574 research outputs found
Fluorescent nanopigments: Quantitative assessment of their quantum yield
In the last few years, an intense research effort has focused on the synthesis of fluorescent nanopigments for functional inks, light harvesting, tagging, tracing, (bio)labeling, imaging, and lighting applications. Moreover, combined with dielectric matrices, these fluorescent nanoparticles may open the way to the realization of novel optophotonic devices. In particular, due to the large variety of available organic fluorescent dyes, their encapsulation into either an inorganic or an organic host is a very promising approach to synthesize a large palette of new fluorescent nanopigments. However, since the dye encapsulation may affect the fluorescence efficiency, measuring the quantum yield of fluorescent nanopigments is of paramount importance for the development of any connected application. In this article, we present a diffuse reflectance (DR) technique that enables the quantitative assessment of the quantum yield of fluorescent nanoparticles such as zeolite L nanocrystals and poly(methyl methacrylate) nanospheres both loaded with fluorescent perylene molecules. Our method is validated by measuring a well known fluorescence standard and by comparing the results obtained for a model zeolite nanopigment with those provided by an alternative DR technique. Reliable and reproducible quantum yield values are obtained for both low- and high-efficiency fluorescent nanoparticles. Our technique can thus enable systematic and quantitative studies that may yield an important insight in the mechanisms affecting the fluorescence efficiency of a large variety of nanopigments
Robust Preparation of Wigner-Negative States with Optimized SNAP-Displacement Sequences
Hosting nonclassical states of light in three-dimensional microwave cavities has emerged as a promising paradigm for continuous-variable quantum information processing. Here we experimentally demonstrate high-fidelity generation of a range of Wigner-negative states useful for quantum computation, such as Schrodinger-cat states, binomial states, Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill states, as well as cubic phase states. The latter states have been long sought after in quantum optics and have never been achieved experimentally before. We use a sequence of interleaved selective number-dependent arbitrary phase (SNAP) gates and displacements. We optimize the state preparation in two steps. First we use a gradient-descent algorithm to optimize the parameters of the SNAP and displacement gates. Then we optimize the envelope of the pulses implementing the SNAP gates. Our results show that this way of creating highly nonclassical states in a harmonic oscillator is robust to fluctuations of the system parameters such as the qubit frequency and the dispersive shift
Macroscopic superposition states of ultracold bosons in a double-well potential
We present a thorough description of the physical regimes for ultracold
bosons in double wells, with special attention paid to macroscopic
superpositions (MSs). We use a generalization of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick
Hamiltonian of up to eight single particle modes to study these MSs, solving
the Hamiltonian with a combination of numerical exact diagonalization and
high-order perturbation theory. The MS is between left and right potential
wells; the extreme case with all atoms simultaneously located in both wells and
in only two modes is the famous NOON state, but our approach encompasses much
more general MSs. Use of more single particle modes brings dimensionality into
the problem, allows us to set hard limits on the use of the original two-mode
LMG model commonly treated in the literature, and also introduces a new mixed
Josephson-Fock regime. Higher modes introduce angular degrees of freedom and MS
states with different angular properties.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Mini-review prepared for the special
issue of Frontiers of Physics "Recent Progresses on Quantum Dynamics of
Ultracold Atoms and Future Quantum Technologies", edited by Profs. Lee, Ueda,
and Drummon
Performance of a Large-Area GEM Detector Prototype for the Upgrade of the CMS Muon Endcap System
Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology is being considered for the forward
muon upgrade of the CMS experiment in Phase 2 of the CERN LHC. Its first
implementation is planned for the GE1/1 system in the region of the muon endcap mainly to control muon level-1 trigger rates
after the second long LHC shutdown. A GE1/1 triple-GEM detector is read out by
3,072 radial strips with 455 rad pitch arranged in eight -sectors.
We assembled a full-size GE1/1 prototype of 1m length at Florida Tech and
tested it in 20-120 GeV hadron beams at Fermilab using Ar/CO 70:30 and
the RD51 scalable readout system. Four small GEM detectors with 2-D readout and
an average measured azimuthal resolution of 36 rad provided precise
reference tracks. Construction of this largest GEM detector built to-date is
described. Strip cluster parameters, detection efficiency, and spatial
resolution are studied with position and high voltage scans. The plateau
detection efficiency is [97.1 0.2 (stat)]\%. The azimuthal resolution is
found to be [123.5 1.6 (stat)] rad when operating in the center of
the efficiency plateau and using full pulse height information. The resolution
can be slightly improved by 10 rad when correcting for the bias due
to discrete readout strips. The CMS upgrade design calls for readout
electronics with binary hit output. When strip clusters are formed
correspondingly without charge-weighting and with fixed hit thresholds, a
position resolution of [136.8 2.5 stat] rad is measured, consistent
with the expected resolution of strip-pitch/ = 131.3 rad. Other
-sectors of the detector show similar response and performance.Comment: 8 pages, 32 figures, submitted to Proc. 2014 IEEE Nucl. Sci.
Symposium, Seattle, WA, reference adde
Quality control and beam test of GEM detectors for future upgrades of the CMS muon high rate region at the LHC
Gas Electron Multipliers (GEM) are a proven position sensitive gas detector technology which nowadays is becoming more widely used in High Energy Physics. GEMs offer an excellent spatial resolution and a high particle rate capability, with a close to 100% detection efficiency. In view of the high luminosity phase of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, these aforementioned features make GEMs suitable candidates for the future upgrades of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector. In particular, the CMS GEM Collaboration proposes to cover the high-eta region of the muon system with large-area triple-GEM detectors, which have the ability to provide robust and redundant tracking and triggering functions. In this contribution, after a general introduction and overview of the project, the construction of full-size trapezoidal triple-GEM prototypes will be described in more detail. The procedures for the quality control of the GEM foils, including gain uniformity measurements with an x-ray source will be presented. In the past few years, several CMS triple-GEM prototype detectors were operated with test beams at the CERN SPS. The results of these test beam campaigns will be summarised
Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope
The advanced interferometer network will herald a new era in observational
astronomy. There is a very strong science case to go beyond the advanced
detector network and build detectors that operate in a frequency range from 1
Hz-10 kHz, with sensitivity a factor ten better in amplitude. Such detectors
will be able to probe a range of topics in nuclear physics, astronomy,
cosmology and fundamental physics, providing insights into many unsolved
problems in these areas.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Plenary talk given at Amaldi Meeting, July 201
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