Directionally asymmetric nonlinear optics in planar chiral MnTiO$_3$

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Zhang, Xinshu, Carbin, Tyler, Du, Kai, Li, Bingqing, Wang, Kefeng, Li, Casey, Qian, Tiema, Ni, Ni, Cheong, Sang-Wook, Kogar, Anshul
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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_version_ 1866917813556346880
author Zhang, Xinshu
Carbin, Tyler
Du, Kai
Li, Bingqing
Wang, Kefeng
Li, Casey
Qian, Tiema
Ni, Ni
Cheong, Sang-Wook
Kogar, Anshul
author_facet Zhang, Xinshu
Carbin, Tyler
Du, Kai
Li, Bingqing
Wang, Kefeng
Li, Casey
Qian, Tiema
Ni, Ni
Cheong, Sang-Wook
Kogar, Anshul
contents Planar chiral structures possess a two dimensional handedness that is associated with broken mirror symmetry. Such motifs span vast length scales; examples include certain pinwheel molecules, nautilus shells, cyclone wind patterns and spiral galaxies. Although pervasive in nature, it has only recently been found that condensed matter systems can exhibit a form of planar chirality through toroidal arrangements of electric dipoles, known as ferro-rotational (FR) order. A key characteristic of such order is that enantiomorph conversion occurs when the solid is flipped by 180 degrees about an in-plane axis. Consequently, ferro-rotationally ordered materials may exhibit directionally asymmetric response functions, even while preserving inversion and time-reversal symmetry. Such an effect, however, has yet to be observed. Using second harmonic interferometry, we show here that when circularly polarized light is incident on MnTiO$_3$, the generated nonlinear signal exhibits directional asymmetry. Depending on whether the incident light is parallel or anti-parallel to the FR axis, we observe a different conversion efficiency of two right (left) circularly polarized photons into a frequency-doubled left (right) circularly polarized photon. Our work uncovers a fundamentally new optical effect in ordered solids and opens up the possibility for developing novel nonlinear and directionally asymmetric optical devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_18086
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Directionally asymmetric nonlinear optics in planar chiral MnTiO$_3$
Zhang, Xinshu
Carbin, Tyler
Du, Kai
Li, Bingqing
Wang, Kefeng
Li, Casey
Qian, Tiema
Ni, Ni
Cheong, Sang-Wook
Kogar, Anshul
Optics
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Planar chiral structures possess a two dimensional handedness that is associated with broken mirror symmetry. Such motifs span vast length scales; examples include certain pinwheel molecules, nautilus shells, cyclone wind patterns and spiral galaxies. Although pervasive in nature, it has only recently been found that condensed matter systems can exhibit a form of planar chirality through toroidal arrangements of electric dipoles, known as ferro-rotational (FR) order. A key characteristic of such order is that enantiomorph conversion occurs when the solid is flipped by 180 degrees about an in-plane axis. Consequently, ferro-rotationally ordered materials may exhibit directionally asymmetric response functions, even while preserving inversion and time-reversal symmetry. Such an effect, however, has yet to be observed. Using second harmonic interferometry, we show here that when circularly polarized light is incident on MnTiO$_3$, the generated nonlinear signal exhibits directional asymmetry. Depending on whether the incident light is parallel or anti-parallel to the FR axis, we observe a different conversion efficiency of two right (left) circularly polarized photons into a frequency-doubled left (right) circularly polarized photon. Our work uncovers a fundamentally new optical effect in ordered solids and opens up the possibility for developing novel nonlinear and directionally asymmetric optical devices.
title Directionally asymmetric nonlinear optics in planar chiral MnTiO$_3$
topic Optics
Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18086