Electron Dynamics Redefined Through Super-Bloch Oscillations

Researchers achieve advances in periodic oscillations and transportation for optical pulses, with potential for next-gen optical communications and signal processing.

Researchers have achieved significant advances in wave physics by conducting experiments on Super-Bloch Oscillations (SBOs), which demonstrate the potential for manipulating optical pulses. By applying both DC and nearly detuned AC electric fields, they not only observed SBO collapse for the first time but also extended these oscillations to arbitrary wave driving situations, paving the way for innovative optical communication technologies.

Wave Physics and Super-Bloch Oscillations
Full coherent control of wave transport and localization is a long-sought goal in wave physics research, which encompasses many different areas from solid-state to matter-wave physics and photonics. One among the most important and fascinating coherent transport effects is Bloch oscillation (BO), which refers to the periodic oscillatory motion of electrons in solids under a direct current (DC)-driving electric field. Super-Bloch oscillations (SBOs) are giant oscillatory motions achieved by applying simultaneously detuned DC- and AC-driving electrical fields. Considered amplified versions of BOs, SBOs receive less attention than ordinary BOs mainly because their experimental observations are more challenging and require a much longer particle coherence time.