Close to optimal doping, the copper oxide superconductors show 'strange metal' behaviour, suggestive of strong fluctuations associated with a quantum critical point. Such a critical point requires a line of classical phase transitions terminating at zero temperature near optimal doping inside the superconducting 'dome'.

The interplay of bulk and boundary scattering is explored in a regime where quantum size effects modify mesoscopic transport in a degenerate Fermi liquid film of 3He on a rough surface. We discuss mass transport and the momentum relaxation time of the film in a torsional oscillator geometry within the framework of a quasiclassical theory that includes the experimentally determined power spectrum of the rough surface. The theory explains the anomalous temperature dependence of the relaxation rate observed experimentally.

We demonstrate high-contrast electro-optic modulation in a graphene integrated photonic crystal nanocavity, providing a modulation depth of more than 10 dB at telecom wavelengths. This work shows the feasibility of high-performance electro-optical modulators in graphene-based nanophotonics. © OSA 2013.

We present experimental and theoretical results of confined plasmons in graphene micro- and nano-structures. We present a FDTD technique to accurately model the measured data and demonstrate the importance of interactions between plasmonic structures. © 2013 The Optical Society of America.

We report the observation of second harmonic generation (SHG) from odd-layer MoS2 atomic crystal. In contrast, no SHG is observed for samples with even layer numbers due to the restoration of perfect inversion symmetry. Moreover, the SHG intensity is found to directly reflect the underlying 3-fold rotation symmetry of the crystal, which provides a powerful method for optical imaging of the material crystal structure with sub-micron resolution. © 2013 Optical Society of America.

The interaction of an electronic spin with its nuclear environment, an issue known as the central spin problem, has been the subject of considerable attention due to its relevance for spin-based quantum computation using semiconductor quantum dots. Independent control of the nuclear spin bath using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and dynamic nuclear polarization using the central spin itself offer unique possibilities for manipulating the nuclear bath with significant consequences for the coherence and controlled manipulation of the central spin.

We design and demonstrate electrically controlled optical trapping of individual microparticles and manipulation of biomolecules with nm-scale precision for high throughput applications. This has been realized by integration of photonics, fluidics, and electronics, on-chip. © 2013 The Optical Society.

The growth plate is a highly organized section of cartilage in the long bones of growing children that is susceptible to mechanical failure as well as structural and functional disruption caused by a dietary deficiency of vitamin D. The shear mechanical properties of the proximal tibial growth plate of rats raised either on normal or vitamin D and calcium deficient diets were measured. A sinusoidal oscillating shear load was applied to small excised growth plate specimens perpendicular to the direction of growth while imaging the deformation in real time with a fast confocal microscope.

We couple a single suspended carbon nanotube to the near field of a free standing optical microdisk. The strong interaction between the nanotube and the microcavity produces an ultrahigh photocurrent response as large as 0.35mA/W. © 2013 Optical Society of America.

A major question in Fe-based superconductors remains the structure of the pairing, in particular whether it is of unconventional nature. The electronic structure near a vortex can serve as a platform for phase-sensitive measurements to answer this question. By solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for LiFeAs, we calculate the energy-dependent local electronic structure near a vortex for different nodeless gap-structure possibilities. At low energies, the local density of states (LDOS) around a vortex is determined by the normal-state electronic structure.