Spectroscopy of compounds from the family of rare-earth orthoborates

This paper is devoted to the rare-earth borates described by the general formula RM3（BO3）4, M = Al, Fe, and Cr, that have non-centrosymmetric trigonal slructure of the natural mineral huntite. It give a brief review of a spectroscopic research on YbAI3（BO3）4 （YbAB）, on a large group of magnetic iron borates, and on NdCra（BO3）4.

Optical high-resolution spectroscopic study of Tm^(3+) crystal-field levels in LiLuF_4

We report on the fast high-resohition study of LiLuF4：Tm3＋. The accurate energy level scheme of Tm3＋ in the LiLuF4 matrix was obtained for the 3H6.5.4, 3F4.3.2, and ^1G4 multiplets. It was shown that electric-dipole transitions dominate for all the studied multiplets except the 3H5 one.

Electrical Excitation of Long-Range Surface Plasmons in PC/OLED Structure with Two Metal Nanolayers

A current-driven source of long-range surface plasmons(LRSPs)on a duplex metal nanolayer is reported.Electrical excitation of LRSPs was experimentally observed in a planar structure,where an organic light-emitting film was sandwiched between two metal nanolayers that served as electrodes.To achieve the LRSP propagation in these metal nanolayers at the interface with air,the light-emitting structure was bordered by a one-dimensional photonic crystal(PC)on the other side.The dispersion of the light emitted by such a hybrid PC/organic-light-emitting-diode structure(PC/OLED)comprising two thin metal electrodes was obtained,with a clearly identified LRSP resonance peak.

Tm^(3+) interactions in LiYF_4 studied by high-resolution spectroscopy

We used the high-resolution spectroscopy to study the interactions that Tm3＋ ion in a LiYF4 crystal is subjected to. Several crystal field transitions with low integral intensity were found not registered before by means of ordinary spectroscopy. Spectral evidences for interionic, hyperfine, isotopic interactions, and for a resonant broadening of the ground state are presented.

Observation of nonlinear fractal higher order topological insulator

Higher-order topological insulators(HOTIs)are unique materials hosting topologically protected states,whose dimensionality is at least by 2 lower than that of the bulk.Topological states in such insulators may be strongly confined in their corners which leads to considerable enhancement of nonlinear processes involving such states.However,all nonlinear HOTIs demonstrated so far were built on periodic bulk lattice materials.Here,we demonstrate the first nonlinear photonic HOTI with the fractal origin.Despite their fractional effective dimensionality,the HOTIs constructed here on two different types of the Sierpiński gasket waveguide arrays,may support topological corner states for unexpectedly wide range of coupling strengths,even in parameter regions where conventional HOTIs become trivial.We demonstrate thresholdless spatial solitons bifurcating from corner states in nonlinear fractal HOTIs and show that their localization can be efficiently controlled by the input beam power.We observe sharp differences in nonlinear light localization on outer and multiple inner corners and edges representative for these fractal materials.Our findings not only represent a new paradigm for nonlinear topological insulators,but also open new avenues for potential applications of fractal materials to control the light flow.

High-resolution Fourier spectroscopy as a tool for studying quality of rare-earth-doped crystals

Three examples were considered of the use of high resolution Fourier-transform optical spectroscopy for studying quality of rare-earth-doped crystals. The first example was connected with defects present in crystals grown by flux techniques. The second example dealt with detection of stresses and deformations in rare-earth-containing crystals, by registering splitting of spectral lines. The third example showed that a very small amount （at the level ofppm） of different RE ions present in a crystal could be determined using high-resolution spectroscopy. This work was carried out by the author＇s group in collaboration with several institutions in Rus- sia and abroad.

Observation of nonlinear disclination states

Introduction of controllable deformations into periodic materials that lead to disclinations in their structure opens novel routes for construction of higher-order topological insulators hosting topological states at disclinations.Appearance of these topological states is consistent with the bulk-disclination correspondence principle,and is due to the filling anomaly that results in fractional charges to the boundary unit cells.So far,topological disclination states were observed only in the linear regime,while the interplay between nonlinearity and topology in the systems with disclinations has been never studied experimentally.We report here on the experimental observation of the nonlinear photonic disclination states in waveguide arrays with pentagonal or heptagonal disclination cores inscribed in transparent optical medium using the fs-laser writing technique.The transition between nontopological and topological phases in such structures is controlled by the Kekulédistortion coefficient r with topological phase hosting simultaneously disclination states at the inner disclination core and spatially separated from them corner-I,corner-II,and extended edge states at the outer edge of the structure.We show that the robust nonlinear disclination states bifurcate from their linear counterparts and that location of their propagation constants in the gap and,hence,their spatial localization can be controlled by their power.Nonlinear disclination states can be efficiently excited by Gaussian input beams,but only if they are focused into the waveguides belonging to the disclination core,where such topological states reside.Our results open new prospects for investigation of nonlinear effects in topological systems with disclinations and are relevant for different areas of science,including Bose-Einstein and polariton condensates,where potentials with the disclinations can be created.

Evidences for non-equivalent centers in mixed chain nickelates (Nd_xY_(1-x))_2BaNiO_5

Absorption spectra of the mixed chain nickelates （（NdxY1-x）2BaNiO5 were measured for different x. Experimentally two evidences for the presence of non-equivalent rare-earth centers （NEREC） were found. First, the linewidths show a very strong broadening for x when the calculated distribution over NEREC is wide. Second, a compficated lineshape of the lowest-frequency line in the region of the 4I9/2→4I1/2 electronic lransition is in good agreement with statistics of NEREC. A simple modeling for the line broadening due to NEREC is suggested.

Observation of the hyperfine structure and anticrossings of hyperfine levels in the luminescence spectra of LiYF4:Ho3+

Resolved hyperfine structure and narrow inhomogeneously broadened lines in the optical spectra of a rare-earth-doped crystal are favorable for the implementation of various sensors.Here,a well-resolved hyperfine structure in the photoluminescence spectra of LiYF4:Ho single crystals and the anticrossings of hyperfine levels in a magnetic field are demonstrated using a self-made setup based on a Bruker 125HR high-resolution Fourier spectrometer.This is the first observation of the resolved hyperfine structure and anticrossing hyperfine levels in the luminescence spectra of a crystal.The narrowest spectral linewidth is only 0.0022 cm-1.This fact together with a large value of the magnetic g factor of several crystal-field states creates prerequisites for developing magnetic field sensors,which can be in demand in modern quantum information technology devices operating at low temperatures.Very small random lattice strains characterizing the quality of a crystal can be detected using anticrossing points.

Crystal-field levels of Nd3+ in a new langasite compound Nd3CrGe3Be2O14

We report on the crystal-field(CF)levels of Nd^3+in Nd3CrGe3Be2O14,a representative of recently synthesized Be-containing langasites.They are the first in the family to contain two magnetic subsystems,1 D chromium and Kagome-like rare-earth ones.High-resolution broad-band temperature-dependent spectra allow us to find all five CF Kramers doublets of the ground 4I9/2 CF multiplet and 38 levels of the excited 4I11/2,13/2,15/2,4F3/2,4F5/2+2H9/2,4F7/2+4S3/2 and 4F9/2 CF multiplets.These data form a basis for a future exploration of this interesting two-sublattice magnet with frustrated interactions.Optical transitions between Kramers doublets of Nd^3+indicate magnetic activity of 1D-chromium chains at T<20 K.

Efficient cold atom source from a single-layer atom chip

We developed a new single-layer atom chip with an additional U-shaped current-carrying structure.The new U-shaped microwire creates optimized magnetic field distribution,which increases the trapping volume of a magneto-optical trap(MOT) near the chip.Our approach allows one to localize more atoms,while a setup remains relatively simple (single-layer approach) and consumes low current (up to 10 A). The total number of trapped^(87)Rb atoms in our setup is 5×10^(7).

Topological edge states in a photonic Floquet insulator with unpaired Dirac cones

Topological insulators are most frequently constructed using lattices with specific degeneracies in their linear spectra,such as Dirac points.For a broad class of lattices,such as honeycomb ones,these points and associated Dirac cones generally appear in non-equivalent pairs.Simultaneous breakup of the time-reversal and inversion symmetry in systems based on such lattices may result in the formation of the unpaired Dirac cones in bulk spectrum,but the existence of topologically protected edge states in such structures remains an open problem.Here a photonic Floquet insulator on a honeycomb lattice with unpaired Dirac cones in its spectrum is introduced that can support unidirectional edge states appearing at the edge between two regions with opposite sublattice detuning.Topological properties of this system are characterized by the nonzero valley Chern number.Remarkably,edge states in this system can circumvent sharp corners without inter-valley scattering even though there is no total forbidden gap in the spectrum.Our results reveal unusual interplay between two different physical mechanisms of creation of topological edge states based on simultaneous breakup of different symmetries of the system.

振荡波导阵列中孤子的实验发现

时间参数周期变化的弗洛凯系统有助于发现常参数静态系统中不存在并常常伴有新颖拓扑态出现的非传统拓扑相.耦合系数被周期调制的Su-Schrieffer-Heeger晶格正是这种弗洛凯系统之一.尽管这个晶格在一半演化周期内处在拓扑非平庸相,在另一半周期内处于拓扑平庸相,它的边界上仍然支持源于拓扑的反常π模.本文通过在透明非线性光学材料中刻蚀出周期振荡的Su-Schrieffer-Heeger波导阵列,分别实验观测到了一维系统中位于边界和二维系统中位于角落的光学反常π模.同时,在弗洛凯频谱的禁带中,作者还证实了在高功率情况下一类分化自光学反常π模的新拓扑π孤子.本文报道的π孤子是强振荡的非线性弗洛凯态,它们的波形在每经过一个纵向周期后都可以精确地复现.不论是在一维还是在二维振荡波导阵列中,这类π孤子都是动态稳定的,它们的局域特性都由其功率决定.二维的结果还表明作者实现了弗洛凯光学高阶拓扑绝缘体.