Pub Date : 2024-08-24DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01782-8
Jinzhan Zhong, Houan Teng, Qiwen Zhan
Control of topologies in structured light fields with multi-degrees of freedom integrates fundamental optical physics and topological invariance. Beyond the simple phase vortex, three-dimensional (3D) topological singularities and related nonsingular textures have recently gained significant interest. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the creation of a family of toroidal phase topologies within paraxial laser beams. By employing single two-dimensional (2D) phase control, we generate propagating 3D topological textures, effectively embodying the topological configuration of a four-dimensional (4D) parameter space. The resulting light fields exhibit amplitude isosurfaces of toroidal vortices and hopfionic phase textures, both controlled by topological charges. The ability to prepare scalar phase textures of light offers new insights into the high-dimensional control of complex structured textures and may find significant applications in light-matter interactions, optical manipulation, and optical information encoding. Exploring non-trivial topologies and related properties has long been a fascinating and challenging task in mathematics and physics. The authors experimentally demonstrate the realization of optical toroidal vortices and hopfionic phase textures within paraxial continuous wave laser beams, which may provide new insight for topologically structured light fields.
{"title":"Toroidal phase topologies within paraxial laser beams","authors":"Jinzhan Zhong, Houan Teng, Qiwen Zhan","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01782-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01782-8","url":null,"abstract":"Control of topologies in structured light fields with multi-degrees of freedom integrates fundamental optical physics and topological invariance. Beyond the simple phase vortex, three-dimensional (3D) topological singularities and related nonsingular textures have recently gained significant interest. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the creation of a family of toroidal phase topologies within paraxial laser beams. By employing single two-dimensional (2D) phase control, we generate propagating 3D topological textures, effectively embodying the topological configuration of a four-dimensional (4D) parameter space. The resulting light fields exhibit amplitude isosurfaces of toroidal vortices and hopfionic phase textures, both controlled by topological charges. The ability to prepare scalar phase textures of light offers new insights into the high-dimensional control of complex structured textures and may find significant applications in light-matter interactions, optical manipulation, and optical information encoding. Exploring non-trivial topologies and related properties has long been a fascinating and challenging task in mathematics and physics. The authors experimentally demonstrate the realization of optical toroidal vortices and hopfionic phase textures within paraxial continuous wave laser beams, which may provide new insight for topologically structured light fields.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01782-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142058637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-24DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01778-4
Tania M. Barone, Glenn G. Kacprzak, James W. Nightingale, Nikole M. Nielsen, Karl Glazebrook, Kim-Vy H. Tran, Tucker Jones, Hasti Nateghi, Keerthi Vasan Gopala Chandrasekaran, Nandini Sahu, Themiya Nanayakkara, Hannah Skobe, Jesse van de Sande, Sebastian Lopez, Geraint F. Lewis
While quiescent galaxies have comparable amounts of cool gas in their outer circumgalactic medium (CGM) compared to star-forming galaxies, they have significantly less interstellar gas. However, open questions remain on the processes causing galaxies to stop forming stars and stay quiescent. Theories suggest dynamical interactions with the hot corona prevent cool gas from reaching the galaxy, therefore predicting the inner regions of quiescent galaxy CGMs are devoid of cool gas. However, there is a lack of understanding of the inner regions of CGMs due to the lack of spatial information in quasar-sightline methods. We present integral-field spectroscopy probing 10–20 kpc (2.4–4.8 Re) around a massive quiescent galaxy using a gravitationally lensed star-forming galaxy. We detect absorption from Magnesium (MgII) implying large amounts of cool atomic gas (108.4–109.3 M⊙ with T~104 Kelvin), in comparable amounts to star-forming galaxies. Lens modeling of Hubble imaging also reveals a diffuse asymmetric component of significant mass consistent with the spatial extent of the MgII absorption, and offset from the galaxy light profile. This study demonstrates the power of galaxy-scale gravitational lenses to not only probe the gas around galaxies, but to also independently probe the mass of the CGM due to it’s gravitational effect. Quiescent galaxies have similar amount of cool gas to star forming galaxies, yet why galaxies stop forming stars remains an open question. The authors investigate why passive galaxies remain quiescent using a gravitationally lensed background galaxy to probe the faint, diffuse cool gas around a massive quiescent galaxy, and use lensing configuration to constrain the total mass and geometry of this gas reservoir.
{"title":"Gravitational lensing reveals cool gas within 10-20 kpc around a quiescent galaxy","authors":"Tania M. Barone, Glenn G. Kacprzak, James W. Nightingale, Nikole M. Nielsen, Karl Glazebrook, Kim-Vy H. Tran, Tucker Jones, Hasti Nateghi, Keerthi Vasan Gopala Chandrasekaran, Nandini Sahu, Themiya Nanayakkara, Hannah Skobe, Jesse van de Sande, Sebastian Lopez, Geraint F. Lewis","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01778-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01778-4","url":null,"abstract":"While quiescent galaxies have comparable amounts of cool gas in their outer circumgalactic medium (CGM) compared to star-forming galaxies, they have significantly less interstellar gas. However, open questions remain on the processes causing galaxies to stop forming stars and stay quiescent. Theories suggest dynamical interactions with the hot corona prevent cool gas from reaching the galaxy, therefore predicting the inner regions of quiescent galaxy CGMs are devoid of cool gas. However, there is a lack of understanding of the inner regions of CGMs due to the lack of spatial information in quasar-sightline methods. We present integral-field spectroscopy probing 10–20 kpc (2.4–4.8 Re) around a massive quiescent galaxy using a gravitationally lensed star-forming galaxy. We detect absorption from Magnesium (MgII) implying large amounts of cool atomic gas (108.4–109.3 M⊙ with T~104 Kelvin), in comparable amounts to star-forming galaxies. Lens modeling of Hubble imaging also reveals a diffuse asymmetric component of significant mass consistent with the spatial extent of the MgII absorption, and offset from the galaxy light profile. This study demonstrates the power of galaxy-scale gravitational lenses to not only probe the gas around galaxies, but to also independently probe the mass of the CGM due to it’s gravitational effect. Quiescent galaxies have similar amount of cool gas to star forming galaxies, yet why galaxies stop forming stars remains an open question. The authors investigate why passive galaxies remain quiescent using a gravitationally lensed background galaxy to probe the faint, diffuse cool gas around a massive quiescent galaxy, and use lensing configuration to constrain the total mass and geometry of this gas reservoir.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01778-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142058635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-22DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01764-w
Jennifer Coulter, Mark R. Hirsbrunner, Oleg Dubinkin, Taylor L. Hughes, Boris Kozinsky
The xene family of topological insulators plays a key role in many proposals for topological electronic, spintronic, and valleytronic devices. These proposals rely on applying local perturbations, including electric fields and proximity magnetism, to induce topological phase transitions in xenes. However, these techniques lack control over the geometry of interfaces between topological regions, a critical aspect of engineering topological devices. We propose adatom decoration as a method for engineering atomically precise topological edge modes in xenes. Our first-principles calculations show that decorating stanene with Zn adatoms exclusively on one of two sublattices induces a topological phase transition from the quantum spin Hall (QSH) to quantum valley Hall (QVH) phase and confirm the existence of spin-valley polarized edge modes propagating at QSH/QVH interfaces. We conclude by discussing technological applications of these edge modes that are enabled by the atomic precision afforded by recent advances in adatom manipulation technology. The authors propose sublattice-selective decoration by Zn adatoms as a method to engineer precise topological edge modes in xenes. First-principles calculations on Zn decorated stanene reveal a quantum spin Hall (QSH) to quantum valley Hall (QVH) transition and spin-valley polarized modes propagating at the QSH/QVH interface.
{"title":"Engineering ideal helical topological networks in stanene via Zn decoration","authors":"Jennifer Coulter, Mark R. Hirsbrunner, Oleg Dubinkin, Taylor L. Hughes, Boris Kozinsky","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01764-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01764-w","url":null,"abstract":"The xene family of topological insulators plays a key role in many proposals for topological electronic, spintronic, and valleytronic devices. These proposals rely on applying local perturbations, including electric fields and proximity magnetism, to induce topological phase transitions in xenes. However, these techniques lack control over the geometry of interfaces between topological regions, a critical aspect of engineering topological devices. We propose adatom decoration as a method for engineering atomically precise topological edge modes in xenes. Our first-principles calculations show that decorating stanene with Zn adatoms exclusively on one of two sublattices induces a topological phase transition from the quantum spin Hall (QSH) to quantum valley Hall (QVH) phase and confirm the existence of spin-valley polarized edge modes propagating at QSH/QVH interfaces. We conclude by discussing technological applications of these edge modes that are enabled by the atomic precision afforded by recent advances in adatom manipulation technology. The authors propose sublattice-selective decoration by Zn adatoms as a method to engineer precise topological edge modes in xenes. First-principles calculations on Zn decorated stanene reveal a quantum spin Hall (QSH) to quantum valley Hall (QVH) transition and spin-valley polarized modes propagating at the QSH/QVH interface.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01764-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142041753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-21DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01772-w
Grigorios P. Zouros, Iridanos Loulas, Evangelos Almpanis, Alex Krasnok, Kosmas L. Tsakmakidis
Active tuning of the scattering of particles and metasurfaces is a highly sought-after property for a host of electromagnetic and photonic applications, but it normally requires challenging-to-control tunable (reconfigurable) or active (gain) media. Here, we introduce the concepts of anisotropic virtual gain and oblique Kerker effect, where a completely lossy anisotropic medium behaves exactly as its anisotropic gain counterpart upon excitation by a synthetic complex-frequency wave. The strategy allows one to largely tune the magnitude and angle of a particle’s scattering simply by changing the shape (envelope) of the incoming radiation, rather than by an involved medium-tuning mechanism. The so-attained anisotropic virtual gain enables directional super-scattering at an oblique direction with fine-management of the scattering angle. Our study is based on analytical techniques that allow multipolar decomposition of the scattered field in agreement with full-wave simulations, and lays the foundations for a light management method. The authors show how the use of suitable time-domain pulses, characterized by a complex frequency, can turn anisotropic losses to anisotropic virtual gain in small particles. These excitations can largely tune the scattering off particles without requiring any other tuning mechanism.
{"title":"Anisotropic virtual gain and large tuning of particles’ scattering by complex-frequency excitations","authors":"Grigorios P. Zouros, Iridanos Loulas, Evangelos Almpanis, Alex Krasnok, Kosmas L. Tsakmakidis","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01772-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01772-w","url":null,"abstract":"Active tuning of the scattering of particles and metasurfaces is a highly sought-after property for a host of electromagnetic and photonic applications, but it normally requires challenging-to-control tunable (reconfigurable) or active (gain) media. Here, we introduce the concepts of anisotropic virtual gain and oblique Kerker effect, where a completely lossy anisotropic medium behaves exactly as its anisotropic gain counterpart upon excitation by a synthetic complex-frequency wave. The strategy allows one to largely tune the magnitude and angle of a particle’s scattering simply by changing the shape (envelope) of the incoming radiation, rather than by an involved medium-tuning mechanism. The so-attained anisotropic virtual gain enables directional super-scattering at an oblique direction with fine-management of the scattering angle. Our study is based on analytical techniques that allow multipolar decomposition of the scattered field in agreement with full-wave simulations, and lays the foundations for a light management method. The authors show how the use of suitable time-domain pulses, characterized by a complex frequency, can turn anisotropic losses to anisotropic virtual gain in small particles. These excitations can largely tune the scattering off particles without requiring any other tuning mechanism.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01772-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142041788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-21DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01758-8
Xiaodong Yang, Xinyue Long, Ran Liu, Kai Tang, Yue Zhai, Xinfang Nie, Tao Xin, Jun Li, Dawei Lu
Quantum metrology promises unprecedented precision of parameter estimation, but it is often vulnerable to noise. While significant efforts have been devoted to improving the metrology performance in Markovian environments, practical control schemes specifically designed for non-Markovian noises are much less investigated. Here, we propose two control-enhanced quantum metrology schemes that are suitable for tackling general non-Markovian noises described by noise channels or noise spectra. We conduct experiments to verify the efficacy of these schemes on a nuclear magnetic resonance system. The experimental results involving multiqubit probes show that the parameter estimation precision can be greatly improved, significantly surpassing the standard quantum limit, with our schemes. At present, non-Markovian noises are widely encountered on diverse quantum devices, the proposed schemes are relevant for realistic metrology applications on these platforms. Quantum metrology, a powerful paradigm for surpassing classical measurement precision, has been extensively studied for Markovian noise, while most practical physical processes obey non-Markovian dynamics. In this paper, the authors propose control-enhanced quantum metrology schemes to counteract non-Markovian noise and experimentally verify their efficacy.
{"title":"Control-enhanced non-Markovian quantum metrology","authors":"Xiaodong Yang, Xinyue Long, Ran Liu, Kai Tang, Yue Zhai, Xinfang Nie, Tao Xin, Jun Li, Dawei Lu","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01758-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01758-8","url":null,"abstract":"Quantum metrology promises unprecedented precision of parameter estimation, but it is often vulnerable to noise. While significant efforts have been devoted to improving the metrology performance in Markovian environments, practical control schemes specifically designed for non-Markovian noises are much less investigated. Here, we propose two control-enhanced quantum metrology schemes that are suitable for tackling general non-Markovian noises described by noise channels or noise spectra. We conduct experiments to verify the efficacy of these schemes on a nuclear magnetic resonance system. The experimental results involving multiqubit probes show that the parameter estimation precision can be greatly improved, significantly surpassing the standard quantum limit, with our schemes. At present, non-Markovian noises are widely encountered on diverse quantum devices, the proposed schemes are relevant for realistic metrology applications on these platforms. Quantum metrology, a powerful paradigm for surpassing classical measurement precision, has been extensively studied for Markovian noise, while most practical physical processes obey non-Markovian dynamics. In this paper, the authors propose control-enhanced quantum metrology schemes to counteract non-Markovian noise and experimentally verify their efficacy.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01758-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-20DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01768-6
Michal Stransky, Thomas J. Lane, Alexander Gorel, Sébastien Boutet, Ilme Schlichting, Adrian P. Mancuso, Zoltan Jurek, Beata Ziaja
In the warm dense matter (WDM) regime, where condensed, gas, and plasma phases coexist, matter frequently exhibits unusual properties that cannot be described by contemporary theory. Experiments reporting phenomena in WDM are therefore of interest to advance our physical understanding of this regime, which is found in dwarf stars, giant planets, and fusion ignition experiments. Using 7.1 keV X-ray free electron laser radiation (nominally 5×105 J/cm2), we produced and probed transient WDM in liquid water. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) from the probe reveals a new ~9 Å structure that forms within 75 fs. By 100 fs, the WAXS peak corresponding to this new structure is of comparable magnitude to the ambient water peak, which is attenuated. Simulations suggest that the experiment probes a superposition of two regimes. In the first, fluences expected at the focus severely ionize the water, which becomes effectively transparent to the probe. In the second, out-of-focus pump radiation produces O1+ and O2+ ions, which rearrange due to Coulombic repulsion over 10 s of fs. Our simulations account for a decrease in ambient water signal and an increase in low-angle X-ray scattering but not the experimentally observed 9 Å feature, presenting a new challenge for theory. The ionization via high-intensity X-ray irradiation can cause structural rearrangements within the sample. The authors observe a new structure in ionized liquid water emerging within few femtoseconds from the initial ionization, characterized via a peculiar partial order on a length scale much longer than normally found in water.
在凝聚态、气态和等离子态共存的温致密物质（WDM）体系中，物质经常表现出当代理论无法描述的异常特性。因此，报告 WDM 现象的实验对于推进我们对这一机制的物理理解很有意义，矮星、巨行星和核聚变点火实验中都发现了这一机制。利用 7.1 keV X 射线自由电子激光辐射（名义上 5×105 J/cm2），我们在液态水中产生并探测了瞬态 WDM。探针产生的广角 X 射线散射（WAXS）揭示了在 75 fs 内形成的 ~9 Å 新结构。到 100 fs 时，与这种新结构相对应的 WAXS 峰值与环境水峰值的大小相当，而环境水峰值则有所衰减。模拟结果表明，该实验探测了两种状态的叠加。在第一种情况下，焦点处的通量会使水严重电离，从而使水对探针变得透明。在第二种情况下，焦点外的泵辐射产生 O1+ 和 O2+ 离子，由于库仑斥力，这些离子在 10 秒 fs 的时间内重新排列。我们的模拟解释了环境水信号的减少和低角 X 射线散射的增加，但没有解释实验观察到的 9 Å 特征，这对理论提出了新的挑战。通过高强度 X 射线辐照产生的电离可导致样品内部结构重排。作者观察到电离液态水在初始电离后的几飞秒内出现了一种新结构，其特征是在比通常水长得多的长度尺度上出现了一种奇特的偏序。
{"title":"Ionization by XFEL radiation produces distinct structure in liquid water","authors":"Michal Stransky, Thomas J. Lane, Alexander Gorel, Sébastien Boutet, Ilme Schlichting, Adrian P. Mancuso, Zoltan Jurek, Beata Ziaja","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01768-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01768-6","url":null,"abstract":"In the warm dense matter (WDM) regime, where condensed, gas, and plasma phases coexist, matter frequently exhibits unusual properties that cannot be described by contemporary theory. Experiments reporting phenomena in WDM are therefore of interest to advance our physical understanding of this regime, which is found in dwarf stars, giant planets, and fusion ignition experiments. Using 7.1 keV X-ray free electron laser radiation (nominally 5×105 J/cm2), we produced and probed transient WDM in liquid water. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) from the probe reveals a new ~9 Å structure that forms within 75 fs. By 100 fs, the WAXS peak corresponding to this new structure is of comparable magnitude to the ambient water peak, which is attenuated. Simulations suggest that the experiment probes a superposition of two regimes. In the first, fluences expected at the focus severely ionize the water, which becomes effectively transparent to the probe. In the second, out-of-focus pump radiation produces O1+ and O2+ ions, which rearrange due to Coulombic repulsion over 10 s of fs. Our simulations account for a decrease in ambient water signal and an increase in low-angle X-ray scattering but not the experimentally observed 9 Å feature, presenting a new challenge for theory. The ionization via high-intensity X-ray irradiation can cause structural rearrangements within the sample. The authors observe a new structure in ionized liquid water emerging within few femtoseconds from the initial ionization, characterized via a peculiar partial order on a length scale much longer than normally found in water.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01768-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) is known for its zero-strain characteristic in electrochemical applications, making it a suitable material for fast-charging applications. Here, we systematically studied the quasi-equilibrium and non-equilibrium lithium-ion transportation kinetics in LTO thin-film electrodes, across a range of scales from the crystal lattice to the microstructured electrodes. At the crystal lattice scale, during the non-equilibrium lithiation process, lithium ions are dispersedly embedded into the 16c position, resulting in more 8a → 16c migration compared with the quasi-equilibrium lithiation, and forming numerous fast lithium diffusion channels inside the LTO lattice. At the microstructural electrode scale, optical spectrum characterizations supported the “nano-filaments” lithiation model in polycrystalline LTO thin-film electrodes during the lithiation process. Our results reveal the patterns of lithium migration and distribution within the LTO thin film electrode under the non-equilibrium and quasi-equilibrium lithiation process, offering profound insights into the potential optimization strategies for enhancing the performance of fast-charging thin film batteries. Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) is an ideal battery material for fastcharging applications. The authors examine Li+ transport in LTO thin film electrodes, revealing that nonequilibrium processes result in unique Li+ occupation states that enhance Li+ diffusion. Findings suggests engineering Li+ occupations in LTO crystal lattice can improve battery performance.
{"title":"Nonequilibrium fast-lithiation of Li4Ti5O12 thin film anode for LIBs","authors":"Yue Chen, Shaohua Zhang, Jiefeng Ye, Xinyi Zheng, Jian-Min Zhang, Nagarathinam Mangayarkarasi, Yubiao Niu, Hongyi Lu, Guiying Zhao, Jianming Tao, Jiaxin Li, Yingbin Lin, Oleg V. Kolosov, Zhigao Huang","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01775-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01775-7","url":null,"abstract":"Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) is known for its zero-strain characteristic in electrochemical applications, making it a suitable material for fast-charging applications. Here, we systematically studied the quasi-equilibrium and non-equilibrium lithium-ion transportation kinetics in LTO thin-film electrodes, across a range of scales from the crystal lattice to the microstructured electrodes. At the crystal lattice scale, during the non-equilibrium lithiation process, lithium ions are dispersedly embedded into the 16c position, resulting in more 8a → 16c migration compared with the quasi-equilibrium lithiation, and forming numerous fast lithium diffusion channels inside the LTO lattice. At the microstructural electrode scale, optical spectrum characterizations supported the “nano-filaments” lithiation model in polycrystalline LTO thin-film electrodes during the lithiation process. Our results reveal the patterns of lithium migration and distribution within the LTO thin film electrode under the non-equilibrium and quasi-equilibrium lithiation process, offering profound insights into the potential optimization strategies for enhancing the performance of fast-charging thin film batteries. Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) is an ideal battery material for fastcharging applications. The authors examine Li+ transport in LTO thin film electrodes, revealing that nonequilibrium processes result in unique Li+ occupation states that enhance Li+ diffusion. Findings suggests engineering Li+ occupations in LTO crystal lattice can improve battery performance.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01775-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dissipative Kerr soliton microcombs in microresonators have enabled fundamental advances in chip-scale precision metrology, communication, spectroscopy, and parallel signal processing. Here we demonstrate polarization-diverse soliton transitions and deterministic switching dynamics of a self-stabilized microcomb in a strongly-coupled dispersion-managed microresonator driven with a single pump laser. The switching dynamics are induced by the differential thermorefractivity between coupled transverse-magnetic and transverse-electric supermodes during the forward-backward pump detunings. The achieved large soliton existence range and deterministic transitions benefit from the switching dynamics, leading to the cross-polarized soliton microcomb formation when driven in the transverse-magnetic supermode of the single resonator. Secondly, we demonstrate two distinct polarization-diverse soliton formation routes – arising from chaotic or periodically-modulated waveforms via pump power selection. Thirdly, to observe the cross-polarized supermode transition dynamics, we develop a parametric temporal magnifier with picosecond resolution, MHz frame rate and sub-ns temporal windows. We construct picosecond temporal transition portraits in 100-ns recording length of the strongly-coupled solitons, mapping the transitions from multiple soliton molecular states to singlet solitons. This study underpins polarization-diverse soliton microcombs for chip-scale ultrashort pulse generation, supporting applications in frequency and precision metrology, communications, spectroscopy and information processing. Thermal Instability hinders reliable generation of dissipative Kerr solitons in Silicon Nitride microresonators. The authors investigate a regime where polarization-diverse soliton transitions and deterministic dynamics of a self-stabilized microcomb in a dispersion managed microresonator driven with a single pump laser.
{"title":"Polarization-diverse soliton transitions and deterministic switching dynamics in strongly-coupled and self-stabilized microresonator frequency combs","authors":"Wenting Wang, Alwaleed Aldhafeeri, Heng Zhou, Tristan Melton, Xinghe Jiang, Abhinav Kumar Vinod, Mingbin Yu, Guo-Qiang Lo, Dim-Lee Kwong, Chee Wei Wong","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01773-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01773-9","url":null,"abstract":"Dissipative Kerr soliton microcombs in microresonators have enabled fundamental advances in chip-scale precision metrology, communication, spectroscopy, and parallel signal processing. Here we demonstrate polarization-diverse soliton transitions and deterministic switching dynamics of a self-stabilized microcomb in a strongly-coupled dispersion-managed microresonator driven with a single pump laser. The switching dynamics are induced by the differential thermorefractivity between coupled transverse-magnetic and transverse-electric supermodes during the forward-backward pump detunings. The achieved large soliton existence range and deterministic transitions benefit from the switching dynamics, leading to the cross-polarized soliton microcomb formation when driven in the transverse-magnetic supermode of the single resonator. Secondly, we demonstrate two distinct polarization-diverse soliton formation routes – arising from chaotic or periodically-modulated waveforms via pump power selection. Thirdly, to observe the cross-polarized supermode transition dynamics, we develop a parametric temporal magnifier with picosecond resolution, MHz frame rate and sub-ns temporal windows. We construct picosecond temporal transition portraits in 100-ns recording length of the strongly-coupled solitons, mapping the transitions from multiple soliton molecular states to singlet solitons. This study underpins polarization-diverse soliton microcombs for chip-scale ultrashort pulse generation, supporting applications in frequency and precision metrology, communications, spectroscopy and information processing. Thermal Instability hinders reliable generation of dissipative Kerr solitons in Silicon Nitride microresonators. The authors investigate a regime where polarization-diverse soliton transitions and deterministic dynamics of a self-stabilized microcomb in a dispersion managed microresonator driven with a single pump laser.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01773-9.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-16DOI: 10.1038/s42005-024-01770-y
Qiaoli Yang, Yu Gao, Zhihui Peng
Exploring the mysterious dark matter is a key quest in modern physics. Currently, detecting axions, a hypothetical particle proposed as a primary component of dark matter, remains a significant challenge due to their weakly interacting nature. Here we show at quantum level that in a cavity permeated by a magnetic field, the single axion-photon conversion rate is enhanced by the cavity quality factor and is quantitatively larger than the classical result by π/2. The axion cavity can be considered a quantum device emitting single photons with temporal separations. This differs from the classical picture and reveals a possibility for the axion cavity experiment to handle the signal sensitivity at the quantum level, e.g., a dual path quantum interferometry with cross-power and second-order correlation measurements. This scheme would greatly reduce the signal scanning time and improve the sensitivity of the axion-photon coupling, potentially leading to the direct observation of axions. Axions are the top contenders for explaining the enigmatic dark matter in the Universe. The authors present the inaugural quantum-level validation of a cavity’s resonant boost to the conversion of axions into photons, thus employing a dual-path interferometry method can greatly enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in the experiments, enabling swifter scans and a better detection sensitivity for the evasive axion dark matter.
{"title":"Quantum dual-path interferometry scheme for axion dark matter searches","authors":"Qiaoli Yang, Yu Gao, Zhihui Peng","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01770-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s42005-024-01770-y","url":null,"abstract":"Exploring the mysterious dark matter is a key quest in modern physics. Currently, detecting axions, a hypothetical particle proposed as a primary component of dark matter, remains a significant challenge due to their weakly interacting nature. Here we show at quantum level that in a cavity permeated by a magnetic field, the single axion-photon conversion rate is enhanced by the cavity quality factor and is quantitatively larger than the classical result by π/2. The axion cavity can be considered a quantum device emitting single photons with temporal separations. This differs from the classical picture and reveals a possibility for the axion cavity experiment to handle the signal sensitivity at the quantum level, e.g., a dual path quantum interferometry with cross-power and second-order correlation measurements. This scheme would greatly reduce the signal scanning time and improve the sensitivity of the axion-photon coupling, potentially leading to the direct observation of axions. Axions are the top contenders for explaining the enigmatic dark matter in the Universe. The authors present the inaugural quantum-level validation of a cavity’s resonant boost to the conversion of axions into photons, thus employing a dual-path interferometry method can greatly enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in the experiments, enabling swifter scans and a better detection sensitivity for the evasive axion dark matter.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":" ","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01770-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141991741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：