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We have developed a Thomson scattering measurement system for the cascade arc discharge device designed for the plasma window (PW) application study. The PW is one of the plasma application techniques that sustain the steep pressure gradient between high pressure (10-100 kPa) and a vacuum environment due to the thermal energy of the plasma. Since the plasma thermal energy is the essential parameter for the pressure separation capability of PW, we installed the Thomson scattering measurement system to observe the electron density and temperature within the anode and cathode of the PW for the detailed analysis of the pressure separation capability. The frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, 200 mJ, 8 ns) was employed for the probe laser. The scattered light was fed to the triple grating spectrometer. The notch filter between the first and second grating eliminated the stray light, realizing a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio. The Thomson scattering measurement system successfully obtained the electron density and temperature of the cascade arc plasma at 20 mm downstream from the tip of the cathode. The installed system successfully obtained the Thomson scattering spectrum and showed that the electron density increased from $2\times10^{19} {\rm m}^{-3}$ to $7\times10^{19} {\rm m}^{-3}$ with the discharge power, while the electron temperature was almost constant at about 2 eV. The obtained data successfully contributed to the study of the pressure separation capability of the PW., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 20th International Symposium on Laser-Aided Plasma Diagnostics (LAPD20)

We have observed photoinduced negative optical conductivity, or gain, in the terahertz frequency range in a GaAs multiple-quantum-well structure in a strong perpendicular magnetic field at low temperatures. The gain is narrow-band: it appears as a sharp peak (linewidth $<$0.45 meV) whose frequency shifts with applied magnetic field. The gain has a circular-polarization selection rule: a strong line is observed for hole-cyclotron-resonance-active polarization. Furthermore, the gain appears only when the exciton $1s$ state is populated, which rules out intraexcitonic transitions to be its origin. Based on these observations, we propose a possible process in which the stimulated emission of a terahertz photon occurs while two free excitons scatter into one biexciton in an energy and angular-momentum conserving manner., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

In terahertz (THz) photonics, there is an ongoing effort to develop thin, compact devices such as dielectric photonic crystal (PhC) slabs with desirable light matter interactions. However, previous works in THz PhC slabs are limited to rigid substrates with thicknesses $\sim$ 100s of micrometers. Dielectric PhC slabs have been shown to possess in-plane modes that are excited by external radiation to produce sharp guided mode resonances with minimal absorption for applications in sensors, optics and lasers. Here, we confirm the existence of guided resonances in a membrane-type THz PhC slab with subwavelength ($\lambda_{0}$/6 - $\lambda_{0}$/12) thicknesses of flexible dielectric polyimide films. The transmittance of the guided resonances was measured for different structural parameters of the unit cell. Furthermore, we exploited the flexibility of the samples to modulate the linewidth of the guided modes down to 1.5 GHz for bend angle of $\theta$ $\geq 5^{\circ}$; confirmed experimentally by the suppression of these modes. The mechanical flexibility of the device allows for an additional degree of freedom in system design for optical components for high-speed communications, soft wearable photonics and implantable medical devices., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Strange metal behavior is ubiquitous to correlated materials ranging from cuprate superconductors to bilayer graphene. There is increasing recognition that it arises from physics beyond the quantum fluctuations of a Landau order parameter which, in quantum critical heavy fermion antiferromagnets, may be realized as critical Kondo entanglement of spin and charge. The dynamics of the associated electronic delocalization transition could be ideally probed by optical conductivity, but experiments in the corresponding frequency and temperature ranges have remained elusive. We present terahertz time-domain transmission spectroscopy on molecular beam epitaxy-grown thin films of YbRh$_2$Si$_2$, a model strange metal compound. We observe frequency over temperature scaling of the optical conductivity as a hallmark of beyond-Landau quantum criticality. Our discovery implicates critical charge fluctuations as playing a central role in the strange metal behavior, thereby elucidating one of the longstanding mysteries of correlated quantum matter., Comment: preprint with 15 pages, 4 figures

Recent experiments have demonstrated that light and matter can mix together to an extreme degree, and previously uncharted regimes of light-matter interactions are currently being explored in a variety of settings. The so-called ultrastrong coupling (USC) regime is established when the light-matter interaction energy is a comparable fraction of the bare frequencies of the uncoupled systems. Furthermore, when the interaction strengths become larger than the bare frequencies, the deep-strong coupling (DSC) regime emerges. This article reviews advances in the field of the USC and DSC regimes, in particular, for light modes confined in cavities interacting with two-level systems. An overview is first provided on the theoretical progress since the origins from the semiclassical Rabi model until recent developments of the quantum Rabi model. Next, several key experimental results from a variety of quantum platforms are described, including superconducting circuits, semiconductor quantum wells, and other hybrid quantum systems. Finally, anticipated applications are highlighted utilizing USC and DSC regimes, including novel quantum optical phenomena, quantum simulation, and quantum computation., Comment: Review article, 53 pages, 39 figures. Published version

We perform a magneto-infrared spectroscopy study of the semiconductor to semimetal transition of InAs/GaSb double quantum wells from the normal to the inverted state. We show that owing to the low carrier density of our samples (approaching the intrinsic limit), the magneto-absorption spectra evolve from a single cyclotron resonance peak in the normal state to multiple absorption peaks in the inverted state with distinct magnetic field dependence. Using an eight-band Pidgeon-Brown model, we explain all the major absorption peaks observed in our experiment. We demonstrate that the semiconductor to semimetal transition can be realized by manipulating the quantum confinement, the strain, and the magnetic field. Our work paves the way for band engineering of optimal InAs/GaSb structures for realizing novel topological states as well as for device applications in the terahertz regime., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures

We have performed terahertz time-domain magnetospectroscopy by combining a rapid scanning terahertz time-domain spectrometer based on the electronically coupled optical sampling method with a table-top mini-coil pulsed magnet capable of producing magnetic fields up to 30 T. We demonstrate the capability of this system by measuring coherent cyclotron resonance oscillations in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs and interference-induced terahertz transmittance modifications in a magnetoplasma in lightly doped n-InSb., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We characterize the current-carrying capacity (CCC), or ampacity, of highly-conductive, light, and strong carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers by measuring their failure current density (FCD) and continuous current rating (CCR) values. We show, both experimentally and theoretically, that the CCC of these fibers is determined by the balance between current-induced Joule heating and heat exchange with the surroundings. The measured FCD values of the fibers range from 10$^7$ to 10$^9$ A/m$^2$ and are generally higher than the previously reported values for aligned buckypapers, carbon fibers, and CNT fibers. To our knowledge, this is the first time the CCR for a CNT fiber has been reported. We demonstrate that the specific CCC (i.e., normalized by the linear mass density) of our CNT fibers are higher than those of copper., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures

We report on the observation of spontaneous bursts of coherent radiation from a quantum-degenerate gas of nonequilibrium electron-hole pairs in semiconductor quantum wells. Unlike typical spontaneous emission from semiconductors, which occurs at the band edge, the observed emission occurs at the quasi-Fermi edge of the carrier distribution. As the carriers are consumed by recombination, the quasi-Fermi energy goes down toward the band edge, and we observe a continuously red-shifting streak. We interpret this emission as cooperative spontaneous recombination of electron-hole pairs, or superfluorescence, which is enhanced by Coulomb interactions near the Fermi edge. This novel many-body enhancement allows the magnitude of the spontaneously developed macroscopic polarization to exceed the maximum value for ordinary superfluorescence, making electron-hole superfluorescence even more "super" than atomic superfluorescence., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Using a macroscopic ensemble of highly-enriched (6,5) single-wall carbon nanotubes, combined with high signal-to-noise ratio, time-dependent differential transmission spectroscopy, we have generated vibrational modes in an ultrawide spectral range (10-3000 cm^{-1}). A total of fourteen modes were clearly resolved and identified, including fundamental modes of A, E1, and E2 symmetries and their combinational modes involving two and three phonons. Through comparison with CW Raman spectra as well as calculations based on an extended tight-binding model, we were able to identify all the observed peaks and determine the frequencies of the individual and combined modes. We provide a full summary of phonon frequencies for (6,5) nanotubes that can serve as a basic reference with which to refine our understanding of nanotube phonon spectra as well as a testbed for new theoretical models., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

Plasmon resonance is expected to occur in metallic and doped semiconducting carbon nanotubes in the terahertz frequency range, but its convincing identification has so far been elusive. The origin of the terahertz conductivity peak commonly observed for carbon nanotube ensembles remains controversial. Here we present results of optical, terahertz, and DC transport measurements on highly enriched metallic and semiconducting nanotube films. A broad and strong terahertz conductivity peak appears in both types of films, whose behaviors are consistent with the plasmon resonance explanation, firmly ruling out other alternative explanations such as absorption due to curvature-induced gaps., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

The diverse applications of terahertz radiation and its importance to fundamental science makes finding ways to generate, manipulate, and detect terahertz radiation one of the key areas of modern applied physics. One approach is to utilize carbon nanomaterials, in particular, single-wall carbon nanotubes and graphene. Their novel optical and electronic properties offer much promise to the field of terahertz science and technology. This article describes the past, current, and future of the terahertz science and technology of carbon nanotubes and graphene. We will review fundamental studies such as terahertz dynamic conductivity, terahertz nonlinearities, and ultrafast carrier dynamics as well as terahertz applications such as terahertz sources, detectors, modulators, antennas, and polarizers., Comment: 29 Pages, 11 figures

Anisotropy is ubiquitous in solids and enhanced in low-dimensional materials. In response to an electromagnetic wave, anisotropic absorptive and refractive properties result in dichroic and birefringent optical phenomena both in the linear and nonlinear optics regimes. Such material properties have led to a diverse array of useful polarization components in the visible and near-infrared, but mature technology is non-existent in the terahertz (THz). Here, we review several novel types of anisotropic material responses observed in the THz frequency range, including both linear and circular anisotropy, which have long-term implications for the development of THz polarization optics. We start with the extreme linear anisotropy of macroscopically aligned carbon nanotubes, arising from their intrinsically anisotropic dynamic conductivity. Magnetically induced anisotropy will then be reviewed, including the giant Faraday effects observed in semiconductors, semimetals, and two-dimensional electron systems., Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures

We report the observation of strongly temperature-dependent, asymmetric spectral lines in electronic Raman scattering spectra of graphite in a high magnetic field up to 45 T applied along the c-axis. The magnetic field quantizes the in-plane motion, while the out-of-plane motion remains free, effectively reducing the system dimension from three to one. Optically created electron-hole pairs interact with, or shake up, the one-dimensional Fermi sea in the lowest Landau subbands. Based on the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory, we show that interaction effects modify the van Hove singularity to the form $(\omega-\Delta)^{2\alpha-1/2}$ at zero temperature. At finite temperature, we predict a thermal broadening factor that increases linearly with the temperature. Our model reproduces the observed temperature-dependent line-shape, determining $\alpha$ to be $\sim$0.05 at 40 T., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We report the observation of strong third harmonic generation from a macroscopic array of aligned ultralong single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with intense midinfrared radiation. Through power-dependent experiments, we determined the absolute value of the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility, $\chi^{(3)}$, of our SWCNT film to be 5.53 $\times$ 10$^{-12}$ esu, three orders of magnitude larger than that of the fused silica reference we used. Taking account of the filling factor of 8.75% for our SWCNT film, we estimate a $\chi^{(3)}$ of 6.32 $\times$ 10$^{-11}$ esu for a fully dense film. Furthermore, through polarization-dependent experiments, we extracted all the nonzero elements of the $\chi^{(3)}$ tensor, determining the magnitude of the weaker tensor elements to be $\sim$1/6 of that of the dominant $\chi^{(3)}_{zzzz}$ component., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We study macroscopically-aligned single-wall carbon nanotube arrays with uniform lengths via polarization-dependent terahertz and infrared transmission spectroscopy. Polarization anisotropy is extreme at frequencies less than $\sim$3 THz with no sign of attenuation when the polarization is perpendicular to the alignment direction. The attenuation for both parallel and perpendicular polarizations increases with increasing frequency, exhibiting a pronounced and broad peak around 10 THz in the parallel case. We model the electromagnetic response of the sample by taking into account both radiative scattering and absorption losses. We show that our sample acts as an effective antenna due to the high degree of alignment, exhibiting much larger radiative scattering than absorption in the mid/far-infrared range. Our calculated attenuation spectrum clearly shows a non-Drude peak at $\sim$10 THz in agreement with the experiment., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We perform polarization-resolved Raman spectroscopy on graphene in magnetic fields up to 45T. This reveals a filling-factor-dependent, multi-component anticrossing structure of the Raman G peak, resulting from magnetophonon resonances between magnetoexcitons and E$_{2g}$ phonons. This is explained with a model of Raman scattering taking into account the effects of spatially inhomogeneous carrier densities and strain. Random fluctuations of strain-induced pseudo-magnetic fields lead to increased scattering intensity inside the anti-crossing gap, consistent with the experiment.

We have used post-synthesis separation methods based on density gradient ultracentrifugation and DNA-based ion-exchange chromatography to produce aqueous suspensions strongly enriched in armchair nanotubes for spectroscopic studies. Through resonant Raman spectroscopy of the radial breathing mode phonons, we provide macroscopic and unambiguous evidence that density gradient ultracentrifugation can enrich armchair nanotubes. Furthermore, using conventional, optical absorption spectroscopy in the near-infrared and visible range, we show that interband absorption in armchair nanotubes is strongly excitonic. Lastly, by examining the G-band mode in Raman spectra, we determine that observation of the broad, lower frequency (G^{-}) feature is a result of resonance with non-armchair "metallic" nanotubes. These findings regarding the fundamental optical absorption and scattering processes in metallic carbon nanotubes lay the foundation for further spectroscopic studies to probe many-body physical phenomena in one dimension., Comment: 29 pages, 17 figures

We report on a giant Faraday effect in an electron plasma in n-InSb probed via polarization-resolved terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy. Polarization rotation angles and ellipticities reach as large as {\pi}/2 and 1, respectively, over a wide frequency range (0.3-2.5 THz) at magnetic fields of a few Tesla. The experimental results together with theoretical simulations show its promising ability to construct broadband and tunable THz polarization optics, such as a circular polarizer, half-wave plate, and polarization modulators., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Low-dimensional carbon nanostructures, such as single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and graphene, offer new opportunities for terahertz science and technology. Being zero-gap systems with a linear, photon-like energy dispersion, metallic SWCNTs and graphene exhibit a variety of extraordinary properties. Their DC and linear electrical properties have been extensively studied in the last decade, but their unusual finite-frequency, nonlinear, and/or non-equilibrium properties are largely unexplored, although they are predicted to be useful for new terahertz device applications. Terahertz dynamic conductivity measurements allow us to probe the dynamics of such photon-like electrons, or massless Dirac fermions. Here, we use terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to investigate terahertz conductivities of one-dimensional and two-dimensional electrons, respectively, in films of highly aligned SWCNTs and gated large-area graphene. In SWCNTs, we observe extremely anisotropic terahertz conductivities, promising for terahertz polarizer applications. In graphene, we demonstrate that terahertz and infrared properties sensitively change with the Fermi energy, which can be controlled by electrical gating and thermal annealing., Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures

We review recent studies of coherent phonons (CPs) corresponding to the radial breathing mode (RBM) and G-mode in single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and graphene. Because of the bandgap-diameter relationship, RBM-CPs cause bandgap oscillations in SWCNTs, modulating interband transitions at terahertz frequencies. Interband resonances enhance CP signals, allowing for chirality determination. Using pulse shaping, one can selectively excite speci!c-chirality SWCNTs within an ensemble. G-mode CPs exhibit temperature-dependent dephasing via interaction with RBM phonons. Our microscopic theory derives a driven oscillator equation with a density-dependent driving term, which correctly predicts CP trends within and between (2n+m) families. We also find that the diameter can initially increase or decrease. Finally, we theoretically study the radial breathing like mode in graphene nanoribbons. For excitation near the absorption edge, the driving term is much larger for zigzag nanoribbons. We also explain how the armchair nanoribbon width changes in response to laser excitation., Comment: 48 pages, 41 figures

Quantum particles sometimes cooperate to develop a macroscopically ordered state with extraordinary properties. Superconductivity and Bose-Einstein condensation are examples of such cooperative phenomena where macroscopic order appears spontaneously. Here, we demonstrate that such an ordered state can also be obtained in an optically excited semiconductor quantum well in a high magnetic field. When we create a dense electron-hole plasma with an intense laser pulse, after a certain delay, an ultrashort burst of coherent radiation emerges. We interpret this striking phenomenon as a manifestation of superfluorescence (SF), in which a macroscopic polarization spontaneously builds up from an initially incoherent ensemble of excited quantum oscillators and then decays abruptly producing giant pulses of coherent radiation. SF has been observed in atomic gases, but the present work represents the first observation of SF in a solid-state setting. While there is an analogy between the recombination of electron-hole pairs and radiative transitions in atoms, there is no a priori reason for SF in semiconductors to be similar to atomic SF. This is a complex many-body system with a variety of ultrafast interactions, where the decoherence rates are at least 1,000 times faster than the radiative decay rate, an unusual situation totally unexplored in previous atomic SF studies. We show, nonetheless, that collective many-body coupling via a common radiation field does develop under certain conditions and leads to SF bursts. The solid-state realization of SF resulted in an unprecedented degree of controllability in the generation of SF, opening up opportunities for both fundamental many-body studies and device applications. We demonstrate that the intensity and delay time of SF bursts are fully tunable through an external magnetic field, temperature, and pump laser power., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

We use terahertz pulses to induce resonant transitions between the eigenstates of optically generated exciton populations in a high-quality semiconductor quantum-well sample. Monitoring the excitonic photoluminescence, we observe transient quenching of the $1s$ exciton emission, which we attribute to the terahertz-induced $1s$-to-$2p$ excitation. Simultaneously, a pronounced enhancement of the $2s$-exciton emission is observed, despite the $1s$-to-$2s$ transition being dipole forbidden. A microscopic many-body theory explains the experimental observations as a Coulomb-scattering mixing of the 2$s$ and 2$p$ states, yielding an effective terahertz transition between the 1$s$ and 2$s$ populations., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We perform Raman scattering experiments on natural graphite in magnetic fields up to 45 T, observing a series of peaks due to interband electronic excitations over a much broader magnetic field range than previously reported. We also explore electron-phonon coupling in graphite via magnetophonon resonances. The Raman G peak shifts and splits as a function of magnetic field, due to the magnetically tuned coupling of the E2g optical phonons with the K- and H-point inter-Landau-level excitations. The analysis of the observed anticrossing behavior allows us to determine the electron-phonon coupling for both K- and H-point carriers. In the highest field range (>35 T) the G peak narrows due to suppression of electron-phonon interaction., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

We have observed a nearly fourfold increase in the electron spin resonance (ESR) signal from an ensemble of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) due to oxygen desorption. By performing temperature-dependent ESR spectroscopy both before and after thermal annealing, we found that the ESR in SWCNTs can be reversibly altered via the molecular oxygen content in the samples. Independent of the presence of adsorbed oxygen, a Curie-law (spin susceptibility $\propto 1/T$) is seen from $\sim$4 K to 300 K, indicating that the probed spins are finite-level species. For both the pre-annealed and post-annealed sample conditions, the ESR linewidth decreased as the temperature was increased, a phenomenon we identify as motional narrowing. From the temperature dependence of the linewidth, we extracted an estimate of the intertube hopping frequency; for both sample conditions, we found this hopping frequency to be $\sim$100 GHz. Since the spin hopping frequency changes only slightly when oxygen is desorbed, we conclude that only the spin susceptibility, not spin transport, is affected by the presence of physisorbed molecular oxygen in SWCNT ensembles. Surprisingly, no linewidth change is observed when the amount of oxygen in the SWCNT sample is altered, contrary to other carbonaceous systems and certain 1D conducting polymers. We hypothesize that physisorbed molecular oxygen acts as an acceptor ($p$-type), compensating the donor-like ($n$-type) defects that are responsible for the ESR signal in bulk SWCNTs., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures

Using ultrahigh magnetic fields up to 170 T and polarized midinfrared radiation with tunable wavelengths from 9.22 to 10.67 um, we studied cyclotron resonance in large-area graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition. Circular-polarization dependent studies reveal strong p-type doping for as-grown graphene, and the dependence of the cyclotron resonance on radiation wavelength allows for a determination of the Fermi energy. Thermal annealing shifts the Fermi energy to near the Dirac point, resulting in the simultaneous appearance of hole and electron cyclotron resonance in the magnetic quantum limit, even though the sample is still p-type, due to graphene's linear dispersion and unique Landau level structure. These high-field studies therefore allow for a clear identification of cyclotron resonance features in large-area, low-mobility graphene samples., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

We demonstrate coherent control of cyclotron resonance (CR) in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). We use a sequence of terahertz pulses to control the amplitude of CR oscillations in an arbitrary fashion via phase-dependent coherent interactions. We observe a self-interaction effect, where the 2DEG interacts with the terahertz field emitted by itself within the decoherence time, resulting in a revival and collapse of quantum coherence. These observations are accurately describable using {\em single-particle} optical Bloch equations, showing no signatures of electron-electron interactions, which verifies the validity of Kohn's theorem for CR in the coherent regime., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

The colors of suspended metallic colloidal particles are determined by their size-dependent plasma resonance, while those of semiconducting colloidal particles are determined by their size-dependent band gap. Here, we present a novel case for armchair carbon nanotubes, suspended in aqueous medium, for which the color depends on their size-dependent excitonic resonance, even though the individual particles are metallic. We observe distinct colors of a series of armchair-enriched nanotube suspensions, highlighting the unique coloration mechanism of these one-dimensional metals., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

Currently, considerable resurgent interest exists in the concept of superradiance (SR), i.e., accelerated relaxation of excited dipoles due to cooperative spontaneous emission, first proposed by Dicke in 1954. Recent authors have discussed SR in diverse contexts, including cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum phase transitions, and plasmonics. At the heart of these various experiments lies the coherent coupling of constituent particles to each other via their radiation field that cooperatively governs the dynamics of the whole system. In the most exciting form of SR, called superfluorescence (SF), macroscopic coherence spontaneously builds up out of an initially incoherent ensemble of excited dipoles and then decays abruptly. Here, we demonstrate the emergence of this photon-mediated, cooperative, many-body state in a very unlikely system: an ultradense electron-hole plasma in a semiconductor. We observe intense, delayed pulses, or bursts, of coherent radiation from highly photo-excited semiconductor quantum wells with a concomitant sudden decrease in population from total inversion to zero. Unlike previously reported SF in atomic and molecular systems that occur on nanosecond time scales, these intense SF bursts have picosecond pulse-widths and are delayed in time by tens of picoseconds with respect to the excitation pulse. They appear only at sufficiently high excitation powers and magnetic fields and sufficiently low temperatures - where various interactions causing decoherence are suppressed. We present theoretical simulations based on the relaxation and recombination dynamics of ultrahigh-density electron-hole pairs in a quantizing magnetic field, which successfully capture the salient features of the experimental observations., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures

We have studied the coherent dynamics of G-band phonons in single-walled carbon nanotubes through impulsive stimulated Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman scattering. The probe energy dependence of phonon amplitude as well as preferential occurrence between Stokes and anti-Stokes components in response to chirped-pulse excitation are well explained within our model. The temperature dependence of the observed dephasing rate clearly exhibits a thermally-activated component, with an activation energy that coincides with the frequency of the radial breathing mode (RBM). This fact provides a clear picture for the dephasing of optical phonons by random frequency modulation via interaction with the RBM through anharmonicity., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We have performed ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy studies on a series of InAs/GaSb-based short-period superlattice (SL) samples with periods ranging from 46 \AA to 71 \AA. We observe two types of oscillations in the differential reflectivity with fast ($\sim$ 1- 2 ps) and slow ($\sim$ 24 ps) periods. The period of the fast oscillations changes with the SL period and can be explained as coherent acoustic phonons generated from carriers photoexcited within the SL. This mode provides an accurate method for determining the SL period and assessing interface quality. The period of the slow mode depends on the wavelength of the probe pulse and can be understood as a propagating coherent phonon wavepacket modulating the reflectivity of the probe pulse as it travels from the surface into the sample., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We have measured temperature ($T$)- and power-dependent electron spin resonance in bulk single-wall carbon nanotubes to determine both the spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times, $T_1$ and $T_2$. We observe that $T_1^{-1}$ increases linearly with $T$ from 4 to 100 K, whereas $T_2^{-1}$ {\em decreases} by over a factor of two when $T$ is increased from 3 to 300 K. We interpret the $T_1^{-1} \propto T$ trend as spin-lattice relaxation via interaction with conduction electrons (Korringa law) and the decreasing $T$ dependence of $T_2^{-1}$ as motional narrowing. By analyzing the latter, we find the spin hopping frequency to be 285 GHz. Last, we show that the Dysonian lineshape asymmetry follows a three-dimensional variable-range hopping behavior from 3 to 20 K; from this scaling relation, we extract a localization length of the hopping spins to be $\sim$100 nm., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We have performed magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy measurements on intercalated transition-metal dichalcogenide Fe$_{0.25}$TaS$_{2}$ in the polar Kerr geometry as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and wavelength. The Kerr angle exhibits pronounced peaks at $\sim$775 nm (1.6 eV) and $\sim$515 nm (2.4 eV), which we attribute to spin-dependent interband optical transitions arising from states in the vicinity of the Fermi energy. Below the ferromagnetic transition temperature (165 K), we observe strongly wavelength- and magnetic-field-dependent Kerr signal. At a fixed wavelength, the magnetic-field dependence of the Kerr angle shows a clear hysteresis loop, but its shape sensitively changes with the wavelength. We propose a model that takes into account contributions from domain walls, which allowed us to derive a mathematical expression that successfully fits all the observed hysteresis loops., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

The appearance of a broad peak at $\sim$1550 cm$^{-1}$ (G$^{-}$ peak) in carbon nanotube resonant Raman scattering spectra has been conventionally attributed to the presence of metallic nanotubes. Here, we present resonant Raman measurements on macroscopic nanotube ensembles enriched in armchair species prepared through density gradient ultracentrifugation. Our data clearly demonstrate that the broad G$^{-}$ mode is absent for armchair structures and appears only when the excitation laser is resonant with non-armchair "metals." Due to the large number ($\sim$10$^{10}$) of nanotubes across several armchair species probed, our work firmly establishes a general correlation between G-band lineshape and nanotube structure., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We study light emission properties of a population-inverted 2D electron-hole plasma in a quantizing magnetic field. We observe a series of superfluorescent bursts, discrete both in time and energy, corresponding to the cooperative recombination of electron-hole pairs from different Landau levels. The emission energies are strongly renormalized due to many-body interactions among the photogenerated carriers, exhibiting red-shifts as large as 20 meV at 15 T. However, the magnetic field dependence of the lowest Landau level emission line remains excitonic at all magnetic fields. Interestingly, our time-resolved measurements show that this lowest-energy burst occurs only after all upper states become empty, suggesting that this excitonic stability is related to the `hidden symmetry' of 2D magneto-excitons expected in the magnetic quantum limit., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We have investigated the polarization dependence of the generation and detection of radial breathing mode (RBM) coherent phonons (CP) in highly-aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes. Using polarization-dependent pump-probe differential-transmission spectroscopy, we measured RBM CPs as a function of angle for two different geometries. In Type I geometry, the pump and probe polarizations were fixed, and the sample orientation was rotated, whereas, in Type II geometry, the probe polarization and sample orientation were fixed, and the pump polarization was rotated. In both geometries, we observed a very nearly complete quenching of the RBM CPs when the pump polarization was perpendicular to the nanotubes. For both Type I and II geometries, we have developed a microscopic theoretical model to simulate CP generation and detection as a function of polarization angle and found that the CP signal decreases as the angle goes from 0 degrees (parallel to the tube) to 90 degrees (perpendicular to the tube). We compare theory with experiment in detail for RBM CPs created by pumping at the E44 optical transition in an ensemble of single-walled carbon nanotubes with a diameter distribution centered around 3 nm, taking into account realistic band structure and imperfect nanotube alignment in the sample.

We have observed long-lived (~30 ps) coherent oscillations of charge carriers due to cyclotron resonance (CR) in high-mobility two-dimensional electrons in GaAs in perpendicular magnetic fields using time-domain terahertz spectroscopy. The observed coherent oscillations were fitted well by sinusoids with exponentially-decaying amplitudes, through which we were able to provide direct and precise measures for the decay times and oscillation frequencies simultaneously. This method thus overcomes the CR saturation effect, which is known to prevent determination of true CR linewidths in high-mobility electron systems using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

Through magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy, the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes has been extracted and found to be 2-4 times greater than values for semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. This large anisotropy is consistent with our calculations and can be understood in terms of large orbital paramagnetism of electrons in metallic nanotubes arising from the Aharonov-Bohm-phase-induced gap opening in a parallel field. We also compare our values with previous work for semiconducting nanotubes, which confirm a break from the prediction that the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy increases linearly with the diameter., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We have observed large-amplitude coherent phonon oscillations of radial breathing modes (RBMs) in single-walled carbon nanotubes excited through the lowest-energy (E11) interband transitions. In contrast to the previously-studied coherent phonons excited through higher-energy (E22) transitions, these RBMs show comparable intensities between (n-m) mod 3 = 1 and -1 nanotubes. We also find novel non-resonantly excited RBMs over an excitation range of ~300 meV above the E11 transition, which we attribute to multi-phonon replicas arising from strong exciton-phonon coupling., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

We have used resonant Raman scattering spectroscopy to fully analyze the relative abundances of different (n,m) species in single-walled carbon nanotube samples that are metallically enriched by density gradient ultracentrifugation. Strikingly, the data clearly show that our density gradient ultracentrifugation process enriches the metallic fractions in armchair and near-armchair species. We observe that armchair carbon nanotubes constitute more than 50% of each (2n + m) family.

We have performed a systematic magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy study of GaMnAs with varying Mn densities as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and photon energy. Unlike previous studies, the magnetization easy axis was perpendicular to the sample surface, allowing us to take remanent polar Kerr spectra in the absence of an external magnetic field. The remanent Kerr angle strongly depended on the photon energy, exhibiting a large positive peak at $\sim1.7$ eV. This peak increased in intensity and blue-shifted with Mn doping and further blue-shifted with annealing. Using a 30-band ${\bf k\cdot p}$ model with antiferromagnetic $s,p$-$d$ exchange interaction, we calculated the dielectric tensor of GaMnAs in the interband transition region, assuming that our samples are in the metallic regime and the impurity band has merged with the valence band. We successfully reproduced the observed spectra without \emph{ad hoc} introduction of the optical transitions originated from impurity states in the band gap. These results lead us to conclude that above-bandgap magneto-optical Kerr rotation in ferromagnetic GaMnAs is predominantly determined by interband transitions between the conduction and valence bands., Comment: 12 pages, 15 figures

We describe a film of highly-aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes that acts as an excellent terahertz linear polarizer. There is virtually no attenuation (strong absorption) when the terahertz polarization is perpendicular (parallel) to the nanotube axis. From the data we calculated the reduced linear dichrosim to be 3, corresponding to a nematic order parameter of 1, which demonstrates nearly perfect alignment as well as intrinsically anisotropic terahertz response of single-walled carbon nanotubes in the film., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures

Using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy with pulse shaping techniques, one can generate and detect coherent phonons in chirality-specific semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. The signals are resonantly enhanced when the pump photon energy coincides with an interband exciton resonance, and analysis of such data provides a wealth of information on the chirality-dependence of light absorption, phonon generation, and phonon-induced band structure modulations. To explain our experimental results, we have developed a microscopic theory for the generation and detection of coherent phonons in single-walled carbon nanotubes using a tight-binding model for the electronic states and a valence force field model for the phonons. We find that the coherent phonon amplitudes satisfy a driven oscillator equation with the driving term depending on photoexcited carrier density. We compared our theoretical results with experimental results on mod 2 nanotubes and found that our model provides satisfactory overall trends in the relative strengths of the coherent phonon signal both within and between different mod 2 families. We also find that the coherent phonon intensities are considerably weaker in mod 1 nanotubes in comparison with mod~2 nanotubes, which is also in excellent agreement with experiment., Comment: 21 pages, 22 figures

We have measured the dynamic alignment properties of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) suspensions in pulsed high magnetic fields through linear dichroism spectroscopy. Millisecond-duration pulsed high magnetic fields up to 56 T as well as microsecond-duration pulsed ultrahigh magnetic fields up to 166 T were used. Due to their anisotropic magnetic properties, SWNTs align in an applied magnetic field, and because of their anisotropic optical properties, aligned SWNTs show linear dichroism. The characteristics of their overall alignment depend on several factors, including the viscosity and temperature of the suspending solvent, the degree of anisotropy of nanotube magnetic susceptibilities, the nanotube length distribution, the degree of nanotube bundling, and the strength and duration of the applied magnetic field. In order to explain our data, we have developed a theoretical model based on the Smoluchowski equation for rigid rods that accurately reproduces the salient features of the experimental data., Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures

Using pre-designed trains of femtosecond optical pulses, we have selectively excited coherent phonons of the radial breathing mode of specific-chirality single-walled carbon nanotubes within an ensemble sample. By analyzing the initial phase of the phonon oscillations, we prove that the tube diameter initially increases in response to ultrafast photoexcitation. Furthermore, from excitation profiles, we demonstrate that an excitonic absorption peak of carbon nanotubes periodically oscillates as a function of time when the tube diameter undergoes radial breathing mode oscillations., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We have studied emission properties of high-density excitons in single-walled carbon nanotubes through nonlinear photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy. As the excitation intensity was increased, all emission peaks arising from different chiralities showed clear saturation in intensity. Each peak exhibited a saturation value that was independent of the excitation wavelength, indicating that there is an upper limit on the exciton density for each nanotube species. We developed a theoretical model based on exciton diffusion and exciton-exciton annihilation that successfully reproduced the saturation behavior, allowing us to estimate exciton densities. These estimated densities were found to be still substantially smaller than the expected Mott density even in the saturation regime, in contrast to conventional semiconductor quantum wires., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We report the direct observation of the spin-singlet dark excitonic state in individual single-walled carbon nanotubes through low-temperature micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy in magnetic fields. A magnetic field up to 5 T, applied along the nanotube axis, brightened the dark state, leading to the emergence of a new emission peak. The peak rapidly grew in intensity with increasing field at the expense of the originally-dominant bright exciton peak and finally became dominant at fields $>$3 T. This behavior, universally observed for more than 50 nanotubes of different chiralities, can be quantitatively explained through a model incorporating the Aharonov-Bohm effect and intervalley Coulomb mixing, unambiguously proving the existence of dark excitons. The directly measured dark-bright splitting values were 1-4 meV for tube diameters 1.0-1.3 nm. Scatter in the splitting value emphasizes the role of the local environment surrounding a nanotube in determining the excitonic fine structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We have studied ultrafast photoinduced demagnetization in GaMnAs via two-color time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy. Below-bandgap midinfrared pump pulses strongly excite the valence band, while near-infrared probe pulses reveal sub-picosecond demagnetization that is followed by an ultrafast ($\sim$1 ps) partial recovery of the Kerr signal. Through comparison with InMnAs, we attribute the signal recovery to an ultrafast energy relaxation of holes. We propose that the dynamical polarization of holes through $p$-$d$ scattering is the source of the observed probe signal. These results support the physical picture of femtosecond demagnetization proposed earlier for InMnAs, identifying the critical roles of both energy and spin relaxation of hot holes., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures