Super-resolution lightwave tomography of quantum materials

Extremely strong lightwaves excite semiconductor quasiparticles much faster than scattering occurs, which paves the way for detailed control and transport of electronic quantum coherences, resembling capabilities in atomic attosecond science. I will present the latest advancements in such lightwave electronics, enabling ultrafast access and control of electronic quantum information in solids, possibly at petahertz rates. Our approach combines experiments with first-principles quantum dynamic cluster-expansion theory [1] that simultaneously handles both extreme lightwave and many-body excitations to provide systematic route to discoveries. Examples include demonstration of flipping valleytronic qubit in a WSe2 monolayer in less than 5fs [2], introducing crystal-momentum combs for enabling super-resolution imaging of electronic bands of quantum materials [3], and timing many-body effects in harmonic sideband generation down to attosecond resolution.

Work in collaboration with M. Borsch, C. P. Schmid, C. Lange, and R. Huber.

We acknowledge financial support by Army Research Office, Keck Foundation, and UM CoE Blue-Sky Initiative.

[1] M. Kira and S. W. Koch, Semiconductor Quantum Optics (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

[2] F. Langer et al., Nature 557, 76 (2018).

[3] M. Borsch et al., Science 370, 1204 (2020).