Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator

Flavio Giorgianni; Enrica Chiadroni; Andrea Rovere; Mariangela Cestelli-Guidi; Andrea Perucchi; Marco Bellaveglia; Michele Castellano; Domenico Di Giovenale; Giampiero Di Pirro; Massimo Ferrario; Riccardo Pompili; Cristina Vaccarezza; Fabio Villa; Alessandro Cianchi; Andrea Mostacci; Massimo Petrarca; Matthew Brahlek; Nikesh Koirala; Seongshik Oh; Stefano Lupi

doi:10.1038/ncomms11421

Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator

Flavio Giorgianni, Enrica Chiadroni, Andrea Rovere, Mariangela Cestelli-Guidi, Andrea Perucchi, Marco Bellaveglia, Michele Castellano, Domenico Di Giovenale, Giampiero Di Pirro, Massimo Ferrario, Riccardo Pompili, Cristina Vaccarezza, Fabio Villa, Alessandro Cianchi, Andrea Mostacci, Massimo Petrarca, Matthew Brahlek, Nikesh Koirala, Seongshik Oh, Stefano Lupi

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141 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electrons with a linear energy/momentum dispersion are called massless Dirac electrons and represent the low-energy excitations in exotic materials such as graphene and topological insulators. Dirac electrons are characterized by notable properties such as a high mobility, a tunable density and, in topological insulators, a protection against backscattering through the spin-momentum locking mechanism. All those properties make graphene and topological insulators appealing for plasmonics applications. However, Dirac electrons are expected to present also a strong nonlinear optical behaviour. This should mirror in phenomena such as electromagnetic-induced transparency and harmonic generation. Here we demonstrate that in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator, an electromagnetic-induced transparency is achieved under the application of a strong terahertz electric field. This effect, concomitantly determined by harmonic generation and charge-mobility reduction, is exclusively related to the presence of Dirac electron at the surface of Bi 2 Se 3, and opens the road towards tunable terahertz nonlinear optical devices based on topological insulator materials.

Original language	English
Article number	11421
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11421
State	Published - Apr 26 2016
Externally published	Yes

Funding

We thank S.A. Mikhailov for useful discussion about harmonic generation theory. M.B., N.K. and S.O. thank for the financial support the Office of Naval Research (N000141210456) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations EPiQS Initiative through grant GBMF4418.

Funders	Funder number
Office of Naval Research	N000141210456
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation	GBMF4418

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10.1038/ncomms11421

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Giorgianni, F., Chiadroni, E., Rovere, A., Cestelli-Guidi, M., Perucchi, A., Bellaveglia, M., Castellano, M., Di Giovenale, D., Di Pirro, G., Ferrario, M., Pompili, R., Vaccarezza, C., Villa, F., Cianchi, A., Mostacci, A., Petrarca, M., Brahlek, M., Koirala, N., Oh, S., & Lupi, S. (2016). Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator. Nature Communications, 7, Article 11421. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11421

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title = "Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator",

abstract = "Electrons with a linear energy/momentum dispersion are called massless Dirac electrons and represent the low-energy excitations in exotic materials such as graphene and topological insulators. Dirac electrons are characterized by notable properties such as a high mobility, a tunable density and, in topological insulators, a protection against backscattering through the spin-momentum locking mechanism. All those properties make graphene and topological insulators appealing for plasmonics applications. However, Dirac electrons are expected to present also a strong nonlinear optical behaviour. This should mirror in phenomena such as electromagnetic-induced transparency and harmonic generation. Here we demonstrate that in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator, an electromagnetic-induced transparency is achieved under the application of a strong terahertz electric field. This effect, concomitantly determined by harmonic generation and charge-mobility reduction, is exclusively related to the presence of Dirac electron at the surface of Bi 2 Se 3, and opens the road towards tunable terahertz nonlinear optical devices based on topological insulator materials.",

author = "Flavio Giorgianni and Enrica Chiadroni and Andrea Rovere and Mariangela Cestelli-Guidi and Andrea Perucchi and Marco Bellaveglia and Michele Castellano and {Di Giovenale}, Domenico and {Di Pirro}, Giampiero and Massimo Ferrario and Riccardo Pompili and Cristina Vaccarezza and Fabio Villa and Alessandro Cianchi and Andrea Mostacci and Massimo Petrarca and Matthew Brahlek and Nikesh Koirala and Seongshik Oh and Stefano Lupi",

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Giorgianni, F, Chiadroni, E, Rovere, A, Cestelli-Guidi, M, Perucchi, A, Bellaveglia, M, Castellano, M, Di Giovenale, D, Di Pirro, G, Ferrario, M, Pompili, R, Vaccarezza, C, Villa, F, Cianchi, A, Mostacci, A, Petrarca, M, Brahlek, M, Koirala, N, Oh, S & Lupi, S 2016, 'Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator', Nature Communications, vol. 7, 11421. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11421

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T1 - Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator

AU - Giorgianni, Flavio

AU - Chiadroni, Enrica

AU - Rovere, Andrea

AU - Cestelli-Guidi, Mariangela

AU - Perucchi, Andrea

AU - Bellaveglia, Marco

AU - Castellano, Michele

AU - Di Giovenale, Domenico

AU - Di Pirro, Giampiero

AU - Ferrario, Massimo

AU - Pompili, Riccardo

AU - Vaccarezza, Cristina

AU - Villa, Fabio

AU - Cianchi, Alessandro

AU - Mostacci, Andrea

AU - Petrarca, Massimo

AU - Brahlek, Matthew

AU - Koirala, Nikesh

AU - Oh, Seongshik

AU - Lupi, Stefano

PY - 2016/4/26

Y1 - 2016/4/26

N2 - Electrons with a linear energy/momentum dispersion are called massless Dirac electrons and represent the low-energy excitations in exotic materials such as graphene and topological insulators. Dirac electrons are characterized by notable properties such as a high mobility, a tunable density and, in topological insulators, a protection against backscattering through the spin-momentum locking mechanism. All those properties make graphene and topological insulators appealing for plasmonics applications. However, Dirac electrons are expected to present also a strong nonlinear optical behaviour. This should mirror in phenomena such as electromagnetic-induced transparency and harmonic generation. Here we demonstrate that in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator, an electromagnetic-induced transparency is achieved under the application of a strong terahertz electric field. This effect, concomitantly determined by harmonic generation and charge-mobility reduction, is exclusively related to the presence of Dirac electron at the surface of Bi 2 Se 3, and opens the road towards tunable terahertz nonlinear optical devices based on topological insulator materials.

AB - Electrons with a linear energy/momentum dispersion are called massless Dirac electrons and represent the low-energy excitations in exotic materials such as graphene and topological insulators. Dirac electrons are characterized by notable properties such as a high mobility, a tunable density and, in topological insulators, a protection against backscattering through the spin-momentum locking mechanism. All those properties make graphene and topological insulators appealing for plasmonics applications. However, Dirac electrons are expected to present also a strong nonlinear optical behaviour. This should mirror in phenomena such as electromagnetic-induced transparency and harmonic generation. Here we demonstrate that in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator, an electromagnetic-induced transparency is achieved under the application of a strong terahertz electric field. This effect, concomitantly determined by harmonic generation and charge-mobility reduction, is exclusively related to the presence of Dirac electron at the surface of Bi 2 Se 3, and opens the road towards tunable terahertz nonlinear optical devices based on topological insulator materials.

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Strong nonlinear terahertz response induced by Dirac surface states in Bi 2 Se 3 topological insulator

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