Superconductivity at the Normal Metal/Dirac Semimetal Cd_3As_2 Interface

We investigate the interface between a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal Cd_3As_2 and a normal metal via softpoint contact spectroscopy measurement.The superconducting gap features were detected below 3.8 K and 7.1 K in the case of Cd_3As_2 single crystals sputter-coated with the Pt and Au films,respectively,in the differential conductance dI/dV-V plots of the point contacts.As the applied magnetic field increased,the drop in the zerobias contact resistance shifted toward lower temperatures.The topologically non-trivial band structure of Cd_3As_2 is considered to play a crucial role in inducing the superconductivity.Apart from realizing superconductivity in topological materials,our creative approach can be used to investigate possible topological superconductivity and exhibits a high application potential in electronic devices.     

Electrical transport and optical properties of Cd_3As_2 thin films

Cd_3As_2, as a three-dimensional(3D) topological Dirac semimetal, has attracted wide attention due to its unique physical properties originating from the 3D massless Dirac fermions. While many efforts have been devoted to the exploration of novel physical phenomena such as chiral anomaly and phase transitions by using bulk crystals, the development of high-quality and large-scale thin films becomes necessary for practical electronic and optical applications. Here, we report our recent progress in developing single-crystalline thin films with improved quality and their optical devices including Cd_3As_2-based heterojunctions and ultrafast optical switches. We find that a post-annealing process can significantly enhance the crystallinity of Cd_3As_2 in both intrinsic and Zn-doped thin films. With excellent characteristics of high mobility and linear band dispersion, Cd_3As_2 exhibits a good optical response in the visible-to-mid-infrared range due to an advantageous optical absorption, which is reminiscent of 3D graphene. It also behaves as an excellent saturable absorber in the mid-infrared regime. Through the delicate doping process in this material system, it may further open up the long-sought parameter space crucial for the development of compact and high-performance mid-infrared ultrafast sources.     

Non-Monotonic Evolution of Carrier Density and Mobility under Thermal Cycling Treatments in Dirac Semimetal Cd_3As_2 Microbelts

Tunable carrier density plays a key role in the investigation of novel transport properties in three-dimensional topological semimetals.We demonstrate that the carrier density,as well as the mobility,of Dirac semimetal Cd_3As_2 nanoplates can be effectively tuned via in situ thermal treatment at 350 K for one hour,resulting in non-monotonic evolution by virtue of the thermal cycling treatments.The upward shift of Fermi level relative to the Dirac nodes blurs the surface Fermi-arc states,accompanied by an anomalous phase shift in the oscillations of bulk states,due to a change in the topology of the electrons.Meanwhile,the oscillation peaks of bulk longitudinal magnetoresistivity shift at high fields,due to their coupling to the oscillations of the surface Fermi-arc states.Our work provides a thermal control mechanism for the manipulation of quantum states in Dirac semimetal Cd_3As_2 at high temperatures,via their carrier density.     

Vibrational lifetimes and isotope effects of interstitial oxygen in silicon and germanium

Decay dynamics of local vibrational modes provides unique information about energy relaxation processes to solid-state phonon bath. In this Letter the lifetimes of the asymmetric stretch mode of interstitial 16O and 17O isotopes in Si are measured at 10 K directly by time-resolved, transient bleaching spectroscopy to be 11.5 and 4.5 ps, respectively. A calculation of the three-phonon density of states shows that the 17O mode lies in the highest phonon density resulting in the shortest lifetime. The lifetime of the 16O mode in Ge is measured to be 125 ps, i.e., approximately 10 times longer than in Si. The interaction between the local modes and the lattice vibrations is discussed according to the activity of phonon combinations.     

Preserving high multibunch luminosity in linear colliders

An analytic theory of cumulative multibunch beam breakup in linear colliders is developed. Included is a linear variation of transverse focusing across the bunch train as might be applied, e.g., by chirping the radio frequency power sources or by using radio frequency quadrupole magnets. The focusing variation saturates the exponential growth of the beam breakup and establishes an algebraic decay of the transverse bunch displacement versus bunch number. A closed-form expression for the transverse bunch displacement is developed. It is used to quantify the total normalized emittance and thereby isolate the region of parameter space corresponding to high multibunch luminosity.     

Direct measurement of picosecond and sub-picosecond phonon lifetimes in α-quartz

Using coherent Raman probe scattering of picosecond laser pulses, excited optical phonons at 465 cm^-1, close to the center of the Brillouin zone are investigated. A 3-phonon decay channel is suggested which accounts for the observed large variation of the phonon lifetime from 3.4 ps to 0.8 ps in the temperature range 23 to 295 K.     

TATB晶体声子谱及比热容的第一性原理研究

利用第一性原理并结合vd W-DF2范德瓦耳斯力校正研究了TATB(C6H6O6N6)晶体声子谱及比热容.采用冷冻声子法计算了TATB晶体声子谱和声子态密度,发现在2.3 THz附近TATB声子态密度最大,证实了太赫兹光谱实验观察到的2.22 THz附近的强吸收峰.基于声子态密度研究了振动模式对比热容的贡献,分析结果表明,常温下0—27.5 THz频段振动模式贡献了比热容的93.7%.同时比较了升温过程中振动模式对比热容的贡献,指出TATB热分解的引发键是C—NO_2键断裂的可能性更大.     

Multiple magnetic transitions in single crystals of Ce_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41) and La_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41)

Measurements of magnetic and transport properties were performed on needle-shaped single crystals of Ce_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41)and La_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41).The availability of a complete set of data enabled a side-by-side comparison between these two rare earth compounds.Both compounds exhibited multiple magnetic orders within 2-300 K and metamagnetic transitions at various fields.Ferromagnetic transitions with Curie temperatures of 100 and 125 K were found for Ce_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41)and La_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41),respectively,followed by antiferromagnetic type spin reorientations near Curie temperatures.The magnetic properties underwent complex evolution in the magnetic field for both compounds.An antiferromagnetic phase transition at about 60 K and 0.2 T was observed merely for Ce_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41).The field-induced magnetic phase transition occurred from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic structure.A strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy was evident from magnetization measurements of Ce_(12)Fe_(57.5)As_(41).A temperature-field phase diagram was present for these two rare earth systems.In addition,a logarithmic temperature dependence of electrical resistivity was observed in the two compounds within a large temperature range of 150-300 K,which is rarely found in 3D-based compounds.It may be related to Kondo scattering described by independent localized Fe 3d moments interacting with conduction electrons.     

Phase equilibrium of Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys studied by first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo simulations

The first-principles calculations based on density functional theory combined with cluster expansion techniques and Monte Carlo(MC) simulations were used to study the phase diagrams of both wurtzite(WZ) and zinc-blende(ZB)Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys.All formation energies are positive for WZ and ZB Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys,which means that the Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys are unstable and have a tendency to phase separation.For WZ and ZB Cd_(1-x)Zn_xS alloys,the consolute temperatures are 655 K and 604 K,respectively,and they both have an asymmetric miscibility gap.We obtained the spatial distributions of Cd and Zn atoms in WZ and ZB Cd_(0.5)Zn_(0.5)S alloys at different temperatures by MC simulations.We found that both WZ and ZB phases of Cd_(0.5)Zn_(0.5)S alloy exhibit phase segregation of Cd and Zn atoms at low temperature,which is consistent with the phase diagrams.     

Investigation of hot electrons and hot phonons generated within an AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor

We review our recent results obtained on an AlN/GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistor. The temperature of the electrons drifting under a relatively-high electric field is significantly higher than the lattice temperature (i.e., the hot electrons are generated). These hot electrons are produced through the Fröhlich interaction between the drifting electrons and long-lived longitudinal-optical phonons. By fitting electric field vs. electron temperature deduced from the measurements of photoluminescence spectra to a theoretical model, we have deduced the longitudinal-optical-phonon emission time for each electron is to be on the order of 100 fs. We have also measured the decay time constant for LO phonons to be about 4.2 ps. An electric field present in a GaN/AlN heterostructure can bring both the first-order and second-order Raman scattering processes into strong resonances. The resonant Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman scattering results in the increase and decrease of non-equilibrium longitudinal-optical phonon temperatures, respectively. Moreover, the phonon temperature measured from the Raman scattering is increased with an applied electric field at a much higher rate than the lattice temperature due to the presence of field-induced non-equilibrium longitudinal-optical phonons.     

Multiphonon effects on dispersion and Faraday rotation associated with point-imperfections

Here we consider effects of phonons on the absorption, dispersion and Faraday rotation due to the model imperfection considered previously [1]. To make the problem tractable, we assumed that the phonons have a single frequency and Γ⁺₁ symmetry. The temperature assumed is 0 K. Detailed calculations are given which show an asymmetry in dispersion and in the rotation which does not appear unless explicit phonon effects are considered. Phonon fine structure appears in all three curves, which can only be eliminated by assuming a very large “damping” factor relative to the classical value. We attribute the large value to be caused by the phonon dispersion, i.e. a range in the frequency not explicity included in our calculations.     

Improved Uncertainty of Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry Based Length Measurement by Linearizing the Frequency Chirping of a Laser Diode

Length resolution of optical-frequency-domain-reflectometry (OFDR) is improved by reducing the chirping fluctuation of a laser diode. The fluctuation is detected as the frequency deviation of a beat signal from a reference interferometer, which is used as the control signal for servo-control of the laser diode (LD) drive current. As a result of the effective chirping stabilization, chirping span limited-resolution is achieved. In addition, use of a block gauge as the path difference of the reference interferometer enables the OFDR system to improve accuracy of the length as well as the resolution.     

Quantum transport properties of the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal Cd_3As_2 single crystals

The discovery of the three-dimensional Dirac semimetals have expanded the family of topological materials,and attracted massive attentions in recent few years.In this short review,we briefly overview the quantum transport properties of a well-studied three-dimensional Dirac semimetal,Cd_3As_2.These unusual transport phenomena include the unexpected ultra-high charge mobility,large linear magnetoresistivity,remarkable Shubnikov-de Hass oscillations,and the evolution of the nontrivial Berry's phase.These quantum transport properties not only reflect the novel electronic structure of Dirac semimetals,but also give the possibilities for their future device applications.     

Phonon dispersion of ice under pressure

We report measurements of the phonon dispersion of ice Ih under hydrostatic pressure up to 0.5 GPa, at 140 K, using inelastic neutron scattering. They reveal a pronounced softening of various low-energy modes, in particular, those of the transverse acoustic phonon branch in the [100] direction and polarization in the hexagonal plane. We demonstrate with the aid of a lattice dynamical model that these anomalous features in the phonon dispersion are at the origin of the negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient in ice below 60 K. Moreover, extrapolation to higher pressures shows that the mode frequencies responsible for the NTE approach zero at approximately 2.5 GPa, which explains the known pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) in ice. These results give the first clear experimental evidence that PIA in ice is due to a lattice instability, i.e., mechanical melting.     

Ultrafast breathinglike oscillation in the exciton density of ZnSe quantum wells

The spatial density profile of a low-density exciton ensemble in ZnSe quantum wells shows a breathinglike oscillation on a 30-ps time scale. This breathing results from the emission of the first acoustic phonon at the end of the quasiballistic transport phase of the excitons which reverses their direction of propagation. Since the scattering destroys the phase of the excitonic wave function, one can deduce simultaneously the coherence length and the coherence time of excitonic transport by evaluation of the oscillation measured from a single experiment. The breathing, which can be modeled by Monte Carlo simulations, is quenched for rising lattice temperature, i.e., increasing phonon absorption, and in samples with significant disorder. These results were obtained by time-resolved nanophotoluminescence with 5 ps and 250 nm temporal and spatial resolution, respectively.     

Normal and “Anomalous” isotope shifts of phonon frequencies in mono- and polyisotopic germanium crystals

The shifts of the phonon frequencies in ⁷⁰Ge and ⁷⁴Ge monoisotopic crystals have been studied using inelastic neutron scattering. It has been shown that the frequency shifts for all of the branches are normal, i.e., inversely proportional to √M. At the same time, the gap between acoustic and optical frequencies in monoisotopic crystals appears to be much wider (by about 2 meV in the [111] direction) than that in natural polyisotopic crystals containing “isotopic defects.” In this case, the phonon frequencies undergo “anomalous” shifts; i.e., the oscillation frequency of the heavier isotope is higher than that for the lighter isotope. The effect is in qualitative agreement with old theoretical calculations of the effect of mass defects on the phonon spectra of diatomic lattices.     

Subterahertz electrodynamics of (TMTSF)2X (X = ClO4, PF6) salts

The terahertz-subterahertz spectra of the complex permittivity and dynamic conductivity of polycrystalline (TMTSF)₂ClO₄ and (TMTSF)₂PF₆ samples are measured quantitatively. The spectra of (TMTSF)₂ClO₄ have absorption lines at frequencies of 7 and 30 cm^?1. The obtained temperature dependences of the line parameters in the range 5–300 K cast some doubt on the earlier concept of their phonon origin. An excitation is detected at temperatures below 20 K in the frequency range near 30 cm^?1, and its nature is related to the activation of a transverse acoustic phonon caused by the folding of the Brillouin zone due to the ordering of noncentrosymmetrical anions below 20 K. An increase in the carrier relaxation rate is found in this temperature range, which indicates a close relation between the electron and phonon subsystems in (TMTSF)₂ClO₄. Sings of additional low-energy excitations that should manifest themselves at frequencies below 1–2 cm^?1 are detected. (TMTSF)₂PF₆ containing centrosymmetrical anions has no absorption lines in the frequency range 3–20 cm^?1 and the temperature range 5–300 K.     

超短光脉冲波形研究

本文讨论了光脉冲技术发展中的脉冲波形测量问题。介绍了一种通用的光脉冲波形测量新方法,该方法可以给出光脉冲的波形、脉宽以及光脉冲内含的频率啁啾信息。这种测量方法已应用于半导体激光器产生ps光脉冲的实验研究,其可行性得到了验证。     

Chirping of an optical transition by an ultrafast acoustic soliton train in a semiconductor quantum well

Acoustic solitons formed during the propagation of a picosecond strain pulse in a GaAs crystal with a ZnSe/ZnMgSSe quantum well on top lead to exciton resonance energy shifts of up to 10 meV, and ultrafast frequency modulation, i.e., chirping, of the exciton transition. The effects are well described by a theoretical analysis based on the Korteweg-de Vries equation and accounting for the properties of the excitons in the quantum well.