Photon-assisted ultrafast electron-hole plasma expansion in direct band semiconductors.

Time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy is used to investigate formation and ultrafast long-distance propagation of electron-hole plasma in strongly photoexcited GaAs and InP. The observed phenomena involve fundamental interactions of electron-hole system with light, which manifest themselves in two different regimes: a coherent one with the plasma propagation speeds up to /10 (in GaAs at 20 K) and an incoherent one reaching up to /25 (in InP at 20 K), both over a macroscopic distance >100 μm. We explore a broad range of experimental conditions by investigating the two materials, by tuning their band gap with temperature and by controlling the interaction strength with the optical pump fluence.

A Frustrated Antipolar Phase Analogous to Classical Spin Liquids.

The study of magnetic frustration in classical spin systems is motivated by the prediction and discovery of classical spin liquid states. These uncommon magnetic phases are characterized by a massive degeneracy of their ground state implying a finite magnetic entropy at zero temperature. While the classical spin liquid state is originally predicted in the Ising triangular lattice antiferromagnet in 1950, this state has never been experimentally observed in any triangular magnets.

Undulations of Smectic A Layers in Achiral Liquid Crystals Manifested as Stripe Textures.

Self-assembly of organic molecules represents a fascinating playground to create various liquid crystalline nanostructures. In this Letter, we study layer undulations on micrometer scale in smectic A phases for achiral compounds, experimentally demonstrated as regular stripe patterns induced by thermal treatment. Undulations, including their anharmonic properties, are evaluated by means of polarimetric imaging and light diffraction experiments in cells with various thicknesses.

Ultrafast Long-Distance Electron-Hole Plasma Expansion in GaAs Mediated by Stimulated Emission and Reabsorption of Photons.

Electron-hole plasma expansion with velocities exceeding c/50 and lasting over 10 ps at 300 K was evidenced by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy. This regime, in which the carriers are driven over >30  μm is governed by stimulated emission due to low-energy electron-hole pair recombination and reabsorption of the emitted photons outside the plasma volume. At low temperatures a speed of c/10 was observed in the regime where the excitation pulse spectrally overlaps with emitted photons, leading to strong coherent light-matter interaction and optical soliton propagation effects.

Terahertz charge transport dynamics in 3D graphene networks with localization and band regimes.

Terahertz steady-state and time-resolved conductivity and permittivity spectra were measured in 3D graphene networks assembled in free-standing covalently cross-linked graphene aerogels. Investigation of a transition between reduced-graphene oxide and graphene controlled by means of high-temperature annealing allowed us to elucidate the role of defects in the charge carrier transport in the materials. The THz spectra reveal increasing conductivity and decreasing permittivity with frequency.