Search

In fundamental research, surface acoustic waves (SAWs), nanoscale earthquakes on a chip are an extremely versatile tool to dynamically probe and manipulate charge and spin excitations condensed matter systems. When excited on piezoelectric materials both the oscillating mechanical stress of the SAW and its accompanying electric fields can be harnessed to establish strong interactions between single quantum emitters and sound on the nanoscale [1–4]. Here, we report on the integration of single quantum emitters in suspended phononic waveguides. Figure 1 (a) shows an electron micrograph of a 50 μm long and 2 μm wide suspended beam patterned on an approximately 150 nm thick (Al)GaAs heterostructure containing a single layer of GaAs quantum dots (QDs). In our experiment a Rayleigh SAW is excited by a multiharmonic frequency-chirped transducer [5] excited on the unpatterned region and coupled into the suspended beam where it propagates as a Lamb mode of identical frequency [6]. Figure 1 (b) and (c) compare the optomechanical response of a single QD in the unpatterend region and in the suspended beam, respectively. Clearly, the optomechanical of the quantum emitter inside the suspended phononic waveguide is enhanced by a factor of 3.5, compared to that of the emitter strained by the Rayleigh SAW. This finding may arise from an enhancement of the optomechanical coupling between the emitter and the elastic wave in the one-dimensional phononic waveguide. Employing phase resolved spectroscopy on an ensemble of quantum emitters we can unambiguously show, that the observed optomechanical response arises from the coupling between the low phase velocity, anti-symmetric (flexural) Lamb-Mode and the QD. Moreover, our fabricated phononic waveguides exhibit low propagation losses.

The optomechanical coupling of quantum dots and flexural mechanical modes is studied in suspended nanophononic strings. The investigated devices are designed and monolithically fabricated on an (Al)GaAs heterostructure. Radio frequency elastic waves with frequencies ranging between $f$=250 MHz to 400 MHz are generated as Rayleigh surface acoustic waves on the unpatterned substrate and injected as Lamb waves in the nanophononic string. Quantum dots inside the nanophononic string exhibit a 15-fold enhanced optomechanical modulation compared to those dynamically strained by the Rayleigh surface acoustic wave. Detailed finite element simulations of the phononic mode spectrum of the nanophononic string confirm, that the observed modulation arises from valence band deformation potential coupling via shear strain. The corresponding optomechanical coupling parameter is quantified to $0.15 \mathrm{meV nm^{-1}}$. This value exceeds that reported for vibrating nanorods by approximately one order of magnitude at 100 times higher frequencies. Using this value, a derive vertical displacements in the range of 10 nm is deduced from the experimentally observed modulation. The results represent an important step towards the creation of large scale optomechanical circuits interfacing single optically active quantum dots with optical and mechanical waves., Comment: Submitted manuscript

A hybrid device comprising a (Al)GaAs quantum dot heterostructure and a LiNbO$_3$ surface acoustic wave resonator is fabricated by heterointegration. High acoustic quality factors $Q>4000$ are demonstrated for an operation frequency $f\approx 300$ MHz. The measured large quality factor-frequency products $Q\times f>10^{12}$ ensures the suppression of decoherence due to thermal noise for temperatures exceeding $T>50\,\mathrm{K}$. Frequency and position dependent optomechanical coupling of single quantum dots and the resonator modes is observed., Accepted manuscript

We reported an efficient way of preparing large and dense ferromagnetic arrays of vertically-aligned Ni nanotubes (NTs). The synthesis method allowed then for a direct, effective and controllable thermal conversion of the as-prepared Ni NTs into heterostructured Ni/NiO NTs, without compromising the nanostructures' verticality to the substrate and their initial tubular integrity. Next, we demonstrated the ability to tune the dipolar interaction field (DIF) in this array of one-dimensional (1D) Ni/NiO heterostructures, just by slightly changing the thickness of the antiferromagnetic NiO layer. Furthermore, the proposed fabrication method assures full compatibility with the standard Si processing, providing thus a direct pathway towards large-scale integrability and manufacturing of a new generation of magnetic devices relying on dense arrays of vertical 1D magnetic nanostructures.

We fabricated an acousto-optic semiconductor hybrid device for strong optomechanical coupling of individual quantum emitters and a surface acoustic wave. Our device comprises a surface acoustic wave chip made from highly piezoelectric LiNbO$_3$ and a GaAs-based semiconductor membrane with an embedded layer of quantum dots. Employing multi-harmonic transducers, we generated sound waves on LiNbO$_3$ over a wide range of radio frequencies. We monitored their coupling to and propagation across the semiconductor membrane both in the electrical and optical domain. We demonstrate enhanced optomechanical tuning of the embedded quantum dots with increasing frequencies. This effect was verified by finite element modelling of our device geometry and attributed to an increased localization of the acoustic field within the semiconductor membrane. For moderately high acoustic frequencies, our simulations predict strong optomechanical coupling making our hybrid device ideally suited for applications in semiconductor based quantum acoustics., Comment: revised manuscript. unit conversion error fixed