Femtosecond electron and spin dynamics probed by nonlinear optics

A theoretical calculation is performed for the ultrafast spin dynamics in nickel using an exact diagonalization method. The present theory mainly focuses on a situation where the intrinsic charge and spin dynamics is probed by the nonlinear (magneto-)optical responses on the femtosecond time scale, i.e. optical second harmonic generation (SHG) and the nonlinear magneto-optical Kerr effect (NOLIMOKE). It is found that the ultrafast charge and spin dynamics are observable on the time scale of 10 fs. The charge dynamics proceeds ahead of the spin dynamics, which indicates the existence of a spin memory time. The fast decay results from the loss of coherence in the initial excited state. Both the material specific and experimental parameters affect the dynamics. We find that the increase of exchange interaction mainly accelerates the spin dynamics rather than the charge dynamics. A reduction of the hopping integrals, such as present at interfaces, slows down the spin dynamics significantly. Besides, it is found that a spectrally broad excitation yields the intrinsic speed limit of the charge (SHG) and spin dynamics (NOLIMOKE) while a narrower width prolongs the dynamics. This magnetic interface dynamics then should become accessible to state of art time resolved nonlinear-optical experiments.Comment: 5 pages with 3 figures, to appear in Applied. Phys. B 68, (1999

Physics of the Pseudogap State: Spin-Charge Locking

The properties of the pseudogap phase above Tc of the high-Tc cuprate superconductors are described by showing that the Anderson-Nambu SU(2) spinors of an RVB spin gap 'lock' to those of the electron charge system because of the resulting improvement of kinetic energy. This enormously extends the range of the vortex liquid state in these materials. As a result it is not clear that the spinons are ever truly deconfined. A heuristic description of the electrodynamics of this pseudogap-vortex liquid state is proposed.Comment: Submitted to Phys Rev Letter

Arsenic(III) remediation from contaminated water by oxidation and Fe/Al co-precipitation

Battery grade γ-MnO2 powder was investigated as an oxidant and an adsorbent in combination with Fe/Al coagulants for removal of arsenic from contaminated water. Simultaneous oxidation of As(III) and removal by coprecipitation/adsorption (one step process) was compared with pre-oxidation and subsequent removal by coprecipitation/adsorption (two step process). The rate of As(III) oxidation with MnO2 is completed in two stages: rapid initially followed by a first order reaction. As(III) is oxidised to As(V) by the MnO2 with a release of approximately 1:1 molar Mn(II) into the solution. No significant pH effect on oxidation of As(III) was observed in the pH range 4 - 6. The rate showed a decreasing trend above pH 6. The removal of As(V) by adsorption on the MnO2 decreased significantly with increasing pH from 4 to 8. The adsorption capacity of the γ-MnO2 with particle size 90% passing 10 µm was determined to be 1.5 mg/g at pH 7. MnO2 was found to be more effective as an oxidant for As(III) in the two step process than in the one step process

Octupole degree of freedom for the critical-point candidate nucleus 152^{152}Sm in a reflection-asymmetric relativistic mean-field approach

The potential energy surfaces of even-even $^{146-156}$Sm are investigated in the constrained reflection-asymmetric relativistic mean-field approach with parameter set PK1. It is shown that the critical-point candidate nucleus $^{152}$Sm marks the shape/phase transition not only from U(5) to SU(3) symmetry, but also from the octupole-deformed ground state in $^{150}$Sm to the quadrupole-deformed ground state in $^{154}$Sm. By including the octupole degree of freedom, an energy gap near the Fermi surface for single-particle levels in $^{152}$Sm with $\beta_2 = 0.14 \sim 0.26$ is found, and the important role of the octupole deformation driving pair $\nu 2f_{7/2}$ and $\nu 1i_{13/2}$ is demonstrated.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure