Macroscopic Quantum Phase Research Articles

Full‐Landscape Condensation Phases for Long‐Lived Excitons in 2D Tellurium: Crystal‐Field Splitting and Finite‐Momentum Excitons

AbstractThe realization of high‐temperature exciton macroscopic quantum phases in materials still remains challenging due to strict constraints in thermal stabilities and excitonic lifetimes. In this work, by using first‐principles calculations, the exciton dispersions and macroscopic quantum phase transitions of 2D α‐ and β‐Te are investigated. The excitons with lowest eigen energy for both α‐ and β‐Te are dark restricted by the crystal‐field symmetries. The Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) transition for α‐ and β‐Te can be realized at 165.4 and 32.8 K with low excitation power densities of 0.42 × 1012 and 1.0 × 1012 cm−2, respectively. Furthermore, the phase transitions from insulating free exciton (FE) gas to conducting electron–hole plasma (EHP) and electron–hole liquid (EHL), as well as that from BEC to superfluidity phases are also predicted. Finally, the authors investigate the microscopic dynamics for bright excitons of 2D tellurium and find that they reach thermal equilibrium at 1–50 fs and excitonic lifetimes can reach 1–40 ns, beneficial for experimental observation of quantum condensate states. The findings in this work not only demonstrate the excellent optoelectronic properties of 2D tellurium allotropes, but also provide a promising platform for experimental realization of high‐temperature excitonic macroscopic quantum condensates.

Full-momentum exciton landscape and macroscopic quantum phase diagram in two-dimensional gallium oxides

High-temperature exciton macroscopic quantum phases have a wide application prospect in many fields such as ultrahigh power photonics and quantum information, and are extremely difficult to realize due to the strong thermal dissociation effect. In this study, the exciton dispersions and macroscopic quantum phase diagrams of two-dimensional (2D) ultrawide bandgap semiconductors I–Ga2O3 and II-Ga2O3 are investigated for the first time. Both I–Ga2O3 and II-Ga2O3 possess the complex excitonic composition and morphology, resulting from their highly degenerate and flat valence bands. For the exciton B1 (B1') with an ultra-large binding energy of 1.14 (1.03) eV in I–Ga2O3, the phase transition temperature from free exciton to Bose-Einstein condensation (TBEC) is as high as 356 (679) K, respectively. The critical carrier densities for the formation of electron-hole liquid at room temperature (NEHL) are 1.3 × 1013 cm−2 and 1.8 × 1013 cm−2, respectively. For the free exciton B1 with an ultra-large binding energy of 1.49 eV in II-Ga2O3, TBEC reaches 365 K and NEHL is 5.9 × 1013 cm−2. Our findings extend the material basis for the research of exciton macroscopic quantum phases and will boost their applications in novel optoelectronic devices.

Phase slips dynamics in gated Ti and V all-metallic supercurrent nano-transistors

The effect of electrostatic gating on metallic elemental superconductors was recently demonstrated in terms of modulation of the switching current and control of the current phase relation in superconducting quantum interferometers. The latter suggests the existence of a direct connection between the macroscopic quantum phase (φ) in a superconductor and the applied gate voltage. The measurement of the switching current cumulative probability distributions is a convenient and powerful tool to analyze such relation. In particular, the comparison between the conventional Kurkijärvi–Fulton–Dunkleberger model and the gate-driven distributions give useful insights into the microscopic origin of the gating effect. In this paper, we summarize the main results obtained in the analysis of the phase slip events in elemental gated superconducting weak-links in a wide range of temperatures between 20 mK and 3.5 K. Such a large temperature range demonstrates both that the gating effect is robust as the temperature increases, and that fluctuations induced by the electric field are not negligible in a wide temperature range.

Linear and nonlinear flux-flow behaviors in superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers

We study experimentally the resistive behaviors of a niobium nitride superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) device driven by magnetic field and terahertz radiation. We find that the resistance of the superconducting HEB device emerges due to time-dependent changes of the macroscopic quantum phase by flux-flow events. The flux-flow resistance is found to be increased linearly with magnetic field at low vortex velocities and is enhanced by terahertz radiation. At high vortex velocities, there is an obvious non-linear change, which can be well interpreted by viscous flux-flow instability predicted by the Larkin and Ovchinnikov theory. In addition, we demonstrate a technique taking use of the device resistance dependence on magnetic field to stabilize the superconducting HEB device.

Microwave quantum refrigeration based on the Josephson effect

We present a microwave quantum refrigeration principle based on the Josephson effect. When a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is pierced by a time-dependent magnetic flux, it induces changes in the macroscopic quantum phase and an effective finite bias voltage appears across the SQUID. This voltage can be used to actively cool well below the lattice temperature one of the superconducting electrodes forming the interferometer. The achievable cooling performance combined with the simplicity and scalability intrinsic to the structure pave the way to a number of applications in quantum technology.

Nanoscale phase engineering of thermal transport with a Josephson heat modulator.

Macroscopic quantum phase coherence has one of its pivotal expressions in the Josephson effect, which manifests itself both in charge and energy transport. The ability to master the amount of heat transferred through two tunnel-coupled superconductors by tuning their phase difference is the core of coherent caloritronics, and is expected to be a key tool in a number of nanoscience fields, including solid-state cooling, thermal isolation, radiation detection, quantum information and thermal logic. Here, we show the realization of the first balanced Josephson heat modulator designed to offer full control at the nanoscale over the phase-coherent component of thermal currents. Our device provides magnetic-flux-dependent temperature modulations up to 40 mK in amplitude with a maximum of the flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient reaching 200 mK per flux quantum at a bath temperature of 25 mK. Foremost, it demonstrates the exact correspondence in the phase engineering of charge and heat currents, breaking ground for advanced caloritronic nanodevices such as thermal splitters, heat pumps and time-dependent electronic engines.

Sagnac-based rotation sensing with superfluid helium quantum interference devices

The Sagnac effect has played an instrumental role for the fundamental studies of relativity, and various devices that utilize this effect have been applied to many disciplines ranging from inertial navigation to geodesy and to seismology. In this context we present an overview of recent developments related to superfluid helium quantum interference devices. With the discovery of superfluid Josephson phenomena in He4, the device technology has been rapidly developing in the past 10 years. We discuss the underlying working principles of these interference devices and their applications. We focus on their use as sensitive rotation sensors based on the Sagnac effect coupled with the existence of a macroscopic quantum phase via particle–wave duality.

The macroscopic quantum phase of ultracold degenerate gases in the asymmetrical two-dimensional magnetic lattice

We investigate the existence of the macroscopic quantum phase in trapped ultracold quantum degenerate gases in an asymmetrical two-dimensional magnetic lattice. We show the key to adiabatically control the tunneling in the new two-dimensional magnetic lattice by means of external magnetic bias fields. In solving the system of coupled time-dependent differential equations, described here by the Boson Josephson Junctions (BJJs), we used an order parameter that includes both time-dependent variational parameters to describe the fractional population at each lattice site and the phase difference to quantify the macroscopic quantum phase signature. A dynamical oscillation of the fractional population and the phase difference at each individual lattice site is observed when solving the BJJs system.

Detection mechanism for quantum phase transition in superconducting qubit array

We demonstrate a universal physical mechanism to probe the macroscopic quantum phase transition based on circuit QED architecture. We found that, with certain parameters, the Josephson junction qubit array behaves as an antiferromagnetic Ising model in transverse field and the coupled transmission line resonator serves as a bosonic quantum probe. Our investigation shows that, at the critical point, the drastic broadening of the spectrum of the probe indicates the quantum phase transition.

Bose–Einstein condensation of exciton polaritons

Phase transitions to quantum condensed phases--such as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), superfluidity, and superconductivity--have long fascinated scientists, as they bring pure quantum effects to a macroscopic scale. BEC has, for example, famously been demonstrated in dilute atom gas of rubidium atoms at temperatures below 200 nanokelvin. Much effort has been devoted to finding a solid-state system in which BEC can take place. Promising candidate systems are semiconductor microcavities, in which photons are confined and strongly coupled to electronic excitations, leading to the creation of exciton polaritons. These bosonic quasi-particles are 10(9) times lighter than rubidium atoms, thus theoretically permitting BEC to occur at standard cryogenic temperatures. Here we detail a comprehensive set of experiments giving compelling evidence for BEC of polaritons. Above a critical density, we observe massive occupation of the ground state developing from a polariton gas at thermal equilibrium at 19 K, an increase of temporal coherence, and the build-up of long-range spatial coherence and linear polarization, all of which indicate the spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase.

The interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity

The generation, as well as the detection, of gravitational radiation by means of charged superfluids is considered. One example of such a “charged superfluid” consists of a pair of Planck-mass-scale, ultracold “Millikan oil drops”, each with a single electron on its surface in a strong magnetic field, in which the oil of the drop is replaced by superfluid helium. When levitated in a magnetic trap, and subjected to microwave-frequency electromagnetic radiation, a pair of such “Millikan oil drops” separated by a microwave wavelength can become an efficient quantum transducer between quadrupolar electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. This leads to the possibility of a Hertz-like experiment, in which the source of microwave-frequency gravitational radiation consists of one pair of “Millikan oil drops” driven by microwaves, and the receiver of such radiation consists of another pair of “Millikan oil drops” in the far field driven by the gravitational radiation generated by the first pair. The second pair then back-converts the gravitational radiation into detectable microwaves. The enormous enhancement of the conversion efficiency for these quantum transducers over that for electrons arises from the fact that there exists macroscopic quantum phase coherence in these charged superfluid systems.

A TWO-BAND SUPERCONDUCTOR WITH A NARROW BAND NEAR THE FERMI LEVEL

The modern theory of conventional superconductivity is based upon the concept of quantum states with broken gauge symmetry providing non-zero values for the so-called "anomalous averages" [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. Being applied to the simplest Gorikov-like semiphenomenological electronic scenario for a metal superconductor, this idea (in the mean field approximation) leads towards a complete description of all properties of ordinary superconductors as a manifestation of macroscopic quantum phase coherence. Currently there exists already strong experimental evidence that the newly discovered high Tc superconductors exhibit the same quantum coherence effects including the highly characteristic quantity for these phenomena, namely the doubled electronic charge. On these grounds one can expect that the high Tc superconductors should also be described by "anomalous averages" of the same kind. The only question is whether Gorikov's scenario is still sufficient or we need a new scenario instead in order to grasp the whole situation. In the case of Gorikov's scenario one needs to explain how the strong electron-electron coupling (no matter of what origin) can be consistent with the system stability condition. Yet there is another argument in favour of a new scenario. The large variety of the new SC properties cannot be explained by a model with too limited number of physical parameters. In our dealing with the problem of a possible new scenario we have suggested that in order to understand the high T c superconductors one should not perhaps go so far as to doubt the one-particle approximation and to introduce the Hubbard-like models, RVB and so on. Taking into account the crystalline structure of perfect high T c superconductors we have assumed within the one-particle description the two overlapping bands approach which was proposed by Suhl, Mattias and Walker (USA) and Moskalenko (USSR) as early as in 1959. To obtain qualitatively new results we have suggested a sharp asymmetry between the two bands (one being practically a local energy level close to the Fermi level) and also a special structure of direct electron-electron interaction with dominating interband scattering of singlet electron pairs described by an amplitude g. As the final analysis has shown, an inevitable but comparatively small splitting of the two bands does not invalidate the results of the model. As to the peculiar structure of interaction we believe it might be explained through a strong electron-optical phonon coupling due to the Jahn-Teller-like instability manifested in tetragonal-orthorhombic transitions of HT c samples. The model just outlined can indeed yield high T c . In the mean field approximation (with two superconductivity order parameters) the order of magnitude of T c is given by T c ~ (|g|N(o)/2)2 EF where N(o) is the density of states in the wide band at the Fermi level and EF is a wide band width. There is an exponentially sharp decline of T c while overdoping or underdoping the system and there is also a broad plateau when the narrow band is filled partially (the heavy fermion situation). The other results of calculations including thermodynamics and also kinetic properties for the normal state do not contradict experiments except for the linear temperature dependence of the specific heat observed sometimes. But one must take into account that in reality all high T c superconductors are in fact disordered solutions, and it is necessary to consider the dirty alloy limit with Anderson's theorem being violated because of the narrow band existence. At the same time, as analysis shows, the mean field approximation is not good enough for the model (the small parameter is only ( log 2/|g|N(o))-1) and therefore one has to apply Green's functions technique in order to correct the results. There is also a possibility that the magnetic properties connected with localized spins (if there are any) must be taken into account as well.