Tue October 11, 2022 4:00 pm
CUA Seminar: CUNY Triple Feature – Understanding and controlling Rydberg states in solid-state platforms
Location:Harvard Jefferson 250
Carlos Meriles, CUNY
Vinod Menon, CUNY
Johannes Flick, CUNY
Rydberg states are electronically excited orbitals in atoms or molecules whose energy structure approximately follow that observed in atomic hydrogen. Key to many breakthroughs in Atomic, Molecular and Optical physics, research during the last decade has also shown that much of the physics governing Rydberg dynamics in cold atoms finds a natural extension in condensed matter, thus hinting at novel technologies that simultaneously benefit from Rydberg traits and a solid-state implementation. The overarching goal in this presentation is to launch joint work between experimentalists and theorists at the City College of New York (CCNY) and the Center for Ultracold Atoms at Harvard/MIT to advance our understanding of Rydberg physics in novel solid-state platforms. These plans revolve around two distinct, though closely related fronts: The first set of activities zeroes in on the so-called “exciton-polaritons”, hybrid quasiparticles emerging from the strong coupling between excitons and photons in a cavity. We focus on polaritons in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), whose Rydberg states we intend to investigate in the presence of magnetic field, strain, and dielectric engineering with special attention to polariton formation and non-linear interaction. Complementing this work, we plan to investigate the formation of Rydberg states in neutral color centers in diamond, where hydrogenic orbitals emerge under resonant optical excitation. Hoping to foster long-term interactions, we structure our presentation in the form of three separate, yet related talks describing initial, complementary work by the Menon, Flick, and Meriles groups at CCNY on the Rydberg dynamics of exciton-polaritons in TMDs and charge control in color centers in diamond.