Universität Stuttgart

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    Generation of terahertz radiation via the transverse thermoelectric effect
    (2023) Yordanov, Petar; Priessnitz, Tim; Kim, Min‐Jae; Cristiani, Georg; Logvenov, Gennady; Keimer, Bernhard; Kaiser, Stefan
    Terahertz (THz) radiation is a powerful tool with widespread applications ranging from imaging, sensing, and broadband communications to spectroscopy and nonlinear control of materials. Future progress in THz technology depends on the development of efficient, structurally simple THz emitters that can be implemented in advanced miniaturized devices. Here, it is shown how the natural electronic anisotropy of layered conducting transition metal oxides enables the generation of intense terahertz radiation via the transverse thermoelectric effect. In thin films grown on off‐cut substrates, femtosecond laser pulses generate ultrafast out‐of‐plane temperature gradients, which in turn launch in‐plane thermoelectric currents, thus allowing efficient emission of the resulting THz field out of the film structure. This scheme is demonstrated in experiments on thin films of the layered metals PdCoO2 and La1.84Sr0.16CuO4, and model calculations that elucidate the influence of the material parameters on the intensity and spectral characteristics of the emitted THz field are presented. Due to its simplicity, the method opens up a promising avenue for the development of highly versatile THz sources and integrable emitter elements.
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    Interaction of edge exciton polaritons with engineered defects in the hyperbolic material Bi2Se3
    (2021) Lingstädt, Robin; Talebi, Nahid; Hentschel, Mario; Mashhadi, Soudabeh; Gompf, Bruno; Burghard, Marko; Giessen, Harald; Aken, Peter A. van
    Hyperbolic materials exhibit unique properties that enable intriguing applications in nanophotonics. The topological insulator Bi2Se3 represents a natural hyperbolic optical medium, both in the THz and visible range. Here, using cathodoluminescence spectroscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy, we demonstrate that Bi2Se3 supports room-temperature exciton polaritons and explore the behavior of hyperbolic edge exciton polaritons, which are hybrid modes resulting from the coupling of the polaritons bound to the upper and lower edges of Bi2Se3 nanoplatelets. We compare Fabry-Pérot-like resonances emerging in edge polariton propagation along pristine and artificially structured edges and experimentally demonstrate the possibility to steer edge polaritons by means of grooves and nanocavities. The observed scattering of edge polaritons by defect structures is found to be in good agreement with finite-difference time-domain simulations. Our findings reveal the extraordinary capability of hyperbolic polariton propagation to cope with the presence of defects, providing an excellent basis for applications such as nanooptical circuitry, nanoscale cloaking and nanoscopic quantum technology.
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    Electron-driven photon sources for correlative electron-photon spectroscopy with electron microscopes
    (2020) Christopher, Joshua; Taleb, Masoud; Maity, Achyut; Hentschel, Mario; Giessen, Harald; Talebi, Nahid
    Electron beams in electron microscopes are efficient probes of optical near-fields, thanks to spectroscopy tools like electron energy-loss spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. Nowadays, we can acquire multitudes of information about nanophotonic systems by applying space-resolved diffraction and time-resolved spectroscopy techniques. In addition, moving electrons interacting with metallic materials and optical gratings appear as coherent sources of radiation. A swift electron traversing metallic nanostructures induces polarization density waves in the form of electronic collective excitations, i.e., the so-called plasmon polariton. Propagating plasmon polariton waves normally do not contribute to the radiation; nevertheless, they diffract from natural and engineered defects and cause radiation. Additionally, electrons can emit coherent light waves due to transition radiation, diffraction radiation, and Smith-Purcell radiation. Some of the mechanisms of radiation from electron beams have so far been employed for designing tunable radiation sources, particularly in those energy ranges not easily accessible by the state-of-the-art laser technology, such as the THz regime. Here, we review various approaches for the design of coherent electron-driven photon sources. In particular, we introduce the theory and nanofabrication techniques and discuss the possibilities for designing and realizing electron-driven photon sources for on-demand radiation beam shaping in an ultrabroadband spectral range to be able to realize ultrafast few-photon sources. We also discuss our recent attempts for generating structured light from precisely fabricated nanostructures. Our outlook for the realization of a correlative electron-photon microscope/spectroscope, which utilizes the above-mentioned radiation sources, is also described.