Related papers: High second harmonic generation in ferroelectric n…
Hybrid systems of two-dimensional (2D) materials (such as graphene-family materials and 2D transition metal dichalcogenides) are attracting much attention due to their distinctive optoelectronic, thermal, mechanical, and chemical…
The newly discovered 112-type ferropnictide superconductors contain chains of As atoms that break the tetragonal symmetry between the $a$ and $b$ axes. This feature eliminates the need for uniaxial strain that is usually required to…
Second-order nonlinear optical response allows to detect different properties of the system associated with the inversion symmetry breaking. Here, we use a second harmonic generation effect to investigate the alignment of a…
Optical second harmonic generation (SHG) is used as a noninvasive probe of two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectricity in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of copolymer vinylidene fluoride with trifluorethylene. The surface 2D…
We use ultrafast laser pulses to experimentally demonstrate that the second-order optical response of bulk single crystals of the topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ is sensitive to its surface electrons. By performing surface doping…
Field theories predict that phase transitions sequentially breaking continuous and discrete symmetries can generate hybrid topological structures in which defects of different dimensionalities merge. We report experimental and numerical…
Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are currently being subject to a plethora of investigations since they are of great fundamental interest and could potentially foster promising applications. However, many basic aspects are still poorly…
Twist-bend (Ntb) and ferroelectric (NF) nematic liquid crystals exhibit several novel effects and new physical properties. The question of what happens in binary mixtures is interesting as a matter of curiosity and pure science. Here, we…
A set of polar rod-shaped liquid crystalline molecules with large dipole moments (mu > 10.4-14.8 D), their molecular structures based on the ferroelectric nematic prototype DIO, are designed, synthesized, and investigated. When the…
We apply a recently proposed density functional for mixtures of parallel hard cylinders, based on Rosenfeld's fundamental measure theory, to study the effect of length-polydispersity on the relative stability between the smectic and…
Time-varying metamaterials rely on large and fast changes of the linear permittivity. Beyond the linear terms, however, the effect of a non-perturbative modulation of the medium on harmonic generation and the associated nonlinear…
The recent discovery of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking has demonstrated the possibility of discovering the exotic textures of ferromagnetic systems in liquid crystalline fluid ferro-electrics. We show that the polar smectic mesophase…
We study the nonlinear process of second harmonic generation in photonic time-crystals, materials with refractive index that varies abruptly and periodically in time, and obtain the phase matching condition for this process. We find…
A series of non-symmetric dimers were synthesised containing either cyanobiphenyl or difluoroterphenyl moieties on one side and a range of long, short, bent, polar or apolar mesogens on the other side of the molecules. The dielectric…
We present a comprehensive tensorial characterization of second-harmonic generation from silicon nitride films with varying composition. The samples were fabricated using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and the material…
Studies of the copper-based superconductors demonstrate how their phase diagram becomes more complex as experimental probes improve, able to distinguish among subtly different electronic phases. One of those phases, nematicity, has become…
We investigate the generation of ultraviolet (UV) second-harmonic radiation on the boundary of a UV transparent crystal, which is derived from the automatic partial phase matching of the incident wave and the total internal reflection. By…
Deviations of molecular shapes from spherical symmetry may give rise to a variety of novel phenomena, including their dynamic behavior. It has recently been predicted [Mazza \textit{et al}. Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{105}, 227802 (2010)] that…
We present neutron diffraction analysis of BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ over a wide temperature (10 to 300 K) and compositional ($0.11 \leq x \leq 0.79$) range, including the normal state, the magnetically ordered state, and the…
(1-x)Li0.12Na0.88NbO3-xBaTiO3 (0 to x to 0.40) ferroelectric ceramics were prepared using conventional ceramics route and their phase transitional behavior is investigated by using dielectric spectroscopy. The temperature-dependent…