arXiv subjects

Alexey V. Scherbakov

Publications and source records attributed to Alexey V. Scherbakov.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Excitonic optical interface for GHz-THz collective excitations in a van der Waals magnet

Collective spin and lattice excitations in quantum materials span energy scales from GHz to THz, yet establishing a unified optical interface for these modes remains a central challenge. Here we show that excitonic resonances in the van der Waals antiferromagnet CrSBr provide a broadband optical interface for such excitations. Using femtosecond broadband transient reflectivity, we resolve coherent GHz magnon and THz phonon modes that modulate the dielectric response over a wide spectral range. Despite their distinct microscopic origin and frequency scales, both excitations give rise to the same emergent optical signature: a resonance at 1.46 eV that is absent in steady-state spectra and exhibits a characteristic π-phase inversion, identifying it as a discrete excitonic transition. We attribute this behaviour to boson-driven modulation of the dielectric response, which transiently transfers spectral weight from a nominally dark exciton into an observable channel without requiring a finite equilibrium oscillator strength. Supported by many-body calculations, we assign this feature to a higher-energy exciton with distinct momentum and orbital character and strongly suppressed optical matrix elements. These results establish excitonic resonances in van der Waals magnets as a platform for interfacing collective excitations across GHz, THz and optical frequency scales.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Giant photoelasticity of polaritons for detection of coherent phonons in a superlattice with quantum sensitivity

The functionality of phonon-based quantum devices largely depends on the efficiency of interaction of phonons with other excitations. For phonon frequencies above 20 GHz, generation and detection of the phonon quanta can be monitored through photons. The photon-phonon interaction can be enormously strengthened by involving an intermediate resonant quasiparticle, e.g. an exciton, with which a photon forms a polariton. In this work, we discover a giant photoelasticity of exciton-polaritons in a short-period superlattice and exploit it for detecting propagating acoustic phonons. We demonstrate that 42 GHz coherent phonons can be detected with extremely high sensitivity in the time domain Brillouin oscillations by probing with photons in the spectral vicinity of the polariton resonance.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Lifting restrictions on coherence loss when characterizing non-transparent hypersonic phononic crystals

Hypersonic phononic bandgap structures confine acoustic vibrations whose wavelength is commensurate with that of light, and have been studied using either time- or frequency-domain optical spectroscopy. Pulsed pump-probe lasers are the preferred instruments for characterizing periodic multilayer stacks from common vacuum deposition techniques, but the detection mechanism requires the injected sound wave to maintain coherence during propagation. Beyond acoustic Bragg mirrors, frequency-domain studies using a tandem Fabry-Perot interferometer (TFPI) find dispersions of two- and three-dimensional phononic crystals (PnCs) even for highly disordered samples, but with the caveat that PnCs must be transparent. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid technique for overcoming the limitations that time- and frequency-domain approaches exhibit separately: We inject coherent phonons into a non-transparent PnC using a pulsed laser and acquire the acoustic transmission spectrum on a TFPI, where pumped appear alongside spontaneously excited (i.e. incoherent) phonons. Choosing a metallic Bragg mirror for illustration, we determine the bandgap and compare with conventional time-domain spectroscopy, finding resolution of the hybrid approach to match that of a state-of-the-art asynchronous optical sampling setup. Thus, the hybrid pump-probe technique retains key performance features of the established one and going forward will likely be preferred for disordered samples.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Protected Long-Distance Guiding of Hypersound Underneath a Nano-Corrugated Surface

Within a new paradigm for communications on the nanoscale, high-frequency surface acoustic waves are becoming effective data carrier and encoder. On-chip communications require acoustic wave propagation along nano-corrugated surfaces which strongly scatter traditional Rayleigh waves. Here we propose the delivery of information using subsurface acoustic waves with hypersound frequencies ~20 GHz, which is a nanoscale analogue of subsurface sound waves in the ocean. A bunch of subsurface hypersound modes is generated by pulsed optical excitation in a multilayer semiconductor structure with a metallic nanograting on top. The guided hypersound modes propagate coherently beneath the nanograting, retaining the surface imprinted information, on a distance of more than 50 μm which essentially exceeds the propagation length of Rayleigh waves. The concept is suitable for interfacing single photon emitters, such as buried quantum dots, carrying coherent spin excitations in magnonic devices, and encoding the signals for optical communications at the nanoscale.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Magnon polaron formed by selectively coupled coherent magnon and phonon modes of a surface patterned ferromagnet

Strong coupling between two quanta of different excitations leads to the formation of a hybridized state which paves a way for exploiting new degrees of freedom to control phenomena with high efficiency and precision. A magnon polaron is the hybridized state of a phonon and a magnon, the elementary quanta of lattice vibrations and spin waves in a magnetically-ordered material. A magnon polaron can be formed at the intersection of the magnon and phonon dispersions, where their frequencies coincide. The observation of magnon polarons in the time domain has remained extremely challenging because the weak interaction of magnons and phonons and their short lifetimes jeopardize the strong coupling required for the formation of a hybridized state. Here, we overcome these limitations by spatial matching of magnons and phonons in a metallic ferromagnet with a nanoscale periodic surface pattern. The spatial overlap of the selected phonon and magnon modes formed in the periodic ferromagnetic structure results in a high coupling strength which, in combination with their long lifetimes allows us to find clear evidence of an optically excited magnon polaron. We show that the symmetries of the localized magnon and phonon states play a crucial role in the magnon polaron formation and its manifestation in the optically excited magnetic transients.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Resonant thermal energy transfer to magnons in a ferromagnetic nanolayer

Energy harvesting is a modern concept which makes dissipated heat useful by transferring thermal energy to other excitations. Most of the existing principles for energy harvesting are realized in systems which are heated continuously, for example generating DC voltage in thermoelectric devices. Here we present the concept of high-frequency energy harvesting where the dissipated heat in a sample excites resonant magnons in a 5-nm thick ferromagnetic metal layer. The sample is excited by femtosecond laser pulses with a repetition rate of 10 GHz which results in temperature modulation at the same frequency with amplitude ~0.1 K. The alternating temperature excites magnons in the ferromagnetic nanolayer which are detected by measuring the net magnetization precession. When the magnon frequency is brought onto resonance with the optical excitation, a 12-fold increase of the amplitude of precession indicates efficient resonant heat transfer from the lattice to coherent magnons. The demonstrated principle may be used for energy harvesting in various nanodevices operating at GHz and sub-THz frequency ranges.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Picosecond Ultrasonics with Miniaturized Semiconductor Lasers

There is a great desire to extend ultrasonic techniques to the imaging and characterization of nanoobjects. This can be achieved by picosecond ultrasonics, where by using ultrafast lasers it is possible to generate and detect acoustic waves with frequencies up to terahertz and wavelengths down to nanometers. In our work we present a picosecond ultrasonics setup based on miniaturized mode-locked semiconductor lasers, whose performance allows us to obtain the necessary power, pulse duration and repetition rate. Using such a laser, we measure the ultrasonic echo signal with picosecond resolution in a Al film deposited on a semiconductor substrate. We show that the obtained signal is as good as the signal obtained with a standard bulky mode-locked Ti-Sa laser. The experiments pave the way for designing integrated portable picosecond ultrasonic setups on the basis of miniaturized semiconductor lasers.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Optical excitation of propagating magnetostatic waves in an epitaxial Galfenol film by an ultrafast magnetic anisotropy change

Using a time-resolved optically-pumped scanning optical microscopy technique we demonstrate the laser-driven excitation and propagation of spin waves in a 20-nm film of a ferromagnetic metallic alloy Galfenol epitaxially grown on a GaAs substrate. In contrast to previous all-optical studies of spin waves we employ laser-induced thermal changes of magnetocrystalline anisotropy as an excitation mechanism. A tightly focused 70-fs laser pulse excites packets of magnetostatic surface waves with a $e^{-1}$ propagation length of 3.4 $μ$m, which is comparable with that of permalloy. As a result, laser-driven magnetostatic spin waves are clearly detectable at distances up to 10 $μ$m, which promotes epitaxial Galfenol films to the limited family of materials suitable for magnonic devices. A pronounced in-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the Galfenol film offers an additional degree of freedom for manipulating the spin waves' parameters. Reorientation of an in-plane external magnetic field relative to the crystallographic axes of the sample tunes the frequency, amplitude and propagation length of the excited waves.

cond-mat.str-el↗