Magnon squeezing in an antiferromagnet: reducing the spin noise below the standard quantum limit

At absolute zero temperature, thermal noise vanishes when a physical system is in its ground state, but quantum noise remains as a fundamental limit to the accuracy of experimental measurements. Such a limitation, however, can be mitigated by the formation of squeezed states. Quantum mechanically, a squeezed state is a time-varying superposition of states for which the noise of a particular observable is reduced below that of the ground state at certain times. Quantum squeezing has been achieved for a variety of systems, including the electromagnetic field, atomic vibrations in solids and molecules, and atomic spins, but not so far for magnetic systems. Here we report on an experimental demonstration of spin wave (i.e., magnon) squeezing. Our method uses femtosecond optical pulses to generate correlations involving pairs of magnons in an antiferromagnetic insulator, MnF2. These correlations lead to quantum squeezing in which the fluctuations of the magnetization of a crystallographic unit cell vary periodically in time and are reduced below that of the ground state quantum noise. The mechanism responsible for this squeezing is stimulated second order Raman scattering by magnon pairs. Such squeezed states have important ramifications in the emerging fields of spintronics and quantum computing involving magnetic spin states or the spin-orbit coupling mechanism

The Band Gap in Silicon Nanocrystallites

The gap in semiconductor nanocrystallites has been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally over the last two decades. We have compared a recent ``state-of-the-art'' theoretical calculation with a recent ``state-of-the-art'' experimental observation of the gap in Si nanocrystallite. We find that the two are in substantial disagreement, with the disagreement being more pronounced at smaller sizes. Theoretical calculations appear to over-estimate the gap. Recognizing that the experimental observations are for a distribution of crystallite sizes, we proffer a phenomenological model to reconcile the theory with the experiment. We suggest that similar considerations must dictate comparisons between the theory and experiment vis-a-vis other properties such as radiative rate, decay constant, absorption coefficient, etc.Comment: 5 pages, latex, 2 figures. (Submitted Physical Review B

Open solar flux estimates from near-Earth measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field: comparison of the first two perihelion passes of the Ulysses spacecraft

Results from all phases of the orbits of the Ulysses spacecraft have shown that the magnitude of the radial component of the heliospheric field is approximately independent of heliographic latitude. This result allows the use of near- Earth observations to compute the total open flux of the Sun. For example, using satellite observations of the interplanetary magnetic field, the average open solar flux was shown to have risen by 29% between 1963 and 1987 and using the aa geomagnetic index it was found to have doubled during the 20th century. It is therefore important to assess fully the accuracy of the result and to check that it applies to all phases of the solar cycle. The first perihelion pass of the Ulysses spacecraft was close to sunspot minimum, and recent data from the second perihelion pass show that the result also holds at solar maximum. The high level of correlation between the open flux derived from the various methods strongly supports the Ulysses discovery that the radial field component is independent of latitude. We show here that the errors introduced into open solar flux estimates by assuming that the heliospheric field’s radial component is independent of latitude are similar for the two passes and are of order 25% for daily values, falling to 5% for averaging timescales of 27 days or greater. We compare here the results of four methods for estimating the open solar flux with results from the first and second perehelion passes by Ulysses. We find that the errors are lowest (1–5% for averages over the entire perehelion passes lasting near 320 days), for near-Earth methods, based on either interplanetary magnetic field observations or the aa geomagnetic activity index. The corresponding errors for the Solanki et al. (2000) model are of the order of 9–15% and for the PFSS method, based on solar magnetograms, are of the order of 13–47%. The model of Solanki et al. is based on the continuity equation of open flux, and uses the sunspot number to quantify the rate of open flux emergence. It predicts that the average open solar flux has been decreasing since 1987, as Correspondence to: M. Lockwood ([email protected]) is observed in the variation of all the estimates of the open flux. This decline combines with the solar cycle variation to produce an open flux during the second (sunspot maximum) perihelion pass of Ulysses which is only slightly larger than that during the first (sunspot minimum) perihelion pass

COMPTEL gamma ray and neutron measurements of solar flares

COMPTEL on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory has measured the flux of x‐rays and neutrons from several solar flares. These data have also been used to image the Sun in both forms of radiation. Unusually intense flares occurred during June 1991 yielding data sets that offer some new insight into of how energetic protons and electrons are accelerated and behave in the solar environment. We summarize here some of the essential features in the solar flare data as obtained by COMPTEL during June 1991

Influence of interface potential on the effective mass in Ge nanostructures

The role of the interface potential on the effective mass of charge carriers is elucidated in this work. We develop a new theoretical formalism using a spatially dependent effective mass that is related to the magnitude of the interface potential. Using this formalism we studied Ge quantum dots (QDs) formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) and co-sputtering (sputter). These samples allowed us to isolate important consequences arising from differences in the interface potential. We found that for a higher interface potential, as in the case of PECVD QDs, there is a larger reduction in the effective mass, which increases the confinement energy with respect to the sputter sample. We further understood the action of O interface states by comparing our results with Ge QDs grown by molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that the O states can suppress the influence of the interface potential. From our theoretical formalism we determine the length scale over which the interface potential influences the effective mass

Role of Quantum Confinement in Luminescence Efficiency of Group IV Nanostructures

Experimental results obtained previously for the photoluminescence efficiency (PL$_{eff}$) of Ge quantum dots (QDs) are theoretically studied. A $\log$-$\log$ plot of PL$_{eff}$ versus QD diameter ($D$) resulted in an identical slope for each Ge QD sample only when $E_{G}\sim (D^2+D)^{-1}$. We identified that above $D\approx$ 6.2 nm: $E_{G}\sim D^{-1}$ due to a changing effective mass (EM), while below $D\approx$ 4.6 nm: $E_{G}\sim D^{-2}$ due to electron/ hole confinement. We propose that as the QD size is initially reduced, the EM is reduced, which increases the Bohr radius and interface scattering until eventually pure quantum confinement effects dominate at small $D$

Anomalous optical phonons in FeTe pnictides: spin state, magnetic order, and lattice anharmonicity

Polarized Raman-scattering spectra of non-superconducting, single-crystalline FeTe are investigated as function of temperature. We have found a relation between the magnitude of ordered magnetic moments and the linewidth of A1g phonons at low temperatures. This relation is attributed to the intermediate spin state (S=1) and the orbital degeneracy of the Fe ions. Spin-phonon coupling constants have been estimated based on microscopic modeling using density-functional theory and analysis of the local spin density. Our observations show the importance of orbital degrees of freedom for the Fe-based superconductors with large ordered magnetic moments, while small magnetic moment of Fe ions in some iron pnictides reflects the low spin state of Fe ions in those systems.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

On the Number of Facets of Three-Dimensional Dirichlet Stereohedra III: Full Cubic Groups

We are interested in the maximum possible number of facets that Dirichlet stereohedra for three-dimensional crystallographic groups can have. The problem for non-cubic groups was studied in previous papers by D. Bochis and the second author (Discrete Comput. Geom. 25:3 (2001), 419-444, and Beitr. Algebra Geom., 47:1 (2006), 89-120). This paper deals with ''full'' cubic groups, while ''quarter'' cubic groups are left for a subsequent paper. Here, ''full'' and ''quarter'' refers to the recent classification of three-dimensional crystallographic groups by Conway, Delgado-Friedrichs, Huson and Thurston (math.MG/9911185, Beitr. Algebra Geom. 42.2 (2001), 475-507). Our main result in this paper is that Dirichlet stereohedra for any of the 27 full groups cannot have more than 25 facets. We also find stereohedra with 17 facets for one of these groups.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figures. Changes from v1: apart of some editing (mostly at the end of the introduction) and addition of references, an appendix has been added, which analyzes the case where the base point does not have trivial stabilize