X-ray parametric down-conversion reveals EUV-polariton
Abstract Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (PDC) of photons is a gateway into the quantum realm – thoroughly studied in nonlinear optics and ubiquitously used to generate non-classical states of light. Extending PDC from the visible regime towards shorter wavelengths further enables microscopic...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60845-8 |
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| Summary: | Abstract Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (PDC) of photons is a gateway into the quantum realm – thoroughly studied in nonlinear optics and ubiquitously used to generate non-classical states of light. Extending PDC from the visible regime towards shorter wavelengths further enables microscopic resolution of electronic structure and quantum-enhanced X-ray detection, but remained challenging due to the process’ inherently low conversion rate. Here, we resolve the full signal cone of non-degenerate down-conversion at X-ray wavelengths and identify imprints of a polariton in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) regime. We confirm our finding of the EUV-polariton with theoretical simulations and establish that our approach directly images the characteristic anti-crossing of polaritonic dispersion branches. This insight could open a pathway to explore strong-coupling phenomena of EUV-light-matter interaction. |
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| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |