A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour
There are few demonstrated examples of phase transitions that may be driven directly by terahertz-frequency electric fields, and those that are known require field strengths exceeding 1 MVcm−1. Here we report a non-equilibrium phase transition driven by a weak ( 1 Vcm−1), continuous-wave terahertz e...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2018
|
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53234/ |
| _version_ | 1848798906324877312 |
|---|---|
| author | Wade, C.G. Marcuzzi, Matteo Levi, Emanuele Kondo, J.M. Lesanovsky, Igor Adams, C.S. Weatherill, K.J. |
| author_facet | Wade, C.G. Marcuzzi, Matteo Levi, Emanuele Kondo, J.M. Lesanovsky, Igor Adams, C.S. Weatherill, K.J. |
| author_sort | Wade, C.G. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | There are few demonstrated examples of phase transitions that may be driven directly by terahertz-frequency electric fields, and those that are known require field strengths exceeding 1 MVcm−1. Here we report a non-equilibrium phase transition driven by a weak ( 1 Vcm−1), continuous-wave terahertz electric field. The system consists of room-temperature caesium vapour under continuous optical excitation to a high-lying Rydberg state, which is resonantly coupled to a nearby level by the terahertz electric field. We use a simple model to understand the underlying physical behaviour, and we demonstrate two protocols to exploit the phase transition as a narrow-band terahertz detector: the first with a fast (20μs) nonlinear response to nano-Watts of incident radiation, and the second with a linearised response and effective noise equivalent power (NEP) ≤1 pWHz−1/2. The work opens the door to a new class of terahertz devices controlled with low field intensities and operating in a room-temperature environment. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:27:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-53234 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:27:13Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-532342019-02-04T11:46:16Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53234/ A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour Wade, C.G. Marcuzzi, Matteo Levi, Emanuele Kondo, J.M. Lesanovsky, Igor Adams, C.S. Weatherill, K.J. There are few demonstrated examples of phase transitions that may be driven directly by terahertz-frequency electric fields, and those that are known require field strengths exceeding 1 MVcm−1. Here we report a non-equilibrium phase transition driven by a weak ( 1 Vcm−1), continuous-wave terahertz electric field. The system consists of room-temperature caesium vapour under continuous optical excitation to a high-lying Rydberg state, which is resonantly coupled to a nearby level by the terahertz electric field. We use a simple model to understand the underlying physical behaviour, and we demonstrate two protocols to exploit the phase transition as a narrow-band terahertz detector: the first with a fast (20μs) nonlinear response to nano-Watts of incident radiation, and the second with a linearised response and effective noise equivalent power (NEP) ≤1 pWHz−1/2. The work opens the door to a new class of terahertz devices controlled with low field intensities and operating in a room-temperature environment. Nature Publishing Group 2018-07-16 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53234/1/Wade2018.pdf application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53234/2/supplemental.pdf Wade, C.G., Marcuzzi, Matteo, Levi, Emanuele, Kondo, J.M., Lesanovsky, Igor, Adams, C.S. and Weatherill, K.J. (2018) A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour. Nature Communications . ISSN 2041-1723 (In Press) |
| spellingShingle | Wade, C.G. Marcuzzi, Matteo Levi, Emanuele Kondo, J.M. Lesanovsky, Igor Adams, C.S. Weatherill, K.J. A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| title | A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| title_full | A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| title_fullStr | A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| title_full_unstemmed | A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| title_short | A terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| title_sort | terahertz-driven non-equilibrium phase transition in a room temperature atomic vapour |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53234/ |