 10 nm. In particular, we show within a semiclassical band-projected theory that resonances in the dressed Hall conductivity are proportional to the lattice Fourier components of the Berry curvature. We illustrate our results with a low-energy model on an effective honeycomb lattice.

Influence of dichroism on the optical properties of a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell in the terahertz region

Polarization control is essential in terahertz (THz) imaging. Liquid crystals (LCs) have the potential to functionalize tunable polarization-control devices. Here, a twisted nematic (TN) cell using a hydrogen-bonded LC is fabricated, and the influence of dichroism in the THz region is discussed. Our results indicate that the polarization state in the Gooch-Tarry minimum condition is affected by the LC dichroism; a nondichroic LC is required for complete linearly polarized output. The output intensity of the dichroic LC-TN cell changed when electrically switched or when the incident THz wave polarization direction was rotated 90°. These intensity variations disappeared when using the nondichroic hydrogen-bonded LC.

Room-temperature terahertz anomalous Hall effect in Weyl antiferromagnet Mn3Sn thin films

Antiferromagnetic spin motion at terahertz (THz) frequencies attracts growing interests for fast spintronics, however, their smaller responses to external field inhibit device application. Recently the noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn₃Sn, a Weyl semimetal candidate, was reported to show large anomalous Hall effect (AHE) at room temperature comparable to ferromagnets. Dynamical aspect of such large responses is an important issue to be clarified for future THz data processing. Here the THz anomalous Hall conductivity in Mn₃Sn thin films is investigated by polarization-resolved spectroscopy. Large anomalous Hall conductivity \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\mathrm{Re}}\;\sigma _{xy}\left( \omega \right) \sim 20\;{\mathrm{\Omega }}^{ - 1}{\mathrm{cm}}^{ - 1}$$\end{document}Reσxyω~20Ω−1cm−1 at THz frequencies is clearly observed as polarization rotation. A peculiar temperature dependence corresponding to the breaking/recovery of symmetry in the spin texture is also discussed. Observation of the THz AHE at room temperature demonstrates the ultrafast readout for the antiferromagnetic spintronics using Mn₃Sn, and will also open new avenue for studying nonequilibrium dynamics in Weyl antiferromagnets.

Antiferromagnets promise great potential for spintronic applications due to their spin excitations at terahertz frequencies, however, read out of the spin state is hindered by the small response to external fields. Here the authors demonstrate all optical readout of the spin state of antiferromagnetic Mn3Sn at THz frequency.

Observation of Terahertz Radiation via the Two-Color Laser Scheme with Uncommon Frequency Ratios

In the widely studied two-color laser scheme for terahertz (THz) radiation from a gas, the frequency ratio of the two lasers is usually fixed at ω_{2}/ω_{1}=1:2. We investigate THz generation with uncommon frequency ratios. Our experiments show, for the first time, efficient THz generation with new ratios of ω_{2}/ω_{1}=1:4 and 2∶3. We observe that the THz polarization can be adjusted by rotating the longer-wavelength laser polarization and the polarization adjustment becomes inefficient by rotating the other laser polarization; the THz energy shows similar scaling laws with different frequency ratios. These observations are inconsistent with multiwave mixing theory, but support the gas-ionization or plasma-current model. This study pushes the development of the two-color scheme and provides a new dimension to explore the long-standing problem of the THz generation mechanism.

Cross-polarization coupling terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in a semiconductor based on the Hall effect

We propose a new type of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in an isotropic semiconductor wafer applied by a magnetic field in which two cross-polarization THz pulses couple with each other via the Hall effect. We built a classic theoretic model to describe cross-polarization coupling THz spectroscopy (CPCTS). Numerical simulations show that the magnetic field can clearly affect the spectral features of the two THz pulses via the Hall effect in which both the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field and the thickness of the wafer play important roles. Using CPCTS, we present an improved method that is non-contact to measure the material parameters, such as the damping constant and carrier density of a semiconductor wafer, and discuss the possibility of THz functional devices. Finally, we describe an experimental scheme to guide CPCTS.

Extreme-sensitivity terahertz polarizer inspired by an anisotropic cut-through metamaterial

Submilliradian accuracy utilizing terahertz waves is used to often discover and observe novel physical phenomena. However, conventional terahertz polarizers cannot simultaneously realize a high extinction ratio, which restricts the sensitivity of the polarization angle, and a high transmission power across a broad frequency band due to the wires involved. Here, inspired by metamaterials, we demonstrate an anisotropic cut-through metal-slit array for an ideal terahertz polarizer with a high extinction ratio and transmission power. Measurements confirm extinction ratios below approximately -50  dB and average transverse magnetic-mode transmission powers of over 80% from 0.3 to 2.2 THz. The extremely sensitive mechanism can shed light on a variety of path-breaking applications such as single-photon detection and quantum information and communication at lower frequencies.

Highly precise and accurate terahertz polarization measurements based on electro-optic sampling with polarization modulation of probe pulses

We have developed an electro-optic (EO) sampling method with polarization modulation of probe pulses; this method allows us to measure the direction of a terahertz (THz) electric-field vector with a precision of 0.1 mrad in a data acquisition time of 660 ms using a 14.0-kHz repetition rate pulsed light source. Through combination with a THz time-domain spectroscopy technique, a time-dependent two-dimensional THz electric field was obtained. We used a photoelastic modulator for probe-polarization modulation and a (111)-oriented zincblende crystal as the EO crystal. Using the tilted pulse front excitation method with stable regeneratively amplified pulses, we prepared stable and intense THz pulses and performed pulse-by-pulse analog-to-digital conversion of the signals. These techniques significantly reduced statistical errors and enabled sub-mrad THz polarization measurements. We examined the performance of this method by measuring a wire-grid polarizer as a sample. The present method will open a new frontier of high-precision THz polarization sensitive measurements.

Circularly polarized light in the single-cycle limit: The nature of highly polychromatic radiation of defined polarization

We have developed a general analytic description of polarized light pulses and explored the properties of circularly polarized single-cycle pulses. The temporal evolution of the electric-field vector of such spectrally broad pulses, which may be described in terms of a Hilbert transform relationship, differs significantly from the well-known behavior of quasi-monochromatic radiation. Single-cycle circularly polarized pulses are produced and characterized experimentally in the terahertz spectral region.

Hartree-Fock dynamical electron-correlation effects in C60 after laser excitation

In the static Hartree-Fock limit, the on-site electron-electron interaction has no effect on the electronic properties of C60. But upon the laser excitation, the dynamical correlation effect appears. The time-dependent Hartree-Fock simulation through the Hubbard model shows that such an effect originates from the charge fluctuation, but an increase in the on-site electron-electron interaction suppresses the charge fluctuation and reduces the absorbed energy and the bond structure distortion.

Giant enhancement of the thermal Hall conductivity kappa(xy) in the superconductor YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7)

In high-purity YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7), the (weak-field) thermal Hall conductivity kappa(xy) is observed to increase a thousand-fold between 90 and 30 K. The inferred quasiparticle lifetime tau increases a hundred-fold starting below 90 K, in disagreement with a recent photoemission experiment. We show that kappa(xy) exhibits a specific scaling behavior below approximately 30 K. This scaling may bear on the issue of whether Landau quantization of the quasiparticle states occurs.

Charge transport and carrier dynamics in liquids probed by THz time-domain spectroscopy

We examine the transport properties and the dynamics of free electrons in n-hexane by means of femtosecond spectroscopy using an ultraviolet pump pulse to create the electrons and a THz electromagnetic pulse as a probe. The complex dielectric response of the photogenerated electrons is determined over a broad range of frequencies, from which we infer the electron scattering time and density through the Drude model. The time evolution of the carrier density reveals nongeminate electron-ion recombination within hundreds of picoseconds at high ion concentration.