Prof Dieter Jaksch

Abstract:

We measure the ultrafast recombination of photoexcited quasiparticles (holon-doublon pairs) in the one dimensional Mott insulator ET-F(2)TCNQ as a function of external pressure, which is used to tune the electronic structure. At each pressure value, we first fit the static optical properties and extract the electronic bandwidth t and the intersite correlation energy V. We then measure the recombination times as a function of pressure, and we correlate them with the corresponding microscopic parameters. We find that the recombination times scale differently than for metals and semiconductors. A fit to our data based on the time-dependent extended Hubbard Hamiltonian suggests that the competition between local recombination and delocalization of the Mott-Hubbard exciton dictates the efficiency of the recombination.

Abstract:

Optical pulses at THz and mid-infrared frequencies tuned to specific vibrational resonances modulate the lattice along chosen normal mode coordinates. In this way, solids can be switched between competing electronic phases and new states are created. Here, we use vibrational modulation to make electronic interactions (Hubbard-U) in Mott-insulator time dependent. Mid-infrared optical pulses excite localized molecular vibrations in ET-F2TCNQ, a prototypical one-dimensional Mott-insulator. A broadband ultrafast probe interrogates the resulting optical spectrum between THz and visible frequencies. A red-shifted charge-transfer resonance is observed, consistent with a time-averaged reduction of the electronic correlation strength U. Secondly, a sideband manifold inside of the Mott-gap appears, resulting from a periodically modulated U. The response is compared to computations based on a quantum-modulated dynamic Hubbard model. Heuristic fitting suggests asymmetric holon-doublon coupling to the molecules and that electron double-occupancies strongly squeeze the vibrational mode.

Abstract:

We show that the dipole-dipole interaction between three identical Rydberg atoms can give rise to bound trimer states. The microscopic origin of these states is fundamentally different from Efimov physics. Two stable trimer configurations exist where the atoms form the vertices of an equilateral triangle in a plane perpendicular to a static electric field. The triangle edge length typically exceeds R≈2 μm, and each configuration is twofold degenerate due to Kramers degeneracy. The depth of the potential wells and the triangle edge length can be controlled by external parameters. We establish the Borromean nature of the trimer states, analyze the quantum dynamics in the potential wells, and describe methods for their production and detection. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We study the origin of 'frozen' photonic states in coupled Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard arrays. For the case of half the array initially populated with photons while the other half is left empty, we show the emergence of a self-localized photon or 'frozen' states for specific values of the local atom-photon coupling. We analyse the dynamics in the quantum regime and discover important additional features that do not appear to be captured by a semi-classical treatment, which we analyse for different array sizes and filling fractions. We trace the origin of this interaction-induced photon 'freezing' to the suppression of the excitation of propagating modes in the system at large interaction strengths. We discuss in detail the possibility of experimentally probing the relevant transition by analysing the emitted photon correlations both in the idealized lossless case and more realistic scenarios when reasonable losses are included. We find a strong signature of the effect in the emitted photons statistics. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd.