Extreme photonics of quantum two-dimensional materials

当强红外激光照射晶体时，这种极端的非线性相互作用将入射的红外光子转换为更高能量的光子，在可见光和真空紫外光频率-高次谐波。这种强烈相互作用的特殊之处在于创造了一种短命(长达几飞秒，或10-15秒)的名副其实的量子天线，长度只有几纳米。与普通天线类似，这种量子天线可以感知晶体的属性以及相互作用本身，而这些属性是无法通过其他方式访问的。过去的研究重点是微不足道的晶体，即所谓的带状绝缘体和半导体，它们是现代材料科学的边缘。相反，为这项发现拨款提出的研究旨在利用量子材料所展示的丰富物理学，如超导和其他强相关现象、有序相、拓扑。理解和驯服这些现象将把社会带入“量子时代”，为加拿大和世界带来技术创新的余波。具体地说，我的工作将集中在二维范德华材料及其异质结构上。这类晶体通过以受控的方式在相似或不同的晶体层上堆叠，展示了量子材料的所有奇异性质。“按需”输入物理的能力使范德华异质结构成为材料科学中最具活力的领域之一。利用在高次谐波产生过程中创造的量子天线，我将开发新的方法来测量控制奇异物理的量，如Berry曲率和莫尔电势。同时，我计划使用范德瓦尔斯接口的原子尺度控制来控制量子天线，以创造更高效的短波长源。提出的研究将为量子固体的动力学非平衡性质提供一个新的视角。这种独特的观点预计将有助于加拿大未来量子技术的发展。

When intense infrared laser fields illuminate crystals, the extremely nonlinear interaction converts the incident infrared photons to higher-energy ones, at visible and vacuum ultraviolet frequencies - the high harmonics. Peculiar to this intense interaction is the creation of a short-lived (up to a few femtoseconds, or 10-15 seconds) veritable quantum antenna only few nanometers long. Similarly to ordinary antennas, this quantum antenna can sense properties of the crystal, and the interaction itself, that cannot be accessed by other means. Past research focused on trivial crystals, so-called band insulators and semiconductors, the fringes of modern material science. Research proposed for this Discovery Grant, instead, aims at exploiting the rich physics exhibited by quantum materials, such as superconductivity and other strongly correlated phenomena, ordered phases, topology. Understanding and taming these phenomena will usher society in the "quantum era", with a fallout of technological innovation for Canada and the world. Specifically, my work will focus on 2-dimensional van der Waals materials and their heterostructures. This class of crystals exhibit all the exotic properties of quantum materials by stacking layers over layers of similar or dissimilar crystals in a controlled fashion. The ability to dial-in the physics "on demand" makes van der Waals heterostructures one of the most vibrant fields of material science. Utilizing the quantum antenna created during high-harmonic generation, I will develop novel methodologies to measure quantities that control the exotic physics, such as Berry curvature and Moire' potentials. At the same time, I plan to use the atomic-scale control of van der Waals interfaces to control the quantum antenna to create more efficient short-wavelength sources. The proposed research will add a new insightful perspective to the dynamical non-equilibrium properties of quantum solids. Such unique perspective is expected to be instrumental to the development of future quantum technologies for Canada.