Nanotubular molecular self-aggregates are characterized by a high degree of symmetry and they are fundamental systems for light-harvesting and energy transport. While coherent effects are thought to be at the basis of their high efficiency, the relationship between structure, coherence and functionality is still an open problem. We analyze natural nanotubes present in Green Sulfur Bacteria. We show that they have the ability to support macroscopic coherent states, i.e. delocalized excitonic states coherently spread over many molecules, even at room temperature.
Specifically, assuming a canonical thermal state, in natural structures we find a large thermal coherence length, of the order of 1000 molecules. By comparing natural structure with other mathematical models, we show that this macroscopic coherence cannot be explained either by the magnitude of the nearest-neighbour coupling between the molecules, which would induce a thermal coherence length of the order of 10 molecules, or by the presence of long-range interactions between the molecules. Indeed we prove that the existence of macroscopic coherent states is an emergent property of such structures due to the interplay between geometry and cooperativity (superradiance and super-transfer). In order to prove this, we give evidence that the lowest part of the spectrum of natural systems is determined by a cooperatively enhanced coupling (super-transfer) between the eigenstates of modular sub-units of the whole structure. Due to this enhanced coupling strength, the density of states is lowered close to the ground state, thus boosting the thermal coherence length.
Significant understanding has been achieved over the last few decades regarding chirality-dependent properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), primarily through single-tube studies. However, macroscopic manifestations of chirality dependence have been limited, especially in electronic transport, despite the fact that such distinct behaviors are needed for many applications of SWCNT-based devices. In addition, developing reliable transport theory is challenging since a description of localization phenomena in an assembly of nanoobjects requires precise knowledge of disorder on multipl…
Refractory nanophotonics, or nanophotonics at high temperatures, can revolutionize many applications, including data storage and waste heat recovery. In particular, nanophotonic devices made from hyperbolic materials are promising due to their nearly infinite photonic density of states (PDOS). However, it is challenging to achieve a prominent PDOS in existing refractory hyperbolic materials, especially in a broad spectral range. Here, we demonstrate that macroscopic films and architectures of aligned carbon nanotubes work as excellent refractory hyperbolic materials. We found that aligned carb…
There is an emerging recognition that successful utilization of chiral degrees of freedom can bring new scientific and technological opportunities to diverse research areas. Hence, methods are being sought for creating artificial matter with controllable chirality in an uncomplicated and reproducible manner. Here, we report the development of two straightforward methods for fabricating wafer-scale chiral architectures of ordered carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with tunable and giant circular dichroism (CD). Both methods employ simple approaches, (i) mechanical rotation and (ii) twist-stacking, based o…
Experimental Fowler-Nordheim plots taken from orthodoxly behaving carbon nanotube (CNT) field electron emitters are known to be linear. This shows that, for such emitters, there exists a characteristic field enhancement factor (FEF) that is constant for a range of applied voltages and applied macroscopic fields $F_\text{M}$. A constant FEF of this kind can be evaluated for classical CNT emitter models by finite-element and other methods, but (apparently contrary to experiment) several past quantum-mechanical (QM) CNT calculations find FEF-values that vary with $F_\text{M}$. A common feature of…
Emergent Bell Phase in an Electro-Nanomechanical Quantum Simulator
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona（巴塞罗那自治大学）；ICFO - Institut De Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology（ICFO-光子科学研究所，巴塞罗那科学技术研究院）；ICREA（加泰罗尼亚高级研究院）
In many field electron emission experiments on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), the SWCNT stands on one of two well-separated parallel plane plates, with a macroscopic field FM applied between them. For any given location "L" on the SWCNT surface, a field enhancement factor (FEF) is defined as $F_{\rm{L}}$/$F_{\rm{M}}$, where $F_{\rm{L}}$ is a local field defined at "L". The best emission measurements from small-radii capped SWCNTs exhibit characteristic FEFs that are constant (i.e., independent of $F_{\rm{M}}$). This paper discusses how to retrieve this result in quantum-mechanical (a…
Anomalous heat transport in one-dimensional nanostructures, such as nanotubes and nanowires, is a widely debated problem in condensed matter and statistical physics, with contradicting pieces of evidence from experiments and simulations. Using a comprehensive modeling approach, comprised of lattice dynamics and molecular dynamics simulations, we proved that the infinite length limit of the thermal conductivity of a (10,0) single-wall carbon nanotube is finite but this limit is reached only for macroscopic lengths due to thermal phonon mean free path of several millimeters. Our calculations sho…
The photon blockade breakdown in a continuously driven cavity QED system has been proposed as a prime example for a first-order driven-dissipative quantum phase transition. But the predicted scaling from a microscopic system - dominated by quantum fluctuations - to a macroscopic one - characterized by stable phases - and the associated exponents and phase diagram have not been observed so far. In this work we couple a single transmon qubit with a fixed coupling strength $g$ to an in-situ bandwidth $κ$ tuneable superconducting cavity to controllably approach this thermodynamic limit. Even thoug…
Two-dimensional topological insulators, and in particular quantum Hall states, are characterized by an insulating bulk and a conducting edge. Fractional states may host both downstream (dictated by the magnetic field) and upstream propagating edge modes, which leads to complex transport behavior. Here, we combine two measurement techniques, local noise thermometry and thermal conductance, to study thermal properties of states with counter-propagating edge modes. We find that, while charge equilibration between counter-propagating edge modes is very fast, the equilibration of heat is extremely …
Emergent quantum phenomena via phase-coherence engineering in infinite-layer nickelate superconductors
Peking University（北京大学）；University of Electronic Science and Technology of China（电子科技大学）；Renmin University of China（中国人民大学）；ShanghaiTech University（上海科技大学）；Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Institute of Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory（松山湖材料实验室）；Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学）；Fudan University（复旦大学）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
