A Low Temperature Nonlinear Optical Rotational Anisotropy Spectrometer for the Determination of Crystallographic and Electronic Symmetries

Abstract

Nonlinear optical generation from a crystalline material can reveal the symmetries of both its lattice structure and underlying ordered electronic phases and can therefore be exploited as a complementary technique to diffraction based scattering probes. Although this technique has been successfully used to study the lattice and magnetic structures of systems such as semiconductor surfaces, multiferroic crystals, magnetic thin films and multilayers, challenging technical requirements have prevented its application to the plethora of complex electronic phases found in strongly correlated electron systems. These requirements include an ability to probe small bulk single crystals at the micron length scale, a need for sensitivity to the entire nonlinear optical susceptibility tensor, oblique light incidence reflection geometry and incident light frequency tunability among others. These measurements are further complicated by the need for extreme sample environments such as ultra low temperatures, high magnetic fields or high pressures. In this review we present a novel experimental construction using a rotating light scattering plane that meets all the aforementioned requirements. We demonstrate the efficacy of our scheme by making symmetry measurements on a micron scale facet of a small bulk single crystal of Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ using optical second and third harmonic generation.

arXiv comment8 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (20)

• Evidence of an odd-parity hidden order in a spin-orbit coupled correlated iridate
• A global inversion-symmetry-broken phase inside the pseudogap region of YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_y$
• Direct measurement of proximity-induced magnetism at the interface between a topological insulator and a ferromagnet
• A structural distortion induced magneto-elastic locking in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ revealed through nonlinear optical harmonic generation
• Structural investigation of the bilayer iridate Sr3Ir2O7
• High-speed measurement of rotational anisotropy nonlinear optical harmonic generation using position sensitive detection
• Second harmonic generation as a probe of broken mirror symmetry
• Electric quadrupole second harmonic generation revealing dual magnetic orders in a magnetic Weyl semimetal
• A light-induced Weyl semiconductor-to-metal transition mediated by Peierls instability
• Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$/Sr${}_3$Ir${}_2$O${}_7$ superlattice for a model 2D quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet
• Nonlinear and time-resolved optical study of the 112-type iron-based superconductor parent Ca${}_{1-x}$La${}_x$FeAs${}_2$ across its structural phase transition
• Fast Reflective Optic-Based Rotational Anisotropy Nonlinear Harmonic Generation Spectrometer
• Evidence for an extended critical fluctuation region above the polar ordering transition in LiOsO${}_3$
• A compact and stable incidence-plane-rotating second harmonics detector
• Fourier Domain Rotational Anisotropy Second Harmonic Generation
• Automated Polarization Rotation for Multi-Axis Rotational-Anisotropy Second Harmonic Generation Experiments
• Light-induced reorientation transition in an antiferromagnetic semiconductor
• High-pressure control of optical nonlinearity in the polar Weyl semimetal TaAs
• A versatile setup for symmetry-resolved ultrafast dynamics of quantum materials
• Vector beams for real-time monitoring of crystalline symmetry on μm length scale