Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Reconfigurable electronic circuits for magnetic fields controlled by structured light

Abstract

Dynamic control over the conduction band electrons of a semiconductor is a central technological pursuit. Beyond electronic circuitry, flexible control over the spatial and temporal character of semiconductor currents enables precise spatiotemporal structuring of magnetic fields. Despite their importance in science and technology, the control of magnetic fields at the micrometre spatial scale and femtosecond temporal scale using conventional electromagnets remains challenging. Here, we apply structured light beams to interfering photoexcitation pathways in gallium arsenide to sculpt the spatial and momentum configuration of its conduction band population. Programmable control over several hundred micrometre-scale current elements is achieved by manipulating the wavefronts of an optical beam using a spatial light modulator, enabling vast flexibility in the excited current patterns. Using this platform, we demonstrate dynamic optoelectronic interconnects, circuits for spatially tailored magnetic fields and magnetic field lattices.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Transverse vectorial control of current pixels.
Fig. 2: Reconfigurable optoelectronic interconnects.
Fig. 3: Spatially tailored magnetic fields.
Fig. 4: Magnetic field lattices.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The raw data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

References

  1. Dupont, E., Corkum, P. B., Liu, H. C., Buchanan, M. & Wasilewksi, Z. R. Phase-controlled currents in semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 3596–3599 (1995).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Atanasov, R., Haché, A., Hughes, J. L. P., van Driel, H. M. & Sipe, J. E. Coherent control of photocurrent injection in bulk semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1703–1706 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Haché, A., Sipe, J. E. & van Driel, H. M. Quantum interference control of electrical currents in GaAs. IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 34, 1144–1154 (1998).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Auston, D. H. Picosecond optoelectronic switching and gating in silicon. Appl. Phys. Lett. 26, 1144–1154 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Auston, D. H. Ultrafast optoelectronics. Top. Appl. Phys. 60, 183–233 (1988).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Belinicher, V. I. & Sturman, B. I. The photogalvanic effect in media lacking a center of symmetry. Sov. Phys. Usp. 23, 199–223 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Choi, T., Lee, S., Choi, Y. J., Kiryukhin, V. & Cheong, S.-W. Switchable ferroelectric diode and photovoltaic effect in BiFeO3. Science 324, 63–66 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Côté, D., Laman, N. & van Driel, H. M. Rectification and shift currents in GaAs. Appl. Phys. Lett. 80, 905–907 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Schiffrin, A. et al. Optical-field-induced current in dielectrics. Nature 493, 70–74 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Higuchi, T., Heide, C., Ullmann, K., Weber, H. B. & Hommelhoff, P. Light-field-driven currents in graphene. Nature 550, 224–228 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sederberg, S. et al. Attosecond optoelectronic field measurement in solids. Nat. Commun. 11, 430 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Forbes, A. Sculpting electric currents with structured light. Nat. Photon. 14, 656–657 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Shapiro, M. & Brumer, P. Quantum Control of Molecular Processes (Wiley, 2012).

  14. Rubinsztein-Dunlop, H. et al. Roadmap on structured light. J. Opt. 19, 013001 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Yu, N. & Capasso, F. Flat optics with designer metasurfaces. Nat. Mater. 13, 139–150 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhan, Q. Cylindrical vector beams: from mathematical concepts to applications. Adv. Opt. Photon. 1, 1–57 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Forbes, A., de Oliveira, M. & Dennis, M. R. Structured light. Nat. Photon. 15, 253–262 (2021).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Hassan, M. T. et al. Optical attosecond pulses and tracking the nonlinear response of bound electrons. Nature 530, 66–70 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Hammond, T. J., Villeneuve, D. M. & Corkum, P. B. Producing and controlling half-cycle near-infrared electric-field transients. Optica 4, 826–830 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Sederberg, S. et al. Vectorized optoelectronic control and metrology in a semiconductor. Nat. Photon. 14, 680–685 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Fickler, R. et al. Quantum entanglement of high angular momenta. Science 338, 640–643 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wang, J. et al. Terabit free-space data transmission employing orbital angular momentum multiplexing. Nat. Photon. 6, 488–496 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Bhat, R. D. R. & Sipe, J. E. Optically injected spin currents in semiconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5432–5435 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Batson, P. E., Dellby, N. & Krivanek, O. L. Sub-ångstrom resolution using aberration corrected electron optics. Nature 418, 617–620 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Erni, R., Rossell, M. D., Kisielowksi, C. & Dahmen, U. Atomic-resolution imaging with a sub-50-pm electron probe. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 096101 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Kondratenko, A. M. & Saldin, E. L. Generation of coherent radiation by a relativistic electron beam in an ondulator. Part. Accel. 10, 207–216 (1980).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Murphy, J. B. & Pellegrini, C. Free electron lasers for the XUV spectral region. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 237, 159–167 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Fiederling, R. et al. Injection and detection of a spin-polarized current in light-emitting diode. Nature 402, 787–790 (1999).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Zutic, I., Fabian, J. & Sarma, S. D. Spintronics: fundamentals and applications. Rev. Mod. Phys. 76, 323–410 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Rugar, D., Budakian, R., Mamin, H. J. & Chui, B. W. Single spin detection by magnetic resonance force microscopy. Nature 430, 329–332 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. Pritchard, D. E. Cooling neutral atoms in a magnetic trap for precision spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 1336–1339 (1983).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. Mühlbauer, S. et al. Skyrmion lattice in a chiral magnet. Science 323, 915–919 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Leitenstorfer, A., Fürst, C., Laubereau, A. & Kaiser, W. Femtosecond carrier dynamics in GaAs far from equilibrium. Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1545–1548 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Sederberg, S., Kong, F. & Corkum, P. B. Tesla-scale terahertz magnetic impulses. Phys. Rev. X 10, 011063 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  35. Walowski, J. & Münzenberg, M. Ultrafast magnetism and THz spintronics. J. Appl. Phys. 120, 140901 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program (P.B.C.), the Canada Research Chairs Program (P.B.C.), the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (‘Topological Excitations in Electronics (TEE)’, agreement #D18AC00011, P.B.C.) and the United States Army Research Office (award no. W911NF-19-1-0211, P.B.C.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

P.B.C., F.K. and S.S. conceived the idea. K.J., K.R.H. and S.S. performed the measurements. S.S. analysed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. P.B.C. and S.S. supervised the experiments. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Sederberg.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review informationNature Photonics thanks Andrea Alu, Andrew Forbes and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–9 and notes 1–8.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jana, K., Herperger, K.R., Kong, F. et al. Reconfigurable electronic circuits for magnetic fields controlled by structured light. Nat. Photon. 15, 622–626 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00832-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00832-9

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing