Ultrastrong magnon-photon coupling in superconductor/antiferromagnet/superconductor heterostructures at terahertz frequencies

Abstract

We predict the realization of ultrastrong coupling between magnons of antiferromagnets and photons in superconductor/antiferromagnet/superconductor heterostructures at terahertz frequencies, from both quantum and classical perspectives. The hybridization of the two magnon modes with photons strongly depends on the applied magnetic field: at zero magnetic field, only a single antiferromagnetic mode with a lower frequency couples to the photon, forming a magnon-polariton, while using a magnetic field activates coupling for both antiferromagnetic modes. The coupling between magnon and photon is ultrastrong with the coupling constant $\sim$ 100 GHz exceeding 10% of the antiferromagnetic resonant frequency. The superconductor modulates the spin of the resulting magnon-polaritons and the group velocity, achieving values amounting to several tenths of the speed of light, which promises strong tunability of magnon transport in antiferromagnets by superconductors.