Engineered antiferromagnetic materials for terahertz magnon-polaritons

非技术描述：磁性材料，如磁盘驱动器中发现的磁性材料，通常用于信息和数据存储。最近，人们对使用磁性材料进行数据处理和传输以及量子计算的兴趣越来越大，因为这些材料消耗的功率比传统电子产品少得多。这项研究的重点是一种特定类型的磁性材料，这种材料以超高频率（每秒约1万亿次）振荡，并对外部刺激做出快速响应;这些特性使其成为非常快速的磁电子器件的有用构建块。传统上难以产生或控制磁化中的这种快速振荡，特别是使用大多数电路中使用的标准电子控制。该项目的一个中心目标是为一类新的材料和设备奠定基础，例如，可以通过替代方法控制磁化，例如使用低功率激光器的光。作为该项目的一部分，研究生和本科生的培训通过参与研究进行，而代表性不足的少数民族的招聘和保留工程通过参与研究实验室内有针对性的研究项目课程进行。技术描述：本项目的目标是开发工程化的反铁磁/光电混合材料，以实现强耦合的子带间磁振子，极化激元系统智力的价值在于一个新的实现三方子带间磁振子光子极化激元准粒子。具体地说，极化子的“光”成分由一种被称为超材料的特殊工程电磁结构携带。极化激元的“物质”部分由磁振子携带，即反铁磁材料中的磁化波。第三，该系统进一步耦合到另一个“物质”部分-限制在半导体量子威尔斯内的电子的量子力学跃迁。主要研究目标包括工程磁性材料和结构，使所有组成共振发生在1太赫兹及以上的类似频率，以及最大限度地提高光子-磁振子耦合强度。此外，由于子带间的电子系统可以提供增益时，通过电子泵产生的粒子数反转，这打开了磁振子极化激元放大和激射的机会。更广泛的影响在几个层面上得到解决，包括本科生和研究生的研究经验，结果的传播，技术进步，推广到代表性不足的少数民族（URM），和工业互动。通过PI为URM工程新生的招聘和保留而设计的课程开发研究项目，与URM进行外联。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

Nontechnical Description: Magnetic materials such as those found in disk drives are commonly used for information and data storage. Recently, there has been increased interest in using magnetic materials for data processing and transmission, as well as for quantum computing, as these materials consume significantly less power than conventional electronics. This research focuses on a specific type of magnetic material that oscillates at ultra high frequencies (approximately a trillion cycles per second) and responds very quickly to external stimuli; these properties make it a useful building block for very fast magnetoelectronic devices. It has traditionally been difficult to generate or control such rapid oscillations in magnetization, especially using the standard electronic controls used in most circuits. A central goal of this project is to lay the groundwork for a new class of materials and devices in which one could, for example, control the magnetization through alternate methods such as with light, using low-power lasers. As a part of the project, training of graduate and undergraduate students occurs through involvement in the research, and recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities to engineering occurs through participation in a targeted research project course within the research lab.Technical Description: The goal of this project is the development of engineered hybrid antiferromagnetic/optoelectronic materials for the realization of strongly-coupled intersubband-magnon-polariton systems. The intellectual merit lies in the novel realization of a tripartite intersubband-magnon-photon polariton quasi-particle. Specifically, the "light" component of the polariton is carried by a specially engineered electromagnetic structure known as a metamaterial. The "matter" part of the polariton is carried by a magnon, i.e. a magnetization wave in an antiferromagnetic material. Third, the system is further coupled to another "matter" part - quantum-mechanical transitions of electrons confined within semiconductor quantum wells. Key research goals include engineering magnetic materials and structures so that all of the constituent resonances occur at similar frequencies at 1 terahertz and above, as well as maximizing the photon-magnon coupling strength. Furthermore, since the intersubband electronic system can supply gain when a population inversion is created via electrical pumping, this opens the opportunity for magnon polariton amplification and lasing. The broader impacts are addressed at several levels including undergraduate and graduate research experiences, dissemination of results, technology advancement, outreach to underrepresented minorities (URMs), and industrial interaction. Outreach to URM occurs through the PI's development of research projects for a course designed for the recruitment and retention of URM engineering freshmen.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.