306 research outputs found
Nonlinear Optical studies of the Transient Coherence in the Quantum Hall System
We review recent investigations of the femtosecond non-linear optical
response of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a strong magnetic field.
We probe the Quantum Hall (QH) regime for filling factors . Our
focus is on the transient coherence induced via optical excitation and on its
time evolution during early femtosecond timescales. We simultaneously study the
interband and intraband coherence in this system by using a nonlinear
spectroscopic technique, transient three-pulse four wave mixing optical
spectroscopy, and a many-body theory. We observe striking differences in the
temporal and spectral profile of the nonlinear optical signal between a
modulation doped quantum well system (with the 2DEG) and a similar undoped
quantum well (without a 2DEG). We attribute these qualitative differences to
Coulomb correlations between the photoexcited electron-hole pairs and the 2DEG.
We show, in particular, that intraband many-particle coherences assisted by the
inter-Landau-level magnetoplasmon excitations of the 2DEG dominate the
femtosecond nonlinear optical responce. The most striking effect of these
exciton-magnetoplasmon coherences is a large off-resonant four-wave-mixing
signal in the case of very low photoexcited carrier densities, not observed in
the undoped system, with strong temporal oscillations and unusually symmetric
temporal profile.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures; review article to be published in Solid State
Communication
Ab-initio calculation of optical absorption in semiconductors: A density-matrix description
We show how to describe Coulomb renormalization effects and dielectric
screening in semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures within a
first-principles density-matrix description. Those dynamic variables and
approximation schemes which are required for a proper description of dielectric
screening are identified. It is shown that within the random-phase
approximation the direct Coulomb interactions become screened, with static
screening being a good approximation, whereas the electron-hole exchange
interactions remain unscreened. Differences and similarities of our results
with those obtained from a corresponding GW approximation and Bethe-Salpeter
equation Green's function analysis are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, to be published in Physical Review
Ultrafast non-linear optical signal from a single quantum dot: exciton and biexciton effects
We present results on both the intensity and phase-dynamics of the transient
non-linear optical response of a single quantum dot (SQD).
The time evolution of the Four Wave Mixing (FWM) signal on a subpicosecond
time scale is dominated by biexciton effects. In particular, for the
cross-polarized excitation case a biexciton bound state is found. In this
latter case, mean-field results are shown to give a poor description of the
non-linear optical signal at small times. By properly treating exciton-exciton
effects in a SQD, coherent oscillations in the FWM signal are clearly
demonstrated. These oscillations, with a period corresponding to the inverse of
the biexciton binding energy, are correlated with the phase dynamics of the
system's polarization giving clear signatures of non-Markovian effects in the
ultrafast regime.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Theory of exciton-exciton correlation in nonlinear optical response
We present a systematic theory of Coulomb interaction effects in the
nonlinear optical processes in semiconductors using a perturbation series in
the exciting laser field. The third-order dynamical response consists of
phase-space filling correction, mean-field exciton-exciton interaction, and
two-exciton correlation effects expressed as a force-force correlation
function. The theory provides a unified description of effects of bound and
unbound biexcitons, including memory-effects beyond the Markovian
approximation. Approximations for the correlation function are presented.Comment: RevTex, 35 pages, 10 PostScript figs, shorter version submitted to
Physical Review
Collective oscillations driven by correlation in the nonlinear optical regime
We present an analytical and numerical study of the coherent exciton
polarization including exciton-exciton correlation. The time evolution after
excitation with ultrashort optical pulses can be divided into a slowly varying
polarization component and novel ultrafast collective modes. The frequency and
damping of the collective modes are determined by the high-frequency properties
of the retarded two-exciton correlation function, which includes Coulomb
effects beyond the mean-field approximation. The overall time evolution depends
on the low-frequency spectral behavior. The collective mode, well separated
from the slower coherent density evolution, manifests itself in the coherent
emission of a resonantly excited excitonic system, as demonstrated numerically.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Discrepancies in East Asians' perceived actual and ideal phenotypic facial features
The present study tested for the existence of a phenotypic actual-ideal discrepancy in East Asians’ appraisals of their own faces, in the direction of idealizing a phenotypically “Whiter” face than they perceived themselves to have. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, East Asian participants residing in the U.S. (N = 104; Mage = 18.73) came into the lab to have their photograph taken. They were sent a link to complete the second phase online. Participants were required to recall either their previous day, an experience of racial discrimination, or an experience of racial acceptance. They then selected their actual and ideal face from an array of faces comprising their actual face and eight variants of their face that had been transformed to look phenotypically more “White” or more “East Asian”. A robust actual-ideal discrepancy emerged: participants both idealized a phenotypically “Whiter” face and perceived themselves as having a more phenotypically “East Asian” face than they objectively did. This discrepancy arose irrespective of whether participants were reminded of an incident of racial discrimination or acceptance
Atypical BCS-BEC crossover induced by quantum-size effects
Quantum-size oscillations of the basic physical characteristics of a confined
fermionic condensate are a well-known phenomenon. Its conventional
understanding is based on the single-particle physics, whereby the oscillations
follow the size-dependent changes in the single-particle density of states.
Here we present a study of a cigar-shaped ultracold superfluid Fermi gas, which
demonstrates an important many-body aspect of the quantum-size effects,
overlooked previously. The many-body physics is revealed in the atypical
crossover from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid to the
Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) induced by the size quantization of the particle
motion. Quantized perpendicular spectrum results in the formation of
single-particle subbands (shells) so that the aggregate fermionic condensate
becomes a coherent mixture of subband condensates. Each time when the lower
edge of a subband crosses the chemical potential, the BCS-BEC crossover is
approached in this subband, and the aggregate condensate contains both the BCS
and BEC-like components.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
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