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International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena

High harmonic spectroscopy of quantum phase transitions in a high-Tc superconductor

Jordi Alcalà, Utso Bhattacharya, Marcelo F. Ciappina, Ugaitz Elu, ß Tobias, Piotr T. Grochowski, Maciej Lewenstein, Anna Palau, Themistoklis P. H. Sidiropoulos, Tobias R. J. Steinle, Igor Tyulnev, Jens Biegert

Published Jan 1, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on the new non-linear optical signatures of quantum phase transitions in the high-temperature superconductor YBCO, observed through high harmonic generation.
DOI
10.1364/up.2022.w2a.1

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High harmonic spectroscopy of quantum phase transitions in a high-Tc_cc​ superconductor
We report on the new non--linear optical signatures of quantum phase transitions in the high-temperature superconductor YBCO, observed through high harmonic generation. While the linear optical response of the material is largely unchanged when cooling across the phase transitions, the nonlinear optical response sensitively imprints two critical points, one at the critical temperature of the cuprate with the exponential growth of the surface harmonic yield in the superconducting phase, and another critical point, which marks the transition from strange metal to pseudo gap phase. To reveal the underlying microscopic quantum dynamics, a novel strong-field quasi-Hubbard model was developed, which describes the measured optical response dependent on the formation of Cooper pairs. Further, the new theory provides insight into the carrier scattering dynamics and allows to differentiate between the superconducting, pseudo gap, and strange metal phases. The direct connection between non--linear optical response and microscopic dynamics provides a powerful new methodology to study quantum phase transitions in correlated materials. Further implications are light-wave control over intricate quantum phases, light-matter hybrids, and application for optical quantum computing.
We report on the nonlinear optical signatures of quantum phase transitions in the high-temperature superconductor YBCO, observed through high harmonic generation. While the linear optical response of the material is largely unchanged when cooling across the phase transitions, the nonlinear optical response sensitively imprints two critical points, one at the critical temperature of the cuprate with the exponential growth of the surface harmonic yield in the superconducting phase and another critical point, which marks the transition from strange metal to pseudogap phase. To reveal the underlying microscopic quantum dynamics, a strong-field quasi-Hubbard model was developed, which describes the measured optical response dependent on the formation of Cooper pairs. Further, the theory provides insight into the carrier scattering dynamics and allows us to differentiate between the superconducting, pseudogap, and strange metal phases. The direct connection between nonlinear optical response and microscopic dynamics provides a powerful methodology to study quantum phase transitions in correlated materials. Further implications are light wave control over intricate quantum phases, light-matter hybrids, and application for optical quantum computing.
By employing an unbiased numerical method, we investigate the ultrafast dynamics of the correlated systmes in one and two dimensions. For the extended Hubbard model on a periodic chain, the high-harmonic generation (HHG) of system close to the quantum critical point (QCP) is more intense than HHG in the neighboring two gapped phases, i.e., charge-density-wave and spin-density-wave states, especially in low-frequencies. The reason can be attributed to that the system in QCP is more sensitive to the external field and there are more optical-allowed excited states available to furnish photon-absorbing channels for this nonlinear processes. This feature provides a possibility of detecting the quantum phase transition by means of high-harmonic spectroscopy. We also expect to generate stronger HHG by irradiating materials with parameter settings close to QCP. In addition, we find that the even- or odd-order components of HHG can be used to distinguish the topologically ordered phases from locally ordered ones in a two-dimensional interacting Haldane model.
Scaling up trapped-ion quantum computers requires new trap materials to be explored. Here we present experiments with a surface ion trap made from the high-temperature superconductor YBCO, a promising material for future trap designs. We show that voltage noise from superconducting electrode leads is negligible within the sensitivity ${S}_{V}=9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}20}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{V}}^{2}/\mathrm{Hz}$ of our setup, and for lead dimensions typical for advanced trap designs. Furthermore, we investigate the frequency and temperature dependence of electric-field noise above a YBCO surface. We find a 1/f1/f1/f spectral dependence of the noise and a nontrivial temperature dependence, with a plateau in the noise stretching over roughly 60K60\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}60K. The onset of the plateau coincides with the superconducting transition, indicating a connection between the dominant noise and the YBCO trap material. We exclude the YBCO bulk as origin of the noise and suggest further experiments to decide between the two remaining options explaining the observed temperature dependence: noise screening within the superconducting phase, or surface noise activated by the YBCO bulk through some unknown mechanism.