arXiv subjects

Dafei Jin

Publications and source records attributed to Dafei Jin.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Space-time crystalline order of a high-critical-temperature superconductor with intrinsic Josephson junctions

We theoretically demonstrate that the high-critical-temperature superconductor Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ (BSCCO) is a natural candidate for the recently envisioned classical space-time crystal. BSCCO intrinsically forms a stack of Josephson junctions. Under a periodic parametric modulation of the Josephson critical current density, the Josephson currents develop coupled space-time crystalline order, breaking the continuous translational symmetry in both space and time. The modulation frequency and amplitude span a (nonequilibrium) phase diagram for a so-defined spatiotemporal order parameter, which displays rigid pattern formation within a particular region of the phase diagram. Based on our calculations using representative material properties, we propose a laser-modulation experiment to realize the predicted space-time crystalline behavior. Our findings bring new insight into the nature of space-time crystals and, more generally, into nonequilibrium driven condensed matter systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Non-Ohmic negative longitudinal magnetoresistance in two-dimensional electron gas

Negative longitudinal magnetoresistance (NLMR) has been reported in a variety of materials and has attracted extensive attention as an electrotransport hallmark of topological Weyl semimetals. However, its origin is still under debate. Here, we demonstrate that the NLMR in a two dimensional electron gas can be influenced by the measurement current. While the NLMR persists up to 130 K, its magnitude and magnetic field response become dependent on the applied current below 60 K. The tunable NLMR at low and high currents can be best attributed to quantum interference and disorder scattering effects, respectively. This work uncovers non-Ohmic NLMR in a non-Weyl material and highlights potential effects of the measurement current in elucidating electrotransport phenomena. We also demonstrate that NLMRs can be a valuable phenomenon in revealing the origins of other properties, such as negative MRs in perpendicular magnetic fields.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Molecular beam epitaxy of the magnetic kagome metal FeSn on LaAlO3 (111)

Materials with a layered Kagome lattice are expected to give rise to novel physics arising from band structures with topological properties, spin liquid behavior and the formation of skyrmions. Until now, most work on Kagome materials has been performed on bulk samples due to difficulties in thin film synthesis. Here, by using molecular beam epitaxy, layered Kagome-structured FeSn films are synthesized on (111) oriented LaAlO3 substrate. Both in-situ and ex-situ characterizations indicate these films are highly crystalline and c-axis oriented, with atomically smooth surfaces. However, the films grow as disconnected islands, with lateral dimensions on the micron scale. By patterning Pt electrodes using a focused electron beam, longitudinal and transverse resistance of single islands have been measured in magnetic fields. Our work opens a pathway for exploring mesoscale transport properties in thin films of Kagome materials and related devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Floquet Cavity Electromagnonics

Hybrid magnonics has recently attracted intensive attentions as a promising platform for coherent information processing. In spite of its rapid development, on-demand control over the interaction of magnons with other information carriers, in particular microwave photons in electromagnonic systems, has been long missing, significantly limiting the broad applications of hybrid magnonics. Here, we show that by introducing Floquet engineering into cavity electromagnonics, coherent control on the magnon-microwave photon coupling can be realized. Leveraging the periodic temporal modulation from a Floquet drive, our first-of-its-kind Floquet cavity electromagnonic system can manipulate the interaction between hybridized cavity electromagnonic modes on demand. Moreover, we demonstrate a new coupling regime in such systems: the Floquet ultrastrong coupling, where the Floquet splitting is comparable with or even larger than the level spacing of the two interacting modes, resulting in the breakdown of the rotating wave approximation. Our findings open up new directions for magnon-based coherent signal processing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Discovery of two-dimensional anisotropic superconductivity at KTaO$_3$ (111) interfaces

The unique electronic structure found at interfaces between materials can allow unconventional quantum states to emerge. Here we observe superconductivity in electron gases formed at interfaces between (111) oriented KTaO$_3$ and insulating overlayers of either EuO or LaAlO$_3$. The superconducting transition temperature, approaching 2.2 K, is about one order of magnitude higher than that of the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ system. Strikingly, similar electron gases at (001) KTaO$_3$ interfaces remain normal down to 25 mK. The critical field and current-voltage measurements indicate that the superconductivity is two dimensional. Higher mobility EuO/KTaO$_3$ (111) samples show a large in-plane anisotropy in transport properties at low temperatures prior to onset of superconductivity, suggesting the emergence of a stripe like phase where the superconductivity is nearly homogeneous in one direction, but strongly modulated in the other.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

On-chip sensing of hotspots in superconducting terahertz emitters

Intrinsic Josephson junctions in high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 are known for their capability to emit high-power terahertz photons with widely tunable frequencies. Hotspots, as inhomogeneous temperature distributions across the junctions, are believed to play a critical role in synchronizing the gauge-invariant phase difference among the junctions, so as to achieve coherent strong emission. Previous optical imaging techniques have indirectly suggested that the hotspot temperature can go higher than the superconductor critical temperature. However, such optical approaches often disturb the local temperature profile and are too slow for device applications. In this paper, we demonstrate an on-chip in situ sensing technique that can precisely quantify the local temperature profile. This is achieved by fabricating a series of micro "sensor" junctions on top of an "emitter" junction and measuring the critical current on the sensors versus the bias current applied to the emitter. This fully electronic on-chip design could enable efficient close-loop control of hotspots in BSCCO junctions and significantly enhance the functionality of superconducting terahertz emitters.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Strong coupling-enabled broadband non-reciprocity

Non-reciprocity of signal transmission enhances capacity of communication channels and protects transmission quality against possible signal instabilities, thus becoming an important component ensuring coherent information processing. However, non-reciprocal transmission requires breaking time-reversal symmetry (TRS) which poses challenges of both practical and fundamental character hindering the progress. Here we report a new scheme for achieving broadband non-reciprocity using a specially engineered hybrid microwave cavity. The TRS breaking is realized via strong coherent coupling between a selected chiral mode in the microwave cavity and a single collective spin excitation (magnon) in a ferromagnetic yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere. The non-reciprocity in transmission is observed spanning nearly a 0.5 GHz frequency band, which outperforms by two orders of magnitude the previously achieved bandwidths. Our findings open new directions for robust coherent information processing in a broad range of systems in both classical and quantum regimes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Torquing the Condensate: Angular Momentum Transport in Bose-Einstein Condensates by Solitonic "Corkscrew"

When rotating classical fluid drops merge together, angular momentum can be advected from one to another due to the viscous shear flow at the drop interface. It remains elusive what the corresponding mechanism is in inviscid quantum fluids such as Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Here we report our theoretical study of an initially static BEC merging with a rotating BEC in three-dimensional space along the rotational axis. We show that a soliton sheet resembling a "corkscrew" spontaneously emerges at the interface. Rapid angular momentum transfer at a constant rate universally proportional to the initial angular momentum density is observed. Strikingly, this transfer does not necessarily involve fluid advection or drifting of the quantized vortices. We reveal that the solitonic corkscrew can exert a torque that directly creates angular momentum in the static BEC and annihilates angular momentum in the rotating BEC. Uncovering this intriguing angular momentum transport mechanism may benefit our understanding of various coherent matter-wave systems, spanning from atomtronics on chips to dark matter BECs at cosmic scales.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

Quantum Electronic Structure at the Interface of Solid Neon and Superfluid Helium

We predict a new quantum electronic structure at the interface between two condensed phases of noble-gas elements: solid neon and superfluid helium. An excess electron injected onto this interface self-confines its wavefunction into a nanometric dome structure whose size varies with pressure. A collection of such electrons can form a classical Wigner crystal visualizable by mid-infrared photons. The ultralong spin-coherence time allows the electrons in this system to serve as perfect quantum bits. They can be deterministically arranged on-chip at a spacing of several microns. Their spin states can be controlled and readout by single-electron devices. This unique system offers an appealing new architecture for scalable quantum information processing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Quantum optics of single electrons in quantum liquid and solid helium-4

Single electrons can be conceived as the simplest quantum nodes in a quantum network. Between electrons, single photons can act as quantum channels to exchange quantum information. Despite this appealing picture, in conventional materials, it is extremely difficult to make individual electrons and photons coherently interact with each other at the visible-infrared wavelengths suitable for long-distance communication. Here we theoretically demonstrate that the self-confined single-electron structure in condensed helium-4 can be a fascinating candidate for single-electron quantum nodes. Each electron in helium forms a bubble of 1 to 2 nm radius and coherently interacts with mid-infrared photons. A parametrically amplified femtosecond laser can drive the electrons into any superposition between the ground and excited states. An electron inside a slot-waveguide cavity can strongly couple with cavity photons and exhibits vacuum Rabi oscillations. Two electrons in the cavity naturally generate entanglement through their respective coupling to the lossy cavity. The electron-in-helium system offers unique insight in understanding nonequilibrium quantum dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Experimental observation of exceptional surface in synthetic dimensions with magnon polaritons

Exceptional points (EPs) are singularities of energy levels in non-Hermitian systems. In this Letter, we demonstrate the surface of EPs on a magnon polariton platform composed of coupled magnons and microwave photons. Our experiments show that EPs form a three-dimensional exceptional surface (ES) when the system is tuned in a four-dimensional synthetic space. We demonstrated that there exists an exceptional saddle point (ESP) in the ES which originates from the unique couplings between magnons and microwave photons. Such an ESP exhibits unique anisotropic behaviors in both the real and imaginary part of the eigenfrequencies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental observation of ES, opening up new opportunities for high-dimensional control of non-Hermitian systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Negative longitudinal magnetoresistance in GaAs quantum wells

Negative longitudinal magnetoresistances (NLMRs) have been recently observed in a variety of topological materials and often considered to be associated with Weyl fermions that have a defined chirality. Here we report NLMRs in non-Weyl GaAs quantum wells. In the absence of a magnetic field the quantum wells show a transition from semiconducting-like to metallic behaviour with decreasing temperature. We observed pronounced NLMRs up to 9 Tesla at temperatures above the transition and weak NLMRs in low magnetic fields at temperatures close to the transition and below 5 K. The observed NLMRs show various types of magnetic field behaviour resembling those reported in topological materials. We attribute them to microscopic disorder and use a phenomenological three-resistor model to account for their various features. Our results showcase a new contribution of microscopic disorder in the occurrence of novel phenomena. They may stimulate further work on tuning electronic properties via disorder/defect nano-engineering.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Phonon coupling between a nanomechanical resonator and a quantum fluid

Owing to their extraordinary sensitivity to external forces, nanomechanical systems have become important tools for studying a variety of mesoscopic physical systems and realizing hybrid quantum systems. While nanomechanics has been widely applied in solid-state systems, its use in liquid is scantily studied. There it finds unique applications such as biosensing, rheological sensing, and studying fluid dynamics in unexplored regimes. Its use in quantum fluids offers new opportunities in studying fluids at low excitation levels all the way down to the quantum limit and in nano-metric scales reaching the fluid coherence length. Transduction and control of the low-loss excitations also facilitate long-life quantum information storage. In this work we demonstrate efficient coupling of a nanomechanical resonator to phonons in a bosonic quantum fluid -- superfluid $^4$He. By operating an ultra-high frequency nano-optomechanical microdisk resonator immersed in superfluid $^4$He, we show that the resonator dynamics is predominately determined by phonon-coupling to the superfluid. A high phonon exchange efficiency $>92\%$ and minimum excitation rate of 0.25 phonons per oscillations period are achieved. We further show that the nanomechanical resonator can strongly couple to superfluid cavity phonons with cooperativity up to 880. Our study opens up new opportunities in control and manipulation of superfluids in nano-scale and low-excitation level.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Magnetically-defined topological edge plasmons in edgeless electron gas

Topological materials bear gapped excitations in bulk yet protected gapless excitations at boundaries. Magnetoplasmons (MPs), as high-frequency density excitations of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a perpendicular magnetic field, embody a prototype of band topology for bosons. The time-reversal-breaking magnetic field opens a topological gap for bulk MPs up to the cyclotron frequency; topologically-protected edge magnetoplasmons (EMPs) bridge the bulk gap and propagate unidirectionally along system's boundaries. However, all the EMPs known to date adhere to physical edges where the electron density terminates abruptly. This restriction has made device application extremely difficult. Here we demonstrate a new class of topological edge plasmons -- domain-boundary magnetoplasmons (DBMPs), within a uniform edgeless 2DEG. Such DBMPs arise at the domain boundaries of an engineered sign-changing magnetic field and are protected by the difference of gap Chern numbers (+/-1) across the magnetic domains. They propagate unidirectionally along the domain boundaries and are immune to domain defects. Moreover, they exhibit wide tunability in the microwave frequency range under an applied magnetic field or gate voltage. Our study opens a new direction to realize high-speed reconfigurable topological devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Infrared Topological Plasmons in Graphene

We propose a two-dimensional plasmonic platform - periodically patterned monolayer graphene - which hosts topological one-way edge states operable up to infrared frequencies. We classify the band topology of this plasmonic system under time-reversal-symmetry breaking induced by a static magnetic field. At finite doping, the system supports topologically nontrivial bandgaps with mid-gap frequencies up to tens of terahertz. By the bulk-edge correspondence, these bandgaps host topologically protected one-way edge plasmons, which are immune to backscattering from structural defects and subject only to intrinsic material and radiation loss. Our findings reveal a promising approach to engineer topologically robust chiral plasmonic devices and demonstrate a realistic example of high-frequency topological edge state.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Topological magnetoplasmon

Classical wave fields are real-valued, ensuring the wave states at opposite frequencies and momenta to be inherently identical. Such a particle-hole symmetry can open up new possibilities for topological phenomena in classical systems. Here we show that the historically studied two-dimensional (2D) magnetoplasmon, which bears gapped bulk states and gapless one-way edge states near zero frequency, is topologically analogous to the 2D topological $p+\Ii p$ superconductor with chiral Majorana edge states and zero modes. We further predict a new type of one-way edge magnetoplasmon at the interface of opposite magnetic domains, and demonstrate the existence of zero-frequency modes bounded at the peripheries of a hollow disk. These findings can be readily verified in experiment, and can greatly enrich the topological phases in bosonic and classical systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Ultrafast fluorescent decay induced by metal-mediated dipole-dipole interaction in two-dimensional molecular aggregates

Two-dimensional molecular aggregate (2DMA), a thin sheet of strongly interacting dipole molecules self-assembled at close distance on an ordered lattice, is a fascinating fluorescent material. It is distinctively different from the single or colloidal dye molecules or quantum dots in most previous research. In this paper, we verify for the first time that when a 2DMA is placed at a nanometric distance from a metallic substrate, the strong and coherent interaction between the dipoles inside the 2DMA dominates its fluorescent decay at picosecond timescale. Our streak-camera lifetime measurement and interacting lattice-dipole calculation reveal that the metal-mediated dipole-dipole interaction shortens the fluorescent lifetime to about one half and increases the energy dissipation rate by ten times than expected from the noninteracting single-dipole picture. Our finding can enrich our understanding of nanoscale energy transfer in molecular excitonic systems and may designate a new direction for developing fast and efficient optoelectronic devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Quantum-Spillover-Enhanced Surface-Plasmonic Absorption at the Interface of Silver and High-Index Dielectrics

We demonstrate an unexpectedly strong surface-plasmonic absorption at the interface of silver and high-index dielectrics based on electron and photon spectroscopy. The measured bandwidth and intensity of absorption deviate significantly from the classical theory. Our density-functional calculation well predicts the occurrence of this phenomenon. It reveals that due to the low metal-to-dielectric work function at such interfaces, conduction electrons can display a drastic quantum spillover, causing the interfacial electron-hole pair production to dominate the decay of surface plasmons. This finding can be of fundamental importance in understanding and designing quantum nano-plasmonic devices that utilize noble metals and high-index dielectrics.

physics.optics↗