Hybridization of Terahertz Phonons and Magnons in Disparate and Spatially-Separated Material Specimens

Abstract

The interaction between condensed matter excitations and electromagnetic cavity fields serves as a rich playground for fundamental research and lies at the core of photonic and quantum technologies. Herein, the intriguing concept of composite states formed by distinct quasiparticles strongly coupled to the same optical cavity modes is experimentally and theoretically demonstrated. Specifically, magnons excited in a slab of an antiferromagnetic crystal and phonons excited in a distinct specimen of an insulating material are explored. The crystal slabs form an optical cavity with Fabry–Pérot oscillations in the terahertz range. Hybridized phonon–magnon polariton modes and their tunability by adjusting the distance between the slabs, showing that hybridization persists even at separations of up to several millimeters is demonstrated. The experimental results are interpreted using both classical and quantum electrodynamical models. The quantum description allows us to quantify the degree of hybridization linked to a topological behavior of the electric field phasor, in agreement with the classical electrodynamics expectations. The presented results are obtained at room temperature and cavities of millimeter size, paving the way for the engineering of realistic, frequency-tunable THz devices through the hybridization of electric (phononics) and magnetic (spintronics) elementary excitations of matter.