Physicists Discover New Coupling Mechanism in Quantum Materials
Edoardo Baldini and his colleagues discovered a new way to detect and control exotic quantum phases in ferroaxial materials with light.
Illuminating the crystal with light with a built-in sense of rotation (white beam) reveals regions where the star-of-David clusters adopt opposite orientations (shown in red and blue) and uncovers how the collective motion of the quantum phase and atomic vibrations interact with each other. © Jörg M. Harms, MPSD
An international team of researchers, including Edoardo Baldini from The University of Texas at Austin, has demonstrated a new mechanism by which distinct vibrations in a crystal – normally decoupled by symmetry – can be dynamically linked. Using a light scattering technique, the team showed that in a special class of crystals with a built-in sense of rotation, known as ferroaxial materials, collective fluctuations of this ordered state act as a dynamical bridge between otherwise independent vibrational modes. This unconventional channel, called resonant chiral dressing, has also been fully explained theoretically. The findings, published in Nature Physics, open new routes to detect and control exotic quantum phases with light.
For a layman’s description, read the related press release from the Max Planck Institute.
