Mapping quantum structures with light to unlock their capabilities

Nanowerk  December 4, 2020
All-optical band-structure reconstruction could directly connect electronic structure with the coveted quantum phenomena if strong light waves transported localized electrons within preselected bands. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Michigan, Germany) has shown that harmonic sideband (HSB) generation in monolayer tungsten diselenide creates distinct electronic interference combs in momentum space. Locating these momentum combs in spectroscopy enables super-resolution tomography of key band-structure details in situ. They experimentally tuned the optical-driver frequency by a full octave and showed that the predicted super-resolution manifests in a critical intensity and frequency dependence of HSBs. The concept offers a practical, all-optical, fully three-dimensional tomography of electronic structure even in microscopically small quantum materials, band by band…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE

The electrons absorb laser light and set up “momentum combs” (the hills) spanning the energy valleys within the material (the red line). Credit: Markus Borsch, University of Michigan

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