515 research outputs found
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
Emission of light through thin silver films via near-field coupling to surface plasmon polaritons
Copyright © 2006 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 Applied Physics Letters 88 (2006) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/88/051109/1We show that the emission of light from a dye layer through an adjacent thin silver film is maximal for a silver thickness of approximately 50 nm. This effect is explained as the result of competition between enhancement of the electric field at the metal surface due to the excitation of a surface plasmon-polariton mode, the amount of power coupled to the surface plasmon-polariton mode, and the attenuation of the field transmitted through the silver, all three of which vary with metal thickness. We indicate how these findings may be of relevance in the design of some surface plasmon-polariton-based fluorescence biosensing schemes
Forty-Four Pass Fibre Optic Loop for Improving the Sensitivity of Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors
A forty-four pass fibre optic surface plasmon resonance sensor that enhances
detection sensitivity according to the number of passes is demonstrated for the
first time. The technique employs a fibre optic recirculation loop that passes
the detection spot forty- four times, thus enhancing sensitivity by a factor of
forty-four. Presently, the total number of passes is limited by the onset of
lasing action of the recirculation loop. This technique offers a significant
sensitivity improvement for various types of plasmon resonance sensors that may
be used in chemical and biomolecule detections.Comment: Submitted for publication; patent disclosure submitte
Sensing using differential surface plasmon ellipsometry
Copyright © 2004 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 96 (2004) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?JAPIAU/96/3004/1In this work a differential ellipsometric method utilizing surface plasmons (SPs) for monitoring refractive index changes, which could be used in chemical and biological sensors, is presented. The method is based upon determining the azimuth of elliptically polarized light reflected from a Kretschmann SP system, resulting from linearly polarized light containing both p and s components incident upon it. The sensitivity of this azimuth to the refractive index of a dielectric on the nonprism side of the metal film is demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically. The smallest refractive index change which is resolvable is of the order of 10–7 refractive index units, although it is believed that this could be improved upon were it not for experimental constraints due to atmospheric changes and vibrations. The method requires the Kretschmann configuration to be oriented at a fixed angle, and the SP to be excited at a fixed wavelength. With no moving parts this method would be particularly robust from an application point of view
Ad- and desorption of Rb atoms on a gold nanofilm measured by surface plasmon polaritons
Hybrid quantum systems made of cold atoms near nanostructured surfaces are
expected to open up new opportunities for the construction of quantum sensors
and for quantum information. For the design of such tailored quantum systems
the interaction of alkali atoms with dielectric and metallic surfaces is
crucial and required to be understood in detail. Here, we present real-time
measurements of the adsorption and desorption of Rubidium atoms on gold
nanofilms. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) are excited at the gold surface and
detected in a phase sensitive way. From the temporal change of the SPP phase
the Rubidium coverage of the gold film is deduced with a sensitivity of better
than 0.3 % of a monolayer. By comparing the experimental data with a Langmuir
type adsorption model we obtain the thermal desorption rate and the sticking
probability. In addition, also laser-induced desorption is observed and
quantified.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
How visual information influences dual-task driving and tracking
The study examined the impact of visual predictability on dual-task performance in driving and tracking tasks. Participants (N = 27) performed a simulated driving task and a pursuit tracking task. In either task, visual predictability was manipulated by systematically varying the amount of advance visual information: in the driving task, participants drove at night with low beam, at night with high beam, or in daylight; in the tracking task, participants saw a white line that specified the future target trajectory for 200, 400 or 800 ms. Concurrently with driving or tracking, participants performed an auditory task. They had to discriminate between two sounds and press a pedal upon hearing the higher sound. Results show that in general, visual predictability benefited driving and tracking; however, dual-task driving performance was best with highest visual predictability (daylight), dual-task tracking performance was best with medium visual predictability (400 ms). Braking/reaction times were higher in dual tasks compared to single tasks, but were unaffected by visual predictability, showing that its beneficial effects did not transfer to the auditory task. In both tasks, manual accuracy decreased around the moment the foot pressed the pedal, indicating interference between tasks. We, therefore, conclude that despite a general beneficial impact of predictability, the integration of visual information seems to be rather task specific, and that interference between driving and audiomotor tasks, and tracking and audiomotor tasks, seems comparable
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
Long-range surface plasmon polariton excitation at the quantum level
We provide the quantum mechanical description of the excitation of long-range
surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) on thin metallic strips. The excitation
process consists of an attenuated-reflection setup, where efficient
photon-to-LRSPP wavepacket-transfer is shown to be achievable. For calculating
the coupling, we derive the first quantization of LRSPPs in the polaritonic
regime. We study quantum statistics during propagation and characterize the
performance of photon-to-LRSPP quantum state transfer for single-photons,
photon-number states and photonic coherent superposition states.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX4; Accepted versio
Vacuum Rabi splitting and strong coupling dynamics for surface plasmon polaritons and Rhodamine 6G molecules
We report on strong coupling between surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) and
Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules, with double vacuum Rabi splitting energies up to
230 and 110 meV. In addition, we demonstrate the emission of all three energy
branches of the strongly coupled SPP-exciton hybrid system, revealing features
of system dynamics that are not visible in conventional reflectometry. Finally,
in analogy to tunable-Q microcavities, we show that the Rabi splitting can be
controlled by adjusting the interaction time between waveguided SPPs and R6G
deposited on top of the waveguide. The interaction time can be controlled with
sub-fs precision by adjusting the length of the R6G area with standard
lithography methods.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Strongly coupled surface plasmons on thin shallow metallic gratings
Z. Chen, Ian R. Hooper, and J. Roy Sambles, Physical Review B, Vol. 77, article 161405(R) (2008). Copyright © 2008 by the American Physical Society.The optical response of a thin metallic film with shallow corrugations on both surfaces is explored and the structure is found to support a strongly coupled surface plasmon polariton when transverse magnetic radiation is incident in a plane parallel to the grating grooves. Modeling confirms that this strongly excited mode is the short range surface plasmon polariton and its presence is confirmed experimentally in the visible part of the spectrum
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