Energy-Efficient Integrated Electro-Optic Memristors.

Neuromorphic photonic processors are redefining the boundaries of classical computing by enabling high-speed multidimensional information processing within the memory. Memristors, the backbone of neuromorphic processors, retain their state after programming without static power consumption. Among them, electro-optic memristors are of great interest, as they enable dual electrical-optical functionality that bridges the efficiency of electronics and the bandwidth of photonics.

Impact of MoS Monolayers on the Thermoelastic Response of Silicon Heterostructures.

Understanding the thermoelastic response of a nanostructure is crucial for the choice of materials and interfaces in electronic devices with improved and tailored transport properties at the nanoscale. Here, we show how the deposition of a MoS monolayer can strongly modify the nanoscale thermoelastic dynamics of silicon substrates close to their interface. We demonstrate this by creating a transient grating with extreme ultraviolet light, using ultrashort free-electron laser pulses, whose ≈84 nm period is comparable to the size of elements typically used in nanodevices, such as electric contacts and nanowires.

Out-of-equilibrium charge redistribution in a copper-oxide based superconductor by time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Charge-transfer excitations are of paramount importance for understanding the electronic structure of copper-oxide based high-temperature superconductors. In this study, we investigate the response of a Bi Sr CaCu O crystal to the charge redistribution induced by an infrared ultrashort pulse. Element-selective time-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy with a high energy resolution allows disentangling the dynamics of oxygen ions with different coordination and bonds thanks to their different chemical shifts.

The MagneDyn beamline at the FERMI free electron laser.

The scope of this paper is to outline the main marks and performances of the MagneDyn beamline, which was designed and built to perform ultrafast magnetodynamic studies in solids. Open to users since 2019, MagneDyn operates with variable circular and linear polarized femtosecond pulses delivered by the externally laser-seeded FERMI free-electron laser (FEL). The very high degree of polarization, the high pulse-to-pulse stability, and the photon energy tunability in the 50-300 eV range allow performing advanced time-resolved magnetic dichroic experiments at the K-edge of light elements, e.

Ultrafast manipulation of the NiO antiferromagnetic order sub-gap optical excitation.

Wide-band-gap insulators such as NiO offer the exciting prospect of coherently manipulating electronic correlations with strong optical fields. Contrary to metals where rapid dephasing of optical excitation electronic processes occurs, the sub-gap excitation in charge-transfer insulators has been shown to couple to low-energy bosonic excitations. However, it is currently unknown if the bosonic dressing field is composed of phonons or magnons.

Quantum state features of the FEL radiation from the occupation number statistics.

The coherence of free-electron laser (FEL) radiation has so far been accessed mainly through first and second order correlation functions. Instead, we propose to reconstruct the energy state occupation number distribution of FEL radiation, avoiding the photo-counting drawbacks with high intensities, by means of maximum likelihood techniques based on the statistics of no-click events. Though the ultimate goal regards the FEL radiation statistical features, the interest of the proposal also resides in its applicability to any process of harmonic generation from a coherent light pulse, ushering in the study of the preservation of quantum features in general non-linear optical processes.

Suspension laryngoscopy-assisted percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy: a safe method in COVID-19.

Objective: COVID-19 respiratory insufficiency has augmented demand of tracheostomies in intubated patients. Herein, we analyse our experience with suspension laryngoscopy-assisted percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (SL-PDT) to assess the safety for both healthcare personnel and patients.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all patients who underwent SL-PDT in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between March 13 and April 17, 2020 (first peak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic).

A novel free-electron laser single-pulse Wollaston polarimeter for magneto-dynamical studies.

Here, we report on the conceptual design, the hardware realization, and the first experimental results of a novel and compact x-ray polarimeter capable of a single-pulse linear polarization angle detection in the extreme ultraviolet photon energy range. The polarimeter is tested by performing time resolved pump-probe experiments on a NiFe Permalloy film at the M Ni edge at an externally seeded free-electron laser source. Comparison with similar experiments reported in the literature shows the advantages of our approach also in view of future experiments.

Polarization-resolved broadband time-resolved optical spectroscopy for complex materials: application to the case of MoTe polytypes.

Time-resolved optical spectroscopy (TR-OS) has emerged as a fundamental spectroscopic tool for probing complex materials, to both investigate ground-state-related properties and trigger phase transitions among different states with peculiar electronic and lattice structures. We describe a versatile approach to perform polarization-resolved TR-OS measurements, by combining broadband detection with the capability to simultaneously probe two orthogonal polarization states. This method allows us to probe, with femtoseconds resolution, the frequency-resolved reflectivity or transmittivity variations along two mutually orthogonal directions, matching the principal axis of the crystal structure of the material under scrutiny.

Coherent narrowband light source for ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy in the 17-31 eV photon energy range.

Here, we report on a novel narrowband High Harmonic Generation (HHG) light source designed for ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) on solids. Notably, at 16.9 eV photon energy, the harmonics bandwidth equals 19 meV.

Selective wavelength conversion in a few-mode fiber.

We experimentally demonstrate a means to selectively enhance wavelength conversion of WDM channels on a 100 GHz grid exploiting nonlinear effects between the spatial modes of a few mode fiber. The selectivity of parametric gain is obtained by dispersion design of the fiber such that the inverse group velocity curves of the participating modes are parallel and their dispersion is suitably large. We describe both theoretically and experimentally the observed dependence of the idler gain profile on pump mode (quasi) degeneracy.

Distributed acoustic sensor based on a two-mode fiber.

A distributed optical fiber dynamic strain sensor also known as a distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) based on two-mode fiber is demonstrated. By using φ-OTDR interrogation technique, the backscattered light from higher order modes can be used to fully quantify vibrations along the sensing fiber. In addition, by combining the results obtained from different modes, 2.

Distinctive Picosecond Spin Polarization Dynamics in Bulk Half Metals.

Femtosecond laser excitations in half-metal (HM) compounds are theoretically predicted to induce an exotic picosecond spin dynamics. In particular, conversely to what is observed in conventional metals and semiconductors, the thermalization process in HMs leads to a long living partially thermalized configuration characterized by three Fermi-Dirac distributions for the minority, majority conduction, and majority valence electrons, respectively. Remarkably, these distributions have the same temperature but different chemical potentials.

Ultralow-fluence single-shot optical crystalline-to-amorphous phase transition in Ge-Sb-Te nanoparticles.

Here we demonstrate that the 0-dimensional confinement of Ge2Sb2Te5 results in a drastic reduction of the minimum critical fluence required for optical-induced amorphization when compared to the thin-film cases. We show that by using single-shot laser pulses, the investigated nanoparticles display a crystalline-to-amorphous transition, satisfying a mandatory requirement of a bit-memory element. These unprecedented results open a viable route to boost energy efficient phase-change processes.

Monitoring metabolic reactions in Staphylococcus epidermidis exposed to silicon nitride using in situ time-lapse Raman spectroscopy.

Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) is one of the leading nosocomial pathogens, particularly associated with periprosthetic infections of biomedical implants. Silicon nitride (Si3N4), a nonoxide biomaterial widely used in spinal implants, has shown bacteriostatic effects against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria; however, the physicochemical interactions between Si3N4 and bacteria yet remain conspicuously unexplored.

Dynamics of correlation-frozen antinodal quasiparticles in superconducting cuprates.

Many puzzling properties of high-critical temperature () superconducting (HTSC) copper oxides have deep roots in the nature of the antinodal quasiparticles, the elementary excitations with wave vector parallel to the Cu-O bonds. These electronic states are most affected by the onset of antiferromagnetic correlations and charge instabilities, and they host the maximum of the anisotropic superconducting gap and pseudogap. We use time-resolved extreme-ultraviolet photoemission with proper photon energy (18 eV) and time resolution (50 fs) to disclose the ultrafast dynamics of the antinodal states in a prototypical HTSC cuprate.

Frequency uncertainty improvement in a STFT-BOTDR using highly nonlinear optical fibers.

The sensitivity of a sensor to strain or the temperature variations due to distributed Brillouin scattering are partially related to the type of fibers used and the Brillouin scattering induced effective index. In this paper, a highly nonlinear fiber that can generate a higher Brillouin scattering signal is compared to a standard single mode fiber in a short-time-Fourier-transform Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (STFT-BOTDR). The results show that much higher signal to noise ratios of the Brillouin scattering spectrum and smaller frequency uncertainties in the sensing measurement can be achieved in the highly nonlinear fiber for comparable launched powers.

Ultrafast magnetodynamics with free-electron lasers.

The study of ultrafast magnetodynamics has entered a new era thanks to the groundbreaking technological advances in free-electron laser (FEL) light sources. The advent of these light sources has made possible unprecedented experimental schemes for time-resolved x-ray magneto-optic spectroscopies, which are now paving the road for exploring the ultimate limits of out-of-equilibrium magnetic phenomena. In particular, these studies will provide insights into elementary mechanisms governing spin and orbital dynamics, therefore contributing to the development of ultrafast devices for relevant magnetic technologies.

Giant magneto-electric coupling in 100 nm thick Co capped by ZnO nanorods.

Here we report a giant, completely reversible magneto-electric coupling of 100 nm polycrystalline Co layer in contact with ZnO nanorods. When the sample is under an applied bias of ±2 V, the Co magnetic coercivity is reduced by a factor 5 from the un-poled case, with additionally a reduction of total magnetic moment in Co. Taking into account the chemical properties of ZnO nanorods measured by X-rays absorption near edge spectroscopy under bias, we conclude that these macroscopic effects on the magnetic response of the Co layer are due to the microstructure and the strong strain-driven magneto-electric coupling induced by the ZnO nanorods, whose nanostructuration maximizes the piezoelectric response under bias.

Probing the Fluctuations of Optical Properties in Time-Resolved Spectroscopy.

We show that, in optical pump-probe experiments on bulk samples, the statistical distribution of the intensity of ultrashort light pulses after interaction with a nonequilibrium complex material can be used to measure the time-dependent noise of the current in the system. We illustrate the general arguments for a photoexcited Peierls material. The transient noise spectroscopy allows us to measure to what extent electronic degrees of freedom dynamically obey the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, and how well they thermalize during the coherent lattice vibrations.

Short-wavelength free-electron laser sources and science: a review.

This review is focused on free-electron lasers (FELs) in the hard to soft x-ray regime. The aim is to provide newcomers to the area with insights into: the basic physics of FELs, the qualities of the radiation they produce, the challenges of transmitting that radiation to end users and the diversity of current scientific applications. Initial consideration is given to FEL theory in order to provide the foundation for discussion of FEL output properties and the technical challenges of short-wavelength FELs.

Mechanism of ultrafast non-reactive deactivation of the retinal chromophore in non-polar solvents.

The photoisomerization of the all-trans protonated Schiff base of retinal (SBR) in solution is highly inefficient. The present theoretical and experimental investigation aims at disclosing the mechanisms of ultrafast, non-reactive relaxation of SBR that lead to the drastic decrease in the isomerization yield in non-polar solvents. Our pump-probe measurements demonstrate the sensitivity of the all-trans SBR excited-state dynamics on the electrostatic interaction with the surrounding counterions and the crucial importance of the chromophore microenvironment.

Full quadrature regeneration of QPSK signals using sequential phase sensitive amplification and parametric saturation.

We demonstrate all-optical regeneration of both the phase and the amplitude of a 10 GBaud quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) signal using two nonlinear stages. First we regenerate the phase using a wavelength converting phase sensitive amplifier and then we regenerate the amplitude using a saturated single-pump parametric amplifier, returning the signal to its original wavelength at the same time. We exploit the conjugating nature of the two processing stages to eliminate the intrinsic SPM distortion of the system, further improving performance.

Inter-modal four-wave mixing study in a two-mode fiber.

We demonstrate efficient four-wave mixing among different spatial modes in a 1-km long two-mode fiber at telecommunication wavelengths. Two pumps excite the LP and LP modes, respectively, while the probe signal excites the LP mode, and the phase conjugation (PC) and Bragg scattering (BS) idlers are generated in the LP mode. For these processes we experimentally characterize their phase matching efficiency and bandwidth and find that they depend critically on the wavelength separation of the two pumps, in good agreement with the numerical study we carried out.