Review of Anisotropic Terahertz Material Response

Anisotropy is ubiquitous in solids and enhanced in low-dimensional materials. In response to an electromagnetic wave, anisotropic absorptive and refractive properties result in dichroic and birefringent optical phenomena both in the linear and nonlinear optics regimes. Such material properties have led to a diverse array of useful polarization components in the visible and near-infrared, but mature technology is non-existent in the terahertz (THz). Here, we review several novel types of anisotropic material responses observed in the THz frequency range, including both linear and circular anisotropy, which have long-term implications for the development of THz polarization optics. We start with the extreme linear anisotropy of macroscopically aligned carbon nanotubes, arising from their intrinsically anisotropic dynamic conductivity. Magnetically induced anisotropy will then be reviewed, including the giant Faraday effects observed in semiconductors, semimetals, and two-dimensional electron systems.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure

A Potential Function Derivation of a Constitutive Equation for Inelastic Material Response

Physical and thermodynamic concepts are used to develop a potential function for application to high temperature polycrystalline material response. Inherent in the formulation is a differential relationship between the potential function and constitutive equation in terms of the state variables. Integration of the differential relationship produces a state variable evolution equation that requires specification of the initial value of the state variable and its time derivative. It is shown that the initial loading rate, which is directly related to the initial hardening rate, can significantly influence subsequent material response. This effect is consistent with observed material behavior on the macroscopic and microscopic levels, and may explain the wide scatter in response often found in creep testing

Characterization of the material response in the granular ratcheting

The existence of a very special ratcheting regime has recently been reported in a granular packing subjected to cyclic loading \cite{alonso04}. In this state, the system accumulates a small permanent deformation after each cycle. After a short transient regime, the value of this permanent strain accumulation becomes independent on the number of cycles. We show that a characterization of the material response in this peculiar state is possible in terms of three simple macroscopic variables. They are defined that, they can be easily measured both in the experiments and in the simulations. We have carried out a thorough investigation of the micro- and macro-mechanical factors affecting these variables, by means of Molecular Dynamics simulations of a polydisperse disk packing, as a simple model system for granular material. Biaxial test boundary conditions with a periodically cycling load were implemented. The effect on the plastic response of the confining pressure, the deviatoric stress and the number of cycles has been investigated. The stiffness of the contacts and friction has been shown to play an important role in the overall response of the system. Specially elucidating is the influence of the particular hysteretical behavior in the stress-strain space on the accumulation of permanent strain and the energy dissipation.Comment: 13 pages, 20 figures. Submitted to PR

Self-assembled ErAs islands in GaAs for optical-heterodyne THz generation

We report photomixer devices fabricated on a material consisting of self-assembled ErAs islands in GaAs, which is grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The devices perform comparably and provide an alternative to those made from low-temperature-grown GaAs. The photomixer's frequency response demonstrates that the material is a photoconductor with subpicosecond response time, in agreement with time-resolved differential reflectance measurements. The material also provides the other needed properties such as high photocarrier mobility and high breakdown field, which exceeds 2×10^5 V/cm. The maximum output power before device failure at frequencies of 1 THz was of order 0.1 µW. This material has the potential to allow engineering of key photomixer properties such as the response time and dark resistance

Microscopic theory of refractive index applied to metamaterials: Effective current response tensor corresponding to standard relation n2=εeffμeffn^2 = \varepsilon_{\mathrm{eff}} \mu_{\mathrm{eff}}

In this article, we first derive the wavevector- and frequency-dependent, microscopic current response tensor which corresponds to the "macroscopic" ansatz $\vec D = \varepsilon_0 \varepsilon_{\mathrm{eff}} \vec E$ and $\vec B = \mu_0 \mu_{\mathrm{eff}} \vec H$ with wavevector- and frequency-independent, "effective" material constants $\varepsilon_{\mathrm{eff}}$ and $\mu_{\mathrm{eff}}$. We then deduce the electromagnetic and optical properties of this effective material model by employing exact, microscopic response relations. In particular, we argue that for recovering the standard relation $n^2 = \varepsilon_{\mathrm{eff}} \mu_{\mathrm{eff}}$ between the refractive index and the effective material constants, it is imperative to start from the microscopic wave equation in terms of the transverse dielectric function, $\varepsilon_{\mathrm{T}}(\vec k, \omega) = 0$. On the phenomenological side, our result is especially relevant for metamaterials research, which draws directly on the standard relation for the refractive index in terms of effective material constants. Since for a wide class of materials the current response tensor can be calculated from first principles and compared to the model expression derived here, this work also paves the way for a systematic search for new metamaterials.Comment: minor correction

Sound propagation through bone tissue

Effect of perforation on structure borne sound propagation through rigid porous materials has been investigated. Experimental works has been carried out on rigid porous materials with and without perforations. A low frequency vibration has been applied to excite the material structure by using a force transducer connected a shaker to detect the changes in resulting response. Applied vibration on sample surface causes structure borne sound wave to propagate through the material. The resulting response of this structural borne vibration is detected by using an accelerometer. The results with and without perforation of the sample have been compared. The results show that changing the structure of the material has an effect on the amplitude, shape and arrival time of the transmitted acoustic wave

Constitutive modeling of inelastic anisotropic material response

A constitutive equation was developed to predict the inelastic thermomechanical response of single crystal turbine blades. These equations are essential for developing accurate finite element models of hot section components and contribute significantly to the understanding and prediction of crack initiation and propagation. The method used was limited to unified state variable constitutive equations. Two approaches to developing an anisotropic constitutive equation were reviewed. One approach was to apply the Stouffer-Bodner representation for deformation induced anisotropy to materials with an initial anisotropy such as single crystals. The second approach was to determine the global inelastic strain rate from the contribution of the slip in each of the possible crystallographic slip systems. A three dimensional finite element is being developed with a variable constitutive equation link that can be used for constitutive equation development and to predict the response of an experiment using the actual specimen geometry and loading conditions

Response behaviour of oxygen sensing solid electrolytes

The response time (t r) after a step change in oxygen partial pressure was investigated for some solid electrolytes used in Nernst type oxygen sensors. The electrolyte as well as the (porous) electrode material affect the value oft r. Stabilized Bi2O3 materials exhibit slower response rates (largert r values) than stabilized ZrO2. Introduction of Bi2O3 in stabilized ZrO2 increases the response time. Gold electrodes show a higher response rate than platinum in the oxygen partial pressure and temperature region used.\u