Measuring the magnetic moment density in patterned ultrathin ferromagnets with submicron resolution

We present a new approach to infer the surface density of magnetic moments $I_s$ in ultrathin ferromagnetic films with perpendicular anisotropy. It relies on quantitative stray field measurements with an atomic-size magnetometer based on the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. The method is applied to microstructures patterned in a 1-nm-thick film of CoFeB. We report measurements of $I_s$ with a few percent uncertainty and a spatial resolution in the range of $(100$ nm)$^2$, an improvement by several orders of magnitude over existing methods. As an example of application, we measure the modifications of $I_s$ induced by local irradiation with He$^+$ ions in an ultrathin ferromagnetic wire. This method offers a new route to study variations of magnetic properties at the nanoscale.Comment: 9 pages and 7 figures including main text and Supplemental Informatio

Different methods of evaluation of Monilinia laxa on apricot flowers and branches

- Organic apricot production is currently not profitable. - The main obstacle to sustainable profitability is brown rot caused by the fungus Monilinia laxa (Aderh. & Ruhl). - In the current apricot germplasm no source of total resistance has been shown, but some varieties are expressing interesting levels of tolerance. - A good evaluation of the M. laxa symptoms is essential for a precise diagnosis of the infection and to appreciate differences between tolerant and susceptible varieties and genotypes

Storage and Retrieval of a Microwave Field in a Spin Ensemble

We report the storage and retrieval of a small microwave field from a superconducting resonator into collective excitations of a spin ensemble. The spins are nitrogen-vacancy centers in a diamond crystal. The storage time of the order of 30 ns is limited by inhomogeneous broadening of the spin ensemble.Comment: 4 pages + supplementary material. Submitted to PR

Enhancing single-molecule photostability by optical feedback from quantum-jump detection

We report an optical technique that yields an enhancement of single-molecule photostability, by greatly suppressing photobleaching pathways which involve photoexcitation from the triplet state. This is accomplished by dynamically switching off the excitation laser when a quantum-jump of the molecule to the triplet state is optically detected. This procedure leads to a lengthened single-molecule observation time and an increased total number of detected photons. The resulting improvement in photostability unambiguously confirms the importance of photoexcitation from the triplet state in photobleaching dynamics, and may allow the investigation of new phenomena at the single-molecule level

Strong Coupling of a Spin Ensemble to a Superconducting Resonator

We report the realization of a quantum circuit in which an ensemble of electronic spins is coupled to a frequency tunable superconducting resonator. The spins are Nitrogen-Vacancy centers in a diamond crystal. The achievement of strong coupling is manifested by the appearance of a vacuum Rabi splitting in the transmission spectrum of the resonator when its frequency is tuned through the NV center electron spin resonance.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Kerr non-linearity in a superconducting Josephson metamaterial

We present a detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of the dispersion and non-linear Kerr frequency shifts of plasma modes in a one-dimensional Josephson junction chain containing 500 SQUIDs in the regime of weak nonlinearity. The measured low-power dispersion curve agrees perfectly with the theoretical model if we take into account the Kerr renormalisation of the bare frequencies and the long-range nature of the island charge screening by a remote ground plane. We measured the self- and cross-Kerr shifts for the frequencies of the eight lowest modes in the chain. We compare the measured Kerr coefficients with theory and find good agreement

Reduced Gutzwiller formula with symmetry: case of a finite group

We consider a classical Hamiltonian $H$ on $\mathbb{R}^{2d}$, invariant by a finite group of symmetry $G$, whose Weyl quantization $\hat{H}$ is a selfadjoint operator on $L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)$. If $\chi$ is an irreducible character of $G$, we investigate the spectrum of its restriction $\hat{H}\_\chi$ to the symmetry subspace $L^2\_\chi(\mathbb{R}^d)$ of $L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)$ coming from the decomposition of Peter-Weyl. We give reduced semi-classical asymptotics of a regularised spectral density describing the spectrum of $\hat{H}\_\chi$ near a non critical energy $E\in\mathbb{R}$. If $\Sigma\_E:=\{H=E \}$ is compact, assuming that periodic orbits are non-degenerate in $\Sigma\_E/G$, we get a reduced Gutzwiller trace formula which makes periodic orbits of the reduced space $\Sigma\_E/G$ appear. The method is based upon the use of coherent states, whose propagation was given in the work of M. Combescure and D. Robert.Comment: 20 page

Pseudospectra in non-Hermitian quantum mechanics

We propose giving the mathematical concept of the pseudospectrum a central role in quantum mechanics with non-Hermitian operators. We relate pseudospectral properties to quasi-Hermiticity, similarity to self-adjoint operators, and basis properties of eigenfunctions. The abstract results are illustrated by unexpected wild properties of operators familiar from PT-symmetric quantum mechanics.Comment: version accepted for publication in J. Math. Phys.: criterion excluding basis property (Proposition 6) added, unbounded time-evolution discussed, new reference