Coherent properties of condensed matter emerge from the physics of many-body interactions and give rise to such fascinating phenomena as high-temperature superconductivity, Bose-Einstein condensation, charge-density waves, and others [1,2]. A main challenge in this field is the absence of a direct probe of the coherence within a many-body state. Multidimensional Coherent Spectroscopy (MDCS) is able to directly probe coherence of a system [3], and such instrument is being constructed at UBC by David Jones in collaboration with Ziliang Ye (QMI PI) and Evgeny Ostroumov (QMI RA). To further push the capabilities of MDCS, we also seek to develop a unique high-repetition rate (>50MHz), spectrally flat, ultra-broadband (500 nm-1000 nm) light source. Once integrated into the MDCS apparatus, this source will dramatically improve the temporal resolution without sacrificing spectral resolution. Equally important, its increased spectral coverage will significantly expand scope of study.
This project will include numerical simulations of intra-cavity supercontinuum generation (first of its kind), and nonlinear phase evolution in collaboration with Dr. Ioachim Pupeza (MPQ), as a natural extension of his recent work on intracavity solitons [4]. Based on this modeling and other preliminary studies at MPQ, the light source will be designed and built at UBC in close collaboration with MPQ. Once completed, the ultrabroad-band MDCS instrument will be used in a number of investigations including study of exciton formation and interaction (bi-excitons, trions, etc.) in transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) [5,6], as well as exciton condensation in TMD’s heterostructures [7].
[1] L. Butov et al., Nature 417, 47 (2002).
[2] B. Wang et al., Phys Rev B 97, 220504 (2018).
[3] G. Moody and S. Cundiff, Advances in Physics X 2, 641 (2017).
[4] N. Lilienfein et al., Nature Photonics 13, 214 (2019).
[5] C. Trovatello et al., arXiv:2002.07108 (2020).
[6] Z. Ye et al., Nature Communications 9, 3718 (2018).
[7] Z. Wang et al., Nature 574, 76 (2019).