arXiv subjects

Mahtab A. Khan

Publications and source records attributed to Mahtab A. Khan.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Tunable giant Purcell enhancement of quantum light emitters by means of acoustic graphene plasmons

Inspired by the remarkable ability of plasmons to boost radiative emission rates, we propose leveraging acoustic graphene plasmons (AGPs) to realize tunable, giant Purcell enhancements for single-photon, entangled-photon, and multipolar quantum emitters. These AGPs are localized inside a cavity defined by a graphene sheet and a metallic nanocube and filled with a dielectric of thickness of a few nanometers and consisting of stacked layers of 2D materials, containing impurities or defects that act as quantum light emitters. Through finite-difference time domain (FDTD) calculations, we show that this geometry can achieve giant Purcell enhancement factors over a large portion of the infrared (IR) spectrum, up to 6 orders of magnitude in the mid-IR and up to 4 orders of magnitude at telecommunications wavelengths, reaching quantum efficiencies of 95\% and 89\%, respectively, with high-mobility graphene. We obtain Purcell enhancement factors for single-photon electric dipole (E1), electric quadrupole (E2), and electric octupole (E3) transitions and two-photon spontaneous emission (2PSE) transitions, of the orders of $10^{4}$, $10^{7}$, $10^{9}$, and $10^9$, respectively, and a quantum efficiency of 79\% for entangled-photon emission with high-mobility graphene at a wavelength of $λ=1.55$ $μ$m. Importantly, AGP mode frequencies depend on the graphene Fermi energy, which can be tuned via electrostatic gating to modulate fluorescence enhancement in real time. As an example, we consider the Purcell enhancement of spontaneous single- and two-photon emissions from an erbium atom inside single-layer (SL) WS$_2$. Our results could be useful for electrically tunable quantum emitter devices with applications in quantum communication and quantum information processing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Emergent Superfluidity of Hard-Core Excitons in Single-Layer Breathing-Kagome Nb$_3$Te$_x$Cl$_{8-x}$

We develop a microscopic theory of superfluidity for hard-core dark excitons on the triangular lattice by mapping the large-$U$ Bose--Hubbard model to an effective XXZ spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Hamiltonian including virtual hopping processes. Within this framework, we identify the superfluid phase that emerges between the two Mott-insulating endpoints at fillings 0 and 1, and derive its mean-field structure via a canted-spin solution. We then construct the corresponding continuum Landau-Ginzburg (LG) functional and analyze phase fluctuations and vortex dynamics. In two dimensions, the superfluid--normal transition is shown to be governed by a Berezinskii--Kosterlitz--Thouless (BKT) mechanism with a stiffness determined by microscopic parameters. Our results provide a unified description connecting lattice-scale exciton dynamics to continuum critical behavior in triangular geometries.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Multiferroic Dark Excitonic Mott Insulator in the Breathing-Kagome Lattice Material Nb$_3$Cl$_8$

Flat electronic bands strongly enhance Coulomb interactions and can stabilize unconventional insulating states. Motivated by the recent discovery of flat bands in breathing Kagome lattices, we use first-principles GW--Bethe--Salpeter theory to investigate the excitonic spectrum of single-layer Nb$_3$Cl$_8$. We find a dark spin-triplet Frenkel exciton whose spectral peak lies at negative energy ($-0.14$~eV) relative to the quasiparticle gap, directly signaling a preformed bound state and an excitonic Mott insulating phase potentially stable at room temperature. Bright excitons appear at $0.94$~eV and $1.21$~eV, with ultra-large binding energies of $2.05$~eV and $1.77$~eV. By mapping the low-energy dynamics onto a spin-1 Hubbard model on a triangular lattice, we show that frustrated antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric tendencies naturally emerge. These results identify Nb$_3$Cl$_8$ as a candidate multiferroic dark excitonic insulator, opening a pathway to correlated quantum phases in two dimensions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Er$_\mathrm{Al}$:Al$_2$O$_3$ for Telecom-Band Photonics: Electronic Structure and Optical Properties

Er-doped Al$_2$O$_3$ is a promising host for telecom-band integrated photonics. Here we combine ab initio calculations with a symmetry-resolved analysis to elucidate substitutional Er on the Al site (Er$_\mathrm{Al}$) in $α$-Al$_2$O$_3$. First-principles relaxations confirm the structural stability of Er$_\mathrm{Al}$. We then use the local trigonal crystal-field symmetry to classify the Er-derived impurity levels by irreducible representations and to derive polarization-resolved electric-dipole selection rules, explicitly identifying the symmetry-allowed $f$\textendash$d$ hybridization channels. Kubo--Greenwood absorption spectra computed from Kohn--Sham states quantitatively corroborate these symmetry predictions. Furthermore, we connect the calculated intra-$4f$ line strengths to Judd--Ofelt theory, clarifying the role of $4f$\textendash$5d$ admixture in enabling optical activity. Notably, we predict a characteristic absorption near $1.47~μ\mathrm{m}$ (telecom band), relevant for on-chip amplification and emission. To our knowledge, a symmetry-resolved first-principles treatment of Er:Al$_2$O$_3$ with an explicit Judd--Ofelt interpretation has not been reported, providing a transferable framework for tailoring rare-earth dopants in wide-band-gap oxides for integrated photonics. Our results for the optical spectra are in good agreement with experimental data.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗