arXiv subjects

L. You

Publications and source records attributed to L. You.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Ultrafast Superconducting Diode Effect

Nonreciprocal transport is generally observed in superconductors in which time reversal and inversion symmetries are simultaneously broken. This effect, which may become one of the backbones for future superconducting electronics, arises because of asymmetric vortex transport in a magnetic field. However, vortex transport is also intrinsically dissipative and limited in speed. Here, we report on the discovery of ultrafast non-reciprocal transport in centrosymmetric superconductors. For NbN films biased with a quasi-DC supercurrent, picosecond current pulses with the same sign as the bias experience resistive impedance, whereas pulses of opposite polarity encounter an inductive response. Strikingly, the effect is at least three orders of magnitude faster than in conventional superconducting diodes, limited only by ultrafast current-induced depairing. We demonstrate rectification of a 100 GHz signal, with dissipation levels of a few fJ per cycle. We foresee potential for superconducting logic elements, operating at THz bit rates with aJ energy dissipation per operation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Probing picosecond depairing currents in type-II superconductors

Accessing the intrinsic critical current density (Jc*) in type II superconductors has significant fundamental and technological potential, both as a probe of the microscopic superconducting properties and as a means to increase current limits in high magnetic field devices and in electrical power systems. Yet, the experimental critical current density in type II superconductors (Jc), when measured with DC currents, is generally lower than the intrinsic limit, mostly due to vortex motion and self-heating. Here, we show that ultrafast picosecond electrical pulses, which interact with the material on timescales over which vortices are inertially immobile, carry supercurrents up to the intrinsic depairing limit Jc* >> Jc. We probe picosecond critical currents in NbN and YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO), as representative s-wave and d-wave superconductors, respectively. In NbN, we find a sharp onset of the picosecond depairing at a current density as large as Jc*=2.2 Jc, a limit that is well described by microscopic dynamics based on BCS theory. In contrast, YBCO exhibits a gradual suppression of superconductivity as a function of the picosecond current, reflecting its d-wave symmetry. These results offer a powerful new probe of superconductors beyond the reach of conventional transport measurements. The ability to reach the depairing current may also lead to robust new platforms for superconducting electronics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Single-photon distributed free-space spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is a well-established nonintrusive tool that has played an important role in identifying substances and quantifying their compositions, from quantum descriptions to chemical and biomedical diagnostics. Challenges exist in accurate measurements in dynamic environments, especially for understanding chemical reactions in arbitrary free-space. We develop a distributed free-space spectroscopy realized by a comb-referenced frequency-scanning single-photon lidar, providing multidimensional (time-range-spectrum) remote sensing. A continuous field experiment over 72 hours is deployed to obtain the spectra of multiple molecules (CO2 and HDO) in free-space over 6 km, with a range resolution of 60 m and a time resolution of 10 min over a spectrum span of 30 GHz. The CO2 and HDO concentrations are retrieved from the spectra acquired. This distributed free-space spectroscopy holds much promise for increasing knowledge of atmospheric environments and chemistry research, especially for complex molecular spectra evolution in any location over large areas.

physics.ao-ph↗

arXiv2019

Boson sampling with 20 input photons in 60-mode interferometers at $10^{14}$ state spaces

Quantum computing experiments are moving into a new realm of increasing size and complexity, with the short-term goal of demonstrating an advantage over classical computers. Boson sampling is a promising platform for such a goal, however, the number of involved single photons was up to five so far, limiting these small-scale implementations to a proof-of-principle stage. Here, we develop solid-state sources of highly efficient, pure and indistinguishable single photons, and 3D integration of ultra-low-loss optical circuits. We perform an experiment with 20 single photons fed into a 60-mode interferometer, and, in its output, sample over Hilbert spaces with a size of $10^{14}$ $-$over ten orders of magnitude larger than all previous experiments. The results are validated against distinguishable samplers and uniform samplers with a confidence level of 99.9%.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

The interfacial spin modulation of graphene on Fe(111)

When Fe, which is a typical ferromagnet using d- or f-orbital states, is combined with 2D materials such as graphene, it offers many opportunities for spintronics. The origin of 2D magnetism is from magnetic insulating behaviors, which could result in magnetic excitations and also proximity effects. However, the phenomena were only observed at extremely low temperatures. Fe and graphene interfaces could control spin structures in which they show a unique atomic spin modulation and magnetic coupling through the interface. Another reason for covering graphene on Fe is to prevent oxidation under ambient conditions. We investigated the engineering of spin configurations by growing monolayer graphene on an Fe(111) single crystal surface and observed the presence of sharply branched, 3D tree-like domain structures. Magnetization by a sweeping magnetic field (m-H) revealed that the interface showed canted magnetization in the in-plane (IP) orientation. Moreover, graphene could completely prevent the oxidation of the Fe surface. The results indicate possible control of the spin structures at the atomic scale and the interface phenomena in the 2D structure. The study introduces a new approach for room temperature 2D magnetism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates of rotating polar molecules

An experimental proposal for realizing spin-orbit (SO) coupling of pseudospin-1 in the ground manifold $^1\Sigma(\upsilon=0)$ of (bosonic) bialkali polar molecules is presented. The three spin components are composed of the ground rotational state and two substates from the first excited rotational level. Using hyperfine resolved Raman processes through two select excited states resonantly coupled by a microwave, an effective coupling between the spin tensor and linear momentum is realized. The properties of Bose-Einstein condensates for such SO-coupled molecules exhibiting dipolar interactions are further explored. In addition to the SO-coupling-induced stripe structures, the singly and doubly quantized vortex phases are found to appear, implicating exciting opportunities for exploring novel quantum physics using SO-coupled rotating polar molecules with dipolar interactions.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2017

Tunable topological phases with fermionic atoms in a one-dimensional flux lattice

We present a simple scheme for implementing a one-dimensional (1D) magnetic-flux lattice of ultracold fermionic spin-$1/2$ atoms. The resulting tight-binding model supports gapped and gapless topological phases, and chiral currents for Meissner and vortex phases. Its single-particle spectra exhibit topological flat bands at small flux, and the flatness sensitively depends on hopping strength. An effective $p$-wave interaction arises in a $s$-wave paired superfluid. Treating atomic internal states as forming a synthetic dimension and balancing the interplay of magnetic flux and Zeeman field, our model describes a tunable topological Fermi superfluid, which paves the way towards experimental explorations of non-Abelian topological matter in 1D atomic quantum gases.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Harmonic trap resonance enhanced synthetic atomic spin-orbit coupling

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) plays an essential role in many exotic and interesting phenomena in condensed matter physics. In neutral-atom-based quantum simulations, synthetic SOC constitutes a key enabling element. The strength of SOC realized so far is limited by various reasons or constraints. This work reports tunable SOC synthesized with a gradient magnetic field (GMF) for atoms in a harmonic trap. Nearly ten-fold enhancement is observed when the GMF is modulated near the harmonic-trap resonance in comparison with free-space atoms. A theory is developed that well explains the experimental results. Our work offers a clear physical insight into and analytical understanding of how to tune the strength of atomic SOC synthesized with GMF using harmonic trap resonance.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Exotic Topological States with Raman-Induced Spin-Orbit Coupling

We propose a simple experimental scheme to realize simultaneously the one-dimensional spin-orbit coupling and the staggered spin-flip in ultracold pseudospin-$1/2$ atomic Fermi gases trapped in square optical lattices. In the absence of interspecies interactions, the system supports gapped Chern insulators and gapless topological semimetal states. By turning on the $s$-wave interactions, a rich variety of gapped and gapless inhomogeneous topological superfluids can emerge. In particular, a gapped topological Fulde-Ferrell superfluid, in which the chiral edge states at opposite boundaries possess the same chirality, is predicted.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Persistent atomic spin squeezing at the Heisenberg limit

Two well-known mechanisms, one-axis twisting (OAT) and two-axis countertwisting (TACT), generate spinsqueezed states dynamically. The latter provides better spin squeezing (SS) but has not been demonstrated as the form of its interaction does not occur naturally in known physical systems. Several proposals for realizing effective TACT transformed from OAT require stringent experimental conditions in order to overcome the resulting nonstationary (oscillating) SS and continuously varying mean spin directions. This work presents a simple scheme that solves both problems by freezing SS at an optimal point and realizing effectively persistent SS by inhibiting further squeezing dynamics. Explicit procedures are outlined for persistent SS of the TACT limit. Protocols based on our scheme favorably relax experimental demands, which significantly brighten the prospects for realizing TACT.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Transport through a quantum dot coupled to two Majorana bound states

We investigate electron transport inside a ring system composed of a quantum dot (QD) coupled to two Majorana bound states confined at the ends of a one-dimensional topological superconductor nanowire. By tuning the magnetic flux threading through the ring, the model system we consider can be switched into states with or without zero-energy modes when the nanowire is in its topological phase. We find that the Fano profile in the conductance spectrum due to the interference between bound and continuum states exhibits markedly different features for these two different situations, which consequently can be used to detect the Majorana zero-energy mode. Most interestingly, as a periodic function of magnetic flux, the conductance shows $2\pi$ periodicity when the two Majorana bound states are nonoverlapping (as in an infinitely long nanowire) but displays $4\pi$ periodicity when the overlapping becomes nonzero (as in a finite length nanowire). We map the model system into a QD--Kitaev ring in the Majorana fermion representation and affirm these different characteristics by checking the energy spectrum.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Few-photon imaging at 1550 nm using a low-timing-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

We demonstrated a laser depth imaging system based on the time-correlated single-photon counting technique, which was incorporated with a low-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD), operated at the wavelength of 1550 nm. A sub-picosecond time-bin width was chosen for photon counting, resulting in a discrete noise of less than one/two counts for each time bin under indoor/outdoor daylight conditions, with a collection time of 50 ms. Because of the low-jitter SNSPD, the target signal histogram was significantly distinguishable, even for a fairly low retro-reflected photon flux. The depth information was determined directly by the highest bin counts, instead of using any data fitting combined with complex algorithms. Millimeter resolution depth imaging of a low-signature object was obtained, and more accurate data than that produced by the traditional Gaussian fitting method was generated. Combined with the intensity of the return photons, three-dimensional reconstruction overlaid with reflectivity data was realized.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Room-temperature antiferromagnetic memory resistor

The bistability of ordered spin states in ferromagnets (FMs) provides the magnetic memory functionality. Traditionally, the macroscopic moment of ordered spins in FMs is utilized to write information on magnetic media by a weak external magnetic field, and the FM stray field is used for reading. However, the latest generation of magnetic random access memories demonstrates a new efficient approach in which magnetic fields are replaced by electrical means for reading and writing. This concept may eventually leave the sensitivity of FMs to magnetic fields as a mere weakness for retention and the FM stray fields as a mere obstacle for high-density memory integration. In this paper we report a room-temperature bistable antiferromagnetic (AFM) memory which produces negligible stray fields and is inert in strong magnetic fields. We use a resistor made of an FeRh AFM whose transition to a FM order 100 degrees above room-temperature, allows us to magnetically set different collective directions of Fe moments. Upon cooling to room-temperature, the AFM order sets in with the direction the AFM moments pre-determined by the field and moment direction in the high temperature FM state. For electrical reading, we use an antiferromagnetic analogue of the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR). We report microscopic theory modeling which confirms that this archetypical spintronic effect discovered more than 150 years ago in FMs, can be equally present in AFMs. Our work demonstrates the feasibility to realize room-temperature spintronic memories with AFMs which greatly expands the magnetic materials base for these devices and offers properties which are unparalleled in FMs.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Tunable spin-orbit coupling synthesized with a modulating gradient magnetic field

We report the observation of tunable spin-orbit coupling (SOC) for ultracold $^{87}$Rb atoms in hyperfine spin-1 states. Different from most earlier experiments where atomic SOC of pseudo-spin-1/2 are synthesized with Raman coupling lasers, the scheme we demonstrate employs a gradient magnetic field (GMF) with ground state atoms and is immune to atomic spontaneous emission. The effect of the SOC is confirmed through the studies of: 1) the collective dipole oscillation of an atomic condensate in a harmonic trap after the synthesized SOC is abruptly turned on; and 2) the minimum energy state at a finite adiabatically adjusted momentum when the SOC strength is slowly ramped up. The coherence properties of the spinor condensates remain very good after interacting with modulating GMFs, which prompts the enthusiastic claim that our work provides a new repertoire for synthesized gauge fields aimed at quantum simulation studies with cold atoms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2014

Generating an effective magnetic lattice for cold atoms

We present a general scheme for synthesizing a spatially periodic magnetic field, or a magnetic lattice (ML), for ultracold atoms using pulsed gradient magnetic fields. Both the period and the depth of the artificial ML can be tuned, immune to atomic spontaneous emission often encountered in optical lattices. The effective Hamiltonian for our 2-dimensional ML has not been discussed previously in condensed matter physics. Its band structures show interesting features which can support topologically nontrivial phases. The technical requirements for implementing our protocol are readily available in today's cold atom experiments. Realization of our proposal will significantly expand the repertoire for quantum simulation with ultracold atoms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Symmetry classification of spin-orbit coupled spinor Bose-Einstein condensates

We develop a symmetry classification scheme to find ground states of pseudo spin-1/2, spin-1, and spin-2 spin-orbit coupled spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, and show that as the SO(2) symmetry of simultaneous spin and space rotations is broken into discrete cyclic groups, various types of lattice structures emerge in the absence of a lattice potential, examples include two different kagaome lattices for pseudo spin-1/2 condensates and a nematic vortex lattice in which uniaxial and biaxial spin textures align alternatively for spin-2 condensates. For the pseudo spin-1/2 system, although mean-field states always break time-reversal symmetry, there exists a time-reversal invariant many-body ground state, which is fragmented and expected to be observed in a micro-condensate.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Quantum spin mixing in a binary mixture of spin-1 atomic condensates

We study quantum spin mixing in a binary mixture of spin-1 condensates including coherent interspecies mixing process, using the familiar spinor condensates of $^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na atoms in the ground lower hyperfine F=1 manifolds as prototype examples. Within the single spatial mode approximation for each of the two spinor condensates, the mixing dynamics reduce to that of three coupled nonlinear pendulums with clear physical interpretations. Using suitably prepared initial states, it is possible to determine the interspecies singlet-pairing as well as spin-exchange interactions from the subsequent mixing dynamics.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Dynamically generating arbitrary spin-orbit couplings for neutral atoms

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) can give rise to interesting physics, from spin Hall to topological insulators, normally in condensed matter systems. Recently, this topical area has extended into atomic quantum gases in searching for artificial/synthetic gauge potentials. The prospects of tunable interaction and quantum state control promote neutral atoms as nature's quantum emulators for SOC. Y.-J. Lin {\it et al.} recently demonstrated a special form of the SOC $k_xσ_y$: which they interpret as an equal superposition of Rashba and Dresselhaus couplings, in bose condensed atoms [Nature (London) \textbf{471}, 83 (2011)]. This work reports an idea capable of implementing arbitrary forms of SOC by switching between two pairs of Raman laser pulses like that used by Lin {\it et al.}. While one pair affects $k_xσ_y$ for some time, a second pair creates $k_yσ_y$ over other times with Raman pulses from different directions and a subsequent spin rotation into $\pm k_yσ_x$. With sufficient many pulses, the effective actions from different durations are small and accumulate in the same exponent despite that $k_xσ_y$ and $\pm k_yσ_x$ do not commute. Our scheme involves no added complication, and can be demonstrated within current experiments. It applies equally to bosonic or fermionic atoms.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗