Resonant nonlinear magneto-optical effects in atoms

In this article, we review the history, current status, physical mechanisms, experimental methods, and applications of nonlinear magneto-optical effects in atomic vapors. We begin by describing the pioneering work of Macaluso and Corbino over a century ago on linear magneto-optical effects (in which the properties of the medium do not depend on the light power) in the vicinity of atomic resonances, and contrast these effects with various nonlinear magneto-optical phenomena that have been studied both theoretically and experimentally since the late 1960s. In recent years, the field of nonlinear magneto-optics has experienced a revival of interest that has led to a number of developments, including the observation of ultra-narrow (1-Hz) magneto-optical resonances, applications in sensitive magnetometry, nonlinear magneto-optical tomography, and the possibility of a search for parity- and time-reversal-invariance violation in atoms.Comment: 51 pages, 23 figures, to appear in Rev. Mod. Phys. in Oct. 2002, Figure added, typos corrected, text edited for clarit

Structural Studies Of Amorphous Si-Ni-H

It is well know that the transition from an insulator to a metallic conductor may be induced in amorphous semiconductor : metal alloys by increasing the metal concentration above a certain critical limit. However, without a detailed understanding of the changes taking place in the atomic scale structure, it is difficult to ascribe a mechanism to the process. We have investigated the microstructure of one such alloy system, a-Si1-yNiyH, using EXAFS as the principal technique. Thin film samples, prepared by rf co-sputtering, were studied over the composition range 0<y<0.3. Both silicon and nickel K-edge EXAFS results are presented, together with complimentary data from Raman scattering, neutron diffraction and scanning calorimetry experiments. The results indicate that the samples contain two separate amorphous phases: a Ni:Si alloy which is embedded in the surviving, modified a-Si host network. The measured electrical conductivity is discussed in the light of this structural model