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Coherent cyclotron motion beyond Kohn’s theorem

Nature Physics volume 12, pages 119–123 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

In solids, the high density of charged particles makes many-body interactions a pervasive principle governing optics and electronics1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. However, Walter Kohn found in 1961 that the cyclotron resonance of Landau-quantized electrons is independent of the seemingly inescapable Coulomb interaction between electrons2. Although this surprising theorem has been exploited in sophisticated quantum phenomena13,14,15, such as ultrastrong light–matter coupling16, superradiance17 and coherent control18, the complete absence of nonlinearities excludes many intriguing possibilities, such as quantum-logic protocols19. Here, we use intense terahertz pulses to drive the cyclotron response of a two-dimensional electron gas beyond the protective limits of Kohn’s theorem. Anharmonic Landau ladder climbing and distinct terahertz four- and six-wave mixing signatures occur, which our theory links to dynamic Coulomb effects between electrons and the positively charged ion background. This new context for Kohn’s theorem unveils previously inaccessible internal degrees of freedom of Landau electrons, opening up new realms of ultrafast quantum control for electrons.

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Figure 1: Linear terahertz magnetospectroscopy of a 2DEG Landau system.
Figure 2: Dynamics of Landau system under non-perturbative single-pulse excitation.
Figure 3: Two-dimensional, phase-resolved, collinear terahertz spectroscopy.
Figure 4: Time-domain switch-off analysis of nonlinear contributions.

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Acknowledgements

The work in Regensburg was supported by the European Research Council through grant no. 305003 (QUANTUMsubCYCLE) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (LA 3307/1-1, HU 1598/2-1, BO 3140/3-1, and Collaborative Research Center SFB 689). The work at the University of Marburg was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through SFB 1083 and grant KI 917/2-2 (M.K.), and the Alexander von Humboldt foundation (J.E.S.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany

    T. Maag, A. Bayer, S. Baierl, M. Hohenleutner, T. Korn, C. Schüller, D. Schuh, D. Bougeard, C. Lange & R. Huber

  2. Department of Physics, University of Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany

    M. Mootz, J. E. Sipe, S. W. Koch & M. Kira

  3. Department of Physics and Institute for Optical Sciences, University of Toronto, 60 St George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada

    J. E. Sipe

Authors
  1. T. Maag
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  2. A. Bayer
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  4. M. Hohenleutner
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  13. S. W. Koch
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  14. M. Kira
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Contributions

T.M., A.B., M.M. and C.L. contributed equally to this work. C.L., T.M., M.K., S.W.K. and R.H. conceived the study. T.M., C.L., A.B., S.B., M.H., T.K., C.S., D.B. and R.H. carried out the experiment and analysed the data. A.B., D.S. and D.B. prepared the sample. M.M., J.E.S., S.W.K. and M.K. developed the quantum-mechanical model and carried out the computations. C.L., T.M., M.M., S.W.K., M.K. and R.H. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results.

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Correspondence to C. Lange.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Maag, T., Bayer, A., Baierl, S. et al. Coherent cyclotron motion beyond Kohn’s theorem. Nature Phys 12, 119–123 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3559

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