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Yeung M, Chou LT, Turchetti M, Ritzkowsky F, Berggren KK, Keathley PD. Lightwave-electronic harmonic frequency mixing. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadq0642. [PMID: 39141736 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq0642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
Electronic frequency mixers are fundamental building blocks of electronic systems. Harmonic frequency mixing in particular enables broadband electromagnetic signal analysis across octaves of spectrum using a single local oscillator. However, conventional harmonic frequency mixers do not operate beyond hundreds of gigahertz to a few terahertz. If extended to the petahertz scale in a compact and scalable form, harmonic mixers would enable field-resolved optical signal analysis spanning octaves of spectra in a monolithic device without the need for frequency conversion using nonlinear crystals. Here, we demonstrate lightwave-electronic harmonic frequency mixing beyond 0.350 PHz using plasmonic nanoantennas. We demonstrate that the mixing process enables complete, field-resolved detection of spectral content far outside that of the local oscillator, greatly extending the range of detectable frequencies compared to conventional heterodyning techniques. Our work has important implications for applications where optical signals of interest exhibit coherent femtosecond-scale dynamics spanning multiple harmonics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Yeung
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Lu-Ting Chou
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Linong Street, Beitou District, Taipei City 112304, Taiwan
| | - Marco Turchetti
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Felix Ritzkowsky
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Karl K Berggren
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Philip D Keathley
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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2
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Rossetti A, Falk M, Leitenstorfer A, Brida D, Ludwig M. Gouy phase effects on photocurrents in plasmonic nanogaps driven by single-cycle pulses. NANOPHOTONICS 2024; 13:2803-2809. [PMID: 38974838 PMCID: PMC11223509 DOI: 10.1515/nanoph-2023-0897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
The investigation of optical phenomena in the strong-field regime requires few-cycle laser pulses at field strengths exceeding gigavolts per meter (GV/m). Surprisingly, such conditions can be reached by tightly focusing pJ-level pulses with nearly octave spanning optical bandwidth onto plasmonic nanostructures, exploiting the field-enhancement effect. In this situation, the Gouy phase of the focused beam can deviate significantly from the monochromatic scenario. Here, we study the effect of the Gouy phase of a pulse exploited to drive coherent strong-field photocurrents within a plasmonic gap nanoantenna. While the influence of the specific Gouy phase profile in the experiment approaches the monochromatic case closely, this scheme may be utilized to identify more intricate phase profiles at sub-diffraction scale. Our results pave the way for Gouy phase engineering at picojoule (pJ) pulse energy levels, enabling the optimization of strong-field optical phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Rossetti
- Department of Physics and Materials Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Matthias Falk
- Department of Physics and Center for Applied Photonics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Alfred Leitenstorfer
- Department of Physics and Center for Applied Photonics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Daniele Brida
- Department of Physics and Materials Science, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Markus Ludwig
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg, Germany
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3
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Luo Y, Neubrech F, Martin-Jimenez A, Liu N, Kern K, Garg M. Real-time tracking of coherent oscillations of electrons in a nanodevice by photo-assisted tunnelling. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1316. [PMID: 38351147 PMCID: PMC10864318 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45564-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Coherent collective oscillations of electrons excited in metallic nanostructures (localized surface plasmons) can confine incident light to atomic scales and enable strong light-matter interactions, which depend nonlinearly on the local field. Direct sampling of such collective electron oscillations in real-time is crucial to performing petahertz scale optical modulation, control, and readout in a quantum nanodevice. Here, we demonstrate real-time tracking of collective electron oscillations in an Au bowtie nanoantenna, by recording photo-assisted tunnelling currents generated by such oscillations in this quantum nanodevice. The collective electron oscillations show a noninstantaneous response to the driving laser fields with a T2 decay time of nearly 8 femtoseconds. The contributions of linear and nonlinear electron oscillations in the generated tunnelling currents were precisely determined. A phase control of electron oscillations in the nanodevice is illustrated. Functioning in ambient conditions, the excitation, phase control, and read-out of coherent electron oscillations pave the way toward on-chip light-wave electronics in quantum nanodevices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Luo
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Frank Neubrech
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
- 2nd Physics Institute, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Alberto Martin-Jimenez
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Na Liu
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
- 2nd Physics Institute, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Klaus Kern
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany
- Institut de Physique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Manish Garg
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstr. 1, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
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Guo C, Miranda M, Raab AK, Viotti AL, Tiago Guerreiro P, Romero R, Crespo H, L'Huillier A, Arnold CL. Single-shot, high-repetition rate carrier-envelope-phase detection of ultrashort laser pulses. OPTICS LETTERS 2023; 48:5431-5434. [PMID: 37831885 DOI: 10.1364/ol.498664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
We propose a single-shot, high-repetition rate measurement scheme of the carrier-envelope phase offset of ultrashort laser pulses. The spectral fringes resulting from f-2f nonlinear interferometry, encoding the carrier-envelope-phase, are evaluated completely optically via an optical Fourier transform. For demonstration, the carrier-envelope-phase of a 200 kHz, few-cycle optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser system was measured employing an interferometer as a periodic optical filter. The proposed method shows excellent agreement with simultaneous measurement of the spectral fringes by a fast line-scan camera.
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Hanus V, Fehér B, Csajbók V, Sándor P, Pápa Z, Budai J, Wang Z, Paul P, Szeghalmi A, Dombi P. Carrier-envelope phase on-chip scanner and control of laser beams. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5068. [PMID: 37604799 PMCID: PMC10442376 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40802-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The carrier-envelope phase (CEP) is an important property of few-cycle laser pulses, allowing for light field control of electronic processes during laser-matter interactions. Thus, the measurement and control of CEP is essential for applications of few-cycle lasers. Currently, there is no robust method for measuring the non-trivial spatial CEP distribution of few-cycle laser pulses. Here, we demonstrate a compact on-chip, ambient-air, CEP scanning probe with 0.1 µm3 resolution based on optical driving of CEP-sensitive ultrafast currents in a metal-dielectric heterostructure. We successfully apply the probe to obtain a 3D map of spatial changes of CEP in the vicinity of an oscillator beam focus with pulses as weak as 1 nJ. We also demonstrate CEP control in the focal volume with a spatial light modulator so that arbitrary spatial CEP sculpting could be realized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Václav Hanus
- Wigner Research Centre for Physics, 1121, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Beatrix Fehér
- Wigner Research Centre for Physics, 1121, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - Péter Sándor
- Wigner Research Centre for Physics, 1121, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsuzsanna Pápa
- Wigner Research Centre for Physics, 1121, Budapest, Hungary
- ELI-ALPS Research Institute, 6728, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Judit Budai
- ELI-ALPS Research Institute, 6728, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Zilong Wang
- Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 85748, Munich, Germany
- Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, 85748, Garching, Germany
| | - Pallabi Paul
- Institute of Applied Physics, Abbe Center of Photonics, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Adriana Szeghalmi
- Institute of Applied Physics, Abbe Center of Photonics, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Péter Dombi
- Wigner Research Centre for Physics, 1121, Budapest, Hungary.
- ELI-ALPS Research Institute, 6728, Szeged, Hungary.
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Schlecht MT, Knorr M, Schmid CP, Malzer S, Huber R, Weber HB. Light-field-driven electronics in the mid-infrared regime: Schottky rectification. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabj5014. [PMID: 35658037 PMCID: PMC9166296 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj5014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The speed of an active electronic semiconductor device is limited by RC timescale, i.e., the time required for its charging and discharging. To circumvent this ubiquitous limitation of conventional electronics, we investigate diodes under intense mid-infrared light-field pulses. We choose epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide as a metal/semiconductor pair, acting as an ultrarobust and almost-transparent Schottky diode. The usually dominant forward direction is suppressed, but a characteristic signal occurs in reverse bias. For its theoretical description, we consider tunneling through the light-field-modulated Schottky barrier, complemented by a dynamical accumulation correction. On the basis only of the DC parametrization of the diode, the model provides a consistent and accurate description of the experimentally observed infrared phenomena. This allows the conclusion that cycle-by-cycle dynamics determines rectification. As the chosen materials have proven capabilities for transistors, circuits, and even a full logic, we see a way to establish light-field-driven electronics with rapidly increasing functionality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria T. Schlecht
- Chair for Applied Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Matthias Knorr
- Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Christoph P. Schmid
- Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Malzer
- Chair for Applied Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Rupert Huber
- Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Heiko B. Weber
- Chair for Applied Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
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Bhan L, Covington CL, Varga K. Laser-Driven Petahertz Electron Ratchet Nanobubbles. NANO LETTERS 2022; 22:4240-4245. [PMID: 35561279 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c01399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A laser-driven quantum electron ratchet nanodevice is proposed. The ratchet consists of a series of disconnected bubble-shaped nanodiode structures with a sharp tip to induce a large field enhancement. A laser pulse is used to create a plasmon oscillation in the vertical direction, and the shape of the bubble funnels the electrons toward the sharp tip leading to net electron transport in the horizontal direction. The electron current carries the fingerprint of the driving laser field. The system is modeled by using the time-dependent orbital free density functional theory with nanostructures containing thousands of atoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke Bhan
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
| | - Cody L Covington
- Department of Chemistry, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee 37044, United States
| | - Kálmán Varga
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
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8
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Zhou S, Guo X, Chen K, Cole MT, Wang X, Li Z, Dai J, Li C, Dai Q. Optical-Field-Driven Electron Tunneling in Metal-Insulator-Metal Nanojunction. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2021; 8:e2101572. [PMID: 34708551 PMCID: PMC8693043 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202101572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Optical-field driven electron tunneling in nanojunctions has made demonstrable progress toward the development of ultrafast charge transport devices at subfemtosecond time scales, and have evidenced great potential as a springboard technology for the next generation of on-chip "lightwave electronics." Here, the empirical findings on photocurrent the high nonlinearity in metal-insulator-metal (MIM) nanojunctions driven by ultrafast optical pulses in the strong optical-field regime are reported. In the present MIM device, a 14th power-law scaling is identified, never achieved before in any known solid-state device. This work lays important technological foundations for the development of a new generation of ultracompact and ultrafast electronics devices that operate with suboptical-cycle response times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shenghan Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and DevicesCAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for NanotechnologyCAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics EngineeringUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049P. R. China
| | - Xiangdong Guo
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and DevicesCAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for NanotechnologyCAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics EngineeringUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049P. R. China
| | - Ke Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and DevicesCAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for NanotechnologyCAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics EngineeringUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049P. R. China
| | - Matthew Thomas Cole
- Department of Electronic and Electrical EngineeringUniversity of BathBathBA2 7AYUK
| | - Xiaowei Wang
- Department of PhysicsNational University of Defense TechnologyChangsha410073P. R. China
| | - Zhenjun Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and DevicesCAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for NanotechnologyCAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics EngineeringUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049P. R. China
- GBA Research Innovation Institute for NanotechnologyGuangzhou510700P. R. China
| | - Jiayu Dai
- Department of PhysicsNational University of Defense TechnologyChangsha410073P. R. China
| | - Chi Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and DevicesCAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for NanotechnologyCAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics EngineeringUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049P. R. China
| | - Qing Dai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Materials and DevicesCAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for NanotechnologyCAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and TechnologyBeijing100190P. R. China
- Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics EngineeringUniversity of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049P. R. China
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9
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Nardi A, Turchetti M, Britton WA, Chen Y, Yang Y, Dal Negro L, Berggren KK, Keathley PD. Nanoscale refractory doped titanium nitride field emitters. NANOTECHNOLOGY 2021; 32:315208. [PMID: 33862600 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/abf8de] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Refractory materials exhibit high damage tolerance, which is attractive for the creation of nanoscale field-emission electronics and optoelectronics applications that require operation at high peak current densities and optical intensities. Recent results have demonstrated that the optical properties of titanium nitride, a refractory and CMOS-compatible plasmonic material, can be tuned by adding silicon and oxygen dopants. However, to fully leverage the potential of titanium (silicon oxy)nitride, a reliable and scalable fabrication process with few-nm precision is needed. In this work, we developed a fabrication process for producing engineered nanostructures with gaps between 10 and 15 nm, aspect ratios larger than 5 with almost 90° steep sidewalls. Using this process, we fabricated large-scale arrays of electrically-connected bow-tie nanoantennas with few-nm free-space gaps. We measured a typical variation of 4 nm in the average gap size. Using applied DC voltages and optical illumination, we tested the electronic and optoelectronic response of the devices, demonstrating sub-10 V tunneling operation across the free-space gaps, and quantum efficiency of up to 1 × 10-3at 1.2μm, which is comparable to a bulk silicon photodiode at the same wavelength and three orders of magnitude higher than with nearly identical gold devices. Tests demonstrated that the titanium silicon oxynitride nanostructures did not significantly degrade, exhibiting less than 5 nm of shrinking of the average gap dimensions over few-μm2areas after 10 h of operation. Our results will be useful for developing the next generation of robust and CMOS-compatible nanoscale devices for high-speed and low-power field-emission electronics and optoelectronics applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Nardi
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America
- Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, I-10129, Italy
| | - M Turchetti
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America
| | - W A Britton
- Division of Material Science & Engineering, Boston University, 15 Saint Mary's Street, Brookline, MA 02446, United States of America
| | - Y Chen
- Division of Material Science & Engineering, Boston University, 15 Saint Mary's Street, Brookline, MA 02446, United States of America
| | - Y Yang
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America
| | - L Dal Negro
- Division of Material Science & Engineering, Boston University, 15 Saint Mary's Street, Brookline, MA 02446, United States of America
- Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Photonics Center, Boston University, 8 Saint Mary's Street, Boston, MA 02215, United States of America
- Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, United States of America
| | - K K Berggren
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America
| | - P D Keathley
- Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States of America
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