DURIP Magneto-optical microscopy cryostat for creating and manipulating robust topological states of polaritonic and quantum matter
Abstract
Agency Program Manager: Mark Spector, ONR, Advanced Naval Platforms Division [331]Project Summary (Publicly Releasable): We are requesting a magneto-optical microscopy cryostat with electrical feedthroughs that will be coupled to our ongoing instrumentation project to develop a state-of-the-art UV/visible to mid-infrared optoelectronic property measurement to probe the properties of topological quantum electronic and photonic materials. The home-built, highly specialized set up is being built since 2007; first funded fromPenn s startup funds followed by multiple DURIP grants (most recently from ARO in 2019) and is a part of the optoelectronics characterization facility at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology and the MRSEC at Penn. There is no such system anywhere which can map thematerials in real and momentum space, with sub-500 nm resolution coupled with time-resolved, photocurrent and nonlinear optical measurements across such a broad wavelength range. We now realize a critical need to extend our capabilities to include magnetic field to our set up to study the role of time-reversal symmetry breaking on intrinsic photonic and polaritonic band topology and other classes of topological quantum systems including supertwisted spiral moiré metamaterials where excitonic lengthscales become comparableto optical wavelengths. The new capability will enable us to obtain a deeper understanding of light-matter interactions in topological quantum materials by experimentally seeking for new magneto-optical responses and microscopically describing these interactions to explain the contribution from their symmetry properties, chirality relations and other band features. These materials support themost important signatures of topological band textures across a wide spectral region, which we need to probe to obtain a much deeper understanding by manipulating these states with electric, optical, and magnetic fields. Extending these ideas to strongly coupled light-matter systemsalong with engineered nonlinearities opens previously unrealizable possibilities for studying new topological phenomena as well as for fabricating tunable topological devices with novel functionalities that cannot be obtained in electronic systems. Based on our recent work that developed tools to rigorously characterize photonic topological bandstructures, we now need to break time-reversal symmetry by applying magnetic field to take the system to different phases (including fragile topological phases) and systematically characterize their topological classification, properties and responses, which would guide us to realize better control of their properties. A magneto-optical cryostat will complete our set-up and will allow us to apply all three stimuli in different combinations to create, manipulate and study new phases of quantum matter and map out the entire parameter space and will impact our research going beyond any single funded program. The home-built equipment will have a significant impact on the research, training and teaching program of the PI from the undergraduate students to postdoctoral fellows to extend their expertise into time-reversal symmetry broken systems. It will also enable the facility users at Penn and the regional research community to perform magneto-electrical-optical measurements (in collaboration with the PI s group due to the complex nature of experiments) making a significant impact on Penn s scientific infrastructure. This request is once in a ten-year investment and will significantly enhance our ongoing and future research supported by the ongoing ONR grant with Dr. Mark Spector on nonlinear topological polaritons.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 13, 2025
- Source ID
- N000142512114
Entities
People
- Ritesh Agarwal
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Pennsylvania