New properties, rapid fire and demand – this vision is highlighted by new research from a European physics research group. The team uses ultra-short, hot light to see exactly how the strange energy, called floc bands, appear in the crystal. Scientists report their findings (How electrons behave in light) in the research magazine “Nature”.
“The discovery of new materials (How electrons behave in light) often depends on our ability to control the chemical composition of the material,” said Marburg physicist Professor Dr Ulrich Höfer, one of the leaders of the paper, who is also a professor. adjunct at the University of Regensburg says since. 2022 maximum. “On the other hand, optical properties of materials can bring physics into a new era by enabling new functions as needed.”
The periodic excitation of the electron in the intense light leads to a strange quantum effect: the periodic disturbance caused by the hot light, and the electron has not only one specific energy state, but many energy states have equal opportunities. “The original energy surrounded itself, so to speak, with a lot of light,” explains Professor Dr Rupert Huber, Regensburg scientist, another lead author. Experts talk about Floquet ribbons. “However, what drives such states – for example the question of how long it takes for electrons to “dress up” in light – is still unknown,” says Huber.
The collaborative research institutes “Forms and changes in the interior” and “Emergency Effects on Condensed Matter” of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the universities of Marburg and Regensburg provide the best conditions for combining these research spaces. The team used photoelectron spectroscopy to study the surface of the crystal.
“With our measurements, we have gone beyond the limits of what can be achieved before with this spectroscopy in terms of time resolution and strong light fields”, indicates Dr. Suguru Ito, the first author of a special book. As a result, the team made an unexpected discovery: “Surprisingly, the Floquet group is created after one optical cycle, that is, in a very short time”, the scientist explains.
“The critics couldn’t believe it at first!” said Prof. Hoffer. But the experimental results are clearly supported by the hypothesis of Dr. Michael Schlueter of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, and Professor Dr. Michael Sentef of the Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg. Professor Huber adds, “Our experiment opens up the possibility of making a large number of transient quantum states visible.” “This paves the way for quantum operations designed at very fast speeds.”
Source: University of Regensburg.