155 research outputs found
Quench dynamics of a disordered array of dissipative coupled cavities
We investigate the mean-field dynamics of a system of interacting photons in
an array of coupled cavities in presence of dissipation and disorder. We follow
the evolution of on an initially prepared Fock state, and show how the
interplay between dissipation and disorder affects the coherence properties of
the cavity emission and that these properties can be used as signatures of the
many-body phase of the whole array.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, new reference adde
Microcavity polariton-like dispersion doublet in resonant Bragg gratings
Periodic structures resonantly coupled to excitonic media allow the existence
of extra intragap modes ('Braggoritons'), due to the coupling between Bragg
photon modes and 3D bulk excitons. This induces unique and unexplored
dispersive features, which can be tailored by properly designing the photonic
bandgap around the exciton resonance. We report that one-dimensional
Braggoritons realized with semiconductor gratings have the ability to mimic the
dispersion of quantum-well microcavity polaritons. This will allow the
observation of new nonlinear phenomena, such as slow-light-enhanced nonlinear
propagation and an efficient parametric scattering at two 'magic frequencies'
Creation of entangled states in coupled quantum dots via adiabatic rapid passage
Quantum state preparation through external control is fundamental to
established methods in quantum information processing and in studies of
dynamics. In this respect, excitons in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are of
particular interest since their coupling to light allows them to be driven into
a specified state using the coherent interaction with a tuned optical field
such as an external laser pulse. We propose a protocol, based on adiabatic
rapid passage, for the creation of entangled states in an ensemble of pairwise
coupled two-level systems, such as an ensemble of QD molecules. We show by
quantitative analysis using realistic parameters for semiconductor QDs that
this method is feasible where other approaches are unavailable. Furthermore,
this scheme can be generically transferred to some other physical systems
including circuit QED, nuclear and electron spins in solid-state environments,
and photonic coupled cavities.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Added reference, minor changes. Discussion,
results and conclusions unchange
Studying Light-Harvesting Models with Superconducting Circuits
The process of photosynthesis, the main source of energy in the animate
world, converts sunlight into chemical energy. The surprisingly high efficiency
of this process is believed to be enabled by an intricate interplay between the
quantum nature of molecular structures in photosynthetic complexes and their
interaction with the environment. Investigating these effects in biological
samples is challenging due to their complex and disordered structure. Here we
experimentally demonstrate a new approach for studying photosynthetic models
based on superconducting quantum circuits. In particular, we demonstrate the
unprecedented versatility and control of our method in an engineered three-site
model of a pigment protein complex with realistic parameters scaled down in
energy by a factor of . With this system we show that the excitation
transport between quantum coherent sites disordered in energy can be enabled
through the interaction with environmental noise. We also show that the
efficiency of the process is maximized for structured noise resembling
intramolecular phononic environments found in photosynthetic complexes.Comment: 8+12 pages, 4+12 figure
Strong and weak coupling limits in optics of quantum well excitons
A transition between the strong (coherent) and weak (incoherent) coupling
limits of resonant interaction between quantum well (QW) excitons and bulk
photons is analyzed and quantified as a function of the incoherent damping rate
caused by exciton-phonon and exciton-exciton scattering. For confined QW
polaritons, a second, anomalous, damping-induced dispersion branch arises and
develops with increasing damping. In this case, the strong-weak coupling
transition is attributed to a critical damping rate, when the intersection of
the normal and damping-induced dispersion branches occurs. For the radiative
states of QW excitons, i.e., for radiative QW polaritons, the transition is
described as a qualitative change of the photoluminescence spectrum at grazing
angles along the QW structure. Furthermore, we show that the radiative
corrections to the QW exciton states with in-plane wavevector approaching the
photon cone are universally scaled by an energy parameter rather than diverge.
The strong-weak coupling transition rates are also proportional to the same
energy parameter. The numerical evaluations are given for a GaAs single quantum
well with realistic parameters.Comment: Published in Physical Review B. 29 pages, 12 figure
Enhancing the Electrocatalytic Activity of Redox Stable Perovskite Fuel Electrodes in Solid Oxide Cells by Atomic Layer-Deposited Pt Nanoparticles
The carbon dioxide and steam co-electrolysis in solid oxide cells offers an efficient way to store the intermittent renewable electricity in the form of syngas (CO + H2), which constitutes a key intermediate for the chemical industry. The co-electrolysis process, however, is challenging in terms of materials selection. The cell composites, and particularly the fuel electrode, are required to exhibit adequate stability in redox environments and coking that rules out the conventional Ni cermets. La0.75Sr0.25Cr0.5Mn0.5O3 (LSCrM) perovskite oxides represent a promising alternative solution, but with electrocatalytic activity inferior to the conventional Ni-based cermets. Here, we report on how the electrochemical properties of a state-of-the-art LSCrM electrode can be significantly enhanced by introducing uniformly distributed Pt nanoparticles (18 nm) on its surface via the atomic layer deposition (ALD). At 850 °C, Pt nanoparticle deposition resulted in a ∼62% increase of the syngas production rate during electrolysis mode (at 1.5 V), whereas the power output was improved by ∼84% at fuel cell mode. Our results exemplify how the powerful ALD approach can be employed to uniformly disperse small amounts (∼50 μg·cm–2) of highly active metals to boost the limited electrocatalytic properties of redox stable perovskite fuel electrodes with efficient material utilization.</p
Calculation of atomic spontaneous emission rate in 1D finite photonic crystal with defects
We derive the expression for spontaneous emission rate in finite
one-dimensional photonic crystal with arbitrary defects using the effective
resonator model to describe electromagnetic field distributions in the
structure. We obtain explicit formulas for contributions of different types of
modes, i.e. radiation, substrate and guided modes. Formal calculations are
illustrated with a few numerical examples, which demonstrate that the
application of effective resonator model simplifies interpretation of results.Comment: Cent. Eur. J. Phys, in pres
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