Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Linear polarization”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Controlling polarization of spintronic THz emitter by remanent magnetization texture

Terahertz (THz) sciences and technologies have contributed to a rapid development of a wide range of applications and expanded the frontiers in fundamental science. Spintronic terahertz emitters offer conceptual advantages since the spin orientation in the magnetic layer can be easily controlled either by the externally applied magnetic field or by the internal magnetic field distribution determined by the specific shape of the magnetic elements. Here, we report a switchable terahertz source based on micropatterned magnetic heterostructures driven by femtosecond laser pulses. We show that the precise tunability of the polarization state is facilitated by the underlying magnetization texture of the magnetic layer that is dictated by the shape of the microstructure. These results also reveal the underlying physical mechanisms of a nonuniform magnetization state on the generation of ultrafast spin currents in the magnetic heterostructures. Our findings indicate that the emission of the linearly polarized THz waves can be switched on and off by saturating the sample using a biasing magnetic field, opening fascinating perspectives for integrated on-chip THz devices with wide-ranging potential applications.

Wu, Weipeng↗
DOE OSTI2021

High-order replica bands in monolayer FeSe/SrTiO3 revealed by polarization-dependent photoemission spectroscopy

Abstract The mechanism of the enhanced superconductivity in monolayer FeSe/SrTiO 3 has been enthusiastically studied and debated over the past decade. One specific observation has been taken to be of central importance: the replica bands in the photoemission spectrum. Although suggestive of electron-phonon interaction in the material, the essence of these spectroscopic features remains highly controversial. In this work, we conduct angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on monolayer FeSe/SrTiO 3 using linearly polarized photons. This configuration enables unambiguous characterization of the valence electronic structure with a suppression of the spectral background. We consistently observe high-order replica bands derived from various Fe 3 d bands, similar to those observed on bare SrTiO 3 . The intensity of the replica bands is unexpectedly high and different between d xy and d yz bands. Our results provide new insights on the electronic structure of this high-temperature superconductor and the physical origin of the photoemission replica bands.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Polarized vector oscillons

Oscillons are spatially localized, time-periodic, and long-lived configurations that were primarily proposed in scalar field theories with attractive self-interactions. In this paper, we demonstrate that oscillons also exist in the low-energy effective theory of an interacting massive (real) vector field. We provide two types of vector oscillons with vanishing orbital angular momentum, and approximately spherically symmetric energy density, but not field configurations. These are: (1) “directional” oscillons (linearly polarized), with vanishing total intrinsic spin, and (2) “spinning” oscillons (circularly polarized) with a macroscopic intrinsic spin equal to ℏ× number of particles in the oscillon. In contrast to the case with only gravitational interactions, the two oscillons have different energy at a fixed particle number even in the nonrelativistic limit. By carrying out relativistic 3+1d simulations, we show that these oscillons can be long-lived (compared to the oscillation time for the fields), and can arise from a range of Gaussian initial spatial profiles. These considerations make vector oscillons potentially relevant during the early universe and in dark photon dark matter, with novel phenomenology related to their polarization.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integrating collapsible plasmonic gaps on near-field probes for polarization-resolved mapping of plasmon-enhanced emission in 2D material

Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is an important technique used to study the optical properties of material systems at the nanoscale. In previous work, we reported on the use of nanoimprinting to improve the reproducibility and throughput of near-field probes including complicated optical antenna structures such as the ‘campanile’ probe. However, precise control over the plasmonic gap size, which determines the near-field enhancement and spatial resolution, remains a challenge. Here, we present a novel approach to fabricating a sub-20 nm plasmonic gap in a near-field plasmonic probe through the controlled collapse of imprinted nanostructures using atomic layer deposition (ALD) coatings to define the gap width. The resulting ultranarrow gap at the apex of the probe provides a strong polarization-sensitive near-field optical response, which results in an enhancement of the optical transmission in a broad wavelength range from 620 to 820 nm, enabling tip-enhanced photoluminescence (TEPL) mapping of 2-dimensional (2D) materials. We demonstrate the potential of this near-field probe by mapping a 2D exciton coupled to a linearly polarized plasmonic resonance with below 30 nm spatial resolution. This work proposes a novel approach for integrating a plasmonic antenna at the apex of the near-field probe, paving the way for the fundamental study of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale.

Zhou, Junze (ORCID:000000020682767X)↗
DOE OSTI2025

High Optical-to-X-Ray Polarization Ratio Reveals Compton Scattering in BL Lacertae’s Jet

Blazars, supermassive black hole systems with highly relativistic jets aligned with the line of sight, are the most powerful long-lived emitters of electromagnetic emission in the Universe. We report here on a radio-to-gamma-ray multiwavelength campaign on the blazar BL Lacertae with unprecedented polarimetric coverage from radio to X-ray wavelengths. The observations caught an extraordinary event on 2023 November 10–18, when the degree of linear polarization of optical synchrotron radiation reached a record value of 47.5%. In stark contrast, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer found that the X-ray (Compton scattering or hadron-induced) emission was polarized at less than 7.4% (3 σ confidence level). We argue here that this observational result rules out a hadronic origin of the high-energy emission and strongly favors a leptonic (Compton scattering) origin, thereby breaking the degeneracy between hadronic and leptonic emission models for BL Lacertae and demonstrating the power of multiwavelength polarimetry to address this question. Furthermore, the multiwavelength flux and polarization variability, featuring an extremely prominent rise and decay of the optical polarization degree, is interpreted for the first time by the relaxation of a magnetic “spring” embedded in the newly injected plasma. This suggests that the plasma jet can maintain a predominant toroidal magnetic field component parsecs away from the central engine.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enabling elliptically polarized high harmonic generation with short cross polarized laser pulses

Abstract Enabling elliptically polarized high-order harmonics overcomes a historical limitation in the generation of this highly nonlinear process in atomic, molecular and optical physics with applications in other branches. Here, we shed new light on a controversy between experimental observations and theoretical predictions on the possibility to generate harmonics with large ellipticity using two bichromatic laser pulses which are linearly polarized in orthogonal directions. Results of numerical calculations confirm the previous experimental data that in short laser pulses even harmonics with large ellipticity can be obtained for the interaction of such cross-polarized laser pulses with atoms initially in a s - or p -state, while odd harmonics have low ellipticity. The amount of the ellipticity can be controlled via the relative carrier-envelope phase of the pulses, their intensity ratio and the duration of the pulses.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Circularly Polarized Attosecond Pulses Enabled by an Azimuthal Phase and Polarization Grating

High-harmonic generation (HHG) is an extreme nonlinear optical process that can map the properties of an infrared driving laser beam onto short wavelength attosecond pulse trains. However, current techniques for generating circularly polarized high harmonics for probing magnetic materials and chiral systems have limitations: two-color collinear counter-rotating driving lasers result in a low cutoff photon energy, while single-color non-collinear counter-rotating schemes suffer from low conversion efficiency. In this work, we generate circularly polarized attosecond pulse trains by using a structured laser driver which has a rotating polarization and phase grating along the azimuthal coordinate. Furthermore, our experimental and numerical results demonstrate the production of left and right circularly polarized harmonics, which naturally separate upon propagation. Our approach uses a single laser color in a collinear geometry, that can be scaled for high efficiency. Simulations show this scheme can extend into the soft x-ray region when driven by mid-infrared driving lasers, while preserving the same high phase-matching cutoff photon energy as for linearly-polarized high harmonics.

attosecond science↗
DOE OSTI2025

Single-shot electro-optic sampling with arbitrary terahertz polarization

With the recent development of diversity electro-optic sampling (DEOS), significant progress has been made in the range of applicability of single-shot EOS measurements, allowing broadband THz waveforms to be captured in a single shot over large temporal windows. In addition to the decrease in acquisition time compared to standard multishot data acquisition, this technique allows measurements on systems far from equilibrium with large shot-to-shot noise or with irreversible or poorly repeatable dynamics. Although DEOS has been demonstrated and verified for linearly polarized THz waveforms, we investigate the effects resulting from the presence of a secondary polarization component. This imposes new challenges for accurate waveform reconstruction, and opens the opportunity to measure out complex polarization states such as arbitrary elliptically polarized THz field. We demonstrate a single-shot diversity-electro-optic-sampling-based approach to capture both x- and y-THz fields simultaneously with a single (110)-cut EO crystal for THz polarimetry and ellipsometry over a wide range of frequencies.

Lenz, Maximilian [University of California, Los An↗
DOE OSTI2020

Excitation of Nonradiating Anapoles in Dielectric Nanospheres

Although the study of nonradiating anapoles has long been part of fundamental physics, the dynamic anapole at optical frequencies was only recently experimentally demonstrated in a specialized silicon nanodisk structure. In this article, we report excitation of the electrodynamic anapole state in isotropic silicon nanospheres using radially polarized beam illumination. The superposition of equal and out-of-phase amplitudes of the Cartesian electric and toroidal dipoles produces a pronounced dip in the scattering spectra with the scattering intensity almost reaching zero-a signature of anapole excitation. The total scattering intensity associated with the anapole excitation is found to be more than 10 times weaker for illumination with radially vs linearly polarized beams. Our approach provides a simple, straightforward alternative path to realizing nonradiating anapole states at the optical frequencies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Constraints on axionlike polarization oscillations in the cosmic microwave background with POLARBEAR

Very light pseudoscalar fields, often referred to as axions, are compelling dark matter candidates and can potentially be detected through their coupling to the electromagnetic field. Recently a novel detection technique using the cosmic microwave background (CMB) was proposed, which relies on the fact that the axion field oscillates at a frequency equal to its mass in appropriate units, leading to a time-dependent birefringence. For appropriate oscillation periods this allows the axion field at the telescope to be detected via the induced sinusoidal oscillation of the CMB linear polarization. Furthermore, we search for this effect in two years of POLARBEAR data. We do not detect a signal and place a median 95% upper limit of 0.65° on the sinusoid amplitude for oscillation frequencies between 0.02 days -1 and 0.45 -1 days, which corresponds to axion masses between 9.6 × 10 -22 eV and 2.2 × 10 -20 eV. Under the assumptions that 1) the axion constitutes all the dark matter and 2) the axion field amplitude is a Rayleigh-distributed stochastic variable, this translates to a limit on the axion-photon coupling g Φγ < 2.4 × 10 -11 GeV -1 × (m Φ /10 -21 eV).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Imaging Polarization of the Blue-excess Hot Dust-obscured Galaxy WISE J011601.41–050504.0

We report on VLT/FORS2 imaging polarimetry observations in the R Special band of WISE J011601.41–050504.0 (W0116–0505), a heavily obscured hyperluminous quasar at z = 3.173 classified as a Hot Dust-obscured Galaxy (Hot DOG) based on its mid-IR colors. Recently, Assef et al. identified W0116–0505 as having excess rest-frame optical/UV emission and concluded that this excess emission is most likely scattered light from the heavily obscured AGN. We find that the broadband rest-frame UV flux is strongly linearly polarized (10.8% ± 1.9%, with a polarization angle of 74° ± 9°), confirming this conclusion. We analyze these observations in the context of a simple model based on scattering either by free electrons or by optically thin dust, assuming a classical dust torus with polar openings. Both can replicate the degree of polarization and the luminosity of the scattered component for a range of geometries and column densities, but we argue that optically thin dust in the ISM is the more likely scenario. We also explore the possibility that the scattering medium corresponds to an outflow recently identified for W0116–0505. This is a feasible option if the outflow component is biconical with most of the scattering occurring at the base of the receding outflow. In this scenario, the quasar would still be obscured even if viewed face-on but might appear as a reddened type 1 quasar once the outflow has expanded. We discuss a possible connection between blue-excess Hot DOGs, extremely red quasars, reddened type 1 quasars, and unreddened quasars that depends on a combination of evolution and viewing geometry.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

System and method for determining absolute carrier-envelope phase of ultrashort laser pulses

A system for determining an absolute carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of ultrashort laser pulses includes a laser system for generating a laser beam including ultrashort optical pulses of a duration of less than 10 fs, an ultrabroadband quarter-wave plate configured to polarize the laser beam, and a gas jet emitting a continuous jet stream into the laser beam. The system includes focusing optics to adjust a focal spot of the laser beam to the gas jet, and a detector arrangement including a beam block and a microchannel plate (MCP) imaging detector, wherein the laser beam is directed to the detector arrangement. The method involves using angular streaking to determine the absolute CEP of both elliptically and linearly polarized light.

Li, Wen↗
DOE OSTI2024

Signatures of vacuum birefringence in low-power flying focus pulses

Vacuum birefringence produces a differential phase between orthogonally polarized components of a weak electromagnetic probe in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field. Despite representing a hallmark prediction of quantum electrodynamics, vacuum birefringence remains untested in pure light configurations due to the extremely large electromagnetic fields required for a detectable phase difference. Here, we exploit the programmable focal velocity and extended focal range of a flying focus laser pulse to substantially lower the laser power required for detection of vacuum birefringence. In the proposed scheme, a linearly polarized x-ray probe pulse counterpropagates with respect to a flying focus pulse, whose focus moves at the speed of light in the same direction as the x-ray probe. The peak intensity of the flying focus pulse overlaps the probe over millimeter-scale distances and induces a polarization ellipticity on the order of 10 − 10 , which lies within the detection sensitivity of existing x-ray polarimeters. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Carrier-Envelope Phase Control in Terahertz Pulse Generation Using InAs Ribbon Metasurfaces

Generation of broadband terahertz (THz) pulses with variable polarization and carrier-envelope phase can enable the tailoring of THz beam wavefronts for advanced applications in THz imaging and spectroscopy and for strong THz field optics. While metasurfaces composed of deeply subwavelength THz emitters have recently been demonstrated to define the polarization and spatial profile of the generated THz fields, precise phase control or synthesis of THz pulse waveforms remains a challenging problem. Here, we propose and demonstrate metasurfaces composed of indium arsenide (InAs) nanoscale ribbon arrays capable of generating THz pulses with variable carrier-envelope phase. We show that different THz generation mechanisms, each contributing distinct phases, can be activated in the ribbons, enabling carrier-envelope phase control spanning a range of π over a wide band of frequencies (∼1–3 THz). This is achieved solely through the ribbon array geometry using linearly polarized optical excitation of the ribbons. The arrays enable precise control of the THz phase and amplitude, opening the door to advanced structured THz wavefront synthesis using ultrathin dielectric metasurfaces.

carrier-envelope phase↗
DOE OSTI2025

Probing circular polarization and magnetic field structure in active galactic nuclei

The composition and magnetic field morphology of relativistic jets can be studied using circular polarization (CP) measurement. Recent three-dimensional relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (3D RMHD) simulations coupled with radiative transfer (RT) calculations make strong predictions about the level (and morphology) of the jet’s CP emission. These simulations show that the sign of CP and the electric vector position angle (EVPA) are both sensitive to the jet’s magnetic field morphology within the radio core. We probe this theory by exploring whether the jet’s radio core EVPA orientation is consistent with the observed sign of the core CP in deep full-track polarimetric observations. Based on a selection of sources from earlier MOJAVE observations, we aim to probe the nature of linear polarization (LP) and CP in the innermost regions of jets from a small sample of nine blazars. This sample includes sources that have exhibited: (i) positive CP; (ii) negative CP; or (iii) positive and negative CP simultaneously in the radio core region. By coupling deep polarimetric observations of a carefully selected sample of blazars with state-of-the-art RMHD and RT calculations, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the physics of blazar jets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ultrafast electron dynamics of graphene quantum dots: High harmonic generation

We study theoretically nonlinear optical properties of graphene quantum dots placed in a field of a short and strong linearly polarized optical pulse. We address the problem of high harmonic generation in quantum dots and how such nonlinear effect is affected by dephasing processes in a quantum dot. The dephasing makes the ultrafast electron dynamics more irreversible with a large residual population of the excited quantum dot levels. In relation to the high-harmonic spectrum, with increasing the dephasing time, the intensities of the low-frequency harmonics increase while the cutoff energy decreases. The dependence of the cutoff energy on the amplitude of the optical pulse is also sensitive to the frequency of the pulse. When the frequency of the optical pulse is much less than the quantum dot band gap, this dependence is almost linear, but when the frequency of the pulse is comparable to the band gap, the cutoff energy shows saturation behavior at large field amplitude, >0.4 V/Å.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Highly Anisotropic Drude-Weight-Reduction and Enhanced Linear-Dichroism in van der Waals Weyl Semimetal T d -MoTe 2 with Coherent Interlayer Electronic Transport

Weyl semimetal (WSM) states can be achieved by breaking spatial-inversion symmetry or time reversal symmetry. However, the anisotropy of the energy reduction contributing to the emergence of WSM states has seldom been investigated by experiments. A van der Waals metal MoTe 2 exhibits a type-II WSM phase below the monoclinic-to-orthorhombic-phase-transition temperature T c ~ 250 K. Here, in this work, a combined linearly polarized optical-spectroscopy and electrical-transport study of MoTe 2 is reported at different temperatures. The Drude components in the a-axis, b-axis, and c-axis optical conductivity spectra, together with the metallic out-of-plane and in-plane electrical resistivities, indicate the coherent inter-layer and in-plane charge transports. Moreover, the Drude weight in σ 1a (ω), rather than the Drude weights in σ 1b (ω) and σ 1c (ω), decreases dramatically below T c , which exhibits a highly anisotropic decrease in its Drude weight and thus suggests a strongly anisotropic reduction of the electronic kinetic energy in the WSM phase. Furthermore, below T c , due to the in-plane anisotropic spectral-weight transfer from Drude component to high-energy region, the in-plane inter-band-absorption anisotropy increases remarkably ≈770 meV, and has the largest value (≈0.68) of normalized linear dichroism among the reported type-II WSMs. The work sheds light on seeking new WSMs and developing novel photonic devices based on WSMs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mechanochromic Palettes Based on Optical Rotation in Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Elastomers for Visual Signalling

Mechanochromic photonic materials present promising prospects for enhancing diverse facets of human life. Cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) present immediate mechanochromic properties, allowing their utility in various fields, including camouflages, textiles, and anticounterfeiting. Nonetheless, it is essential to provide differentiated color information corresponding to diverse types and degrees of deformation for practical use in real life. Herein, the mechanochromic responses of CLCEs are investigated using their optical rotation under compression and uniaxial stretching. The CLCEs exhibit the same reflection colors indistinguishable for compression and uniaxial stretching due to their contracted pitches. In contrast, the linearly polarized light passing through deformed CLCEs can be modulated by optical rotation, resulting in distinct transmission colors that can be discerned through mechanical deformations. A visual signaling system with color information derived from optical rotation is demonstrated. By comprehending and manipulating the mechanoresponsive behavior of CLCEs, these materials can be advanced into innovative solutions with enhanced functionality and performance, thereby broadening their applications for human life enhancement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗