Spirals in, harmonics out (IMAGE)
Caption
Diagram of an experimental setup at SLAC’s high-power laser lab where scientists used circularly polarized laser light to probe a topological insulator – a type of quantum material that conducts electric current on its surfaces but not through its interior. A process called high harmonic generation shifts the laser light to higher energies and frequencies, or harmonics, as it passes through a TI. The harmonics allow scientists to clearly distinguish what electrons are doing in the material’s conductive surface and its insulating interior.
Credit
Shambhu Ghimire/Stanford PULSE Institute
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