Individual Quasiparticles Research Articles

Mapping charge excitations in generalized Wigner crystals.

Transition metal dichalcogenide-based moiré superlattices exhibit strong electron-electron correlations, thus giving rise to strongly correlated quantum phenomena such as generalized Wigner crystal states. Evidence of Wigner crystals in transition metal dichalcogenide moire superlattices has been widely reported from various optical spectroscopy and electrical conductivity measurements, while their microscopic nature has been limited to the basic lattice structure. Theoretical studies predict that unusual quasiparticle excitations across the correlated gap between upper and lower Hubbard bands can arise due to long-range Coulomb interactions in generalized Wigner crystal states. However, the microscopic proof of such quasiparticle excitations is challenging because of the low excitation energy of the Wigner crystal. Here we describe a scanning single-electron charging spectroscopy technique with nanometre spatial resolution and single-electron charge resolution that enables us to directly image electron and hole wavefunctions and to determine the thermodynamic gap of generalized Wigner crystal states in twisted WS2 moiré heterostructures. High-resolution scanning single-electron charging spectroscopy combines scanning tunnelling microscopy with a monolayer graphene sensing layer, thus enabling the generation of individual electron and hole quasiparticles in generalized Wigner crystals. We show that electron and hole quasiparticles have complementary wavefunction distributions and that thermodynamic gaps of ∼50 meV exist for the 1/3 and 2/3 generalized Wigner crystal states in twisted WS2.

Universal theory of strange metals from spatially random interactions.

Strange metals-ubiquitous in correlated quantum materials-transport electrical charge at low temperatures but not by the individual electronic quasiparticle excitations, which carry charge in ordinary metals. In this work, we consider two-dimensional metals of fermions coupled to quantum critical scalars, the latter representing order parameters or fractionalized particles. We show that at low temperatures (T), such metals generically exhibit strange metal behavior with a T-linear resistivity arising from spatially random fluctuations in the fermion-scalar Yukawa couplings about a nonzero spatial average. We also find a T ln(1/T) specific heat and a rationale for the Planckian bound on the transport scattering time. These results are in agreement with observations and are obtained in the large N expansion of an ensemble of critical metals with N fermion flavors.

Numerical Modeling of Spectral Hardening at a Finite-width Shock

Spectral hardening has been identified in solar flare hard X-ray observations for several decades and remains a puzzle. We examine spectral hardening under the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism using numerical simulations. The hardening is related to the finite width of the shock and is controlled by the shock Péclet number. We implement two different types of Monte Carlo simulations. The first is based on the backward stochastic differential equation method, where the Parker transport equation is solved by casting it to a set of stochastic different equations, and by following the trajectories of individual quasiparticles. In the second approach, we follow real particles and particles are assumed to move freely between scatterings from magnetic turbulence in the plasma. The scattering is modeled as either large-angle hard-sphere elastic collision, or small-angle pitch-angle scattering. We show that the results from these two approaches agree well with each other and agree with analytical results. We also use a Pan-spectrum form to fit the resulting spectra.

Substrate-dependent synergistic many-body effects in atomically thin two-dimensional WS2

Mott transition has been realized in atomically thin monolayers (MLs) of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors ($\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$) via optically excited carriers above a critical carrier density through many-body interactions. The above nonlinear optical transition occurs when excited electron hole pairs in the ML $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ continuum heavily interact with each other followed by transformation into a collective electron-hole-plasma phase, by losing their identity as individual quasiparticles. This is manifested by the alluring redshift-blueshift crossover phenomena of the excitonic peaks in the emission spectra, resulting from the synergistic attraction-repulsion processes at the Mott transition point. A systematic investigation of many-body effects is reported on ML $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$, while considering the modulated dielectric screening of three different substrates, viz., silicon dioxide, sapphire, and gold. Substrate doping effects on ML $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ are discussed using the Raman fingerprints and photoluminescence spectral weight, which are further corroborated using theoretical density functional theory calculations. Further, the substrate-dependent excitonic Bohr radius of ML $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ is extracted via modeling the emission energy shift with Lennard-Jones potential. The variation of the Mott point, as well as the excitonic Bohr radius, is explained via the substrate-induced dielectric screening effect for both dielectric substrates, which is, however, absent in ML $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ on Au. In this paper, we therefore reveal diverse many-body ramifications in 2D semiconductors and offer decisive outlooks on selecting impeccable substrate materials for innovative device engineering.

Coupled harmonic oscillator models for correlated plasmons in one-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional systems

A new phenomenon of correlated plasmons was first observed in the insulating phase of the Sr1−x Nb1−y O3+δ family (Asamara et al 2017 Nat. Commun. 8 15271). The correlated plasmons are tunable, have multiple plasmonic frequencies, and exhibit low loss—making them desirable in numerous plasmonic applications. However, their fundamental mechanism is yet to be explored. While conventional plasmons can be understood solely by considering long-range interactions, unconventional correlated plasmons arise in correlated electron systems and require consideration of the short-range interactions. Here, we report how the interplay of short-range and long-range interactions determines the correlated plasmon phenomena through a coupled harmonic oscillator model of both 1D and quasi-1D systems. In each system, the impact of various physical parameters like the number of oscillators, energy scale, free electron scattering parameter, quasi-particle concentration, charges, effective masses, and Coulomb interaction strengths are explored to gain an understanding of their impact on the complex dielectric function and loss function. We study both cases where the parameters are the same for all quasi-particles and where effective mass, Coulomb interaction strength, and charge are varied for individual quasi-particles. In an extended model of the quasi-1D system, we study both cases where the rung symmetry of all parameters is conserved and where it is broken. When rung symmetry is conserved, the overall trends in optical and plasmonic peaks are the same as the 1D model, though the peaks tend to shift to higher energies and amplitudes. When rung symmetry is broken, the quasi-1D behavior deviates significantly from the 1D model, including an increase in the maximum possible number of optical and plasmonic peaks. Overall, our results demonstrate the significance of the interplay of short-range and long-range interactions in determining the correlated plasmons and identifying how various parameters can be used to tune the resulting plasmons.

Dirac fermion quantum Hall antidot in graphene

The ability to localize and manipulate individual quasiparticles in mesoscopic structures is critical in experimental studies of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, and in potential quantum information devices, e.g., for topological schemes of quantum computation. In strong magnetic field, the quantum Hall edge modes can be confined around the circumference of a small antidot, forming discrete energy levels that have a unique ability to localize fractionally charged quasiparticles. Here, we demonstrate a Dirac fermion quantum Hall antidot in graphene in the integer quantum Hall regime, where charge transport characteristics can be adjusted through the coupling strength between the contacts and the antidot, from Coulomb blockade dominated tunneling under weak coupling to the effectively non-interacting resonant tunneling under strong coupling. Both regimes are characterized by single -flux and -charge oscillations in conductance persisting up to temperatures over 2 orders of magnitude higher than previous reports in other material systems. Such graphene quantum Hall antidots may serve as a promising platform for building and studying novel quantum circuits for quantum simulation and computation.

Current-Induced Crossover of Flux Periodicity from h/2 e to h/e in a Superconducting Nb Nano-Ring.

Magnetoresistance measurements in a granular Nb nanoring reveal current-induced crossover between two distinct quantum coherence effects. At low bias currents, Cooper-pair coherence is manifested by Little-Parks oscillations with flux periodicity of h/2 e. At high bias currents, magnetoresistance oscillations with flux periods of h/ e are observed and interpreted as Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, reflecting the phase coherence of individual quasi-particles. The model explaining these data views the ring as a chain of superconducting grains weakly coupled by tunnel junctions. Low bias currents allow coherent tunneling of Cooper pairs between the grains. Increasing the current above the critical current of all the junctions creates a quasi-particles conduction channel along the ring, allowing for quantum interference of quasi-particles.

Dynamic Structure Factor of Disordered Quantum Spin Ladders.

We investigate the impact of quenched disorder on the zero-temperature dynamic structure factor of two-leg quantum spin ladders. Using linked-cluster expansions and bond-operator mean-field theory, huge effects on individual quasiparticles but also on composite bound states and two-quasiparticle continua are observed. This leads to intriguing quantum structures in dynamical correlation functions well observable in spectroscopic experiments.

Построение пробной волновой функции X<sup>-</sup>-триона в удерживающем потенциале квантовой точки в постоянном магнитном поле

In this article we consider one of the types of quasiparticles in electron-hole plasma that takes place in semiconductors, bound state of two electrons and hole - it is a negatively charged X--trion. It is hypothesized that two-dimensional trions formed in semiconductor heterolayers are more stable formations than three-dimensional trions, that's why the two-dimensional trions are investigated in the article. For such trions a Hamiltonian is drawn that describes a system of two electrons and hole captured by the oscillator potential of quantum dot. The oscillatory potential that captures quasiparticles is a stabilizing factor that keeps trions from decay, which makes it possible to observe the trions at sufficiently high temperatures. As additional stabilizing factor we took constant uniform magnetic field directed perpendicular to heterolayer that contains the quantum dot. It is shown that the presence of magnetic field results to change in parameters of the oscillator potential. The interaction of electrons and holes is described with the help of the Coulomb potential. A trial wave function of the X--trion is obtained in neglecting of spin-orbit interaction for all quasiparticles and exchange interaction between electrons (the Hartree approximation). Quantum numbers characterizing the orbital motion of individual quasiparticles constituting the trion are introduced. The energies of individual quasiparticles constituting the trion are calculated. A method for calculating the binding energy of trion is discussed. The proposed method of calculation can be used to calculate the energy characteristics of positively charged X+-trion. The formation of quasiparticles complexes like trions during capture of electrons and holes by quantum dots must also take place for impurity ions, which will affect the spectrum of absorption and luminescence of semiconductors which contain impurity ions. As a result of this, we postulate that in calculation of spectroscopic properties of impurity ions, it is not enough to take into account only the effects of covalent bonding between atoms in semiconductor structures, it is also necessary to take into account the effects of capture of trions and other more complex quasiparticles formations.

Observation of quantum turbulence in superfluid He3 -B using reflection and transmission of ballistic thermal excitations

We report measurements of quantum turbulence generated by a vibrating grid in superfluid $^3$He-B at zero pressure in the zero temperature limit. Superfluid flow around individual vortex lines Andreev-reflects incoming thermal ballistic quasiparticle excitations, and allows non-invasive detection of quantum vortices in $^3$He-B. We have compared two Andreev reflection-based techniques traditionally used to detect quantum turbulence in the ballistic regime: quasiparticle transmission through and reflection from ballistic vortex rings and a turbulent tangle. We have shown that the two methods are in very good agreement and thus complement each other. Our measurements reveal that vortex rings and a tangle generated by a vibrating grid have a much larger spatial extent than previously realised. Furthermore, we find that a vortex tangle can either pass through an obstacle made from a mesh or diffuse around it. The measured dependence of vortex signal as a function of the distance from the vibrating grid is consistent with a power-law behaviour in contrast to turbulence generated by a vibrating wire which is described by an exponential function.

Interferometric measurements of many-body topological invariants using mobile impurities.

Topological quantum phases cannot be characterized by Ginzburg–Landau type order parameters, and are instead described by non-local topological invariants. Experimental platforms capable of realizing such exotic states now include synthetic many-body systems such as ultracold atoms or photons. Unique tools available in these systems enable a new characterization of strongly correlated many-body states. Here we propose a general scheme for detecting topological order using interferometric measurements of elementary excitations. The key ingredient is the use of mobile impurities that bind to quasiparticles of a host many-body system. Specifically, we show how fractional charges can be probed in the bulk of fractional quantum Hall systems. We demonstrate that combining Ramsey interference with Bloch oscillations can be used to measure Chern numbers characterizing the dispersion of individual quasiparticles, which gives a direct probe of their fractional charges. Possible extensions of our method to other many-body systems, such as spin liquids, are conceivable.

Theory of Anderson pseudospin resonance with Higgs mode in superconductors

A superconductor illuminated by an ac electric field with frequency $\Omega$ is theoretically found to generate a collective precession of Anderson's pseudospins, and hence a coherent amplitude oscillation of the order parameter, with a doubled frequency $2\Omega$ through a nonlinear light-matter coupling. We provide a fundamental theory, based on the mean-field formalism, to show that the induced pseudospin precession resonates with the Higgs amplitude mode of the superconductor at $2\Omega=2\Delta$ with $2\Delta$ being the superconducting gap. The resonant precession is accompanied by a divergent enhancement of the third-harmonic generation (THG). By decomposing the THG susceptibility into the bare one and vertex correction, we find that the enhancement of the THG cannot be explained by individual quasiparticle excitations (pair breaking), so that the THG serves as a smoking gun for an identification of the collective Higgs mode. We further explore the effect of electron-electron scattering on the pseudospin resonance by applying the nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory to the attractive Hubbard model driven by ac electric fields. The result indicates that the pseudospin resonance is robust against electron correlations, although the resonance width is broadened due to electron scattering, which determines the lifetime of the Higgs mode.

Single quasiparticle and electron emitter in the fractional quantum Hall regime

We propose a device consisting in an antidot periodically driven in time by a magnetic field as a fractional quantum Hall counterpart of the celebrated mesoscopic capacitor-based single electron source. We fully characterize the setup as an ideal emitter of individual quasiparticles and electrons into fractional quantum Hall edge channels of the Laughlin sequence. Our treatment relies on a master equation approach and identifies the optimal regime of operation for both types of sources. The quasiparticle/quasihole emission regime involves in practice only two charge states of the antidot, allowing for an analytic treatment. We show the precise quantization of the emitted charge, we determine its optimal working regime, and we compute the phase noise/shot noise crossover as a function of the escape time from the emitter. The emission of electrons, which calls for a larger amplitude of the drive, requires a full numerical treatment of the master equations as more quasiparticle charge states are involved. Nevertheless, in this case the emission of one electron charge followed by one hole per period can also be achieved, and the overall shape of the noise spectrum is similar to that of the quasiparticle source, but the presence of additional quasiparticle processes enhances the noise amplitude.

Excitation of Single Quasiparticles in a Small Superconducting Al Island Connected to Normal-Metal Leads by Tunnel Junctions

We investigate the dynamics of individual quasiparticle excitations on a small superconducting aluminum island connected to normal metallic leads by tunnel junctions. We find the island to be free of excitations within the measurement resolution. This allows us to show that the residual heating, which typically limits experiments on superconductors, has an ultralow value of less than 0.1 aW. By injecting electrons with a periodic gate voltage, we probe electron-phonon interaction and relaxation down to a single quasiparticle excitation pair, with a measured recombination rate of 16 kHz. Our experiment yields a strong test of BCS theory in aluminum as the results are consistent with it without free parameters.

The ‘Higgs’ amplitude mode at the two-dimensional superfluid/Mott insulator transition

Spontaneous symmetry breaking plays a key role in our understanding of nature. In relativistic quantum field theory, a broken continuous symmetry leads to the emergence of two types of fundamental excitation: massless Nambu-Goldstone modes and a massive 'Higgs' amplitude mode. An excitation of Higgs type is of crucial importance in the standard model of elementary particle physics, and also appears as a fundamental collective mode in quantum many-body systems. Whether such a mode exists in low-dimensional systems as a resonance-like feature, or whether it becomes overdamped through coupling to Nambu-Goldstone modes, has been a subject of debate. Here we experimentally find and study a Higgs mode in a two-dimensional neutral superfluid close to a quantum phase transition to a Mott insulating phase. We unambiguously identify the mode by observing the expected reduction in frequency of the onset of spectral response when approaching the transition point. In this regime, our system is described by an effective relativistic field theory with a two-component quantum field, which constitutes a minimal model for spontaneous breaking of a continuous symmetry. Additionally, all microscopic parameters of our system are known from first principles and the resolution of our measurement allows us to detect excited states of the many-body system at the level of individual quasiparticles. This allows for an in-depth study of Higgs excitations that also addresses the consequences of the reduced dimensionality and confinement of the system. Our work constitutes a step towards exploring emergent relativistic models with ultracold atomic gases.

Dyakonov-Perel spin relaxation for degenerate electrons in the electron-hole liquid

We present an analytical study of the D'yakonov-Perel' spin relaxation time for degenerate electrons in a photo-excited electron-hole liquid in intrinsic semiconductors exhibiting a spin-split band structure. The D'yakonov-Perel' spin relaxation of electrons in these materials is controlled by electron-hole scattering, with small corrections from electron-electron scattering and virtually none from electron-impurity scattering. We derive simple expressions (one-dimensional and two-dimensional integrals respectively) for the effective electron-hole and electron-electron scattering rates which enter the spin relaxation time calculation. The electron-hole scattering rate is found to be comparable to the scattering rates from impurities in the electron liquid - a common model for n-type doped semiconductors. As the density of electron-hole pairs decreases (within the degenerate regime), a strong enhancement of the scattering rates and a corresponding slowing down of spin relaxation is predicted due to exchange and correlation effects in the electron-hole liquid. In the opposite limit of high density, the original D'yakonov-Perel' model fails due to decreasing scattering rates and is eventually superseded by free precession of individual quasiparticle spins.

Correlated transport of FQHE quasiparticles in a double-antidot system

We have calculated the linear conductance associated with the tunneling of individual quasiparticles of primary quantum Hall liquids with filling factors ν = 1 / ( 2 m + 1 ) through a system of two antidots in series. On-site Coulomb interaction simulates Fermi exclusion and makes the quasiparticle dynamics similar to that of tunneling electrons. The liquid edges serve as the quasiparticle reservoirs, and also create the dissipation mechanism for tunneling between the antidots. In the regime of strong dissipation, the conductance should exhibit resonant peaks of unusual form and a width proportional to the quasiparticle interaction energy U. In the weakly damped regime, the shape of the resonant conductance peaks reflects coherent tunnel coupling of the antidots. The Luttinger-liquid singularity in the rates of quasiparticle tunneling to and from the liquid edges manifests itself as an additional weak resonant structure in the conductance curves.

Microsecond Resolution of Quasiparticle Tunneling in the Single-Cooper-Pair Transistor

We present radio-frequency measurements on a single-Cooper-pair-transistor in which individual quasiparticle poisoning events were observed with microsecond temporal resolution. Thermal activation of the quasiparticle dynamics is investigated, and consequently, we are able to determine energetics of the poisoning and unpoisoning processes. In particular, we are able to assign an effective quasiparticle temperature to parametrize the poisoning rate.

Time-domain measurements of quasiparticle tunneling rates in a single-Cooper-pair transistor

We have measured, in real time, individual quasiparticle tunneling in a single Cooper pair transistor, using rf reflectometry on the supercurrent branch. We have extracted the even-to-odd and odd-to-even transition rates directly by analyzing the distributions of dwell times in the even and odd states of the transistor. We discuss both the measurement and analysis techniques and report on the temperature and gate dependence of the quasiparticle tunneling rates.

Progress in the understanding of the normal state of the cuprates

Over the last years there has been increasing evidence that the normal state of the cuprates can not be described adequately with individual quasiparticles within Fermi-liquid theory. While the low-lying excitations in the superconducting state are nevertheless possibly of quasiparticle character, this character vanishes with the loss of superconducting phase coherence when going to the normal conducting state. Generally, this normal state is characterized by strong heterogeneity. In real space this manifests in charge and spin ordering, either static or dynamical, the so-called ‘stripes’. The spectral signatures of various models describing this unusual metallic normal state together with less exotic non-Fermi-liquid models, like the marginal Fermi liquid, will be compared to photoemission spectra with high angular and energy resolution and to results obtained by other methods.