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Rajasekaran S, Casandruc E, Laplace Y, Nicoletti D, Gu GD, Clark SR, Jaksch D, Cavalleri A. Parametric Amplification of a Superconducting Plasma Wave. Nat Phys 2016; 12:1012-1016. [PMID: 27833647 PMCID: PMC5098603 DOI: 10.1038/nphys3819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2015] [Accepted: 06/13/2016] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Many applications in photonics require all-optical manipulation of plasma waves1, which can concentrate electromagnetic energy on sub-wavelength length scales. This is difficult in metallic plasmas because of their small optical nonlinearities. Some layered superconductors support Josephson plasma waves (JPWs)2,3, involving oscillatory tunneling of the superfluid between capacitively coupled planes. Josephson plasma waves are also highly nonlinear4, and exhibit striking phenomena like cooperative emission of coherent terahertz radiation5,6, superconductor-metal oscillations7 and soliton formation8. We show here that terahertz JPWs can be parametrically amplified through the cubic tunneling nonlinearity in a cuprate superconductor. Parametric amplification is sensitive to the relative phase between pump and seed waves and may be optimized to achieve squeezing of the order parameter phase fluctuations9 or single terahertz-photon devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. Rajasekaran
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - E. Casandruc
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Y. Laplace
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - D. Nicoletti
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - G. D. Gu
- Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000, USA
| | - S. R. Clark
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, University of Bath, Claverton Down, BA2 7AY, Bath United Kingdom
- Department of Physics, Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, OX1 3PU Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - D. Jaksch
- Department of Physics, Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, OX1 3PU Oxford, United Kingdom
- Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543, Singapore
| | - A. Cavalleri
- Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Physics, Oxford University, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, OX1 3PU Oxford, United Kingdom
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Wu JB, Zhang X, Jin BB, Liu HT, Chen YH, Li ZY, Zhang CH, Kang L, Xu WW, Chen J, Wang HB, Tonouchi M, Wu PH. The dynamic process and microscopic mechanism of extraordinary terahertz transmission through perforated superconducting films. Sci Rep 2015; 5:15588. [PMID: 26498994 PMCID: PMC4620484 DOI: 10.1038/srep15588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Superconductor is a compelling plasmonic medium at terahertz frequencies owing to its intrinsic low Ohmic loss and good tuning property. However, the microscopic physics of the interaction between terahertz wave and superconducting plasmonic structures is still unknown. In this paper, we conducted experiments of the enhanced terahertz transmission through a series of superconducting NbN subwavelength hole arrays, and employed microscopic hybrid wave model in theoretical analysis of the role of hybrid waves in the enhanced transmission. The theoretical calculation provided a good match of experimental data. In particular, we obtained the following results. When the width of the holes is far below wavelength, the enhanced transmission is mainly caused by localized resonance around individual holes. On the contrary, when the holes are large, hybrid waves scattered by the array of holes dominate the extraordinary transmission. The surface plasmon polaritions are proved to be launched on the surface of superconducting film and the excitation efficiency increases when the temperature approaches critical temperature and the working frequency goes near energy gap frequency. This work will enrich our knowledge on the microscopic physics of extraordinary optical transmission at terahertz frequencies and contribute to developing terahertz plasmonic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. B. Wu
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
- School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
| | - X. Zhang
- Key Lab of Optical Information Science and Technology (MOE), Institute of Modern Optics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - B. B. Jin
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - H. T. Liu
- Key Lab of Optical Information Science and Technology (MOE), Institute of Modern Optics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
| | - Y. H. Chen
- Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Z. Y. Li
- Laboratory of Optical Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - C. H. Zhang
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - L. Kang
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - W. W. Xu
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - J. Chen
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - H. B. Wang
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
- National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan
| | - M. Tonouchi
- Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, 2-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - P. H. Wu
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
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Dienst A, Casandruc E, Fausti D, Zhang L, Eckstein M, Hoffmann M, Khanna V, Dean N, Gensch M, Winnerl S, Seidel W, Pyon S, Takayama T, Takagi H, Cavalleri A. Optical excitation of Josephson plasma solitons in a cuprate superconductor. Nat Mater 2013; 12:535-541. [PMID: 23524373 DOI: 10.1038/nmat3580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2011] [Accepted: 01/28/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Josephson plasma waves are linear electromagnetic modes that propagate along the planes of cuprate superconductors, sustained by interlayer tunnelling supercurrents. For strong electromagnetic fields, as the supercurrents approach the critical value, the electrodynamics become highly nonlinear. Josephson plasma solitons (JPSs) are breather excitations predicted in this regime, bound vortex-antivortex pairs that propagate coherently without dispersion. We experimentally demonstrate the excitation of a JPS in La1.84Sr0.16CuO4, using intense narrowband radiation from an infrared free-electron laser tuned to the 2-THz Josephson plasma resonance. The JPS becomes observable as it causes a transparency window in the opaque spectral region immediately below the plasma resonance. Optical control of magnetic-flux-carrying solitons may lead to new applications in terahertz-frequency plasmonics, in information storage and transport and in the manipulation of high-Tc superconductivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Dienst
- Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Abstract
We demonstrate a superconductor array of subwavelength holes with active thermal control over the resonant transmission induced by surface plasmon polaritons. The array was lithographically fabricated on a high-temperature yttrium barium copper oxide superconductor and characterized by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. We observe a clear transition from a virtual excitation of the surface plasmon mode to a real surface plasmon mode. The highly controllable superconducting plasmonic crystals may find promising applications in the design of low-loss, large- dynamic-range amplitude modulation and surface-plasmon-based terahertz devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Tian
- Center for Terahertz Waves and College of Precision Instrument and Optoelectronics Engineering, Tianjin University, China
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5
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Thorsmølle VK, Averitt RD, Shibauchi T, Hundley MF, Taylor AJ. Dynamic coupling-decoupling crossover in the current-driven vortex state in Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 probed by the Josephson plasma resonance. Phys Rev Lett 2006; 97:237001. [PMID: 17280231 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.97.237001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2004] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
We have used terahertz spectroscopy to measure the Josephson plasma resonance in the superconductor Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8+delta. This allows us to probe the longitudinal ordering of pancake vortices as a function of applied ab-plane current in a 2.5 kG c-axis magnetic field. With increasing current in the low temperature vortex solid phase, we observe a decrease in the interlayer phase coherence consistent with a progressive misalignment of the pancake vortices in neighboring layers. In the high temperature vortex liquid phase, an increase in the longitudinal ordering occurs above a certain threshold current. Our results show evidence of a current-driven coupling-decoupling crossover in the pinned liquid phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- V K Thorsmølle
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
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Spivey AGV, Cundiff ST. Brewster's angle attenuator for terahertz pulses. Appl Opt 2002; 41:7637-7643. [PMID: 12510932 DOI: 10.1364/ao.41.007637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
A variable attenuator for terahertz (THz) pulses is developed on the basis of the change in reflectivity of lithium niobate wafers with incident angle in a Brewster configuration. We can vary the THz field transmission from 22% to 54%, a change of a factor of 2.5, while preserving the shape of the THz pulse spectrum. Changes in the THz spectrum are shown to be much smaller when the Brewster attenuator is used than when either the near-infrared pump power or the bias voltage on a THz photoconductive antenna is varied. The Brewster attenuator should prove especially useful for varying THz field strength in nonlinear optical studies that use broadband THz pulses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amelia G VanEngen Spivey
- JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA
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7
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Helm C, Bulaevskii LN, Chudnovsky EM, Maley MP. Reflectivity and microwave absorption in crystals with alternating intrinsic Josephson junctions. Phys Rev Lett 2002; 89:057003. [PMID: 12144460 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.89.057003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2001] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We compute the frequency and magnetic field dependencies of the reflectivity R(omega) in layered superconductors with two alternating intrinsic Josephson junctions with different critical current densities and quasiparticle conductivities for the electric field polarized along the c axis. The parameter alpha describing the electronic compressibility of the layers and the charge coupling of neighboring junctions was extracted for the SmLa1-xSr xCuO (4-delta) superconductor from two independent optical measurements, the fit of the loss function L(omega) at zero magnetic field and the magnetic field dependence of the peak positions in L(omega). The experiments are consistent with a free electron value for alpha.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ch Helm
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 and Institut für Theoretische Physik, ETH Hönggerberg, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
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