Near-field spectroscopy of bimodal size distribution of InAs/AlGaAs quantum dots

We report on high-resolution photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy of spatial structure of InAs/AlGaAs quantum dots (QDs) by using a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM). The double-peaked distribution of PL spectra is clearly observed, which is associated with the bimodal size distribution of single QDs. In particular, the size difference of single QDs, represented by the doublet spectral distribution, can be directly observed by the NSOM images of PL.Comment: 3pages, 3figue

Production of superpositions of coherent states in traveling optical fields with inefficient photon detection

We develop an all-optical scheme to generate superpositions of macroscopically distinguishable coherent states in traveling optical fields. It non-deterministically distills coherent state superpositions (CSSs) with large amplitudes out of CSSs with small amplitudes using inefficient photon detection. The small CSSs required to produce CSSs with larger amplitudes are extremely well approximated by squeezed single photons. We discuss some remarkable features of this scheme: it effectively purifies mixed initial states emitted from inefficient single photon sources and boosts negativity of Wigner functions of quantum states.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Fracture of a viscous liquid

When a viscous liquid hits a pool of liquid of same nature, the impact region is hollowed by the shock. Its bottom becomes extremely sharp if increasing the impact velocity, and we report that the curvature at that place increases exponentially with the flow velocity, in agreement with a theory by Jeong and Moffatt. Such a law defines a characteristic velocity for the collapse of the tip, which explains both the cusp-like shape of this region, and the instability of the cusp if increasing (slightly) the impact velocity. Then, a film of the upper phase is entrained inside the pool. We characterize the critical velocity of entrainment of this phase and compare our results with recent predictions by Eggers

1/f spectrum and memory function analysis of solvation dynamics in a room-temperature ionic liquid

To understand the non-exponential relaxation associated with solvation dynamics in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, we study power spectra of the fluctuating Franck-Condon energy gap of a diatomic probe solute via molecular dynamics simulations. Results show 1/f dependence in a wide frequency range over 2 to 3 decades, indicating distributed relaxation times. We analyze the memory function and solvation time in the framework of the generalized Langevin equation using a simple model description for the power spectrum. It is found that the crossover frequency toward the white noise plateau is directly related to the time scale for the memory function and thus the solvation time. Specifically, the low crossover frequency observed in the ionic liquid leads to a slowly-decaying tail in its memory function and long solvation time. By contrast, acetonitrile characterized by a high crossover frequency and (near) absence of 1/f behavior in its power spectra shows fast relaxation of the memory function and single-exponential decay of solvation dynamics in the long-time regime.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Electromagnetic fields in a 3D cavity and in a waveguide with oscillating walls

We consider classical and quantum electromagnetic fields in a three-dimensional (3D) cavity and in a waveguide with oscillating boundaries of the frequency $\Omega$. The photons created by the parametric resonance are distributed in the wave number space around $\Omega/2$ along the axis of the oscillation. When classical waves propagate along the waveguide in the one direction, we observe the amplification of the original waves and another wave generation in the opposite direction by the oscillation of side walls. This can be understood as the classical counterpart of the photon production. In the case of two opposite walls oscillating with the same frequency but with a phase difference, the interferences are shown to occur due to the phase difference in the photon numbers and in the intensity of the generated waves.Comment: 8 pages revTeX including 1 eps fi