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Manipulating superconductor materials for quantum optical materials

Optical manipulation of the charge-density-wave state in RbV₃Sb₅

Nature (2024)

A research team explores unusual behavior in a certain class of superconductors.

As detailed in this paper, the team was interested in whether these materials exhibit broken time-reversal symmetry. If you reverse time, would the tape of the system’s behavior also play backwards? If not, then time-reversal symmetry is broken.

The team found they could manipulate the material’s behavior in new ways with light and magnetic fields. And, in fact, the superconducting material indicated a strong interaction between electrons and vibrations in the material that leads to an enhanced sensitivity to strain. The electromagnetic field response provides strong evidence for broken time-reversal symmetry.

The researchers’ findings open possibilities for controlling quantum materials using light, which could have exciting applications in future quantum technologies.

The paper’s authors are Yuqing Xing, Seokjin Bae, Ethan Ritz, Fan Yang, Turan Birol, Andrea N. Capa Salinas, Brenden R. Ortiz, Stephen D. Wilson, Ziqiang Wang, Rafael M. Fernandes and Vidya Madhavan, conducting work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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