Summary:
UCLA researchers in the Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering have developed a novel method of characterizing the complex dielectric function of a material.
Background:
The complex dielectric function is a measure of a material’s response to static or alternating electromagnetic fields and describes the microscopic behavior of electrons. Understanding it will allow characterization and prediction of important properties of materials, such as the structure of energy bands, the behavior of excitons and plasmons, and topological order. Symmetry in particular is important as it dictates the constraints on allowed values of the complex dielectric function. Current methods of investigating the complex dielectric function of materials are hampered by the technological expertise required to construct complex instruments. In addition, cryogenic temperature requirements may only partially permit probing properties of interest. There is a demonstrated need for a simpler, more accessible method to characterize the complex dielectric function with a high level of precision, that facilitates advancements in fields such as semiconductor manufacturing and quantum computing.
Innovation:
Researchers Prof. Prineha Narang, Dr. Ioannis Petrides and Dr. Jonathan Curtis have developed a novel method of probing the complex dielectric function. This method uses the coupling of photonic modes to establish a connection between the projective measurement of photon occupation and the quantum metric which characterizes the space of the states and is directly determined by the dielectric function. The proposed quantum protocol uses a minimum number of sample points to maximize the accuracy of the projective measurement and minimize the experimental uncertainty. This method is applicable across a broad spectrum of experimental platforms, including in the optical, and microwave regimes.
Potential Applications:
• Materials characterization
• Photonic devices
• Quality control
• Batteries and semiconductors
• Microwave and ultrafast THz devices
Advantages:
• Fully characterize material properties
• Simpler device design
• Allows for spectroscopy using dynamics of coherent and Fock states
• Simultaneous polarizability, magnetic susceptibility, and conductivity measurements
• Applicable across a broad spectrum
Development-To-Date:
Fully describe in a preprint manuscript
Related Papers:
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.16174
Reference:
UCLA Case No. 2023-181