125 research outputs found
Fine Structure in Energy Spectra of Ultrasmall Au Nanoparticles
We have studied tunneling into individual Au nanoparticles of estimated
diameters 2-5 nm, at dilution refrigerator temperatures. The I-V curves
indicate resonant tunneling via discrete energy levels of the particle. Unlike
previously studied normal metal particles of Au and Al, in these samples we
find that the lowest energy tunneling resonances are split into clusters of
2-10 subresonances. Such effects appear to be increasingly important in smaller
grains, as might be expected from the larger characteristic energies.Comment: 1 pdf fil
On Wheeler's delayed-choice Gedankenexperiment and its laboratory realization
Here, we present an analysis and interpretation of the experiment performed
by Jacques et al. (2007 Science 315, 966), which represents a realization of
Wheeler's delayed-choice Gedankenexperiment. Our analysis is based on the
evolution of the photon state, since the photon enters into the Mach-Zehnder
interferometer with a removable beam-splitter until it exits. Given the same
incident photon state onto the output beam-splitter, BS_output, the photon's
state at the exit will be very different depending on whether BS_output is on
or off. Hence, the statistics of photon counts collected by the two detectors,
positioned along orthogonal directions at the exit of the interferometer, is
also going to be very different in either case. Therefore, it is not that the
choice of inserting (on) or removing (off) a beam-splitter leads to a delayed
influence on the photon behavior before arriving at the beam-splitter, but that
such a choice influences the photon state at and after BS_output, i.e., after
it has exited from the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The random on/off choice at
BS_output has no delayed effect on the photon to behave as a wave or a
corpuscle at the entrance and inside the interferometer, but influences the
subsequent evolution of the photon state incident onto BS_output.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Spectroscopy, Interactions and Level Splittings in Au Nanoparticles
We have measured the electronic energy spectra of nm-scale Au particles using
a new tunneling spectroscopy configuration. The particle diameters ranged from
5nm to 9nm, and at low energies the spectrum is discrete, as expected by the
electron-in-a-box model. The density of tunneling resonances increases rapidly
with energy, and at higher energies the resonances overlap forming broad
resonances. Near the Thouless energy, the broad resonances merge into a
continuum. The tunneling resonances display Zeeman splitting in a magnetic
field. Surprisingly, the g-factors (~0.3) of energy levels in Au nano-particles
are much smaller than the g-factor (2.1) in bulk gold
Magnetic-field dependence of energy levels in ultrasmall metal grains
We present a theory of mesoscopic fluctuations of g tensors and avoided
crossing energies in a small metal grain. The model, based on random matrix
theory, contains both the orbital and spin contributions to the g tensor. The
two contributions can be experimentally separated for weak spin-orbit coupling
while they merge in the strong coupling limit. For intermediate coupling,
substantial correlations are found between g factors of neighboring levels.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
On the influence of resonance photon scattering on atom interference
Here, the influence of resonance photon-atom scattering on the atom
interference pattern at the exit of a three-grating Mach-Zehnder interferometer
is studied. It is assumed that the scattering process does not destroy the
atomic wave function describing the state of the atom before the scattering
process takes place, but only induces a certain shift and change of its phase.
We find that the visibility of the interference strongly depends on the
statistical distribution of transferred momenta to the atom during the
photon-atom scattering event. This also explains the experimentally observed
(Chapman et al 1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 2783) dependence of the visibility on
the ratio d_p/\lambda_i = y'_{12} (2\pi/kd\lambda_i), where y'_{12} is distance
between the place where the scattering event occurs and the first grating, k is
the wave number of the atomic center-of-mass motion, is the grating
constant and \lambda_i is the photon wavelength. Furthermore, it is remarkable
that photon-atom scattering events happen experimentally within the Fresnel
region, i.e. the near field region, associated with the first grating, which
should be taken into account when drawing conclusions about the relevance of
"which-way" information for the interference visibility.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Generalized Arago-Fresnel laws: The EME-flow-line description
We study experimentally and theoretically the influence of light polarization
on the interference patterns behind a diffracting grating. Different states of
polarization and configurations are been considered. The experiments are
analyzed in terms of electromagnetic energy (EME) flow lines, which can be
eventually identified with the paths followed by photons. This gives rise to a
novel trajectory interpretation of the Arago-Fresnel laws for polarized light,
which we compare with interpretations based on the concept of "which-way" (or
"which-slit") information.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Coherence loss and revivals in atomic interferometry: A quantum-recoil analysis
The coherence effects induced by external photons coupled to matter waves
inside a Mach-Zehnder three-grating interferometer are analyzed. Alternatively
to atom-photon entanglement scenarios, the model considered here only relies on
the atomic wave function and the momentum shift induced in it by the photon
scattering events. A functional dependence is thus found between the
observables, namely the fringe visibility and the phase shift, and the
transversal momentum transfer distribution. A good quantitative agreement is
found when comparing the results obtained from our model with the experimental
data.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure
A Method for the Spectroscopic Diagnostic of the Peculiarities of Materials Using the Semi-Auger Effect
We investigated the low energy satellites in the Rontgen spectra using the many-particle theory. These satellites are results of the radiative semi-Auger decay of the inner vacancy states. We did not treat only ordinary radiative decay. There exist the excitations of one of the atomic electrons together with the photon emission. We presented results of radiative semi-Auger decays of vacancy states in Ar atom. The knowledge of these processes is important for understanding the same processes in the case of the nanoparticles (molecules, fullerenes, clusters). Research in the field of the new materials requires more sophisticating methods which will open the new possibilities for obtaining materials of particular design, too. The theory which is presented in the paper may be easily generalized in case of particles like fullerenes and clusters.10th Annual Conference of the Materials-Research-Society-of-Serbia, Sep 08-12, 2008, Herceg Novi, Montenegr
Comparative evaluation of antimutagenic and antimitotic effects of Morchella esculenta extracts and protocatechuic acid
Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. methanolic extracts, obtained from fruiting bodies growing wild in Serbia and Portugal, were screened for their antimutagenic properties and compared to protocatechuic acid, previously identified in both species. Salmonella typhimurium TA100 reversion assay was used for the antimutagenic properties. Methanolic extracts expressed important antimutagenic potency towards S. typhimurium, which was documented by index of antimutagenicity (I). A sample from Serbia expressed slightly higher antimutagenic properties with an inhibition rate of 58.7%. A sample from Portugal gave an inhibition rate of 51.7%. Protocatechuic acid had an inhibition rate I of his(+) revertants of 72.4%. Cell viability in the presence of extracts was also documented. M. esculenta samples from Serbia and Portugal possessed novel biological potential for the studied species, as well as its phenolic compound - protocatechuic acid, identified in both samples. Genotoxic effect, regarding mitotic index and chromosomal aberration score, was also assessed by using the Allium cepa L. assay. Protocatechuic acid showed the most significant decrease in mitotic index, as well as decrease in chromosomal aberration score
Tunneling Via Individual Electronic States in Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles
We measure electron tunneling via discrete energy levels in ferromagnetic
cobalt particles less than 4 nm in diameter, using non-magnetic electrodes. Due
to magnetic anisotropy, the energy of each tunneling resonance shifts as an
applied magnetic field rotates the particle's magnetic moment. We see both
spin-increasing and decreasing tunneling transitions, but we do not observe the
spin degeneracy at small magnetic fields seen previously in non-magnetic
materials. The tunneling spectrum is denser than predicted for independent
electrons, possibly due to spin-wave excitations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Improved by comments from referees, to appear in
Phys. Rev. Let
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