Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Liebman, Olivia, Curtis, Jonathan, Petrides, Ioannis, Narang, Prineha
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.00064
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911218555420672
author Liebman, Olivia
Curtis, Jonathan
Petrides, Ioannis
Narang, Prineha
author_facet Liebman, Olivia
Curtis, Jonathan
Petrides, Ioannis
Narang, Prineha
contents The unusual magnetoelectric transport present in Weyl semimetals and 3D topological insula- tors can be compactly understood as manifestations of a background axion field, which itself is determined by the microscopic band structure. In the presence of correlations, an additional axion quasiparticle may emerge as the collective excitations on top of the mean background field. Such modes couple nonlinearly to electric and magnetic fields, giving rise to a dynamical magnetoelectric response. However, unambiguous identification of this collective axion mode is challenging due to its inherent nonlinear dynamics. Here, we propose an all-optical protocol that utilizes a pump-probe setup for verifying and characterizing the transient dynamics of axion fields in three-dimensional insulator systems. In particular, we show that nonlinear Raman processes induce dynamical oscillations of the axion field that depend on the geometry of the incident electromagnetic fields. These oscillations manifest in the polarization and magnetization of the material, hence, can be subsequently measured using time-resolved Kerr rotation spectroscopy. Our results open a pathway towards using multi-photon and quantum pair spectroscopies to identify new correlated phases of quantum matter.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_00064
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Multiphoton Spectroscopy of a Dynamical Axion Insulator
Liebman, Olivia
Curtis, Jonathan
Petrides, Ioannis
Narang, Prineha
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
The unusual magnetoelectric transport present in Weyl semimetals and 3D topological insula- tors can be compactly understood as manifestations of a background axion field, which itself is determined by the microscopic band structure. In the presence of correlations, an additional axion quasiparticle may emerge as the collective excitations on top of the mean background field. Such modes couple nonlinearly to electric and magnetic fields, giving rise to a dynamical magnetoelectric response. However, unambiguous identification of this collective axion mode is challenging due to its inherent nonlinear dynamics. Here, we propose an all-optical protocol that utilizes a pump-probe setup for verifying and characterizing the transient dynamics of axion fields in three-dimensional insulator systems. In particular, we show that nonlinear Raman processes induce dynamical oscillations of the axion field that depend on the geometry of the incident electromagnetic fields. These oscillations manifest in the polarization and magnetization of the material, hence, can be subsequently measured using time-resolved Kerr rotation spectroscopy. Our results open a pathway towards using multi-photon and quantum pair spectroscopies to identify new correlated phases of quantum matter.
title Multiphoton Spectroscopy of a Dynamical Axion Insulator
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.00064