Denis V. Seletskiy

Efficient Terahertz Emission from InAs Nanowires

Abstract : We observe intense pulses of far-infrared electromagnetic radiation emitted from arrays of InAs nanowires. The terahertz radiation power efficiency of these structures is 15 times higher than a planar InAs substrate. This is explained by the preferential orientation of coherent plasma motion to the wire surface, which overcomes radiation trapping by total-internal reflection.We present evidence that this radiation originates from a low-energy acoustic surface plasmon mode of the nanowire. This is supported by independent measurements of electronic transport on individual nanowires, ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy, and theoretical analysis. Our combined experiments and analysis further indicate that these plasmon modes are specific to high aspect ratio geometries.

Optical refrigeration to 119 K, below National Institute of Standards and Technology cryogenic temperature

We report on bulk optical refrigeration of Yb:YLF crystal to a temperature of ~124 K, starting from the ambient. This is achieved by pumping the E4-E5 Stark multiplet transition at ~1020 nm. A lower temperature of 119±1 K (~-154C) with available cooling power of 18 mW is attained when the temperature of the surrounding crystal is reduced to 210 K. This result is within only a few degrees of the minimum achievable temperature of our crystal and signifies the bulk solid-state laser cooling below the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-defined cryogenic temperature of 123 K.

Local Laser Cooling of Yb:YLF to 110 K

Minimum achievable temperature of ~110 K is measured in a 5% doped Yb:YLF crystal at λ = 1020 nm, corresponding to E4-E5 resonance of Stark manifold. This measurement is in excellent agreement with the laser cooling model and was made possible by employing a novel and sensitive implementation of differential luminescence thermometry using balanced photo-detectors.

Direct sampling of electric-field vacuum fluctuations

Probing the fluctuating vacuum According to quantum mechanics, a vacuum is not empty space. A consequence of the uncertainly principle is that particles or energy can come into existence for a fleeting moment. Such vacuum or quantum fluctuations are known to exist, but evidence for them has been indirect. Riek et al. present an ultrafast optical based technique that probes the vacuum fluctuation of electromagnetic radiation directly. Science, this issue p. 420 Ultrafast optics can directly probe the electric-field vacuum fluctuations. The ground state of quantum systems is characterized by zero-point motion. This motion, in the form of vacuum fluctuations, is generally considered to be an elusive phenomenon that manifests itself only indirectly. Here, we report direct detection of the vacuum fluctuations of electromagnetic radiation in free space. The ground-state electric-field variance is inversely proportional to the four-dimensional space-time volume, which we sampled electro-optically with tightly focused laser pulses lasting a few femtoseconds. Subcycle temporal readout and nonlinear coupling far from resonance provide signals from purely virtual photons without amplification. Our findings enable an extreme time-domain approach to quantum physics, with nondestructive access to the quantum state of light. Operating at multiterahertz frequencies, such techniques might also allow time-resolved studies of intrinsic fluctuations of elementary excitations in condensed matter.

Correlated fluorescence blinking in two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures

‘Blinking’, or ‘fluorescence intermittency’, refers to a random switching between ‘ON’ (bright) and ‘OFF’ (dark) states of an emitter; it has been studied widely in zero-dimensional quantum dots and molecules, and scarcely in one-dimensional systems. A generally accepted mechanism for blinking in quantum dots involves random switching between neutral and charged states (or is accompanied by fluctuations in charge-carrier traps), which substantially alters the dynamics of radiative and non-radiative decay. Here, we uncover a new type of blinking effect in vertically stacked, two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures, which consist of two distinct monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) that are weakly coupled by van der Waals forces. Unlike zero-dimensional or one-dimensional systems, two-dimensional TMD heterostructures show a correlated blinking effect, comprising randomly switching bright, neutral and dark states. Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy analyses show that a bright state occurring in one monolayer will simultaneously lead to a dark state in the other monolayer, owing to an intermittent interlayer carrier-transfer process. Our findings suggest that bilayer van der Waals heterostructures provide unique platforms for the study of charge-transfer dynamics and non-equilibrium-state physics, and could see application as correlated light emitters in quantum technology.

Identification of parasitic losses in Yb:YLF and prospects for optical refrigeration down to 80K

Systematic study of Yb doping concentration in the Yb:YLF cryocoolers by means of optical and mass spectroscopies has identified iron ions as the main source of the background absorption. Parasitic absorption was observed to decrease with Yb doping, resulting in optical cooling of a 10% Yb:YLF sample to 114K ± 1K, with room temperature cooling power of 750 mW and calculated minimum achievable temperature of 93 K.

Resonant cavity-enhanced absorption for optical refrigeration

A 20-fold increase over the single path optical absorption is demonstrated with a low loss medium placed in a resonant cavity. This is applied to laser cooling of ytterbium-doped fluorozirconate glass resulting in 90% absorption of the incident pump light. A coupled-cavity scheme to achieve active optical impedance matching is analyzed.

Measurement of solid-state optical refrigeration by two-band differential luminescence thermometry

We present a non-contact optical technique for the measurement of laser-induced temperature changes in solids. Two-band differential luminescence thermometry (TBDLT) achieves a sensitivity of 7 mK and enables a precise measurement of the net quantum efficiency of optical refrigerator materials. The TBDLT detects internal temperature changes by decoupling surface and bulk heating effects via time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. Several Yb 3+ -doped fluorozirconate (ZrF4‐BaF2‐LaF3‐AlF3‐NaF‐InF3, ZBLANI) glasses fabricated from precursors of varying purity and by different processes are analyzed in detail. A net quantum efficiency of 97.39±0.01% at 238 K (at a pump wavelength of 1020.5 nm) is found for a ZBLANI:1% Yb3+ lasercooling sample produced from metal fluoride precursors that were purified by chelate-assisted solvent extraction and dried in hydrofluoric gas. In comparison, a ZBLANI:1% Yb 3+ sample produced from commercialgrade metal fluoride precursors showed pronounced laser-induced heating that is indicative of a substantially higher impurity concentration. The TBDLT enables rapid and sensitive benchmarking of laser-cooling materials and provides critical feedback to the development and optimization of high-performance optical cryocooler materials.

Subcycle quantum electrodynamics

Squeezed states of electromagnetic radiation have quantum fluctuations below those of the vacuum field. They offer a unique resource for quantum information systems and precision metrology, including gravitational wave detectors, which require unprecedented sensitivity. Since the first experiments on this non-classical form of light, quantum analysis has been based on homodyning techniques and photon correlation measurements. These methods currently function in the visible to near-infrared and microwave spectral ranges. They require a well-defined carrier frequency, and photons contained in a quantum state need to be absorbed or amplified. Quantum non-demolition experiments may be performed to avoid the influence of a measurement in one quadrature, but this procedure comes at the expense of increased uncertainty in another quadrature. Here we generate mid-infrared time-locked patterns of squeezed vacuum noise. After propagation through free space, the quantum fluctuations of the electric field are studied in the time domain using electro-optic sampling with few-femtosecond laser pulses. We directly compare the local noise amplitude to that of bare (that is, unperturbed) vacuum. Our nonlinear approach operates off resonance and, unlike homodyning or photon correlation techniques, without absorption or amplification of the field that is investigated. We find subcycle intervals with noise levels that are substantially less than the amplitude of the vacuum field. As a consequence, there are enhanced fluctuations in adjacent time intervals, owing to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which indicate generation of highly correlated quantum radiation. Together with efforts in the far infrared, this work enables the study of elementary quantum dynamics of light and matter in an energy range at the boundary between vacuum and thermal background conditions.

Cooling of Yb:YLF using cavity enhanced resonant absorption

Using a cavity resonant absorption scheme we demonstrate record laser cooling for the rare-earth doped crystalline solid Yb:YLF. A temperature drop of nearly 70 degrees is obtained with respect to the ambient. Our preliminary results indicate that minimum achievable temperature in this material/sample is 170 K, as measured using a modified differential luminescence thermometry technique. This indicates outstanding potential for Yb:YLF as a cryogenic laser cooler material.