arXiv subjects

Ankan Bag

Publications and source records attributed to Ankan Bag.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Signatures of emergent surface states across a displacive topological phase transition in Bi$_4$I$_4$

Topological phase transitions involving crystalline symmetry breaking provide a fertile ground to explore the interplay between symmetry, topology, and emergent quantum phenomena. Recently discovered quasi-one-dimensional topological material, Bi$_4$I$_4$, has been predicted to host topologically non-trivial gapless surfaces at high temperature, which undergo a finite temperature phase transition to a low temperature gapped phase. Here we present experimental signatures of this room temperature phase transition from a high-temperature $\beta$-phase with a surface state to a gapped $\alpha$-phase hosting hinge states. Using real-space current mapping and resistance fluctuation spectroscopy, we identify signatures of a displacive topological phase transition mediated by a first-order thermodynamic structural change. Near the emergence of $\beta$-phase, we observe pronounced telegraphic noise, indicating fluctuating phase domains with topological surface states. The spatially resolved current map reveals electron transport via the gapless surface states in the $\beta$-phase, which vanishes upon transitioning to the $\alpha$-phase with localized conduction channels (or hinge modes). Our experimental results, supported by first principles estimates and effective theory of a topological displacive phase transition, establish Bi$_4$I$_4$ as a candidate material showing intricate interplay of classical thermodynamic phase transitions with topological quantum phenomena.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Towards fully integrated photonic displacement sensors

The field of optical metrology with its high precision position, rotation and wavefront sensors represents the basis for lithography and high resolution microscopy. However, the on-chip integration - a task highly relevant for future nanotechnological devices - necessitates the reduction of the spatial footprint of sensing schemes by the deployment of novel concepts. A promising route towards this goal is predicated on the controllable directional emission of the fundamentally smallest emitters of light, i.e. dipoles, as an indicator. Here we realize an integrated displacement sensor based on the directional emission of Huygens dipoles excited in an individual dipolar antenna. The position of the antenna relative to the excitation field determines its directional coupling into a six-way crossing of photonic crystal waveguides. In our experimental study supported by theoretical calculations, we demonstrate the first prototype of an integrated displacement sensor with a standard deviation of the position accuracy below $λ$/300 at room temperature and ambient conditions.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Huygens' Dipole for Polarization-Controlled Nanoscale Light Routing

Structured illumination allows for satisfying the first Kerker condition of in-phase perpendicular electric and magnetic dipole moments in any isotropic scatterer that supports electric and magnetic dipolar resonances. The induced Huygens' dipole may be utilized for unidirectional coupling to waveguide modes that propagate transverse to the excitation beam. We study two configurations of a Huygens' dipole -- longitudinal electric and transverse magnetic dipole moments or vice versa. We experimentally show that only the radially polarized emission of the first and azimuthally polarized emission of the second configuration are directional in the far-field. This polarization selectivity implies that directional excitation of either TM or TE waveguide modes is possible. Applying this concept to a single nanoantenna excited with structured light, we are able to experimentally achieve scattering directivities of around 23 dB and 18 dB in TM and TE modes, respectively. This strong directivity paves the way for tunable polarization-controlled nanoscale light routing and applications in optical metrology, localization microscopy and on-chip optical devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Transverse Kerker Scattering for Angstrom Localization of Nanoparticles

Angstrom precision localization of a single nanoantenna is a crucial step towards advanced nanometrology, medicine and biophysics. Here, we show that single nanoantenna displacements down to few Angstroms can be resolved with sub-Angstrom precision using an all-optical method. We utilize the tranverse Kerker scattering scheme where a carefully structured light beam excites a combination of multipolar modes inside a dielectric nanoantenna, which then upon interference, scatters directionally into the far-field. We spectrally tune our scheme such that it is most sensitive to the change in directional scattering per nanoantenna displacement. Finally, we experimentally show that antenna displacement down to 3 Angstrom is resolvable with a localization precision of 0.6 Angstrom.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Polarization Controlled Directional Scattering for Nanoscopic Position Sensing

Controlling the propagation and coupling of light to sub-wavelength antennas is a crucial prerequisite for many nanoscale optical devices. Recently, the main focus of attention has been directed towards high-refractive-index materials such as silicon as an integral part of the antenna design. This development is motivated by the rich spectral properties of individual high-refractive-index nanoparticles. Here, we take advantage of the interference of their magnetic and electric resonances, to achieve remarkably strong lateral directionality. For controlled excitation of a spherical silicon nanoantenna we use tightly focused radially polarized light. The resultant directional emission depends on the antenna's position relative to the focus. This approach finds application as a novel position sensing technique, which might be implemented in modern nanometrology and super-resolution microscopy setups. We demonstrate in a proof-of-concept experiment, that a lateral resolution in the Angstrom regime can be achieved.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Extraordinary Spin specific beam shift of Light in an Inhomogeneous Anisotropic medium

Spin orbit interaction and the resulting Spin Hall effect of light are under recent intensive investigations because of their fundamental nature and potential applications. Here, we report an extraordinary spin specific beam shift of light and demonstrate its tunability in an inhomogeneous anisotropic medium exhibiting spatially varying retardance level. The spin specificity (shift occurs only for one circular polarization mode, keeping the other orthogonal mode unaffected) is shown to arise due to the combined spatial gradients of the geometric phase and the dynamical phase of light. The constituent two orthogonal circular polarization modes of an input linearly polarized light evolve in different trajectories, eventually manifesting as a large and tunable spin separation. The spin specificity of the beam shift and the demonstrated principle of simultaneously tailoring space-varying geometric and dynamical phase of light for achieving its tunability (of both magnitude and direction), may provide an attractive route towards development of spin-optical devices.

physics.optics↗