Nonreciprocal scattering by stacked nonlinear magneto-active semiconductor layers

The combinatorial frequency generation by the periodic stacks of magnetically biased semiconductor layers has been modelled in a self-consistent problem formulation, taking into account the nonlinear dynamics of carriers. It is shown that magnetic bias not only renders nonreciprocity of the three-wave mixing process but also significantly enhances the nonlinear interactions in the stacks, especially at the frequencies close to the intrinsic magneto-plasma resonances of the constituent layers. The main mechanisms and properties of the combinatorial frequency generation and emission from the stacks are illustrated by the simulation results, and the effects of the individual layer parameters and the structure arrangement on the stack nonlinear and nonreciprocal response are discussed.     

Nature of the electronic states in a chain of potential wells in presence of an electric field

A Kronig-Penney model with a constant electric field is used to study the transmission properties of a non-interacting electron one-dimensional (1D) ordered and disordered systems with uniformly distributed negative strengths of δ-function potentials (wells). In ordered systems we examine the origin of the jumps of the transmission coefficient and the short-range localization (occurring before the first jump) observed previously. For disordered wells, we also examine the phase-diagram in the energy-disorder plane. The short-range localization is observed as a peak in the inverse participation ratio and as a minimum in the localization length. We found that the two distinctive behaviours correspond to a negative differential resistance and to a resonance at particular points corresponding to the edges of the Brillouin zones. Further discussions of these behaviours are included.     

Nature of the electronic states in a chain of potential wells in presence of an electric field

A Kronig-Penney model with a constant electric field is used to study the transmission properties of a non-interacting electron one-dimensional (1D) ordered and disordered systems with uniformly distributed negative strengths of δ-function potentials (wells). In ordered systems we examine the origin of the jumps of the transmission coefficient and the short-range localization (occurring before the first jump) observed previously. For disordered wells, we also examine the phase-diagram in the energy-disorder plane. The short-range localization is observed as a peak in the inverse participation ratio and as a minimum in the localization length. We found that the two distinctive behaviours correspond to a negative differential resistance and to a resonance at particular points corresponding to the edges of the Brillouin zones. Further discussions of these behaviours are included.     

Phase dynamics modeling of parallel stacks of Josephson junctions

The phase dynamics of two parallel connected stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions (JJs) in high temperature superconductors is numerically investigated. The calculations are based on the system of nonlinear differential equations obtained within the CCJJ + DC model, which allows one to determine the general current-voltage characteristic of the system, as well as each individual stack. The processes with increasing and decreasing base currents are studied. The features in the behavior of the current in each stack of the system due to the switching between the states with rotating and oscillating phases are analyzed.     

Fast and slow dynamics in a discotic liquid crystal with regions of columnar order and disorder

Aromatic disk-shaped molecules tend to self-organize into a herringbone packing where the disks are inclined at angles ±θ with respect to the axis of the column. In discotic liquid crystals this can introduce defects between stacks of limited length. In a C(3)-symmetric hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene, solid-state NMR, x-ray scattering, and rheology identifies such a packing with θ=43° and stacks of about seven disks. Disordered regions containing defects fill the space in between the ordered stacks. Biaxial intra- and intercolumnar dynamics differing by eight decades are identified.     

1H one- and two-dimensional five-pulse ESEEM investigations on a radiation center in betaine phosphite single crystals

1D and 2D five-pulse ESEEM experiments on a PO ₃ ^2? center in γ-irradiated betaine phosphite are presented to study the protons bound to the radical in more detail. The ESEEM results are in accordance with previous ENDOR investigations. From the 2D fivepulse ESEEM experiments the¹H ENDOR assignment in the ferroelectric ordered state of betaine phosphite could be completed. Additionally, the occurrence of ordered proton states in the disordered paraelectric high-temperature phase and of disordered proton states in the ordered ferroelectric low-temperature phase as well could be observed due to the enhanced resolution of the 2D method.     

Analysis of the Structure of Thin Films of Zn‐Porphyrins by the Kinetics of the Fluorescence Anisotropy

The structure of thin films of Zntetraoctylphenylporphyrin (ZnTOPP) obtained by the spinning method is investigated. The kinetics of the decay of the fluorescence anisotropy of the films is analyzed in the form of a sum of exponents and by simulating the orientation of ZnTOPP complexes on the substrate (quartz) surface with allowance for the processes of the electron excitation energy transfer. The ZnTOPP films have a lamellar structure where individual layers form ordered domains. Within a domain, linear nonintersecting stacks of molecules are formed. In each stack the planes of the molecules are collinear, oriented perpendicularly to the surface of the substrate base, and form an angle of 45° with the directing axis of a stack.     

Long-term effect of inter-mode transitions in quantum Markovian process

The combinatorial frequency generation by periodic and quasiperiodic stacks of nonlinear semiconductor layers has been studied in the self-consistent problem formulation, taking into account mobility of carriers. The three-wave mixing technique is applied to study the nonlinear processes. It is shown that the mixing processes in passive semiconductor structures are driven by the competitive effects of the collision of charges and resonance interactions of carriers with pump waves. The effects of the pump wave dissipation, layer parameters and stack arrangements on the efficiency of the combinatorial frequency generation are discussed.     

Quantum terahertz electrodynamics and macroscopic quantum tunneling in layered superconductors

We derive a quantum field theory of Josephson plasma waves (JPWs) in layered superconductors, which describes two types of interacting JPW bosonic quanta (one heavy and one lighter). We propose a mechanism of enhancement of macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions. Because of the long-range interaction between junctions in layered superconductors, the calculated MQT escape rate Gamma has a nonlinear dependence on the number of junctions in the stack. We show that the crossover temperature between quantum and thermal escape increases when increasing the number of junctions. This allows us to quantitatively describe striking recent experiments in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta stacks.     

Spin resonance of an organic conductor: Tetramethyltetrathiafulvalene tetracyanoquinodimethane

Evaluation of the magnetic gaps of the (TMTTF) and (TCNQ) stacks with the help of the temperature dependence of the measured g-values leads to the conclusion that the (TCNQ) stack is driving the metal-insulator transition. The relative sizes of the magnetic gaps on the (TMTTF) and (TCNQ) stacks are compatible with the existence of only one phase transition. A comparison with (TTF)(TCNQ) is made and the lower transition temperature observed for (TMTTF)(TCNQ) is in agreement with the smaller gap observed in this compound for the (TNNQ) stack.     

Ordered and disordered dynamics in monolayers of rolling particles

We consider the ordered and disordered dynamics for monolayers of rolling self-interacting particles modeling water molecules. The rolling constraint represents a simplified model of a strong, but rapidly decaying bond with the surface. We show the existence and nonlinear stability of ordered lattice states, as well as disturbance propagation through and chaotic vibrations of these states. We study the dynamics of disordered gas states and show that there is a surprising and universal linear connection between distributions of angular and linear velocity, allowing definition of temperature.     

Localization of excitons in weakly disordered semiconductor structures: A model study

Localization of the center‐of‐mass (com) motion of an exciton in a disordered semiconductor structure is studied theoretically by focusing on nonlinear optical spectroscopy. A one‐dimensional tight‐binding model with diagonal disorder is applied and the Coulomb interaction is treated consistently. In the ordered situation the center‐of‐mass momentum (K) selection rule leads to only the lowest transition for K = 0. The break down of the com‐K‐selection rule produces the well known asymmetric excitonic lines of disordered semiconductors. The coupling between the lowest dominant transition to this modified com‐continuum yields Fano‐like features in the nonlinear spectra.     

Suppression of Anderson localization in disordered metamaterials

We study wave propagation in mixed, 1D disordered stacks of alternating right- and left-handed layers and reveal that the introduction of metamaterials substantially suppresses Anderson localization. At long wavelengths, the localization length in mixed stacks is orders of magnitude larger than for normal structures, proportional to the sixth power of the wavelength, in contrast to the usual quadratic wavelength dependence of normal systems. Suppression of localization is also exemplified in long-wavelength resonances which largely disappear when left-handed materials are introduced.     

The experimental studies of thermoacoustic cooler

The experimental studies of thermoacoustic cooler consisting of acoustic loop-tube were carried out. The loop-tube was filled with the mixture of air and helium gas or air at atmospheric pressure. The dimensions of the loop-tube were 3.3 m of length, 44 mm of inner diameter and 4 mm of thickness. A pair of stacks (stack 1 and stack 2) which were sandwiched between two heat exchangers was placed symmetrically in the loop-tube. Stack 1 was employed as a prime mover and stack 2 as a heat pump. The self-sustained sound generated by the thermoacoustic effect and the cooling phenomena at the stack 2 were observed. The distribution of the sound pressures and the waveforms in the loop-tube were measured, and the frequency component of the self-sustained sound was investigated at the starting phase. The fundamental frequency component was confirmed and it was developing as the sound pressure increasing. The higher harmonics frequency components were generated and they were also developing.     

An experimental study of anti-phase boundaries contrast of Fe-Si alloys in superlattice reflexions

Thin foils of ordered alloys of different composition are studied by transmission electron microscopy. The contrast on antiphase boundaries 1/4a ₀ ^′ 〈111〉, 1/2a ₀ ^′ 〈100〉 is compared with contrast theories. It is shown that the dependence of the contrast profile on the deviation parameter from the Bragg reflexion position and the thickness of the foil for oblique boundaries is qualitatively in agreement with the theory. On nearly perpendicular boundaries the observed dependence of contrast is qualitatively the same for higher silicon contents. For lower silicon contents, however, only dark contrast (in the dark field image) is observed for all values of the deviation parameter and foil thickness. This behaviour of nearly perpendicular boundaries at lower silicon contents is explained by the existence of a disordered layer of finite thickness in the boundary. The disordered layer also causes the anomalous contrast of 1/2a ₀ ^′ 〈100〉 boundaries in S₂ reflexions for which zero contrast is predicted by the theory. In contrast to the idealized model of a boundary of this type with disordered second nearest neighbours only, the experiments show also some disorder of the first nearest neighbours. Finally, examples of complicated fringe contrast are shown which can possibly be interpreted as many-beam cases with superlattice and fundamental reflexions excited simultaneously.     

Hydraulic permeability of (un)bounded fibrous media using the lattice boltzmann method

Several articles have been written regarding the hydraulic permeability of ordered and disordered fibrous media. Here, we explore wall effects on hydraulic permeabilities for ordered and disordered media using the lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulation method. Simulation results are found to be in excellent agreement with the semi analytic result of Sangani and Acrivos, and simulation results for disordered media are in good agreement with the results of Jackson and James and Higdon and Ford's fcc lattice. The macroscopic behavior, the hydraulic permeability, shows a distinct connection with the geometry of the system. This connection is explored and elucidated for ordered and disordered media. Finally, hydraulic permeabilities for bounded media at various wall separations are presented for both ordered and disordered media and results are compared with hydraulic permeabilities calculated for the unbounded media, and a phenomenological correlation is presented to facilitate rapid prediction of hydraulic permeabilities for both unbounded and bounded fibrous media.     

Calculating transport AC losses in stacks of high temperature superconductor coated conductors with magnetic substrates using FEM

In this paper, the authors investigate the electromagnetic properties of stacks of high temperature superconductor (HTS) coated conductors with a particular focus on calculating the total transport AC loss. The cross-section of superconducting cables and coils is often modeled as a two-dimensional stack of coated conductors, and these stacks can be used to estimate the AC loss of a practical device. This paper uses a symmetric two dimensional (2D) finite element model based on the H formulation, and a detailed investigation into the effects of a magnetic substrate on the transport AC loss of a stack is presented. The number of coated conductors in each stack is varied from 1 to 150, and three types of substrate are compared: non-magnetic weakly magnetic and strongly magnetic. The non-magnetic substrate model is comparable with results from existing models for the limiting cases of a single tape (Norris) and an infinite stack (Clem). The presence of a magnetic substrate increases the total AC loss of the stack, due to an increased localized magnetic flux density, and the stronger the magnetic material, the further the flux penetrates into the stack overall. The AC loss is calculated for certain tapes within the stack, and the differences and similarities between the losses throughout the stack are explained using the magnetic flux penetration and current density distributions in those tapes. The ferromagnetic loss of the substrate itself is found to be negligible in most cases, except for small magnitudes of current. Applying these findings to practical applications, where AC transport current is involved, superconducting coils should be wound where possible using coated conductors with a non-magnetic substrate to reduce the total AC loss in the coil.     

Systematic study of the effect of disorder on nanotribology of self-assembled monolayers

The adhesion and friction between pairs of ordered and disordered self-assembled monolayers on SiO2 are studied using molecular dynamics. The disorder is introduced by randomly removing chains from a well ordered crystalline substrate and by attaching chains to an amorphous substrate. The adhesion force between monolayers at a given separation increases monotonically with chain length at full coverage and with coverage for fixed chain length. Friction simulations are performed at shear velocities between 0.02-2 m/s at constant applied pressures between 200 and 600 MPa. Stick-slip motion is observed at full coverage but disappears with disorder. With random defects, the friction becomes insensitive to chain length, defect density, and substrate.     

Effective optical constants and effective optical properties of ultrathin trilayer structures

This work presents an extension of the characteristic effective medium approximation (CEMA) to ultrathin trilayer systems. The extension has been carried out analytically and is supported by corresponding calculations of the effective optical constants of Cu-Au-Cu and Ag-SiO-Ag trilayer systems using the CEMA approximation. This work is in essence a generalization of the characteristic effective medium approximation introduced earlier for ultrathin bilayer structures. This method is used to derive the effective optical constants of a trilayer system, consisting of three thin layers with each constituent layer of thickness much less than the wavelength of the incident radiation. Within this regime a trilayer system is viewed as one effective layer referred to as an effective stack (ES) with well defined effective optical constants, which can be used to calculate the optical properties of the trilayer stack within a specified wavelength range. The CEMA based calculations of the effective optical constants are applied to two trilayer systems with a total of five stacks. Three are Cu-Au-Cu and two are Ag-SiO-Ag stacks. The thicknesses of the parent layers in the Cu-Au-Cu stack range from 3 to 30 nm for Cu and 4 to 40 nm for Au; in the Ag-SiO-Ag stack the constituent layers are 6 nm for Ag, but range from 5 to 10 nm for SiO. This study is for normal or near normal incidence spectroscopy in a wavelength range that extends from visible to near infrared. The agreement between CEMA based ES stack results and those of the standard CMT technique is very satisfactory.