3,737 research outputs found
Optical diode based on the chirality of guided photons
Photons are nonchiral particles: their handedness can be both left and right.
However, when light is transversely confined, it can locally exhibit a
transverse spin whose orientation is fixed by the propagation direction of the
photons. Confined photons thus have chiral character. Here, we employ this to
demonstrate nonreciprocal transmission of light at the single-photon level
through a silica nanofibre in two experimental schemes. We either use an
ensemble of spin-polarised atoms that is weakly coupled to the nanofibre-guided
mode or a single spin-polarised atom strongly coupled to the nanofibre via a
whispering-gallery-mode resonator. We simultaneously achieve high optical
isolation and high forward transmission. Both are controlled by the internal
atomic state. The resulting optical diode is the first example of a new class
of nonreciprocal nanophotonic devices which exploit the chirality of confined
photons and which are, in principle, suitable for quantum information
processing and future quantum optical networks
Depth of interaction and bias voltage depenence of the spectral response in a pixellated CdTe detector operating in time-over-threshold mode subjected to monochromatic X-rays
High stopping power is one of the most important figures of merit for X-ray detectors. CdTe is a promising material but suffers from: material defects, non-ideal charge transport and long range X-ray fluorescence. Those factors reduce the image quality and deteriorate spectral information. In this project we used a monochromatic pencil beam collimated through a 20μm pinhole to measure the detector spectral response in dependance on the depth of interaction. The sensor was a 1mm thick CdTe detector with a pixel pitch of 110μm, bump bonded to a Timepix readout chip operating in Time-Over-Threshold mode. The measurements were carried out at the Extreme Conditions beamline I15 of the Diamond Light Source. The beam was entering the sensor at an angle of \texttildelow20 degrees to the surface and then passed through \texttildelow25 pixels before leaving through the bottom of the sensor. The photon energy was tuned to 77keV giving a variation in the beam intensity of about three orders of magnitude along the beam path. Spectra in Time-over-Threshold (ToT) mode were recorded showing each individual interaction. The bias voltage was varied between -30V and -300V to investigate how the electric field affected the spectral information. For this setup it is worth noticing the large impact of fluorescence. At -300V the photo peak and escape peak are of similar height. For high bias voltages the spectra remains clear throughout the whole depth but for lower voltages as -50V, only the bottom part of the sensor carries spectral information. This is an effect of the low hole mobility and the longer range the electrons have to travel in a low field
Optical bistability in Er-Yb co-doped phosphate glass microspheres at room temperature
We experimentally demonstrate optical bistability in Er3+-Yb3+ phosphate
glass microspheres at 295 K. Bistability is associated with both Er3+
fluorescence and lasing behavior, and chromatic switching. The chromatic
switching results from an intrinsic mechanism exploiting the thermal coupling
of closely-spaced energy levels, and occurs simultaneously with the intensity
switching. A contrast ratio of 3.2 has been obtained for chromatic switching,
and the intensity switching shows ratios of 2.4 for 550 nm and, 1.8 for the 660
nm fluorescence emissions, and 11 for the IR lasing at 1.5 um. Concurrent with
these observations, we investigate a temperature dependent absorption of pump
power which exhibits bistable behavior. The influences of the host matrix on
lasing and fluorescence mechanisms are highlighted.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Positron Driven High-Field Terahertz Waves in Dielectric Material
Advanced acceleration methods based on wakefields generated by high energy
electron bunches passing through dielectric-based structures have demonstrated
GV/m fields, paving the first steps on a path to applications such as future
compact linear colliders. For a collider scenario, it is desirable that, in
contrast to plasmas, wakefields in dielectrics do not behave differently for
positron and electron bunches. In this Letter, we present measurements of large
amplitude fields excited by positron bunches with collider-relevant parameters
(energy 20 GeV, and particles per bunch) in a 0.4 THz,
cylindrically symmetric dielectric structure. Interferometric measurements of
emitted coherent Cerenkov radiation permit spectral characterization of the
positron-generated wakefields, which are compared to those excited by electron
bunches. Statistical equivalence tests are incorporated to show the charge-sign
invariance of the induced wakefield spectra. Transverse effects on positron
beams resulting from off-axis excitation are examined and found to be
consistent with the known linear response of the DWA system. The results are
supported by numerical simulations and demonstrate high-gradient wakefield
excitation in dielectrics for positron beams.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
The application of a Trous wave filtering and Monte Carlo analysis on SECIS 2001 solar eclipse observations
8000 images of the Solar corona were captured during the June 2001 total
Solar eclipse. New software for the alignment of the images and an automated
technique for detecting intensity oscillations using multi scale wavelet
analysis were developed. Large areas of the images covered by the Moon and the
upper corona were scanned for oscillations and the statistical properties of
the atmospheric effects were determined. The a Trous wavelet transform was used
for noise reduction and Monte Carlo analysis as a significance test of the
detections. The effectiveness of those techniques is discussed in detail.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Solar Physics Journal for
publication in Topical Issue: "Frontiers in Solar Image Processing
Controlling magnetic anisotropy in La<sub>0.7</sub>Sr<sub>0.3</sub>MnO<sub>3</sub> nanostructures
We have developed a chlorine based dry etching process for nanopatterning the ferromagnetic oxide La<sub>0.7</sub>Sr<sub>0.3</sub>MnO<sub>3</sub> (LSMO). Large arrays of millions of identical structures have been fabricated from thin LSMO films by electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching. SQUID magnetometry demonstrates that patterned nanostructures with lateral dimensions down to 100 nm retain their full magnetization and the Curie temperature of the bulk layer. In addition, their shape anisotropy is sufficient to overcome the crystalline anisotropy of the bulk. High resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy shows that crystallinity is preserved even at the edges of the nanostructures
Quantum Fluctuations Driven Orientational Disordering: A Finite-Size Scaling Study
The orientational ordering transition is investigated in the quantum
generalization of the anisotropic-planar-rotor model in the low temperature
regime. The phase diagram of the model is first analyzed within the mean-field
approximation. This predicts at a phase transition from the ordered to
the disordered state when the strength of quantum fluctuations, characterized
by the rotational constant , exceeds a critical value . As a function of temperature, mean-field theory predicts a range of
values of where the system develops long-range order upon cooling, but
enters again into a disordered state at sufficiently low temperatures
(reentrance). The model is further studied by means of path integral Monte
Carlo simulations in combination with finite-size scaling techniques,
concentrating on the region of parameter space where reentrance is predicted to
occur. The phase diagram determined from the simulations does not seem to
exhibit reentrant behavior; at intermediate temperatures a pronounced increase
of short-range order is observed rather than a genuine long-range order.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, RevTe
Double resonant plasma wakefields
Present work in Laser Plasma Accelerators focuses on a single laser pulse driving a non-linear wake in a plasma. Such single pulse regimes require ever increasing laser power in order to excite ever increasing wake amplitudes. Such high intensity pulses can be limited by instabilities as well engineering restrictions and experimental constraints on optics. Alternatively we present a look at resonantly driving plasmas using a laser pulse train. In particular we compare analytic, numerical and VORPAL simulation results to characterize a proposed experiment to measure the wake resonantly driven by four Gaussian laser pulses. The current progress depicts the interaction of 4 CO2 laser pulses, λlaser = 10.6μm, of 3 ps full width at half maximum (FWHM) length separated peak-to-peak by 18 ps, each of normalized vector potential a0 0.7. Results confirm previous discourse and show, for a given laser profile, an accelerating field on the order of 900 MV/m, for a plasma satisfying the resonant condition ωp = π tFWHM
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