Recent Development of Ultrafast Optical Characterizations for Quantum Materials

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 35; no. 27; pp. e2110068 - n/a
• Main Authors: Dong, Tao, Zhang, Si‐Jie, Wang, Nan‐Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-07-2023
• Subjects: Frequency ranges; Materials science; optical manipulation; Optical pulses; Optics; Physical properties; pump‐probe spectroscopy; quantum materials; Steering; superconductivity; Superconductors; Terahertz frequencies; terahertz spectroscopy; terahertz spectroscopy; superconductivity; quantum materials; pump-probe spectroscopy; optical manipulation
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202110068

The advent of intense ultrashort optical pulses spanning a frequency range from terahertz to the visible has opened a new era in the experimental investigation and manipulation of quantum materials. The generation of strong optical field in an ultrashort time scale enables the steering of quantum materials nonadiabatically, inducing novel phenomenon or creating new phases which may not have an equilibrium counterpart. Ultrafast time‐resolved optical techniques have provided rich information and played an important role in characterization of the nonequilibrium and nonlinear properties of solid systems. Here, some of the recent progress of ultrafast optical techniques and their applications to the detection and manipulation of physical properties in selected quantum materials are reviewed. Specifically, the new development in the detection of the Higgs mode and photoinduced nonequilibrium response in the study of superconductors by time‐resolved terahertz spectroscopy are discussed.
The advent of ultrashort optical pulses has provided unprecedented opportunities to probe and manipulate physical properties of quantum materials. There have been rapid growing discoveries of photoinduced new phenomena and nonlinear properties. A review on recent progress of ultrafast optical characterization and manipulation of quantum states, specifically in systems with broken‐symmetry states or phase transitions, and prospects are provided.