Surface Plasmons and Topological Insulators

We study surface plasmons localized on interfaces between topologically trivial and topologically non-trivial time reversal invariant materials in three dimensions. For the interface between a metal and a topological insulator the magnetic polarization of the surface plasmon is rotated out of the plane of the interface; this effect should be experimentally observable by exciting the surface plasmon with polarized light. More interestingly, we argue that the same effect also is realized on the interface between vacuum and a doped topological insulator with non-vanishing bulk carrier density.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure; v2: typo in eq. (27) correcte

A dynamical model for quantum memory channels

A dynamical model for quantum channel is introduced which allows one to pass continuously from the memoryless case to the case in which memory effects are present. The quantum and classical communication rates of the model are defined and explicit expression are provided in some limiting case. In this context we introduce noise attenuation strategies where part of the signals are sacrificed to modify the channel environment. The case of qubit channel with phase damping noise is analyzed in details.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; minor correction adde

Reply to "Can gravitational dynamics be obtained by diffeomorphism invariance of action?"

In a previous work we showed that, in a suitable setting, one can use diffeomorphism invariance in order to derive gravitational field equations from boundary terms of the gravitational action. Standing by our results we reply here to a recent comment questioning their validity.Comment: Accepted for publication in PR

Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds by a Novel Polymer Spin-Coated Thin Film and Surface Plasmon Resonance

Here is reported the synthesis, characterization, and volatile organic compound (VOCs) sensing of a 1, 3-dimethyl polyphenylene vinylene polymer. The synthesis was performed by a Witting condensation through the reaction of 1, 4-terphthaldehyde with the phosphonium chloride of meta-xylene. The material was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analyses. Thin films of the polymer were prepared by spin coating at speeds from 1000 to 5000 rpm. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance were used to characterize the spin coated films. The thicknesses of the films were estimated by fitting the curves and were between 4.5 to 24.5 nm depending on the speed. The refractive index of the new polymer was 1.72. The polymer spin coated films were exposed to volatile organic vapors in order to characterize their sensing properties by surface plasmon resonance as a function of time. The results showed that the new material responded rapidly, sensitively, and reversibly to volatile organic compounds

The coupling of microwave radiation to surface plasmon polaritons and guided modes via dielectric gratings

Copyright © 2000 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 87 (2000) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?JAPIAU/87/2677/1It is shown that an absorbing dielectric layer, sinusoidally modulated in height, on top of a planar metal substrate, may be used to provide coupling between both s- and p-polarized incident microwave photons and surface plasmon polaritons, which propagate along the metal–dielectric interface. The study is carried out using paraffin wax as the dielectric material on an aluminum-alloy plate and the wax is sufficiently thick such that it may also support a guided mode. Energy reradiated from these excited modes into diffracted orders is recorded by monitoring the specular beam reflectivity as a function of wavelength (7.5<λ0<11.3 mm) and azimuthal angle of incidence (0°<φ<90°). The azimuthal-angle-dependent reflectivity scans are fitted using a multilayer, multishape differential formalism to model conical diffraction with a single set of parameters describing the grating profile, and the permittivity and thickness of the wax layer

Gyrotropic impact upon negatively refracting surfaces

Surface wave propagation at the interface between different types of gyrotropic materials and an isotropic negatively refracting medium, in which the relative permittivity and relative permeability are, simultaneously, negative is investigated. A general approach is taken that embraces both gyroelectric and gyromagnetic materials, permitting the possibility of operating in either the low GHz, THz or the optical frequency regimes. The classical transverse Voigt configuration is adopted and a complete analysis of non-reciprocal surface wave dispersion is presented. The impact of the surface polariton modes upon the reflection of both plane waves and beams is discussed in terms of resonances and an example of the influence upon the Goos–Hänchen shift is given

Spontaneous emission of radiation by metallic electrons in the presence of electromagnetic fields of surface plasmon oscillations

The spontaneous emission of radiation of metallic electrons embedded in a high-intensity enhanced surface plasmon field is considered analytically. The electrons are described by exact dressed quantum states which contain the interaction with the plasmon field non-perturbatively. Considerable deviations from the pertubative behaviour have been found in the intensity dependence of the emitted fundamental and the second harmonic signals, even at moderate incoming laser intensities. The theoretical predictions deduced from the formalism are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental results.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

Real-time phase-shift detection of the surface plasmon resonance

We investigate a method to directly measure the phase of a laser beam reflected from a metallic film after excitation of surface plasmon polaritons. This method permits real time access to the phase information, it increases the possible speed of data acquisition, and it may thus prove useful for increasing the sensitivity of surface plasmon based sensors

Simultaneous Surface Plasmon Resonance and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

We present here an experimental set-up to perform simultaneously measurements of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in a synchrotron beamline. The system allows measuring in situ and in real time the effect of X-ray irradiation on the SPR curves to explore the interaction of X-rays with matter. It is also possible to record XAS spectra while exciting SPR in order to detect the changes in the electronic configuration of thin films induced by the excitation of surface plasmons. Combined experiments recording simultaneously SPR and XAS curves while scanning different parameters can be carried out. The relative variations in the SPR and XAS spectra that can be detected with this set-up ranges from 10-3 to 10-5, depending on the particular experiment

On the Meaning of the Principle of General Covariance

We present a definite formulation of the Principle of General Covariance (GCP) as a Principle of General Relativity with physical content and thus susceptible of verification or contradiction. To that end it is useful to introduce a kind of coordinates, that we call quasi-Minkowskian coordinates (QMC), as an empirical extension of the Minkowskian coordinates employed by the inertial observers in flat space-time to general observers in the curved situations in presence of gravitation. The QMC are operationally defined by some of the operational protocols through which the inertial observers determine their Minkowskian coordinates and may be mathematically characterized in a neighbourhood of the world-line of the corresponding observer. It is taken care of the fact that the set of all the operational protocols which are equivalent to measure a quantity in flat space-time split into inequivalent subsets of operational prescriptions under the presence of a gravitational field or when the observer is not inertial. We deal with the Hole Argument by resorting to de idea of the QMC and show how it is the metric field that supplies the physical meaning of coordinates and individuates point-events in regions of space-time where no other fields exist. Because of that the GCP has also value as a guiding principle supporting Einstein's appreciation of its heuristic worth in his reply to Kretschmann in 1918