Comment on "Electrostatics-induced breakdown of the integer quantum Hall effect in cavity QED''
We comment on the preprint arXiv:2511.04744 by Andolina et al.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv subjects
J. Faist
Publications and source records attributed to J. Faist.
Cavity-Driven Attractive Interactions in Quantum Materials
Many-body phenomena in quantum materials emerge from the interplay among a broad continuum of electronic states, and controlling these interactions is critical for engineering novel phases. One promising approach exploits fluctuations of the vacuum electromagnetic field confined within optical cavities to tailor electronic properties. Here, we demonstrate that cavity photons can mediate attractive interactions in a tunable van der Waals material and reorganize a continuum of electron-hole transitions into an exciton-like state. We introduce a broadband, sub-wavelength time-domain microscope that integrates exfoliated, dual-gated two-dimensional quantum materials into a terahertz cavity. This approach enables the first-ever measurement of the field-tunable bandgap of bilayer graphene at terahertz frequencies while revealing ultrastrong coupling with a vacuum Rabi frequency exceeding $\Omega_{Rabi}/\omega\approx 40\%$ of the bare photon energy. Crucially, we identify a novel cavity-induced resonance emerging from the interband continuum that resembles Coulomb-bound excitons and remains stable across a broad temperature range. By uniting longstanding theoretical predictions with advanced experimental techniques, our findings open new avenues for designing and probing unique light-matter states and realizing hybrid correlated phases in quantum materials.
cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
THz optical beat-note detection with a fast Hot Electron Bolometer operating up to 31 GHz
We study the performance of an hot-electron bolometer (HEB) operating at THz frequencies based on superconducting niobium nitride films. We report on the voltage response of the detector over a large optical bandwidth carried out with different THz sources. We show that the impulse response of the fully packaged HEB at 7.5 K has a 3 dB cut-off around 2 GHz. Remarkably, detection capability is still observed above 30 GHz in an heterodyne beating experiment using a THz quantum cascade laser frequency comb. Additionally, the HEB sensitivity has been evaluated and an optical noise equivalent power NEP of 0.8 pW/sqrt(Hz) has been measured at 1 MHz.
physics.optics↗
Controlling and Phase-Locking a THz Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Comb by Small Optical Frequency Tuning
Full phase control of THz emitting quantum cascade laser (QCL) combs has recently been demonstrated, opening new perspectives for even the most demanding applications. In this framework, simplifying the set-ups for control of these devices will help to accelerate their spreading in many fields. We report a new way to control the emission frequencies of a THz QCL comb by small optical frequency tuning (SOFT), using a very simple experimental setup, exploiting the incoherent emission of an ordinary white light emitting diode. The slightly perturbative regime accessible in these condition allows tweaking the complex refractive index of the semiconductor without destabilizing the broadband laser gain. The SOFT actuator is characterized and compared to another actuator, the QCL driving current. The suitability of this additional degree of freedom for frequency and phase stabilization of a THz QCL comb is shown and perspectives are discussed.
physics.app-ph↗
Gain dynamics in a heterogeneous terahertz quantum cascade laser
The gain recovery time of a heterogeneous active region terahertz quantum cascade laser is studied by terahertz-pump,i terahertz-probe spectroscopy. The investigated active region, which is based on a bound-to-continuum optical transition with an optical phonon assisted extraction, exhibits a gain recovery time in the range of 34$\,$-$\,$50$\,$ps dependent on the operation condition of the laser. The recovery time gets shorter for stronger pumping of the laser while the recovery dynamics slows down with increasing operation temperature. These results indicate the important role of the intracavity light intensity for the fast gain recovery.
physics.optics↗
Disorder effects in InAs/GaSb topological insulator candidates
We report the theoretical investigation of the disorder effects on the bulk states of inverted InAs/GaSb quantum wells. As disorder sources we consider the interface roughness and donors/acceptors supplied by intentional doping. We use a $\bm{k}\cdot\bm{p}$ approach combined with a numerical diagonalization of the disordered Hamiltonian to get a full insight of the disordered eigenenergies and eigenfunctions of the electronic system. While interface roughness slightly pertubs the carrier motion, we show that dopants strongly bind and localize the bulk states of the structure. Moreover, both types of scatterers strengthen the intrinsic hybridization between holes and electrons in the structure.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗
Mixing properties of room temperature patch-antenna receivers in a mid-infrared (9um) heterodyne system
A room-temperature mid-infrared (9 um) heterodyne system based on high-performance unipolar optoelectronic devices is presented. The local oscillator (LO) is a quantum cascade laser, while the receiver is an antenna coupled quantum well infrared photodetector optimized to operate in a microcavity configuration. Measurements of the saturation intensity show that these receivers have a linear response up to very high optical power, an essential feature for heterodyne detection. By an accurate passive stabilization of the local oscillator and minimizing the optical feed-back the system reaches, at room temperature, a record value of noise equivalent power of 30 pW at 9um. Finally, it is demonstrated that the injection of microwave signal into our receivers shifts the heterodyne beating over the bandwidth of the devices. This mixing property is a unique valuable function of these devices for signal treatment.
physics.app-ph↗
Room temperature operation of n-type Ge/SiGe terahertz quantum cascade lasers predicted by non-equilibrium Green's functions
n-type Ge/SiGe terahertz quantum cascade laser are investigated using non-equilibrium Green's functions calculations. We compare the temperature dependence of the terahertz gain properties with an equivalent GaAs/AlGaAs QCL design. In the Ge/SiGe case, the gain is found to be much more robust to temperature increase, enabling operation up to room temperature. The better temperature robustness with respect to III-V is attributed to the much weaker interaction with optical phonons. The effect of lower interface quality is investigated and can be partly overcome by engineering smoother quantum confinement via multiple barrier heights.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗
Two-well quantum cascade laser optimization by non-equilibrium Green's function modelling
We present a two-quantum well THz intersubband laser operating up to 192 K. The structure has been optimized with a non-equilibrium Green's function model. The result of this optimization was confirmed experimentally by growing, processing and measuring a number of proposed designs. At high temperature (T>200 K), the simulations indicate that lasing fails due to a combination of electron-electron scattering, thermal backfilling, and, most importantly, re-absorption coming from broadened states.
physics.app-ph↗
Room Temperature Operation of a Buried Heterostructure Photonic Crystal Quantum Cascade Laser
High power single mode quantum cascade lasers with a narrow far field are important for several applications including surgery or military countermeasure. Existing technologies suffer from drawbacks such as operation temperature and scalability. In this paper we introduce a fabrication approach that potentially solves simultaneously these remaining limitations. We demonstrate and characterize deep etched, buried photonic crystal quantum cascade lasers emitting around a wavelength of 8.5 μm. The active region was dry etched before being regrown with semi-insulating Fe:InP. This fabrication strategy results in a refractive index contrast of 10% allowing good photonic mode control, and simultaneously provides good thermal extraction during operation. Single mode emission with narrow far field pattern and peak powers up to 0.88 W at 263 K were recorded from the facet of the photonic crystal laser, and lasing operation was maintained up to room temperature. The lasing modes emitted from square photonic crystal mesas with a side length of 550μm, were identified as slow Bloch photonic crystal modes by means of three-dimensional photonic simulations and measurements.
physics.optics↗
Intersubband polarons in oxides
Intersubband (ISB) polarons result from the interaction of an ISB transition and the longitudinal optical (LO) phonons in a semiconductor quantum well (QW). Their observation requires a very dense two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the QW and a polar or highly ionic semiconductor. Here we show that in ZnO/MgZnO QWs the strength of such a coupling can be as high as 1.5 times the LO-phonon frequency due to the very dense 2DEG achieved and the large difference between the static and high-frequency dielectric constants in ZnO. The ISB polaron is observed optically in multiple QW structures with 2DEG densities ranging from $5\times 10^{12}$ to $5\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, where an unprecedented regime is reached in which the frequency of the upper ISB polaron branch is three times larger than that of the bare ISB transition. This study opens new prospects to the exploitation of oxides in phenomena happening in the ultrastrong coupling regime.
cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
Negative free carrier absorption in terahertz quantum cascade lasers
We analyze the peculiar case where the free carrier absorption arising from LO phonon absorption-assisted transitions becomes negative and therefore turns into a gain source for quantum cascade lasers. Such an additional source of gain exists when the ratio between the electronic and the lattice temperatures is larger than one, a condition that is usually fulfilled in quantum cascade lasers. We find a gain of few cm$^{-1}$'s at 200K. We report the development of a terahertz quantum cascade laser operating in the negative free carrier absorption regime.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗
Far-infrared quantum cascade lasers operating in AlAs phonon Reststrahlen band
We report on the operation of a double metal waveguide far-infrared quantum cascade laser emitting at 28 $μ$m, corresponding to the AlAs-like phonon Reststrahlen band. To avoid absorption by AlAs-like optical phonons, the Al-free group-V alloy GaAs$_{0.51}$Sb$_{0.49}$ is used as a barrier layer in the bound-to-continuum based active region. Lasing occurs at a wavelength of 28.3 $μ$m, which is the longest wavelength among the quantum cascade lasers operating from mid-infrared to far-infrared. The threshold current density at 50 K is 5.5 kA/cm$^{2}$ and maximum operation temperature is 175 K. We also discuss the feasibility that operation wavelength cover the whole spectral range bridging between mid-infrared and terahertz by choosing suited group III-V materials.
physics.optics↗
Germanium under high tensile stress: nonlinear dependence of direct band gap vs. strain
Germanium is a strong candidate as a laser source for silicon photonics. It is widely accepted that the band structure of germanium can be altered by tensile strain so as to reduce the energy difference between its direct and indirect band gaps. However, the conventional deformation potential model most widely adopted to describe this transformation happens to have been investigated only up to 1 % uniaxially loaded strains. In this work, we use a micro-bridge geometry to uniaxially stress germanium along [100] up to $\varepsilon_{100}$=3.3 % longitudinal strain and then perform electro-absorption spectroscopy. We accurately measure the energy gap between the conduction band at the $Γ$ point and the light- and heavy-hole valence bands. While the experimental results agree with the conventional linear deformation potential theory up to 2 % strain, a significantly nonlinear behavior is observed at higher strains. We measure the deformation potential of germanium to be a = -9.1 $\pm$ 0.3 eV and b = -2.32 $\pm$ 0.06 eV and introduce a second order deformation potential. The experimental results are found to be well described by tight-binding simulations. These new high strain coefficients will be suitable for the design of future CMOS-compatible lasers and opto-electronic devices based on highly strained germanium.
cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
Accurate strain measurements in highly strained Ge microbridges
Ge under high strain is predicted to become a direct bandgap semiconductor. Very large deformations can be introduced using microbridge devices. However, at the microscale, strain values are commonly deduced from Raman spectroscopy using empirical linear models only established up to 1.2% for uniaxial stress. In this work, we calibrate the Raman-strain relation at higher strain using synchrotron based microdiffraction. The Ge microbridges show unprecedented high tensile strain up to 4.9 % corresponding to an unexpected 9.9 cm-1 Raman shift. We demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that the Raman strain relation is not linear and we provide a more accurate expression.
cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
Uniaxially stressed germanium with fundamental direct band gap
We demonstrate the crossover from indirect- to direct band gap in tensile-strained germanium by temperature-dependent photoluminescence. The samples are strained microbridges that enhance a biaxial strain of 0.16% up to 3.6% uniaxial tensile strain. Cooling the bridges to 20 K increases the uniaxial strain up to a maximum of 5.4%. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence reveals the crossover to a fundamental direct band gap to occur between 4.0% and 4.5%. Our data are in good agreement with new theoretical computations that predict a strong bowing of the band parameters with strain.
cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
Superconducting complementary metasurfaces for THz ultrastrong light-matter coupling
A superconducting metasurface operating in the THz range and based on the complementary metamaterial approach is discussed. Experimental measurements as a function of temperature and magnetic field display a modulation of the metasurface with a change in transmission amplitude and frequency of the resonant features. Such a metasurface is successively used as a resonator for a cavity quantum electrodynamic experiment displaying ultrastrong coupling to the cyclotron transition of a 2DEG. A finite element modeling is developed and its results are in good agreement with the experimental data. In this system a normalized coupling ratio of $\fracΩ{ω_c}=0.27$ is measured and a clear modulation of the polaritonic states as a function of the temperature is observed.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗
Quantum dot admittance probed at microwave frequencies with an on-chip resonator
We present microwave frequency measurements of the dynamic admittance of a quantum dot tunnel coupled to a two-dimensional electron gas. The measurements are made via a high-quality 6.75 GHz on-chip resonator capacitively coupled to the dot. The resonator frequency is found to shift both down and up close to conductance resonance of the dot corresponding to a change of sign of the reactance of the system from capacitive to inductive. The observations are consistent with a scattering matrix model. The sign of the reactance depends on the detuning of the dot from conductance resonance and on the magnitude of the tunnel rate to the lead with respect to the resonator frequency. Inductive response is observed on a conductance resonance, when tunnel coupling and temperature are sufficiently small compared to the resonator frequency.
cond-mat.mes-hall↗