arXiv subjects

J. Zou

Publications and source records attributed to J. Zou.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

3D Imaging of Complex Skyrmion and Hopf Topologies in an Extended Sample

Spin textures are key for emergent magnetic phenomena such as topological protection and underpin novel spintronic device paradigms based on racetrack memory, logic gates, and neuromorphic computing. Using a coherent diffractive imaging technique called vector ptycho-tomography, in combination with algorithms that are robust to noise, we image the 3D magnetic texture of skyrmion and Hopf topologies with no prior assumptions about the sample. This directly reveals experimentally for the first time an extended 3D skyrmion lattice, including the domain wall shape, topological charge, helicity, and Hopf index. Our findings demonstrate experimentally that dipole stabilized skyrmions in Fe/Gd multilayers exhibit barrel-shaped skyrmion tubes with a twisted helicity, transitioning from N$\'e$el-type winding at the surfaces to both clockwise and counterclockwise Bloch-type winding in the bulk, that can also be described as fractional hopfions. We image a lattice of 24 skyrmions with topological charge 1, average depth-dependent domain wall width of 23 to 40 nm, depth-dependent twisted helicity from $\pm$155$\deg$ to $\pm$30$\deg$, and fractional Hopf index of $\pm$0.3. Over 10 TB of data were analyzed to yield a fully-resolved 3D reconstruction over a >0.4 $\mu$m$^3$ volume, with high fidelity down to the Nyquist limit of 8 nm. This method fills a key gap in the current landscape of magnetic imaging by enabling high-resolution, element-specific 3D reconstructions of full-field extended spin textures - offering a new route for exploring the topological complexity of magnetic materials in three dimensions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Observation of resonant monopole-dipole energy transfer between Rydberg atoms and polar molecules

Resonant energy transfer (RET), between equal parity 1s65s$^3\mathrm{S}_1$ and 1s66s$^3\mathrm{S}_1$ Rydberg levels in helium has been observed in low-temperature ($\sim80$ mK) collisions with ammonia molecules which undergo inversion transitions in their X$^1$A$_1$ ground electronic state. This hybrid Rydberg-atom-polar-molecule RET represents a monopole-dipole energy exchange reaction that necessarily requires spatial overlap of the Rydberg-electron and molecular wavefunctions. Calculations, that account explicitly for the charge-dipole interaction between the Rydberg electron and the molecule, provide a quantitative explanation of the observations. Total parity is conserved in the reaction through the mixing of collisional angular momentum in the atom-molecule complex. This work opens opportunities to expand the toolbox for quantum science with charge-dipole-mediated energy exchange in hybrid neutral-atom-polar-molecule platforms.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Determining Absolute Neutrino Mass using Quantum Technologies

Next generation tritium decay experiments to determine the absolute neutrino mass require high-precision measurements of $\beta$-decay electron energies close to the kinematic end point. To achieve this, the development of high phase-space density sources of atomic tritium is required, along with the implementation of methods to control the motion of these atoms to allow extended observation times. A promising approach to efficiently and accurately measure the kinetic energies of individual $\beta$-decay electrons generated in these dilute atomic gases, is to determine the frequency of the cyclotron radiation they emit in a precisely characterised magnetic field. This cyclotron radiation emission spectroscopy technique can benefit from recent developments in quantum technologies. Absolute static-field magnetometry and electrometry, which is essential for the precise determination of the electron kinetic energies from the frequency of their emitted cyclotron radiation, can be performed using atoms in superpositions of circular Rydberg states. Quantum-limited microwave amplifiers will allow precise cyclotron frequency measurements to be made with maximal signal-to-noise ratios and minimal observation times. Exploiting the opportunities offered by quantum technologies in these key areas, represents the core activity of the Quantum Technologies for Neutrino Mass project. Its goal is to develop a new experimental apparatus that can enable a determination of the absolute neutrino mass with a sensitivity on the order of 10~meV/$c^2$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Shape-Optimized Electrooptic Beam Scanners: Experiment

A new horn-shaped electrooptic scanner is described with significantly improved scanning sensitivity over rectangular-shaped devices. In the new device, the shape of the scanner is chosen to follow the trajectory of the beam. An example design is described that exhibits a factor of two larger scanning sensitivity than a rectangular device with comparable maximum scanning angle. Beam propagation simulations and measurements on an experimental device verify the scanner performance.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2023

Co-propagation of QKD & 6 Tb/s (60x100G) DWDM channels with ~17 dBm total WDM power in single and multi-span configurations

We report co-propagation experiments of the quantum channel (at 1310 nm) of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system with Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) data channels in the 1550 nm range. Two configurations are assessed. The first one is a single span configuration where various lengths of Standard Single Mode Fiber (SSMF) (from 20 to 70 km) are used and the total WDM channels power is varied. The Secure Key Rate (SKR) and the Quantum Bit Error Ratio (QBER) are recorded showing that up to ~17 dBm total power of 30 or 60 channels at 100 Gb/s can coexist with the quantum channel. A metric to evaluate the co-propagation efficiency is also proposed to better evaluate the ability of a QKD system to provide secure keys in a co-propagation regime. The second experiment is a three spans link with a cascade of three QKD systems and two trusted nodes in a 184 km total link length. We report the transmission of a coherent 400 Gb/s Dual Polarization DP-16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) channel that transports a QKD secured 100 GbE data stream, with other fifty-four 100 Gb/s WDM channels. Encryption is demonstrated at the same time as co-propagation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Probing van der Waals interactions and detecting polar molecules by Förster resonance energy transfer with Rydberg atoms at temperatures below 100 mK

Electric-field-controlled Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) between Rydberg helium (He) atoms and ground-state ammonia (NH$_3$) molecules has been studied at translational temperatures below 100 mK. The experiments were performed in an intrabeam collision apparatus with pulsed supersonic beams of NH$_3$ seeded in He. A range of Förster resonances, between triplet Rydberg states in He with principal quantum numbers of 38, 39 and 40, and the inversion intervals in NH$_3$ were investigated. Resonance widths as low as $100\pm20$ MHz were observed for Rydberg-Rydberg transitions with electric dipole transition moments of 3270 D. These widths result from binary collisions at a mean center-of-mass speed of $19.3\pm2.6$ m/s. For transitions in which the initially prepared Rydberg states were strongly polarized, with large induced static electric dipole moments, van der Waals interactions between the collision partners increased the resonance widths to $\sim750$ MHz. From measurements of the rate of FRET for the narrowest resonances observed, a density of NH$_3$ of $(9.4\pm0.3)\times10^{9}$ cm$^{-3}$ in the upper ground-state inversion sublevel in the interaction region of the apparatus was determined non-destructively.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2022

Study on SiPM performance at low temperatures between $-60^{\circ}$C and $-20^{\circ}$C

Radon is the main background source of dark matter and neutrino experiments. Radon concentration ($\rm mBq/m^3$) measurement by liquid scintillation detector is a highly sensitive method at low temperatures using silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) arrays. The SiPM performance characteristics are closely related to the lower detection limit of the detector. In this study, we built an automatic and accurate low-temperature measurement system to study the single photoelectron spectrum, SPE resolution, optical crosstalk, and after-pulse of the SiPM at different temperatures. As a result, we obtained the variation trend of the SiPM parameters at different temperatures, and the SiPM optimal working conditions were obtained, which can improve the detector's sensitivity

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Spontaneous-emission-enabled dynamics at the threshold of a directly modulated semiconductor laser

Chaos in semiconductor lasers or other optical systems has been intensively studied in the past two decades. However, modulation around threshold has received much less attention, in particular in gain-modulated semiconductor lasers. In this article, we investigate the bifurcation sequence which appears with pump modulation in the threshold region with a large amplitude and different values of modulation frequency. Modulation around threshold necessarily includes ``below-threshold'' dynamics, which can be effectively displayed only through through a nonlinear visualization of the oscillations. The irregular temporal behaviour is examined at various modulation frequencies and amplitudes, highlighting a possible route to chaos for very large amplitude modulation in the near-threshold region. The addition of the (average) spontaneous emission to the lasing mode enables a coupled dynamics between photons and carriers even below threshold, thus extending the pump range in which the modulation actively modifies the laser behaviour. We also report on the existence of a transition between similar attractors characterized by a temporal transient which depends on the amplitude of the modulation driving the pump.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Second-order correlation function supported optical sensing for particle detection

We propose a new sensing method based on the measurement of the second-order autocorrelation of the output of micro- and nanolasers with intensity feedback. The sensing function is implemented through the feedback-induced threshold shift, whose photon statistics is controlled by the feedback level in a characteristic way for different laser sizes. The specific response offers performances which can be adapted to different kinds of sensors. We propose the implementation of two schemes capable of providing a quantitative sensing signal and covering a broad range of feedback levels: one is utilizing the evolution of g$^{(2)}$(0), the other one is the ratio between central and side peaks in g$^{(2)}(τ)$. Laser-threshold-based sensing could, thanks to its potential sensitivity, gain relevance in biomolecular diagnostics and security monitoring.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Domain Decomposition with local impedance conditions for the Helmholtz equation with absorption

We consider one-level additive Schwarz preconditioners for a family of Helmholtz problems with absorption and increasing wavenumber $k$. These problems are discretized using the Galerkin method with nodal conforming finite elements of any (fixed) order on meshes with diameter $h = h(k)$, chosen to maintain accuracy as $k$ increases. The action of the preconditioner requires solution of independent (parallel) subproblems (with impedance boundary conditions) on overlapping subdomains of diameter $H$ and overlap $δ\leq H$. The solutions of these subproblems are linked together using prolongation/restriction operators defined using a partition of unity. In numerical experiments (with $δ\sim H$) for a model interior impedance problem, we observe robust (i.e. $k-$independent) GMRES convergence as $k$ increases. This provides a highly-parallel, $k-$robust one-level domain decomposition method. We provide supporting theory by studying the preconditioner applied to a range of absorptive problems, $k^2\mapsto k^2+ \mathrm{i} \varepsilon$, with absorption parameter $\varepsilon$. Working in the Helmholtz ``energy'' inner product, and using the underlying theory of Helmholtz boundary-value problems, we prove a $k-$independent upper bound on the norm of the preconditioned matrix, valid for all $\vert \varepsilon\vert \lesssim k^2$. We also prove a strictly-positive lower bound on the distance of the field of values of the preconditioned matrix from the origin which holds when $\varepsilon/k$ is constant or growing arbitrarily slowly with $k$. These results imply robustness of the preconditioner for the corresponding absorptive problem as k increases and give theoretical support for the observed robustness of the preconditioner for the pure Helmholtz problem.

math.NA↗

arXiv2016

Correlated anomalous phase diffusion of coupled phononic modes in a side-band driven resonator

The dynamical backaction from a periodically driven optical or microwave cavity can reduce the damping of a mechanical resonator, leading to parametric instability accompanied by self-sustained oscillations. Fundamentally, the driving breaks the continuous time-translation symmetry and replaces it with the symmetry with respect to time translation by the driving period. This discrete symmetry should be reflected in the character of the oscillations. Here, we perform experimental and theoretical study of new aspects of the backaction and the discrete time-translation symmetry using a micromechanical resonator designed to have two nonlinearly coupled vibrational modes with strongly differing frequencies and decay rates. We find that self-sustained oscillations are induced not only in the low frequency mode as measured in previous experiments, but also in the high frequency mode. The vibration frequencies and amplitudes are determined by the system nonlinearity, which also leads to bistability and hysteresis. A remarkable consequence of the discrete time-translation symmetry is revealed by studying the vibration phases. We find that the phase fluctuations of the two modes are nearly perfectly anti-correlated. At the same time, in each mode the phase undergoes anomalous diffusion, where the time dependence of the phase variance follows a superlinear rather than the standard linear power law. Our analysis shows that the exponent of the power law is determined by the exponent of the 1/f-type intrinsic frequency noise of the resonator. We demonstrate the possibility of compensating for these fluctuations using a feedback scheme to generate stable oscillations that could prove useful in frequency standards and resonant detection.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Casimir forces on a silicon micromechanical chip

Quantum fluctuations give rise to van der Waals and Casimir forces that dominate the interaction between electrically neutral objects at sub-micron separations. Under the trend of miniaturization, such quantum electrodynamical effects are expected to play an important role in micro- and nano-mechanical devices. Nevertheless, utilization of Casimir forces on the chip level remains a major challenge because all experiments so far require an external object to be manually positioned close to the mechanical element. Here, by integrating a force-sensing micromechanical beam and an electrostatic actuator on a single chip, we demonstrate the Casimir effect between two micromachined silicon components on the same substrate. A high degree of parallelism between the two near-planar interacting surfaces can be achieved because they are defined in a single lithographic step. Apart from providing a compact platform for Casimir force measurements, this scheme also opens the possibility of tailoring the Casimir force using lithographically defined components of non-conventional shapes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Quantum communication through anisotropic Heisenberg XY spin chains

We study quantum communication through an anisotropic Heisenberg XY chain in a transverse magnetic field. We find that for some time $t$ and anisotropy parameter $γ$, one can transfer a state with a relatively high fidelity. In the strong-field regime, the anisotropy does not significantly affect the fidelity while in the weak-field regime the affect is quite pronounced. The most interesting case is the the intermediate regime where the oscillation of the fidelity with time is low and the high-fidelity peaks are relatively broad. This would, in principle, allow for quantum communication in realistic circumstances. Moreover, we calculate the purity, or tangle, as a measure of the entanglement between one spin and all the other spins in the chain and find that the stronger the anisotropy and exchange interaction, the more entanglement will be generated for a given time.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Measurement of the Casimir force between a gold sphere and silicon surface with nanoscale trench arrays

We report measurements of the Casimir force between a gold sphere and a silicon surface with an array of nanoscale, rectangular corrugations using a micromechanical torsional oscillator. At distance between 150 nm and 500 nm, the measured force shows significant deviations from the pairwise additive formulism, demonstrating the strong dependence of the Casimir force on the shape of the interacting bodies. The observed deviation, however, is smaller than the calculated values for perfectly conducting surfaces, possibly due to the interplay between finite conductivity and geometry effects.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Influence of Supercurrents on Low-Temperature Thermopower in Mesoscopic N/S Structures

The thermopower of mesoscopic normal metal/superconductor structures has been measured at low temperatures. Effect of supercurrent present in normal part of the structure was studied in two cases: when it was created by applied external magnetic field and when it was applied directly using extra superconducting electrodes. Temperature and magnetic field dependencies of thermopower are compared to the numerical simulations based on the quasiclassical theory of the superconducting proximity effect.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Dephasing of conduction electrons by magnetic impurities in Cu/Ni and Cu/Cr samples: Influence of spin-glass transition on the superconducting proximity effect

The dependence of the superconducting proximity effect on the amount of magnetic impurities in the normal part of Andreev interferometers has been studied experimentally. The dephasing rates obtained from fitting experimental data to quasiclassical theory of the proximity effect are consistent with the spin flip scattering from Cr impurities forming a local moment in the Cu host. In contrast, Ni impurities do not form a local moment in Cu and as a result there is no extra dephasing from Ni as long as Cu/Ni alloy remain paramagnetic.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗