Optical nano-imaging of gate-tunable graphene plasmons

The ability to manipulate optical fields and the energy flow of light is central to modern information and communication technologies, as well as quantum information processing schemes. However, because photons do not possess charge, a way of controlling them efficiently by electrical means has so far proved elusive. A promising way to achieve electric control of light could be through plasmon polaritons—coupled excitations of photons and charge carriers—in graphene. In this two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms, it is expected that plasmon polaritons and their associated optical fields can readily be tuned electrically by varying the graphene carrier density. Although evidence of optical graphene plasmon resonances has recently been obtained spectroscopically, no experiments so far have directly resolved propagating plasmons in real space. Here we launch and detect propagating optical plasmons in tapered graphene nanostructures using near-field scattering microscopy with infrared excitation light. We provide real-space images of plasmon fields, and find that the extracted plasmon wavelength is very short—more than 40 times smaller than the wavelength of illumination. We exploit this strong optical field confinement to turn a graphene nanostructure into a tunable resonant plasmonic cavity with extremely small mode volume. The cavity resonance is controlled in situ by gating the graphene, and in particular, complete switching on and off of the plasmon modes is demonstrated, thus paving the way towards graphene-based optical transistors. This successful alliance between nanoelectronics and nano-optics enables the development of active subwavelength-scale optics and a plethora of nano-optoelectronic devices and functionalities, such as tunable metamaterials, nanoscale optical processing, and strongly enhanced light–matter interactions for quantum devices and biosensing applications.     

光散射的量子理论概述

概述了光散射现象和几种基本的光散射类型。采用量子力学观点,把光散射看作光和物质原子的相互作用,给出了光散射的量子图像。基于量子力学理论介绍了康普顿散射、瑞利散射和拉曼散射,对它们进行了理论分析,给出了相关公式。给出了光散射的基本理论,深入讨论了这三种重要光散射现象的区别和联系,有助于了解原子或分子的相关结构。     

High-temperature ultrafast polariton parametric amplification in semiconductor microcavities.

Cavity polaritons, the elementary optical excitations of semiconductor microcavities, may be understood as a superposition of excitons and cavity photons. Owing to their composite nature, these bosonic particles have a distinct optical response, at the same time very fast and highly nonlinear. Very efficient light amplification due to polariton-polariton parametric scattering has recently been reported in semiconductor microcavities at liquid-helium temperatures. Here we demonstrate polariton parametric amplification up to 120 K in GaAlAs-based microcavities and up to 220 K in CdTe-based microcavities. We show that the cut-off temperature for the amplification is ultimately determined by the binding energy of the exciton. A 5-micrometer-thick planar microcavity can amplify a weak light pulse more than 5,000 times. The effective gain coefficient of an equivalent homogeneous medium would be 107 cm-1. The subpicosecond duration and high efficiency of the amplification could be exploited for high-repetition all-optical microscopic switches and amplifiers. 105 polaritons occupy the same quantum state during the amplification, realizing a dynamical condensate of strongly interacting bosons which can be studied at high temperature.     

Quantum interference between two single photons emitted by independently trapped atoms

When two indistinguishable single photons are fed into the two input ports of a beam splitter, the photons will coalesce and leave together from the same output port. This is a quantum interference effect, which occurs because two possible paths-in which the photons leave by different output ports-interfere destructively. This effect was first observed in parametric downconversion (in which a nonlinear crystal splits a single photon into two photons of lower energy), then from two separate downconversion crystals, as well as with single photons produced one after the other by the same quantum emitter. With the recent developments in quantum information research, much attention has been devoted to this interference effect as a resource for quantum data processing using linear optics techniques. To ensure the scalability of schemes based on these ideas, it is crucial that indistinguishable photons are emitted by a collection of synchronized, but otherwise independent sources. Here we demonstrate the quantum interference of two single photons emitted by two independently trapped single atoms, bridging the gap towards the simultaneous emission of many indistinguishable single photons by different emitters. Our data analysis shows that the observed coalescence is mainly limited by wavefront matching of the light emitted by the two atoms, and to a lesser extent by the motion of each atom in its own trap.     

Observation of orbital waves as elementary excitations in a solid

A basic concept in solid-state physics is that when some kind of symmetry in a solid is spontaneously broken, collective excitations will arise. For example, phonons are the collective excitations corresponding to lattice vibrations in a crystal, and magnons correspond to spin waves in a magnetically ordered compound. Modulations in the relative shape of the electronic clouds in an orbitally ordered state could in principle give rise to orbital waves, or 'orbitons', but this type of elementary excitation has yet to be observed experimentally. Systems in which the electrons are strongly correlated-such as high-temperature superconductors and manganites exhibiting colossal magnetoresistivity-are promising candidates for supporting orbital waves, because they contain transition-metal ions in which the orbital degree of freedom is important. Orbitally ordered states have been found in several transition-metal compounds, and orbitons have been predicted theoretically for LaMnO3. Here we report experimental evidence for orbitons in LaMnO3, using Raman scattering measurements. We perform a model calculation of orbiton resonances which provides a good fit to the experimental data.     

激光对磁振子压缩态的作用

压缩态的量子起伏低于相干态相应的量子起伏．同声子和光子比较，自旋波的元激发——磁振子，也属于玻色子；在粒子数表像中，磁振子的哈密顿量在形式上与光子和声子的哈密顿量相似，因而磁振子的压缩态是可能存在的．通过测量在激光场下自旋分量的量子涨落，可以获得材料的性能参数．     

Quantum storage of optical signals and coherent manipulation of quantum states based on electromagnetically induced transparency

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) techniques are important tools for the storage of the quantum states of light fields in atomic ensembles and for enhancement of the interaction between photons. In this paper, we briefly summarize the recent experimental studies conducted by our group on enhanced cross-phase modulation based on double EIT effects, the quantum interference of stored dual-channel spin-wave excitations and the coherent manipulation of the spin wave vector for the polarization of photons in a single tripod atomic system. The work presented here has potential application in the developing field of quantum information processing.     

An electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Double-slit electron interferometers fabricated in high mobility two-dimensional electron gases are powerful tools for studying coherent wave-like phenomena in mesoscopic systems. However, they suffer from low visibility of the interference patterns due to the many channels present in each slit, and from poor sensitivity to small currents due to their open geometry. Moreover, these interferometers do not function in high magnetic fields--such as those required to enter the quantum Hall effect regime--as the field destroys the symmetry between left and right slits. Here we report the fabrication and operation of a single-channel, two-path electron interferometer that functions in a high magnetic field. This device is the first electronic analogue of the optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and opens the way to measuring interference of quasiparticles with fractional charges. On the basis of measurements of single edge state and closed geometry transport in the quantum Hall effect regime, we find that the interferometer is highly sensitive and exhibits very high visibility (62%). However, the interference pattern decays precipitously with increasing electron temperature or energy. Although the origin of this dephasing is unclear, we show, via shot-noise measurements, that it is not a decoherence process that results from inelastic scattering events.     

Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems

Photosynthetic complexes are exquisitely tuned to capture solar light efficiently, and then transmit the excitation energy to reaction centres, where long term energy storage is initiated. The energy transfer mechanism is often described by semiclassical models that invoke 'hopping' of excited-state populations along discrete energy levels. Two-dimensional Fourier transform electronic spectroscopy has mapped these energy levels and their coupling in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) bacteriochlorophyll complex, which is found in green sulphur bacteria and acts as an energy 'wire' connecting a large peripheral light-harvesting antenna, the chlorosome, to the reaction centre. The spectroscopic data clearly document the dependence of the dominant energy transport pathways on the spatial properties of the excited-state wavefunctions of the whole bacteriochlorophyll complex. But the intricate dynamics of quantum coherence, which has no classical analogue, was largely neglected in the analyses-even though electronic energy transfer involving oscillatory populations of donors and acceptors was first discussed more than 70 years ago, and electronic quantum beats arising from quantum coherence in photosynthetic complexes have been predicted and indirectly observed. Here we extend previous two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy investigations of the FMO bacteriochlorophyll complex, and obtain direct evidence for remarkably long-lived electronic quantum coherence playing an important part in energy transfer processes within this system. The quantum coherence manifests itself in characteristic, directly observable quantum beating signals among the excitons within the Chlorobium tepidum FMO complex at 77 K. This wavelike characteristic of the energy transfer within the photosynthetic complex can explain its extreme efficiency, in that it allows the complexes to sample vast areas of phase space to find the most efficient path.     

人工自旋轨道耦合玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的元激发

文章研究了准一维人工自旋轨道耦合玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体中的元激发. 利用平均场理论和波戈留波夫近似方法,分别计算了此原子凝聚体在依赖于拉曼耦合强度的零动量相和平面波相的激发谱. 结果表明,在零动量相时体系激发谱的2个分支都呈现出对称结构;相反地,在较小拉曼耦合强度时的平面波相,激发谱呈现出旋子最低结构,从而预示了体系从平面波相到条纹相的相变. 文中证明了在平面波相和零动量相的相变附近,低频元激发的声速急剧下降并消失于相变点. 文章全面分析了人工自旋轨道耦合原子凝聚体的元激发特性,为实验研究该类崭新的多体系统提供理论支持.     

可见光敏化铕发光配合物研究进展

稀土离子的敏化发光研究一直是有机稀土发光配合物领域的热点问题。在活体生物成像和荧光免疫分析领域,与紫外光激发相比,可见光激发具有可有效降低背景光的干扰和减少对生物组织的损伤等优点,因此,可见光激发有机稀土配合物的发光研究受到了稀土探针制备方面研究人员的广泛关注。在上述配合物中,三价铕离子配合物可获得较高的发光量子产率,且其特征发射为红光,因此,这类配合物在成像和免疫分析领域更加引起了研究者的极大兴趣。本文就近年来可见光敏化有机铕配合物的发光机理、敏化配体的类型、配合物的发光性能等方面进行了综述,分析了不同的敏化配体对三价铕离子配合物发光性质的影响,指出了要从如何制备敏化配体方面来探索创造具有优异发光性能的有机铕配合物。     

Spin-orbital separation in the quasi-one-dimensional Mott insulator Sr2CuO3

When viewed as an elementary particle, the electron has spin and charge. When binding to the atomic nucleus, it also acquires an angular momentum quantum number corresponding to the quantized atomic orbital it occupies. Even if electrons in solids form bands and delocalize from the nuclei, in Mott insulators they retain their three fundamental quantum numbers: spin, charge and orbital. The hallmark of one-dimensional physics is a breaking up of the elementary electron into its separate degrees of freedom. The separation of the electron into independent quasi-particles that carry either spin (spinons) or charge (holons) was first observed fifteen years ago. Here we report observation of the separation of the orbital degree of freedom (orbiton) using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on the one-dimensional Mott insulator Sr2CuO3. We resolve an orbiton separating itself from spinons and propagating through the lattice as a distinct quasi-particle with a substantial dispersion in energy over momentum, of about 0.2 electronvolts, over nearly one Brillouin zone.     

同步辐射技术和透射电镜技术以及密度泛函理论相结合的综合表征方法及其应用

同步辐射技术和透射电镜技术是研究材料的重要表征手段,广泛应用于物理、化学、材料、环境与能源等学科的前沿研究领域.这两种技术方法,其物理原理是光子和电子与材料的相互作用,包括光子在材料中的散射与吸收,电子的衍射与能量损失等,从而演化出各种具体表征手段.从物理本质看,基于量子力学的密度泛函理论,其本征函数可以与同步辐射X射线的衍射和透射电镜电子的衍射得到的电荷密度相对应,而其本征值则可以与同步辐射X射线的吸收谱和光电子谱以及透射电镜电子的能量损失谱得到的能级或能带信息相对应.这些对应关系使得这两种技术手段和理论计算方法可以互相验证也可以互相补充,从而对材料的结构和电子信息的分析更为全面细致.本文综述了同步辐射技术和透射电镜技术的进展,通过典型材料表征进行举例说明,这两种技术结合密度泛函理论,能够深入分析功能材料的晶体结构信息以及各种物理化学性能.最后展望了这三种方法相结合的未来发展趋势.     

Coherent properties of a two-level system based on a quantum-dot photodiode

Present-day information technology is based mainly on incoherent processes in conventional semiconductor devices. To realize concepts for future quantum information technologies, which are based on coherent phenomena, a new type of 'hardware' is required. Semiconductor quantum dots are promising candidates for the basic device units for quantum information processing. One approach is to exploit optical excitations (excitons) in quantum dots. It has already been demonstrated that coherent manipulation between two excitonic energy levels--via so-called Rabi oscillations--can be achieved in single quantum dots by applying electromagnetic fields. Here we make use of this effect by placing an InGaAs quantum dot in a photodiode, which essentially connects it to an electric circuit. We demonstrate that coherent optical excitations in the quantum-dot two-level system can be converted into deterministic photocurrents. For optical excitation with so-called pi-pulses, which completely invert the two-level system, the current is given by I = fe, where f is the repetition frequency of the experiment and e is the elementary charge. We find that this device can function as an optically triggered single-electron turnstile.     

Vibrational excitation through tug-of-war inelastic collisions

Vibrationally inelastic scattering is a fundamental collision process that converts some of the kinetic energy of the colliding partners into vibrational excitation(,). The conventional wisdom is that collisions with high impact parameters (where the partners only 'graze' each other) are forward scattered and essentially elastic, whereas collisions with low impact parameters transfer a large amount of energy into vibrations and are mainly back scattered. Here we report experimental observations of exactly the opposite behaviour for the simplest and most studied of all neutral-neutral collisions: we find that the inelastic scattering process H + D(2)(v = 0, j = 0, 2) --> H + D(2)(v' = 3, j' = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) leads dominantly to forward scattering (v and j respectively refer to the vibrational and rotational quantum numbers of the D(2) molecule). Quasi-classical trajectory calculations show that the vibrational excitation is caused by extension, not compression, of the D-D bond through interaction with the passing H atom. However, the H-D interaction never becomes strong enough for capture of the H atom before it departs with diminished kinetic energy; that is, the inelastic scattering process is essentially a frustrated reaction in which the collision typically excites the outward-going half of the H-D-D symmetric stretch before the H-D(2) complex dissociates. We suggest that this 'tug of war' between H and D(2) is a new mechanism for vibrational excitation that should play a role in all neutral-neutral collisions where strong attraction can develop between the collision partners.     

Dynamical resonance in F＋H2 chemical reaction and rotational excitation effect

Reaction resonance is a frontier topic in chemical dynamics research,and it is also essential to the understanding of mechanisms of elementary chemical reactions.This short article describes an im- portant development in the frontier of research.Experimental evidence of reaction resonance has been detected in a full quantum state resolved reactive scattering study of the F H2 reaction.Highly accurate full quantum scattering theoretical modeling shows that the reaction resonance is caused by two Feshbach resonance states.Further studies show that quantum interference is present between the two resonance states for the forward scattering product.This study is a significant step forward in our understanding of chemical reaction resonance in the benchmark F H2 system.Further experimental studies on the effect of H2 rotational excitation on dynamical resonance have been carried out.Dy- namical resonance in the F H2(j=1)reaction has also been observed.     

The structure of the high-energy spin excitations in a high-transition-temperature superconductor

In conventional superconductors, lattice vibrations (phonons) mediate the attraction between electrons that is responsible for superconductivity. The high transition temperatures (high-T(c)) of the copper oxide superconductors has led to collective spin excitations being proposed as the mediating excitations in these materials. The mediating excitations must be strongly coupled to the conduction electrons, have energy greater than the pairing energy, and be present at T(c). The most obvious feature in the magnetic excitations of high-T(c) superconductors such as YBa2Cu3O6+x is the so-called 'resonance'. Although the resonance may be strongly coupled to the superconductivity, it is unlikely to be the main cause, because it has not been found in the La2-x(Ba,Sr)(x)CuO4 family and is not universally present in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta (ref. 9). Here we use inelastic neutron scattering to characterize possible mediating excitations at higher energies in YBa2Cu3O6.6. We observe a square-shaped continuum of excitations peaked at incommensurate positions. These excitations have energies greater than the superconducting pairing energy, are present at T(c), and have spectral weight far exceeding that of the 'resonance'. The discovery of similar excitations in La2-xBa(x)CuO4 (ref. 10) suggests that they are a general property of the copper oxides, and a candidate for mediating the electron pairing.     

Interference between two indistinguishable electrons from independent sources

Very much like the ubiquitous quantum interference of a single particle with itself, quantum interference of two independent, but indistinguishable, particles is also possible. For a single particle, the interference is between the amplitudes of the particle's wavefunctions, whereas the interference between two particles is a direct result of quantum exchange statistics. Such interference is observed only in the joint probability of finding the particles in two separated detectors, after they were injected from two spatially separated and independent sources. Experimental realizations of two-particle interferometers have been proposed; in these proposals it was shown that such correlations are a direct signature of quantum entanglement between the spatial degrees of freedom of the two particles ('orbital entanglement'), even though they do not interact with each other. In optics, experiments using indistinguishable pairs of photons encountered difficulties in generating pairs of independent photons and synchronizing their arrival times; thus they have concentrated on detecting bunching of photons (bosons) by coincidence measurements. Similar experiments with electrons are rather scarce. Cross-correlation measurements between partitioned currents, emanating from one source, yielded similar information to that obtained from auto-correlation (shot noise) measurements. The proposal of ref. 3 is an electronic analogue to the historical Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment with classical light. It is based on the electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer that uses edge channels in the quantum Hall effect regime. Here we implement such an interferometer. We partitioned two independent and mutually incoherent electron beams into two trajectories, so that the combined four trajectories enclosed an Aharonov-Bohm flux. Although individual currents and their fluctuations (shot noise measured by auto-correlation) were found to be independent of the Aharonov-Bohm flux, the cross-correlation between current fluctuations at two opposite points across the device exhibited strong Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, suggesting orbital entanglement between the two electron beams.