Resonant photon tunneling enhancement of the van der Waals friction

We study the van der Waals friction between two flat metal surfaces in relative motion. For good conductors we find that normal relative motion gives a much larger friction than for parallel relative motion. The friction may increase by many order of magnitude when the surfaces are covered by adsorbates, or can support low-frequency surface plasmons. In this case the friction is determined by resonant photon tunneling between adsorbate vibrational modes, or surface plasmon modes.Comment: Published in PR

Field Localization and Enhancement of Phase Locked Second and Third Harmonic Generation in Absorbing Semiconductor Cavities

We predict and experimentally observe the enhancement by three orders of magnitude of phase mismatched second and third harmonic generation in a GaAs cavity at 650nm and 433nm, respectively, well above the absorption edge. Phase locking between the pump and the harmonics changes the effective dispersion of the medium and inhibits absorption. Despite hostile conditions the harmonics become localized inside the cavity leading to relatively large conversion efficiencies. Field localization plays a pivotal role and ushers in a new class of semiconductor-based devices in the visible and UV ranges

Dependences of the Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a cavity wall on atomic and material properties

The Casimir-Polder and van der Waals interactions between an atom and a flat cavity wall are investigated under the influence of real conditions including the dynamic polarizability of the atom, actual conductivity of the wall material and nonzero temperature of the wall. The cases of different atoms near metal and dielectric walls are considered. It is shown that to obtain accurate results for the atom-wall interaction at short separations, one should use the complete tabulated optical data for the complex refractive index of the wall material and the accurate dynamic polarizability of an atom. At relatively large separations in the case of a metal wall, one may use the plasma model dielectric function to describe the dielectric properties of wall material. The obtained results are important for the theoretical interpretation of experiments on quantum reflection and Bose-Einstein condensation.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, iopart.cls is used, to appear in J. Phys. A (special issue: Proceedings of QFEXT05, Barcelona, Sept. 5-9, 2005

Comparison between experiment and theory for the thermal Casimir force

We analyze recent experiments on measuring the thermal Casimir force with account of possible background effects. Special attention is paid to the validity of the proximity force approximation (PFA) used in the comparison between the experimental data and computational results in experiments employing a sphere-plate geometry. The PFA results are compared with the exact results where they are available. The possibility to use fitting procedures in theory-experiment comparison is discussed. On this basis we reconsider experiments exploiting spherical lenses of centimeter-size radii.Comment: Plenary talk at the 10th International Conference "Quantum Field Theory Under the Influence of External Conditions" (Benasque, Spain, 2011); 16 pages, 5 figure

Extraordinary magnetooptical effects and transmission through the metal-dielectric plasmonic systems

We report on significant enhancement of the magnetooptical effects in gyrotropic systems of a metallic film perforated by subwavelength hole arrays and a uniform dielectric film magnetized perpendicular to its plane. Calculations, based on a rigorous coupled-wave analysis, demonstrate the Faraday and Kerr effect spectra having several resonance peaks in the near infrared range, some of them coinciding with transmittance peaks. Qualitative analysis revealed that magnetic polaritons being coupled magnetic-film waveguiding modes with surface plasmons play a crucial role in the observed effect.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Phase-change chalcogenide glass metamaterial

Combining metamaterials with functional media brings a new dimension to their performance. Here we demonstrate substantial resonance frequency tuning in a photonic metamaterial hybridized with an electrically/optically switchable chalcogenide glass. The transition between amorphous and crystalline forms brings about a 10% shift in the near-infrared resonance wavelength of an asymmetric split-ring array, providing transmission modulation functionality with a contrast ratio of 4:1 in a device of sub-wavelength thickness.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Experimental observation of the spin Hall effect of light on a nano-metal film via weak measurements

We theorize the spin Hall effect of light (SHEL) on a nano-metal film and demonstrate it experimentally via weak measurements. A general propagation model to describe the relationship between the spin-orbit coupling and the thickness of the metal film is established. It is revealed that the spin-orbit coupling in the SHEL can be effectively modulated by adjusting the thickness of the metal film, and the transverse displacement is sensitive to the thickness of metal film in certain range for horizontal polarization light. Importantly, a large negative transverse shift can be observed as a consequence of the combined contribution of the ratio and the phase difference of Fresnel coefficients.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Surface plasmon resonance under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency

A scheme for a surface plasmon resonance system under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is proposed. The system is composed of three layers: a prism, a thin metal film, and a hybrid dielectric consisting of EIT atoms and a background substance. A probe and a coupling laser beam are input. Corresponding analytical formulas are derived for the cases when one or both of the laser beams excite surface plasmon polaritons at the metal/dielectric interface. Under resonance conditions, an extremely sharp dip appears in the reflectivity-frequency spectrum of the probe field, revealing new properties of two-dimensional EIT. The reflectivity is extremely sensitive to shifts in the laser frequencies and atomic levels, and to variations of permittivity of the substrate. This EIT-SPR system may to be used for novel magnetometers and biosensors

New approach to the thermal Casimir force between real metals

The new approach to the theoretical description of the thermal Casimir force between real metals is presented. It uses the plasma-like dielectric permittivity that takes into account the interband transitions of core electrons. This permittivity precisely satisfies the Kramers-Kronig relations. The respective Casimir entropy is positive and vanishes at zero temperature in accordance with the Nernst heat theorem. The physical reasons why the Drude dielectric function, when substituted in the Lifshitz formula, is inconsistent with electrodynamics are elucidated. The proposed approach is the single one consistent with all measurements of the Casimir force performed up to date. The application of this approach to metal-type semiconductors is considered.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Proceedings of QFEXT07, to appear in J. Phys.