Measurement of the shot noise in a single electron transistor

We have systematically measured the shot noise in a single electron transistor (SET) as a function of bias and gate voltages. By embedding a SET in a resonance circuit we have been able to measure its shot noise at the resonance frequency 464 MHz, where the 1/f noise is negligible. We can extract the Fano factor which varies between 0.5 and 1 depending on the amount of Coulomb blockade in the SET, in very good agreement with the theory.Comment: 4 figure

Time domain reflectrometry measurements using a movable obstacle for the determination of dielectric profiles

Microwave techniques for the measurement of the permittivity of soils including the water content of soils and other materials, especially TDR (time domain reflectometry), have become accepted as routine measurement techniques. This summary deals with an advanced use of the TDR principle for the determination of the water content of soil along a probe. The basis of the advanced TDR technique is a waveguide, which is inserted into the soil for obtaining measurements of the effective soil permittivity, from which the water content is estimated, and an obstacle, which can mechanically be moved along the probe and which acts as a reference reflection for the TDR system with an exactly known position. Based on the known mechanical position of the reference reflection, the measured electrical position can be used as a measure for the effective dielectric constant of the environment. Thus, it is possible to determine the effective dielectric constant with a spatial resolution given by the step size of the obstacle displacement. <br><br> A conventional industrial TDR-system, operating in the baseband, is used for the signal generation and for the evaluation of the pulse delay time of the obstacle reflection. Thus, a cost effective method for the acquisition of the dielectric measurement data is available

Temporal dynamics of all-optical switching in quadratic nonlinear directional couplers

We study the temporal dynamics of all-optical switching in nonlinear directional couplers in periodically poled lithium niobate. The characteristic features of such switching, including asymmetric pulse break-up and back-switching were measured in full agreement with the theoretical predictions. Based on the time-resolved measurement of intensity-dependent switching, finally the theoretically long-known continuous-wave switching curve has experimentally been confirmed.We acknowledge the support by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence program (project CE110001018), the Australian Academy of Science, and the International Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany (Australia-Germany Researcher Mobility Call 2010-2011)

Three-Wave Modulational Stability and Dark Solitons in a Quadratic Nonlinear Waveguide with Grating

We consider continuous-wave (CW) states and dark solitons (DSs) in a system of two fundamental-frequency (FF) and one second-harmonic (SH) waves in a planar waveguide with the quadratic nonlinearity, the FF components being linearly coupled by resonant reflections on the Bragg grating. We demonstrate that, in contrast with the usual situation in quadratic spatial-domain models, CW states with the phase shift between the FF and SH components are modulationally stable in a broad parameter region in this system, provided that the CW wavenumber does not belong to the system's spectral gap. Stationary fundamental DSs are found numerically, and are also constructed by means of a specially devised analytical approximation. Bound states of two and three DSs are found too. The fundamental DSs and two-solitons bound states are stable in all the cases when the CW background is stable, which is shown by dint of calculation of the corresponding eigenvalues, and verified in direct simulations. Tilted DSs are found too. They attain a maximum contrast at a finite value of the tilt, that does not depend on the phase mismatch. At a maximum value of the tilt, which grows with the mismatch, the DS merges into the CW background. Interactions between the tilted solitons are shown to be completely elastic.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures; Journal of Optics A, in pres

Tunable generation of entangled photons in a nonlinear directional coupler

The on-chip integration of quantum light sources has enabled the realization of complex quantum photonic circuits. However, for the practical implementation of such circuits in quantum information applications it is crucial to develop sources delivering entangled quantum photon states with on-demand tunability. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate the concept of a widely tunable quantum light source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a nonlinear directional coupler. We show that spatial photon-pair correlations and entanglement can be reconfigured on-demand by tuning the phase difference between the pump beams and the phase mismatch inside the structure. We demonstrate the generation of split states, robust N00N states, various intermediate regimes and biphoton steering. This fundamental scheme provides an important advance towards the realization of reconfigurable quantum circuitry

Polychromatic solitons in a quadratic medium

We introduce the simplest model to describe parametric interactions in a quadratically nonlinear optical medium with the fundamental harmonic containing two components with (slightly) different carrier frequencies [which is a direct analog of wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) models, well known in media with cubic nonlinearity]. The model takes a closed form with three different second-harmonic components, and it is formulated in the spatial domain. We demonstrate that the model supports both polychromatic solitons (PCSs), with all the components present in them, and two types of mutually orthogonal simple solitons, both types being stable in a broad parametric region. An essential peculiarity of PCS is that its power is much smaller than that of a simple (usual) soliton (taken at the same values of control parameters), which may be an advantage for experimental generation of PCSs. Collisions between the orthogonal simple solitons are simulated in detail, leading to the conclusion that the collisions are strongly inelastic, converting the simple solitons into polychromatic ones, and generating one or two additional PCSs. A collision velocity at which the inelastic effects are strongest is identified, and it is demonstrated that the collision may be used as a basis to design a simple all-optical XOR logic gate.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev.

Electroweak Physics, Experimental Aspects

Collider measurements on electroweak physics are summarised. Although the precision on some observables is very high, no deviation from the Standard Model of electroweak interactions is observed. The data allow to set stringent limits on some models for new physics.Comment: Plenary Talk at the UK Phenomenology Workshop on Collider Physics, Durham, 199

Semiflexible polymer conformation, distribution and migration in microcapillary flows

The flow behavior of a semiflexible polymer in microchannels is studied using Multiparticle Collision Dynamics (MPC), a particle-based hydrodynamic simulation technique. Conformations, distributions, and radial cross-streamline migration are investigated for various bending rigidities, with persistence lengths Lp in the range 0.5 < Lp/Lr < 30. The flow behavior is governed by the competition between a hydrodynamic lift force and steric wall-repulsion, which lead to migration away from the wall, and a locally varying flow-induced orientation, which drives polymer away from the channel center and towards the wall. The different dependencies of these effects on the polymer bending rigidity and the flow velocity results in a complex dynamical behavior. However, a generic effect is the appearance of a maximum in the monomer and the center-of-mass distributions, which occurs in the channel center for small flow velocities, but moves off-center at higher velocities.Comment: in press at J. Phys. Condens. Matte

Transport Phenomena and Structuring in Shear Flow of Suspensions near Solid Walls

In this paper we apply the lattice-Boltzmann method and an extension to particle suspensions as introduced by Ladd et al. to study transport phenomena and structuring effects of particles suspended in a fluid near sheared solid walls. We find that a particle free region arises near walls, which has a width depending on the shear rate and the particle concentration. The wall causes the formation of parallel particle layers at low concentrations, where the number of particles per layer decreases with increasing distance to the wall.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure

Solutions to the Optical Cascading Equations

Group theoretical methods are used to study the equations describing \chi^{(2)}:\chi^{(2)} cascading. The equations are shown not to be integrable by inverse scattering techniques. On the other hand, these equations do share some of the nice properties of soliton equations. Large families of explicit analytical solutions are obtained in terms of elliptic functions. In special cases, these periodic solutions reduce to localized ones, i.e., solitary waves. All previously known explicit solutions are recovered, and many additional ones are obtainedComment: 21 page