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Control of Elementary Excitations by Acoustic Fields

Solid-state systems host various fundamental excitations, such as electrons, holes, excitons, and magnons, which are crucial for future electronic and quantum technologies. These excitations are highly sensitive to strain—small changes in the atomic arrangement of a crystal can significantly alter their properties. Phonons, the quanta of lattice vibrations, provide a dynamic source of strain that can be harnessed for precise control of these excitations.

In this CReA, we investigate how elastic vibrations, specifically surface acoustic waves (SAWs) and bulk acoustic waves (BAWs), can manipulate elementary excitations at the nanoscale. Using high-quality materials and advanced nanofabrication techniques, we design structures that efficiently couple to dynamic strain fields. By employing piezoelectric transducers, we generate acoustic waves at frequencies up to 20 GHz, enabling control over material excitations in semiconductor and magnetic systems. Our research spans applications in telecommunications, quantum information processing, and hybrid acousto-opto-electronic systems.

Acoustic control offers a pathway to novel quantum technologies, including tunable exciton-polaritons, spin manipulation in color centers, and magneto-acoustic interactions in ferromagnetic nanostructures. Future breakthroughs could enable coherent transduction between microwave and optical domains, paving the way for advanced quantum networks and next-generation electronic devices.

Highlights

Third-party Funded Projects

Selected Publications

2024

  1. Solid-State Continuous Time Crystal in a Polariton Condensate with a Built-in Mechanical Clock
    Authors: Carraro-Haddad, D. L. Chafatinos, A. S. Kuznetsov, I. A. Papuccio-Fernández, A. A. Reynoso, A. Bruchhausen, K. Biermann, P. V. Santos, G. Usaj, and A. Fainstein
    Published in: Science 384, 995 (2024)
    DOI: 10.1126/science.adn7087
     
  2. Acceleration-Induced Spectral Beats in Strongly Driven Harmonic Oscillators
    Authors: A. S. Kuznetsov, K. Biermann, and P. V. Santos
    Published in: Nat. Commun. 15, 5343 (2024)
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49610-5
     
  3. Generation of GHz surface acoustic waves in (Sc,Al)N thin films grown on free-standing polycrystalline diamond wafers by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy
    Authors: M. Yuan, D. V. Dinh, S. Mandal, O. A. Williams, Z. Chen, O. Brandt, and P. V. Santos
    Published in: J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 57, 495103 (2024)
    DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ad76ba
     
  4. Dynamical reorientation of spin multipoles in silicon carbide by transverse magnetic fields
    Authors: A. Hernández-Mínguez, A. V. Poshakinskiy, M. Hollenbach, P. V. Santos, and G. V. Astakhov
    Published in: Phys. Rev. Appl. 22, 044021 (2024)
    DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.22.044021 
     
  5. Spatial Analysis of Multi-Frequency SAW Beams Excited by Slanted IDTs on ZnO-SiC Heterostructures
    Authors: Y.-T. Liou, M. Msall, A. Hernández-Mínguez, and P. V. Santos
    Published in: J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 57, 415302 (2024)
    DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ad600e

2023

  1. Asynchronous Locking in Metamaterials of Fluids of Light and Sound
    Authors: D. L. Chafatinos, A. S. Kuznetsov, A. A. Reynoso, G. Usaj, P. Sesin, I. Papuccio, A. E. Bruchhausen, K. Biermann, P. V. Santos, and A. Fainstein
    Published in: Nat. Commun. 14, 3485 (2023)
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38788-9
     
  2. Microcavity Phonoritons – a Coherent Optical-to-Microwave Interface
    Authors: A. S. Kuznetsov, K. Biermann, A. A. Reynoso, A. Fainstein, and P. V. Santos
    Published in: Nat. Commun. 14, 5470 (2023)
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40894-7 
     
  3. High-Resolution Acoustic Field Mapping of Gigahertz Phononic Crystals with Atomic Force Microscopy
    Authors: A. Pitanti, M. Yuan, S. Zanotto, and P. V. Santos
    Phys. Rev. Appl. 20, 054054 (2023)
    DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.054054
     
  4. Scanning X-Ray Diffraction Microscopy of a 6-GHz Surface Acoustic Wave
    Authors: M. Hanke, N. Ashurbekov, E. Zatterin, M. E. Msall, J. Hellemann, P. V. Santos, T. U. Schulli, and S. Ludwig
    Published in: Phys. Rev. Appl. 19, 024038 (2023)
    DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.19.024038
     
  5. Resonant and Off-Resonant Magnetoacoustic Waves in Epitaxial Fe3Si/GaAs Hybrid Structures
    Authors: M. Rovirola, M. Waqas Khaliq, B. Casals, M. Foerster, M. A. Niño, L. Aballe, J. Herfort, J. M. Hernàndez, F. Macià, and A. Hernández-Mínguez
    Phys. Rev. Appl. 20, 034052 (2023)
    DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.034052 

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