Electromagnetic field correlations near a surface with a nonlocal optical response

The coherence length of the thermal electromagnetic field near a planar surface has a minimum value related to the nonlocal dielectric response of the material. We perform two model calculations of the electric energy density and the field's degree of spatial coherence. Above a polar crystal, the lattice constant gives the minimum coherence length. It also gives the upper limit to the near field energy density, cutting off its $1/z^3$ divergence. Near an electron plasma described by the semiclassical Lindhard dielectric function, the corresponding length scale is fixed by plasma screening to the Thomas-Fermi length. The electron mean free path, however, sets a larger scale where significant deviations from the local description are visible.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure files (.eps), \documentclass[global]{svjour}, accepted in special issue "Optics on the Nanoscale" (Applied Physics B, eds. V. Shalaev and F. Tr\"ager

Van der Waals-Casimir-Polder interaction of an atom with a composite surface

We study the dispersion interaction of the van der Waals and Casimir-Polder (vdW-CP) type between a neutral atom and the surface of a metal by allowing for nonlocal electrodynamics, i.e. electron diffusion. We consider two models: (i) bulk diffusion, and (ii) diffusion in a surface charge layer. In both cases the transition to a semiconductor is continuous as a function of the conductivity, unlike the case of a local model. The relevant parameter is the electric screening length and depends on the carrier diffusion constant. We find that for distances comparable to the screening length, vdW-CP data can distinguish between bulk and surface diffusion, hence it can be a sensitive probe for surface states.Comment: v2: expanded references, statements on current status in the field. 10 pages, 6 figure

Stability of multi-component epilayers and nanopattern formation

A uniform multi-component epilayer may lose stability under the combined action of spinodal decomposition and epilayer–substrate interaction, separating into multiple phases. The phases may further self-organize into regular patterns. This paper investigates the compositional stability of a ternary epliayer and the subsequent emergence of nanoscale patterns. Multiple energetic forces and kinetic processes involving phase separation, phase coarsening and phase refining are incorporated into a continuous phase field model. Linear stability analysis is performed by perturbing a uniform concentration field into a sinusoidal field with small amplitude and arbitrary wavelength. The analysis shows that the epilayer–substrate interaction counteracts the coarsening effect of phase boundary energy and may lead to the formation of steady nanoscale patterns. Detailed analysis also reveals the interaction of multi-phases and its effect on the stability condition. Numerical simulation of evolving concentration field is discussed at the end of the paper. The simulations show that the pattern formation process of multi-component epilayers involves remarkably rich dynamics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43296/1/11051_2004_Article_3304.pd

Development of a High Performance Storage System (HPSS)

The overall objective of the project was the development of a parallel high performance storage software package capable of data transfer rates above 1 gigabyte/see with files of essentially unlimited size. This necessitated modules for uniquely identifying files to be stored, for establishing the appropriate locale for the file in the storage hardware, for moving the file in parallel to the selected lode, and for making possible ready access to the file when desired. And all of this must be done with absolute accuracy and reliability while ensuring security at the requisite level. Responsibility for the various modules was distributed across the participating laboratories. The central LMER responsibility was the Storage System Management (SSM) package, the software package that controls all storage and access activities and provides readily understandable and complete information concerning system status to an operator. This information includes storage and access activity in progress; the location, size, and character of all files; and warning and error messages, among others. As such, SSM must be tightly coordinated with all of the HPSS modules and components and must represent in effect, a synthesis of all. The result of this very extensive LMER effort was an SSM system that required approximately 83,000 physical lines of computer code