Machine-learning-assisted efficient reconstruction of the quantum states generated from the Sagnac polarization-entangled photon source

Neural networks are becoming ubiquitous in various areas of physics as a successful machine learning(ML)technique for addressing different tasks.Based on ML technique,we propose and experimentally demonstrate an efficient method for state reconstruction of the widely used Sagnac polarization-entangled photon source.By properly modeling the target states,a multi-output fully connected neural network is well trained using only six of the sixteen measurement bases in standard tomography technique,and hence our method reduces the resource consumption without loss of accuracy.We demonstrate the ability of the neural network to predict state parameters with a high precision by using both simulated and experimental data.Explicitly,the mean absolute error for all the parameters is below 0.05 for the simulated data and a mean fidelity of 0.99 is achieved for experimentally generated states.Our method could be generalized to estimate other kinds of states,as well as other quantum information tasks.

Manipulating the Spatial Structure of Second-Order Quantum Coherence Using Entangled Photons

High-order quantum coherence reveals the statistical correlation of quantum particles. Manipulation of quantum coherence of light in the temporal domain enables the production of the single-photon source, which has become one of the most important quantum resources. High-order quantum coherence in the spatial domain plays a crucial role in a variety of applications, such as quantum imaging, holography, and microscopy. However, the active control of second-order spatial quantum coherence remains a challenging task. Here we predict theoretically and demonstrate experimentally the first active manipulation of second-order spatial quantum coherence,which exhibits the capability of switching between bunching and anti-bunching, by mapping the entanglement of spatially structured photons. We also show that signal processing based on quantum coherence exhibits robust resistance to intensity disturbance. Our findings not only enhance existing applications but also pave the way for broader utilization of higher-order spatial quantum coherence.

Gate-Tunable Lifshitz Transition of Fermi Arcs and Its Transport Signatures

One hallmark of Weyl semimetals is the emergence of Fermi arcs(FAs) in surface Brillouin zones, where FAs connect the projected Weyl nodes of opposite chiralities. Unclosed FAs can give rise to various exotic effects that have attracted tremendous research interest. Configurations of FAs are usually thought to be determined fully by the band topology of the bulk states, which seems impossible to manipulate. Here, we show that FAs can be simply modified by a surface gate voltage. Because the penetration length of the surface states depends on the in-plane momentum, a surface gate voltage induces an effective energy dispersion. As a result, a continuous deformation of the surface band can be implemented by tuning the surface gate voltage. In particular, as the saddle point of the surface band meets the Fermi energy, the topological Lifshitz transition takes place for the FAs,during which the Weyl nodes switch their partners connected by the FAs. Accordingly, the magnetic Weyl orbits composed of the FAs on opposite surfaces and chiral Landau bands inside the bulk change their configurations.We show that such an effect can be probed by the transport measurements in a magnetic field, in which the switch-on and switch-off conductances by the surface gate voltage signal the Lifshitz transition. Our work opens a new route for manipulating the FAs by surface gates and exploring novel transport phenomena associated with the topological Lifshitz transition.

Competition of Quantum Anomalous Hall States and Charge Density Wave in a Correlated Topological Model

We investigate the topological phase transition driven by non-local electronic correlations in a realistic quantum anomalous Hall model consisting of d_(xy)–d_(x^(2)-y^(2)) orbitals. Three topologically distinct phases defined in the noninteracting limit evolve to different charge density wave phases under correlations. Two conspicuous conclusions were obtained: The topological phase transition does not involve gap-closing and the dynamical fluctuations significantly suppress the charge order favored by the next nearest neighbor interaction. Our study sheds light on the stability of topological phase under electronic correlations, and we demonstrate a positive role played by dynamical fluctuations that is distinct to all previous studies on correlated topological states.

Preface to the Special Issue on Challenges and Possibilities of Energy Storage

The utilization of renewable energy is the ultimate way to meet the increasing energy demands of our modern society.The efficient storage and utilization of the energy in different ways are the current hot topics in the research community.Among them,the solar water splitting,photocatalysis,and lithium–sulfur batteries are with great application promise.The research will provide strategies for the production,storage,and application of energy for industry.

Effect of Impurity on the Doping-Induced in-Gap States in a Mott Insulator

Motivated by the recent measurements of the spatial distribution of single particle excitation states in a hole-doped Mott insulator,we study the effects of impurity on the in-gap states,induced by the doped holes,in the Hubbard model on the square lattice by the cluster perturbation theory.We find that a repulsive impurity potential can move the in-gap state from the lower Hubbard band towards the upper Hubbard band,providing a good account for the experimental observation.The distribution of the spectral function in the momentum space can be used to discriminate the in-gap state induced by doped holes and that by the impurity.The spatial characters of the in-gap states in the presence of two impurities are also discussed and compared to the experiment.

Robust and Tunable Ferroelectricity in Ba/Co Codoped (K_(0.5)Na_(0.5))NbO_(3) Ceramics

The 0.98(K_(0.5)Na_(0.5))NbO_(3)-0.02Ba(Nb_(0.5)Co_(0.5))O_(3-δ) ceramics with doped Ba^(2+) and Co^(2+) ions are fabricated,and the impacts of the thermal process are studied.Compared with the rapidly cooled (RC) sample,the slowly cooled (SC) sample possesses superior dielectric and ferroelectric properties,and an 11 K higher ferroelectricparaelectric phase transition temperature,which can be attributed to the structural characteristics such as the grain size and the degree of anisotropy.Heat treatment can reversibly modulate the content of the oxygen vacancies,and in turn the ferroelectric hysteresis loops of the samples.Finally,robust and tunable ferroelectric property is achieved in SC samples with good structural integrity.

Localization and Steering of Light in One-Dimensional Parity-Time Symmetric Photonic Lattices

We theoretically study the propagation dynamics of input light in one-dimensional mixed linear-nonlinear photonic lattices with a complex parity-time symmetric potential. Numerical computation shows simultaneous localization and steering of the optical beam due to the asymmetric scatter and interplay between Kerr-type nonlinearity and PT symmetry. This may provide a feasible measure for manipulation light in optical communications, integrated optics and so on.

Different charging behaviors between electrons and holes in Si nanocrystals embedded in SiN_x matrix by the influence of near-interface oxide traps

Si-rich silicon nitride films are prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method, followed by thermal annealing to form the Si nanocrystals（Si-NCs） embedded in Si Nx floating gate MOS structures. The capacitance–voltage（C–V）, current–voltage（I–V）, and admittance–voltage（G–V） measurements are used to investigate the charging characteristics. It is found that the maximum flat band voltage shift（△VFB） due to full charged holes（～ 6.2 V） is much larger than that due to full charged electrons（～ 1 V）. The charging displacement current peaks of electrons and holes can be also observed by the I–V measurements, respectively. From the G–V measurements we find that the hole injection is influenced by the oxide hole traps which are located near the Si O2/Si-substrate interface. Combining the results of C–V and G–V measurements, we find that the hole charging of the Si-NCs occurs via a two-step tunneling mechanism. The evolution of G–V peak originated from oxide traps exhibits the process of hole injection into these defects and transferring to the Si-NCs.

Generation and Tunable Focal Shift of the Hybridly Polarized Vector Optical Fields with Parabolic Symmetry

Based on a parabolic coordinate system,we theoretically design and experimentally generate hybridly polarized vector optical fields with parabolic symmetry of the first and second kinds,which can further enrich the family of vector optical fields.The wavefront of this new-kind vector optical field contains circular,elliptic and linear polarizations,and the polarizations can keep the same or change along the parabolic curves.Then we present the realization of tunable focal shift with the hybridly polarized vector optical field,and show a specific law of the focal shift of the focused hybridly polarized vector optical field with the parabolic symmetry.We hope these results can provide a new way to flexibly modulate focal fields,which can be applied in realms such as optical machining,optical trapping and information transmission.

Dual-curvilinear beam enabled tunable manipulation of high-and low-refractive-index particles

We present an innovative approach for the simultaneous agile manipulation of high-refractive-index(HRI) and low-refractive-index(LRI) particles. Our method involves introducing a dual-curvilinear optical vortex beam(DC-OVB) generated by superimposing a pair of curved beams: HRI and LRI particles are controlled by the bright curve and the dark channel between the two curves, respectively. The proposed DC-OVB provides customizable motion paths and velocities for both LRI and HRI particles. Each curve of the DC-OVB can support a distinct orbital flow density(OFD), enabling the application of torques to HRI and LRI particles, guiding them to orbit along specified trajectories and prompting them to execute various curvilinear motions simultaneously,including curvilinear movement, revolution, and rotation.

Dynamic shaping of vectorial optical fields based on two-dimensional blazed holographic grating

We propose a vectorial optical field generation system based on two-dimensional blazed grating to high-efficiently generate structured optical fields with prescribed amplitude,phase,and polarization.In this system,an optimized blazed grating hologram is written on a spatial light modulator(SLM)and can diffract the majority of the incident light into the first-order diffractions of the x and y directions,which then serve as base vectors for synthesizing desired vector beams.Compared with the conventional cosine grating used in the previous work,the proposed two-dimensional,blazed grating has a much higher efficiency.Both computer simulation and optical experiment validate that a conversion efficiency up to 5 times that of the former work is achieved.Our method can facilitate applications of the optical field manipulation.

Using monochromatic light to measure attenuation length of liquid scintillator solvent LAB

Linear alkylbenzene(LAB) will be used as solvent for the liquid scintillator in the central detector of Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory. The sheer size of the detector imposes significant challenges and the necessity to further improve the optical transparency of high-quality LAB. In order to study high optical transparencies, we continuously improve our measurement setup and use monochromatic light to measure the attenuation lengths of LAB samples. Moreover, the effects of organic impurities on LAB samples are studied to understand their interaction mechanisms and further improve the optical transparency of LAB.

Detection of Majorana fermions in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

By using the non-equilibrium Green＇s function technique, we investigate the electronic transport properties in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer coupling with Majorana fermions. We find a fixed unit conductance peak which is in-dependent of the other factors when the topological superconductor is grounded. Especially, an additional phase appears when the topological superconductor is in the strong Coulomb regime, which induces a new conductance resonant peak compared with the structure of replacing the topological superconductor by a quantum dot, and the conductance oscillation with the magnetic flux reveals a 2π phase shift by raising （lowering） a charge on the capacitor.

Review of magnetocaloric effect in perovskite-type oxides

We survey the magnetocaloric effect in perovskite-type oxides （including doped ABO3-type manganese oxides, A3B2OT-type two-layered perovskite oxides, and A2B＇B＇＇O6-type ordered double-perovskite oxides）. Magnetic entropy changes larger than those of gadolinium can be observed in polycrystalline La1-xCaxMnO3 and alkali-metal （Na or K） doped La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 perovskite-type manganese oxides. The large magnetic entropy change produced by an abrupt reduction of magnetization is attributed to the anomalous thermal expansion at the Curie temperature. Considerable mag- netic entropy changes can also be observed in two-layered perovskites Lal.6Cal.4Mn207 and La2.5-xK0.5＋xMn2O7＋6 （0 〈 x 〈 0.5）, and double-perovskite Ba2Fe1＋xMol-xO6 （0 〈 x 〈 0.3） near their respective Curie temperatures. Com- pared with rare earth metals and their alloys, the perovskite-type oxides are lower in cost, and they exhibit higher chemical stability and higher electrical resistivity, which together favor lower eddy-current heating. They are potential magnetic refrigerants at high temperatures, especially near room temperature.

Impact of the spatial coherence on self-interference digital holography

Owing to the unique feature that the signal and reference waves of self-interference digital holography(SIDH)contain the same spatial information from the same point of object,compared with conventional digital holography,the SIDH has the special spatial coherence properties.We present a statistical optics approach to analyzing the formation of cross-correlation image in SIDH.Our study reveals that the spatial coherence of illumination light can greatly influence the imaging characteristics of SIDH,and the impact extent of the spatial coherence depends substantially on the recording distance of hologram.The theoretical conclusions are supported well by numerical simulation and optical experiments.

Random-Gate-Voltage Induced Al'tshuler–Aronov–Spivak Effect in Topological Edge States

Helical edge states are the hallmark of the quantum spin Hall insulator. Recently, several experiments have observed transport signatures contributed by trivial edge states, making it difficult to distinguish between the topologically trivial and nontrivial phases. Here, we show that helical edge states can be identified by the randomgate-voltage induced Φ_(0)/2-period oscillation of the averaged electron return probability in the interferometer constructed by the edge states. The random gate voltage can highlight the Φ_(0)/2-period Al'tshuler–Aronov–Spivak oscillation proportional to sin^(2)(2πΦ/Φ_(0)) by quenching the Φ_(0)-period Aharonov–Bohm oscillation. It is found that the helical spin texture induced π Berry phase is key to such weak antilocalization behavior with zero return probability at Φ = 0. In contrast, the oscillation for the trivial edge states may exhibit either weak localization or antilocalization depending on the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, which has finite return probability at Φ = 0. Our results provide an effective way for the identification of the helical edge states. The predicted signature is stabilized by the time-reversal symmetry so that it is robust against disorder and does not require any fine adjustment of system.

Generating a 2.4-W cw Green Laser by Intra-Cavity Frequency Doubling of a Diode-Pumped Nd:GdVO_(4) Laser with a MgO:PPLN Crystal

High-power cw green laser radiation is generated by intra-cavity frequency doubling of a diode-pumped Nd:GdVO_(4) laser with a MgO-doped periodically-poled LiNbO_(3)(MgO:PPLN)crystal at room temperature.An average power of 2.4 W at 0.53μm is obtained under the pump 15 W at 808 nm,corresponding to an overall optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 16%.The M^(2) factor of the green beam is 3.90 and 1.34 for the horizontal and vertical direction,respectively.In addition,the power fluctuation is measured to be about±5%.

Spatial-Variant Geometric Phase of Hybrid-Polarized Vector Optical Fields

We investigate a novel spatial geometric phase of hybrid-polarized vector fields consisting of linear, elliptical and circular polarizations by Young＇s two-slit interferometer instead of the widely used Mach-Zehnder interferometer. This spatial geometric phase can be manipulated by engineering the spatial configuration of hybrid polarizations, and is directly related to the topological charge, the local states of polarization and the rotational symmetry of hybrid-polarized vector optical fields. The unique feature of geometric phase has implications in quantum information science as well as other physical systems such as electron vortex beams.

Regulation of surface properties of photocatalysis material TiO2 by strain engineering

As a promising photocatalysis material,TiO2 has long been studied by experimental and theoretical methods.The external strain could affect the catalytic reactivity of TiO2 significantly due to the difference in surface elastic properties of different surface structures with different surface adsorption or defects.This article reviews our recent work by using density function theory calculations on the effect of strain on the TiO2 surface properties,including surface relative stability,surface defects,surface adsorption and dissociation.