Effect of long range spatial correlations on the lifetime statistics of an emitter in a two-dimensional disordered lattice

The effect of spatial correlations on the Purcell effect in a bidimensional dispersion of resonant nanoparticles is analyzed. We perform extensive calculations on the fluorescence decay rate of a point emitter embedded in a system of nanoparticles statistically distributed according to a simple 2D lattice-gas model near the critical point. For short-range correlations (high temperature thermalization) the Purcell factors present a long-tailed statistic which evolves towards a bimodal distribution when approaching the critical point where the spatial correlation length diverges. Our results suggest long-range correlations as a possible origin of the large fluctuations of experimental decay rates in disordered metal films.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Towards a systematic design of isotropic bulk magnetic metamaterials using the cubic point groups of symmetry

In this paper a systematic approach to the design of bulk isotropic magnetic metamaterials is presented. The role of the symmetries of both the constitutive element and the lattice are analyzed. For this purpose it is assumed that the metamaterial is composed by cubic SRR resonators, arranged in a cubic lattice. The minimum symmetries needed to ensure an isotropic behavior are analyzed, and some particular configurations are proposed. Besides, an equivalent circuit model is proposed for the considered cubic SRR resonators. Experiments are carried out in order to validate the proposed theory. We hope that this analysis will pave the way to the design of bulk metamaterials with strong isotropic magnetic response, including negative permeability and left-handed metamaterials.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review B, 23 page

Enhanced backward wave propagation in evanescent waveguides loaded with split ring resonators

This paper reports on the design and experimental characterization of evanescent waveguides loaded with split ring resonators SRRs supporting enhanced backward wave propagation. With respect to previous negative refractive index devices based on metallic waveguides, the use of a direct coaxial probe excitation inside an evanescent waveguide drastically improves transmission and reflection characteristics of the periodic structure. Moreover, the addition of metallic windows interleaved between consecutive resonators offers an extra degree of freedom in order to control interresonator couplings, and hence, device parameters like overall transmission, reflection, and bandwidth of the backward wave pass band. A numerical and experimental analysis of different structures overcoming the high loss issue of previously published results is detailed. An experimental validation of the proposed enhancements is done for periodic structures, where no individual tuning of the resonator sections is performed. The proposed technology mainly offers the advantage of miniaturization, and it could be combined in a further step with standard design techniques to provide frequency selective devices.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Gobierno de España-TEC-2004-04313-C02-01 y TEC-2004-04249.C02-02Generalitat Valenciana-ACOMP06/013 y GVA/2007/21

Babinet principle applied to the design of metasurfaces and metamaterials

The electromagnetic theory of diffraction and the Babinet principle are applied to the design of artificial metasurfaces and metamaterials. A new particle, the complementary split rings resonator, is proposed for the design of metasurfaces with high frequency selectivity and planar metamaterials with a negative dielectric permittivity. Applications in the fields of frequency selective surfaces and polarizers, as well as in microwave antennas and filter design, can be envisaged. The tunability of all these devices by an applied dc voltage is also achievable if these particles are etched on the appropriate substrate

The detection of neutron clusters

A new approach to the production and detection of bound neutron clusters is presented. The technique is based on the breakup of beams of very neutron-rich nuclei and the subsequent detection of the recoiling proton in a liquid scintillator. The method has been tested in the breakup of 11Li, 14Be and 15B beams by a C target. Some 6 events were observed that exhibit the characteristics of a multineutron cluster liberated in the breakup of 14Be, most probably in the channel 10Be+4n. The various backgrounds that may mimic such a signal are discussed in detail.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, LPCC 01-1

Unified Homogenization Theory for Magnetoinductive and Electromagnetic Waves in Split Ring Metamaterials

A unified homogenization procedure for split ring metamaterials taking into account time and spatial dispersion is introduced. The procedure is based on two coupled systems of equations. The first one comes from an approximation of the metamaterial as a cubic arrangement of coupled LC circuits, giving the relation between currents and local magnetic field. The second equation comes from macroscopic Maxwell equations, and gives the relation between the macroscopic magnetic field and the average magnetization of the metamaterial. It is shown that electromagnetic and magnetoinductive waves propagating in the metamaterial are obtained from this analysis. Therefore, the proposed time and spatially dispersive permeability accounts for the characterization of the complete spectrum of waves of the metamaterial. Finally, it is shown that the proposed theory is in good quantitative and qualitative agreement with full wave simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Structure of 13^{13}Be probed via secondary beam reactions

The low-lying level structure of the unbound neutron-rich nucleus $^{13}$Be has been investigated via breakup on a carbon target of secondary beams of $^{14,15}$B at 35 MeV/nucleon. The coincident detection of the beam velocity $^{12}$Be fragments and neutrons permitted the invariant mass of the $^{12}$Be+$n$ and $^{12}$Be+$n$+$n$ systems to be reconstructed. In the case of the breakup of $^{15}$B, a very narrow structure at threshold was observed in the $^{12}$Be+$n$ channel. Contrary to earlier stable beam fragmentation studies which identified this as a strongly interacting $s$-wave virtual state in $^{13}$Be, analysis here of the $^{12}$Be+$n$+$n$ events demonstrated that this was an artifact resulting from the sequential-decay of the $^{14}$Be(2$^+$) state. Single-proton removal from $^{14}$B was found to populate a broad low-lying structure some 0.70 MeV above the neutron-decay threshold in addition to a less prominent feature at around 2.4 MeV. Based on the selectivity of the reaction and a comparison with (0-3)$\hbar\omega$ shell-model calculations, the low-lying structure is concluded to most probably arise from closely spaced J$^\pi$=1/2$^+$ and 5/2$^+$ resonances (E$_r$=0.40$\pm$0.03 and 0.85$^{+0.15}_{-0.11}$ MeV), whilst the broad higher-lying feature is a second 5/2$^+$ level (E$_r$=2.35$\pm$0.14 MeV). Taken in conjunction with earlier studies, it would appear that the lowest 1/2$^+$ and 1/2$^-$ levels lie relatively close together below 1 MeV.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Evidence for Thermal Equilibration in Multifragmentation Reactions probed with Bremsstrahlung Photons

The production of nuclear bremsstrahlung photons (E$_{\gamma}>$ 30 MeV) has been studied in inclusive and exclusive measurements in four heavy-ion reactions at 60{\it A} MeV. The measured photon spectra, angular distributions and multiplicities indicate that a significant part of the hard-photons are emitted in secondary nucleon-nucleon collisions from a thermally equilibrated system. The observation of the thermal component in multi-fragment $^{36}$Ar+$^{197}$Au reactions suggests that the breakup of the thermalized source produced in this system occurs on a rather long time-scale.Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. 4 pages, 4 fig

The curious case of thin-body Ge crystallization

The authors investigate the templated crystallization of thin-body Ge fin structures with high aspect ratios. Experimental variables include fin thickness and thermal treatments, with fin structures oriented in the direction. Transmission electron microscopy determined that various crystal defects form during crystallization of amorphous Ge regions, most notably (111) stacking faults, twin boundaries, and small crystallites. In all cases, the nature of the defects is dependent on the fin thickness and thermal treatments applied. Using a standard 600 degrees C rapid-thermal-anneal, Ge structures with high aspect ratios crystallize with better crystal quality and fewer uncured defects than the equivalent Si case, which is a cause for optimism for thin-film Ge devices. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. (doi:10.1063/1.3643160

Lattice dynamics of dense lithium.

We report low-frequency high-resolution Raman spectroscopy and ab-initio calculations on dense lithium from 40 to 200 GPa at low temperatures. Our experimental results reveal rich first-order Raman activity in the metallic and semiconducting phases of lithium. The computed Raman frequencies are in excellent agreement with the measurements. Free energy calculations provide a quantitative description and physical explanation of the experimental phase diagram only when vibrational effect are correctly treated. The study underlines the importance of zero-point energy in determining the phase stability of compressed lithium