Superradiance and Broadband Emission Driving Fast Electron Dephasing in Open Quantum Systems

Abstract

The physical origin of the ultrashort dephasing time T 2 (approximate to O(1) fs), persistently addressed in the solid-state high-harmonic generation (HHG), remains an unresolved and challenging issue because the electron scattering at such a short timescale within solids is hardly identified. Here we investigate HHG of the 1D Hubbard model in the dissipative quantum environment within a frame of the Lindblad equation. In the study, in the limit of a small interatomic distance, we make the first verification of the solid-state Dicke superradiance, the coherent stimulated emission triggered by the spontaneous emission, as well as the broadband emission mimicking the blackbody radiation due to the electron scattering in each harmonic multiple. Further, we find a strong destructive interference between the Dicke superradiance and the broadband emission, which makes a scale down of the effective electron scattering time and leads to just few-femtosecond dephasing time T 2. This finding explains a long-standing problem of the ultrafast femtosecond electron dephasing in HHG. The present study could also serve as a pertinent platform for understanding the nonequilibrium dissipative dynamics of correlated electron systems.