S. A. Trugman

Tuning the Resonance in High-Temperature Superconducting Terahertz Metamaterials

In this Letter, we present resonance properties in terahertz metamaterials consisting of a split-ring resonator array made from high-temperature superconducting films. By varying the temperature, we observe efficient metamaterial resonance switching and frequency tuning. The results are well reproduced by numerical simulations of metamaterial resonance using the experimentally measured complex conductivity of the superconducting film. We develop a theoretical model that explains the tuning features, which takes into account the resistive resonance damping and additional split-ring inductance contributed from both the real and imaginary parts of the temperature-dependent complex conductivity. The theoretical model further predicts more efficient resonance tuning in metamaterials consisting of a thinner superconducting split-ring resonator array, which are also verified in subsequent experiments.

Electronic control of extraordinary terahertz transmission through subwavelength metal hole arrays

We describe the electronic control of extraordinary terahertz transmission through subwavelength metal hole arrays fabricated on doped semiconductor substrates. The hybrid metal-semiconductor forms a Schottky diode structure, where the active depletion region modifies the substrate conductivity in real-time by applying an external voltage bias. This enables effective control of the resonance enhanced terahertz transmission. Our proof of principle device achieves an intensity modulation depth of 52% by changing the voltage bias between 0 and 16 volts. Further optimization may result in improvement of device performance and practical applications. This approach can be also translated to the other optical frequency ranges.

Effect of inelastic processes on tunneling.

We study an electron that interacts with phonons or other linear or nonlinear excitations as it resonantly tunnels. The method we use is based on mapping a many-body problem in a large variational space exactly onto a one-body problem. The method is conceptually simpler than previous Green`s function approaches, and allows the essentially exact numerical solution of much more general problems. We solve tunneling problems with transverse channels, multiple sites coupled to phonons, and multiple phonon degrees of freedom and excitations.

The Holstein Polaron

We describe a variational method to solve the Holstein model for an electron coupled to dynamical, quantum phonons on an infinite lattice. The variational space can be systematically expanded to achieve high accuracy with modest computational resources (12-digit accuracy for the 1d polaron energy at intermediate coupling). We compute ground and low-lying excited state properties of the model at continuous values of the wavevector

Origin of the decrease in the torsional-oscillator period of solid He 4

k

Optical tuning and ultrafast dynamics of high-temperature superconducting terahertz metamaterials

in essentially all parameter regimes. Our results for the polaron energy band, effective mass and correlation functions compare favorably with those of other numerical techniques including DMRG, Global Local and exact diagonalization. We find a phase transition for the first excited state between a bound and unbound system of a polaron and an additional phonon excitation. The phase transition is also treated in strong coupling perturbation theory.

Bipolarons in the extended Holstein Hubbard model

A decrease in the rotational period observed in torsional oscillator measurements was recently taken as a possible indication of a supersolid state of helium. We reexamine this interpretation and note that the decrease in the rotation period is also consistent with a solidification of a small liquid-like component into a low-temperature glass. Such a solidification may occur by a low-temperature quench of topological defects (e.g., grain boundaries or dislocations) which we examined in an earlier work. The low-temperature glass can account for not only a monotonic decrease in the rotation period as the temperature is lowered but also explains the peak in the dissipation occurring near the transition point. Unlike the non-classical rotational inertia scenario, which depends on the supersolid fraction, the dependence of the rotational period on external parameters, e.g., the oscillator velocity, provides an alternate interpretation of the oscillator experiments. Future experiments might explore this effect.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics and radiative recombination in multiferroic BiFeO3

Abstract Through the integration of semiconductors or complex oxides into metal resonators, tunable metamaterials have been achieved by a change of environment using an external stimulus. Metals provide high conductivity to realize a strong resonant response in metamaterials; however, they contribute very little to the tunability. The complex conductivity in high-temperature superconducting films is highly sensitive to external perturbations, which provides new opportunities in achieving tunable metamaterials resulting directly from the resonant elements. Additionally, superconducting metamaterials are expected to enable strong nonlinear response and quantum effects, particularly when Josephson junctions are integrated into the metamaterial resonant elements. Here we demonstrate ultrafast dynamical tuning of resonance in the terahertz (THz) frequency range in YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) split-ring resonator (SRR) arrays excited by near infrared femtosecond laser pulses. The photoexcitation breaks the superconducting Cooper pairs to create quasiparticles. This dramatically modifies the imaginary part of the complex conductivity and consequently the metamaterial resonance on an ultrafast timescale, although the real conductivity does not change significantly. We observed resonance switching accompanied by substantial frequency tuning as a function of photoexcitation fluence, which also strongly depends on the nanoscale thickness of the superconducting films. All of our experimental results agree with calculations using an analytical model, which takes into account the contributions of the complex conductivity of the YBCO films to SRR resistance and kinetic inductance. The theoretical calculations reveal that the increasing SRR resistance upon increasing photoexcitation fluence is responsible for the reduction of resonance strength, and changes in both the resistance and kinetic inductance cause the resonance frequency shifts.

Dimensionality effects on the Holstein polaron

There is growing evidence that electron-phonon coupling plays an important role in determining exotic properties of novel materials such as colossal magnetoresistance 1 and high-Tc compounds. 2 Since electrons in these materials are strongly correlated, the interplay between an attractive electron-phonon interaction and Coulomb repulsion may be important in determining physics at finite doping. In particular, when the electron-phonon interaction is local, as is the case in the Holstein model, finite Coulomb repulsion leads to the formation of an intrasite bipolaron, 3‐5 with an effective mass of the order of the polaron effective mass. 5 It has been recently discovered that a longer-range electron-phonon interaction leads to a decrease in the effective mass of a polaron in the strong-coupling regime. 6,7 The lower mass can have important consequences, because lighter polarons and bipolarons are more likely to remain mobile and less likely to trap on impurities or from mutual repulsion. Motivated by this discovery, we investigate a sim

Entropy of solid 4He : The possible role of a dislocation-induced glass

We report a comprehensive study of ultrafast carrier dynamics in single crystals of multiferroic BiFeO3. Using degenerate femtosecond optical pump-probe spectroscopy, we find that the photoexcited electrons relax to the conduction band minimum through electron-phonon coupling with a ∼1 ps time constant that does not significantly change across the antiferromagnetic transition. Electrons subsequently leave the conduction band and primarily decay via radiative recombination on a nanosecond timescale, as supported by photoluminescence measurements. We find that despite the coexisting ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic orders in BiFeO3, its intrinsic nature results in carrier relaxation similar to that observed in bulk semiconductors.