No Arabic abstract
Symmetry is one of the most generic and useful concepts in physics and chemistry, often leading to conservation laws and selection rules. For example, symmetry considerations have been used to predict selection rules for transitions in atoms, molecules, and solids. Floquet systems also demonstrate a variety of symmetries which are spatiotemporal (i.e. dynamical symmetries (DSs)). However, the derivation of selection rules from DSs has so far been limited to several ad hoc cases. A general theory for deducing the impact of DSs in physical systems has not been formulated yet. Here we explore symmetries exhibited in Floquet systems using group theory, and discover novel DSs and selection rules. We derive the constraints on a general systems temporal evolution, and selection rules that are imposed by the DSs. As an example, we apply the theory to harmonic generation, and derive tables linking (2+1)D and (3+1)D DSs of the driving laser and medium to allowed harmonic emission and its polarization. We identify several new symmetries and selection rules, including an elliptical DS that leads to production of elliptically polarized harmonics where all the harmonics have the same ellipticity, and selection rules that have no explanation based on currently known conservation laws. We expect the theory to be useful for manipulating the harmonic spectrum, and for ultrafast spectroscopy. Furthermore, the presented Floquet group theory should be useful in various other systems, e.g., Floquet topological insulators and photonic lattices, possibly yielding formal and general classification of symmetry and topological properties.
Symmetries and their associated selection rules are extremely useful in all fields of science. In particular, for system that include electromagnetic (EM) fields interacting with matter, it has been shown that both of symmetries of matter and EM fields time-dependent polarization play a crucial role in determining the properties of linear and nonlinear responses. The relationship between the systems symmetry and the properties of its excitations facilitate precise control over light emission and enable ultrafast symmetry-breaking spectroscopy of variety of properties. Here. we formulate the first general theory that describes the macroscopic dynamical symmetries (including quasicrystal-like symmetries) of an EM vector field, revealing many new symmetries and selection rules in light-matter interactions. We demonstrate an example of multi-scale selection rules experimentally in the framework of high harmonic generation (HHG). This work waves the way for novel spectroscopic techniques in multi-scale system as well as for imprinting complex structures in EUV-X-ray beams, attosecond pulses, or the interacting medium itself.
We study the properties of a tunable nonlinear metamaterial operating at microwave frequencies. We fabricate the nonlinear metamaterial composed of double split-ring resonators and wires where a varactor diode is introduced into each resonator so that the magnetic resonance can be tuned dynamically by varying the input power. We show that at higher powers the transmission of the metamaterial becomes power dependent, and we demonstrate experimentally power-dependent transmission properties and selective generation of higher harmonics.
We demonstrate supermode-based second harmonic generation in an integrated nonlinear interferometer made of linear and nonlinear directional couplers. We use a fully-fibered pump shaper to demonstrate second harmonic generation pumped by the symmetric or anti- symmetric fundamental spatial modes. The selection of the pumping mode and thus of a specific SHG spectral profile is achieved through the selection of the fundamental wavelength and via a robust phase setting scheme. We use two methods: either post-selecting or actively setting the pumping mode. Such a modal phase matching paves the way for classical and quantum applications of coupled nonlinear photonic circuits, where multimode excitation, encoding and detection are a route for multiplexing and scaling up light-processing.
Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is a direct measure of the strength of second-order nonlinear optical effects, which also include frequency mixing and parametric oscillations. Natural and artificial materials with broken center-of-inversion symmetry in their unit cell display high SHG efficiency, however the silicon-foundry compatible group-IV semiconductors (Si, Ge) are centrosymmetric, thereby preventing full integration of second-order nonlinearity in silicon photonics platforms. Here we demonstrate strong SHG in Ge-rich quantum wells grown on Si wafers. The symmetry breaking is artificially realized with a pair of asymmetric coupled quantum wells (ACQW), in which three of the quantum-confined states are equidistant in energy, resulting in a double resonance for SHG. Laser spectroscopy experiments demonstrate a giant second-order nonlinearity at mid-infrared pump wavelengths between 9 and 12 microns. Leveraging on the strong intersubband dipoles, the nonlinear susceptibility almost reaches 10^5 pm/V
Particles or waves scattered from a rotating black hole can be amplified through the process of Penrose superradiance, though this cannot currently be observed in an astrophysical setting. However, analogue gravity studies can create generic rotating geometries exhibiting an ergoregion, and this led to the first observation of Penrose superradiance as the over-reflection of water waves from a rotating fluid vortex. Here we theoretically demonstrate that Penrose superradiance arises naturally in the field of nonlinear optics. In particular, we elucidate the mechanism by which a signal beam can experience gain or amplification as it glances off a strong vortex pump beam in a nonlinear defocusing medium. This involves the trapping of negative norm modes in the core of the pump vortex, as predicted by Penrose, which in turn provides a gain mechanism for the signal beam. Our results elucidate a new regime of nonlinear optics involving the notion of an ergoregion, and provide further insight into the processes involved in Penrose superradiance.