Fig. 1: Diagram of stimulated phonon polariton-mediated light–matter interaction (SPhP-LMI) in LiNbO3 crystal. | Communications Physics

Fig. 1: Diagram of stimulated phonon polariton-mediated light–matter interaction (SPhP-LMI) in LiNbO3 crystal.

From: Light–matter interaction beyond Born–Oppenheimer approximation mediated by stimulated phonon polaritons

Fig. 1

a Traditional LMI mechanism. Only electrons can be excited when visible/infrared light inputs the LiNbO3 crystal, and the ions are hardly excited. b SPhP-LMI mechanism excited by THz waves. SPhPs are excited when THz waves input the LiNbO3 crystal. The ions are modulated by SPhPs and show strong coherent delocalization, where electronic states are changed accordingly through ion-electron coupling. This indicates a distinct LMI between THz waves and LiNbO3 crystal, beyond Born–Oppenheimer approximation. c SPhP-LMI mechanism excited by visible/infrared light with THz waves exciting SPhPs. Electronic states are thus modulated by the SPhP-induced coherently delocalized ions, so the visible/infrared light performs a different excitation, which results in a dramatical material modulation and finds a distinctive approach to achieving weak-light nonlinear photonics. Here Born–Oppenheimer approximation is not applicable.

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