Electron-phonon interaction via Pekar mechanism in nanostructures

We consider an electron-acoustic phonon coupling mechanism associated with the dependence of crystal dielectric permittivity on the strain (the so-called Pekar mechanism) in nanostructures characterized by strong confining electric fields. The efficiency of Pekar coupling is a function of both the absolute value and the spatial distribution of the electric field. It is demonstrated that this mechanism exhibits a phonon wavevector dependence similar to that of piezoelectricity and must be taken into account for electron transport calculations in an extended field distribution. In particular, we analyze the role of Pekar coupling in energy relaxation in silicon inversion layers. Comparison with the recent experimental results is provided to illustrate its potential significance

Measuring the coherence of healthy and aphasic discourse production in Chinese using Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST)

INTRODUCTION: Discourse coherence refers to the semantic connectedness of propositions in a connected speech. Various theoretical bases, narrative elicitation tasks, and sample quantifications as well as small sample sizes in most studies resulted in a substantial disparity in findings regarding the micro-linguistic and macro-linguistic aspects of aphasic discourse (Armstrong, 2000). Specifically, while some reports claimed macro-linguistic skills in aphasia to be well-preserved despite lexical, grammatical, and phonological impairments, other studies demonstrated reduced discourse coherence due to omission of important content and higher proportion of irrelevant propositions. In this study we analyzed the discourse structure in aphasic ...postprin

Weighted complex projective 2-designs from bases: optimal state determination by orthogonal measurements

We introduce the problem of constructing weighted complex projective 2-designs from the union of a family of orthonormal bases. If the weight remains constant across elements of the same basis, then such designs can be interpreted as generalizations of complete sets of mutually unbiased bases, being equivalent whenever the design is composed of d+1 bases in dimension d. We show that, for the purpose of quantum state determination, these designs specify an optimal collection of orthogonal measurements. Using highly nonlinear functions on abelian groups, we construct explicit examples from d+2 orthonormal bases whenever d+1 is a prime power, covering dimensions d=6, 10, and 12, for example, where no complete sets of mutually unbiased bases have thus far been found.Comment: 28 pages, to appear in J. Math. Phy

Phonon spectroscopy with chirped shear and compressive acoustic pulses

Picosecond duration compressive and shear phonon wave packets injected into (311) GaAs slabs transform after propagation through ∼1  mm into chirped acoustic pulses with a frequency increasing in time due to phonon dispersion. By probing the temporal optical response to coherent phonons in a near surface layer of the GaAs slab, we show that phonon chirping opens a transformational route for high-sensitivity terahertz and subterahertz phonon spectroscopy. Temporal gating of the chirped phonon pulse allows the selection of a narrow band phonon spectrum with a central frequency up to 0.4 THz for longitudinal and 0.2 THz for transverse phonons

Dissipative continuous Euler flows

We show the existence of continuous periodic solutions of the 3D incompressible Euler equations which dissipate the total kinetic energy

Resonant thermal energy transfer to magnons in a ferromagnetic nanolayer

Energy harvesting is a concept which makes dissipated heat useful by transferring thermal energy to other excitations. Most of the existing principles are realized in systems which are heated continuously. We present the concept of high-frequency energy harvesting where the dissipated heat in a sample excites resonant magnons in a thin ferromagnetic metal layer. The sample is excited by femtosecond laser pulses with a repetition rate of 10 GHz which results in temperature modulation at the same frequency with amplitude ~0.1 K. The alternating temperature excites magnons in the ferromagnetic nanolayer which are detected by measuring the net magnetization precession. When the magnon frequency is brought onto resonance with the optical excitation, a 12-fold increase of the amplitude of precession indicates efficient resonant heat transfer from the lattice to coherent magnons. The demonstrated principle may be used for energy harvesting in various nanodevices operating at GHz and sub-THz frequency ranges

Ultrafast changes of magnetic anisotropy driven by laser-generated coherent and noncoherent phonons in metallic films

Ultrafast optical excitation of a metal ferromagnetic film results in a modification of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy and induces the magnetization precession. We consider two main contributions to these processes: an effect of noncoherent phonons, which modifies the temperature dependent parameters of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy and coherent phonons in the form of a strain contributing via inverse magnetostriction. Contrary to earlier experiments with high-symmetry ferromagnetic structures, where these mechanisms could not be separated, we study the magnetization response to femtosecond optical pulses in the low-symmetry magnetostrictive galfenol film so that it is possible to separate the coherent and noncoherent phonon contributions. By choosing certain experimental geometry and external magnetic fields, we can distinguish the contribution from a specific mechanism. Theoretical analysis and numerical calculations are used to support the experimental observations and proposed model

Contributions from coherent and incoherent lattice excitations to ultrafast optical control of magnetic anisotropy of metallic films

Spin-lattice coupling is one of the most prominent interactions mediating response of spin ensemble to ultrafast optical excitation. Here we exploit optically generated coherent and incoherent phonons to drive coherent spin dynamics, i.e. precession, in thin films of magnetostrictive metal Galfenol. We demonstrate unambiguously that coherent phonons, also seen as dynamical strain generated due to picosecond lattice temperature raise, give raise to magnetic anisotropy changes of the optically excited magnetic film; and this contribution may be comparable to or even dominate over the contribution from the temperature increase itself, considered as incoherent phonons

The effect of dynamical compressive and shear strain on magnetic anisotropy in a low symmetry ferromagnetic film

Dynamical strain generated upon excitation of a metallic film by a femtosecond laser pulse may become a versatile tool enabling control of magnetic state of thin _lms and nanostructures via inverse magnetostriction on a picosecond time scale. Here we explore two alternative approaches to manipulate magnetocrystalline anisotropy and excite magnetization precession in a low-symmetry _lm of a magnetic metallic alloy galfenol (Fe,Ga) either by injecting picosecond strain pulse into it from a substrate or by generating dynamical strain of complex temporal profile in the film directly. In the former case we realize ultrafast excitation of magnetization dynamics solely by strain pulses. In the latter case optically-generated strain emerged abruptly in the film modifies its magnetocrystalline anisotropy, competing with heat-induced change of anisotropy parameters. We demonstrate that the optically-generated strain remains efficient for launching magnetization precession, when the heat-induced changes of anisotropy parameters do not trigger the precession anymore. We emphasize that in both approaches the ultrafast change of magnetic anisotropy mediating the precession excitation relies on mixed, compressive and shear, character of the dynamical strain, which emerges due to low-symmetry of the metallic film under study

Theory of magnetization precession induced by a picosecond strain pulse in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As

A theoretical model of the coherent precession of magnetization excited by a picosecond acoustic pulse in a ferromagnetic semiconductor layer of (Ga,Mn)As is developed. The short strain pulse injected into the ferromagnetic layer modifies the magnetocrystalline anisotropy resulting in a tilt of the equilibrium orientation of magnetization and subsequent magnetization precession. We derive a quantitative model of this effect using the Landau-Lifshitz equation for the magnetization that is precessing in the time-dependent effective magnetic field. After developing the general formalism, we then provide a numerical analysis for a certain structure and two typical experimental geometries in which an external magnetic field is applied either along the hard or the easy magnetization axis. As a result we identify three main factors, which determine the precession amplitude: the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the ferromagnetic layer, its thickness, and the strain pulse parameters