Excitonic photoluminescence in symmetric coupled double quantum wells subject to an external electric field

The effect of an external electric field F on the excitonic photoluminescence (PL) spectra of a symmetric coupled double quantum well (DQW) is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. We show that the variational method in a two-particle electron-hole wave function approximation gives a good agreement with measurements of PL on a narrow DQW in a wide interval of F including flat-band regime. The experimental data are presented for an MBE-grown DQW consisting of two 5 nm wide GaAs wells, separated by a 4 monolayers (MLs) wide pure AlAs central barrier, and sandwiched between Ga_{0.7}Al_{0.3}As layers. The bias voltage is applied along the growth direction. Spatially direct and indirect excitonic transitions are identified, and the radius of the exciton and squeezing of the exciton in the growth direction are evaluated variationally. The excitonic binding energies, recombination energies, oscillator strengths, and relative intensities of the transitions as functions of the applied field are calculated. Our analysis demonstrates that this simple model is applicable in case of narrow DQWs not just for a qualitative description of the PL peak positions but also for the estimation of their individual shapes and intensities.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures (accepted in Phys. Rev. B

Measurement of single electron emission in two-phase xenon

We present the first measurements of the electroluminescence response to the emission of single electrons in a two-phase noble gas detector. Single ionization electrons generated in liquid xenon are detected in a thin gas layer during the 31-day background run of the ZEPLIN-II experiment, a two-phase xenon detector for WIMP dark matter searches. Both the pressure dependence and magnitude of the single-electron response are in agreement with previous measurements of electroluminescence yield in xenon. We discuss different photoionization processes as possible cause for the sample of single electrons studied in this work. This observation may have implications for the design and operation of future large-scale two-phase systems.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Transition between nuclear and quark-gluon descriptions of hadrons and light nuclei

We provide a perspective on studies aimed at observing the transition between hadronic and quark-gluonic descriptions of reactions involving light nuclei. We begin by summarizing the results for relatively simple reactions such as the pion form factor and the neutral pion transition form factor as well as that for the nucleon and end with exclusive photoreactions in our simplest nuclei. A particular focus will be on reactions involving the deuteron. It is noted that a firm understanding of these issues is essential for unraveling important structure information from processes such as deeply virtual Compton scattering as well as deeply virtual meson production. The connection to exotic phenomena such as color transparency will be discussed. A number of outstanding challenges will require new experiments at modern facilities on the horizon as well as further theoretical developments.Comment: 37 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Reports on Progress in Physic

Critical revision of the ZEPLIN-I sensitivity to WIMP interactions

The ZEPLIN collaboration has recently published its first result presenting a maximum sensitivity of $1.1 \times 10^{-6}$ picobarn for a WIMP mass of $\approx$ 60 GeV. The analysis is based on a discrimination method using the different time distribution of scintillation light generated in electron recoil and nuclear recoil interactions. We show that the methodology followed both for the calibration of the ZEPLIN-I detector response and for the estimation of the discrimination power is not reliable enough to claim any background discrimination at the present stage. The ZEPLIN-I sensitivity appears then to be in the order of 10$^{-3}$ picobarn, three orders of magnitude above the claimed 1.1 10$^{-6}$ picobarn.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, minor corrections, two references updated, final version accepted in Physics Letters

WIMP-nucleon cross-section results from the second science run of ZEPLIN-III

We report experimental upper limits on WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross sections from the second science run of ZEPLIN-III at the Boulby Underground Laboratory. A raw fiducial exposure of 1,344 kg.days was accrued over 319 days of continuous operation between June 2010 and May 2011. A total of eight events was observed in the signal acceptance region in the nuclear recoil energy range 7-29 keV, which is compatible with background expectations. This allows the exclusion of the scalar cross-section above 4.8E-8 pb near 50 GeV/c^2 WIMP mass with 90% confidence. Combined with data from the first run, this result improves to 3.9E-8 pb. The corresponding WIMP-neutron spin-dependent cross-section limit is 8.0E-3 pb. The ZEPLIN programme reaches thus its conclusion at Boulby, having deployed and exploited successfully three liquid xenon experiments of increasing reach

Quantum Statistics of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in Metallic Stripe Waveguides

Single surface plasmon polaritons are excited using photons generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The mean excitation rates, intensity correlations and Fock state populations are studied. The observed dependence of the second order coherence in our experiment is consistent with a linear uncorrelated Markovian environment in the quantum regime. Our results provide important information about the effect of loss for assessing the potential of plasmonic waveguides for future nanophotonic circuitry in the quantum regime.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, published in Nano Letters, publication date (web): March 27 (2012

QCD and models on multiplicities in e+e−e^+e^- and ppˉp\bar p interactions

A brief survey of theoretical approaches to description of multiplicity distributions in high energy processes is given. It is argued that the multicomponent nature of these processes leads to some peculiar characteristics observed experimentally. Predictions for LHC energies are presented. It is shown that similarity of the energy dependence of average multiplicities in different reactions is not enough alone to suggest the universal mechanism of particle production in strongly-interacting systems. Other characteristics of multiplicity distributions depend on the nature of colliding partners.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, Phys. Atom. Nuc

Systematic study of trace radioactive impurities in candidate construction materials for EXO-200

The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) will search for double beta decays of 136Xe. We report the results of a systematic study of trace concentrations of radioactive impurities in a wide range of raw materials and finished parts considered for use in the construction of EXO-200, the first stage of the EXO experimental program. Analysis techniques employed, and described here, include direct gamma counting, alpha counting, neutron activation analysis, and high-sensitivity mass spectrometry.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures. Expanded introduction, added missing table entry. Accepted for publication in Nucl. Instrum. Meth.