230 research outputs found
Nonlinear optics of graphene in a strong magnetic field
Graphene placed in a magnetic field possesses an extremely high
mid/far-infrared optical nonlinearity originating from its unusual band
structure and selection rules for the optical transitions near the Dirac point.
Here we study the linear and nonlinear optical response of graphene in strong
magnetic and optical fields using quantum- mechanical density-matrix formalism.
We calculate the power of coherent terahertz radiation generated as a result of
four-wave mixing in graphene. We show that even one monolayer of graphene gives
rise to appreciable nonlinear frequency conversion efficiency and Raman gain
for modest intensities of incident infrared radiation.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Formation and dynamics of self-sustained neutron haloes in disk accreting sources
It has been recognized long ago that the presence of hot plasma in the inner
accretion disks around black holes could lead to the neutron production via
dissociation of helium nuclei. We show that, for a broad range of accretion
parameters, neutrons effectively decouple from protons and pile up in the inner
disk leading to the formation of self-sustained halo. This means that new
neutrons in the halo are supplied mainly by the splitting of helium nuclei in
their collisions with existing neutrons. Once formed, such a halo can exist
even if the proton temperature is much lower than the energy threshold of
helium dissociation. We show that neutron haloes can be the natural source of
relativistic electrons and positrons, providing characteristic comptonization
spectra and hard spectral tails observed in many black hole candidates, and
also giving rise to relativistic outflows. Deuterium gamma-ray line at 2.2 MeV
resulting from neutron capture is also expected at a level detectable by future
INTEGRAL mission. Furthermore, the presence of a neutron halo strongly affects
the dynamics of accretion and leads to the rich variety of transient dynamical
regimes.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysic
Cooperative Recombination of a Quantized High-Density Electron-Hole Plasma
We investigate photoluminescence from a high-density electron-hole plasma in
semiconductor quantum wells created via intense femtosecond excitation in a
strong perpendicular magnetic field, a fully-quantized and tunable system. At a
critical magnetic field strength and excitation fluence, we observe a clear
transition in the band-edge photoluminescence from omnidirectional output to a
randomly directed but highly collimated beam. In addition, changes in the
linewidth, carrier density, and magnetic field scaling of the PL spectral
features correlate precisely with the onset of random directionality,
indicative of cooperative recombination from a high density population of free
carriers in a semiconductor environment
Fermi-Edge Superfluorescence from a Quantum-Degenerate Electron-Hole Gas
We report on the observation of spontaneous bursts of coherent radiation from
a quantum-degenerate gas of nonequilibrium electron-hole pairs in semiconductor
quantum wells. Unlike typical spontaneous emission from semiconductors, which
occurs at the band edge, the observed emission occurs at the quasi-Fermi edge
of the carrier distribution. As the carriers are consumed by recombination, the
quasi-Fermi energy goes down toward the band edge, and we observe a
continuously red-shifting streak. We interpret this emission as cooperative
spontaneous recombination of electron-hole pairs, or superfluorescence, which
is enhanced by Coulomb interactions near the Fermi edge. This novel many-body
enhancement allows the magnitude of the spontaneously developed macroscopic
polarization to exceed the maximum value for ordinary superfluorescence, making
electron-hole superfluorescence even more "super" than atomic
superfluorescence.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
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