Using Ultrashort Light Pulses to Probe and Control Quasiparticle Dynamics in Topological Materials

Invited

Abstract

Low energy excitations can shed light on the interplay between different degrees of freedom in complex materials. Ultrashort optical and terahertz (THz) pulses can be used to both drive and probe these excitations. This is particularly useful in topological materials, since coupling these excitations to light can potentially enable control of their properties. Here, the use of ultrafast THz spectroscopy to separately probe the dynamics of surface and bulk carriers and drive nonlinear phonon dynamics in the topological insulator Bi2Se3 will be discussed. We will also describe recent experiments using nonlinear optical techniques to examine quasiparticle dynamics in the Weyl semimetals WTe2 and TaAs.

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Presenters

  • Rohit Prasankumar

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Authors

  • Pamela Bowlan

    Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Yaomin Dai

    Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Physics, Nanjing University, CMPMS, Brookhaven Natl Lab

  • Stuart Trugman

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Jian-Xin Zhu

    Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Division, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Dzmitry Yarotski

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Antoinette Taylor

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Rohit Prasankumar

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory