A High-Performance Mid-infrared Optical Switch Enabled by Bulk Dirac Fermions in Cd3As2

Abstract

Pulsed lasers operating in the 2-5 μm band are important for a wide range of applications in sensing, spectroscopy, imaging and communications. Despite recent advances with mid-infrared gain media, the lack of a capable pulse generation mechanism, i.e. a passive optical switch, remains a significant technological challenge. Here we show that mid-infrared optical response of Dirac states in crystalline Cd3As2, a three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetal (TDS), constitutes an ideal ultrafast optical switching mechanism for the 2-5 μm range. Significantly, fundamental aspects of the photocarrier processes, such as relaxation time scales, are found to be flexibly controlled through element doping, a feature crucial for the development of convenient mid-infrared ultrafast sources. Although various exotic physical phenomena have been uncovered in three-dimensional TDS systems, our findings show for the first time that this emerging class of quantum materials can be harnessed to fill a long known gap in the field of photonics.

17 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Optical modulators with two-dimensional layered materials
• Dirac materials
• Unexpected mass acquisition of Dirac fermions at the quantum phase transition of a topological insulator
• Sensitive multiplex spectroscopy in the molecular fingerprint 2.4 $\mu$m region with a Cr^{2+}:ZnSe femtosecond laser
• Interband optical conductivity of the [001]-oriented Dirac semimetal Cd3As2
• Active mode locking of quantum cascade lasers operating in external ring cavity
• Direct observation of Landau level resonance and mass generation in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 thin films
• Transient reflectance of photoexcited Cd${}_3$As${}_2$

Cited by in corpus (26)

• Chemical Principles of Topological Semimetals
• Ultrafast Broadband Photodetectors based on Three-dimensional Dirac Semimetal Cd3As2
• Efficient Terahertz Harmonic Generation with Coherent Acceleration of Electrons in the Dirac Semimetal Cd3As2
• The role of delocalized chemical bonding in square-net-based topological semimetals
• Observation of Negative THz Photoconductivity in Large Area Type-II Dirac Semimetal PtTe2
• Q-switched Dy:ZBLAN fiber lasers beyond 3 μm: comparison of pulse generation using acousto-optic modulation and inkjet-printed black phosphorus
• Terahertz Probe of Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics in Dirac Semimetal Cd3As2
• Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics of Photoexcited Dirac Fermion in The Three Dimensional Dirac Semimetal Cadmium Arsenide
• Ultrafast photothermoelectric effect in Dirac semimetallic Cd3As2 revealed by terahertz emission
• Similar ultrafast dynamics of several dissimilar Dirac and Weyl semimetals
• Current-induced second harmonic generation in inversion-symmetric Dirac and Weyl semimetals
• Widely Tunable Optical and Thermal Properties of Dirac Semimetal Cd${}_3$As${}_2$
• Experimental Progress on Layered Topological Semimetals
• Electron Transport in Dirac and Weyl Semimetals
• Terahertz Polarization Conversion from Optical Dichroism in a Topological Dirac Semimetal
• Population inversion and Dirac fermion cooling in 3D Dirac semimetal Cd${}_3$As${}_2$
• Magnetoresistance of a three-dimensional Dirac gas
• Broadband strong optical dichroism in topological Dirac semimetals with Fermi velocity anisotropy
• Ideal near-Dirac triple-point semimetal in III-V semiconductor alloys
• Hot electron cooling in Dirac semimetal Cd${}_3$As${}_2$ due to polar optical phonons
• Tracking ultrafast change of multiterahertz broadband response functions in a photoexcited Dirac semimetal Cd${}_3$As${}_2$ thin film
• Stimulated Rayleigh Scattering Enhanced by a Longitudinal Plasma Mode in a Periodically Driven Dirac Semimetal Cd${}_3$As${}_2$
• Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Dirac Semimetal Cd3As2 under Pressure
• Anomalous Hall transport by optically injected isospin degree of freedom in Dirac semimetal thin film
• Pressure-induced reconstructive phase transition in Cd${}_3$As${}_2$
• Thermal-Field Electron Emission from Three-Dimensional Topological Semimetals