Transition probabilities for coherent multiphoton absorption processes

The feasibility of coherent multiphoton propagation effects such as two-photon self-induced transparency is examined by calculating the coherent transition probabilities for a multiphoton process. For a two-photon excitation of a three-level system, periodic probability functions are obtained which increase smoothly as the intermediate state approaches resonance with the radiation field. The results for a coherent multiphoton excitation of a multilevel system are an extension of Rabi's “strong signal theory” for a one-photon excitation of a two-level system.     

Detection of electronic and vibrational coherences in molecular systems by 2D electronic photon echo spectroscopy

Two-dimensional optical photon echo spectra are simulated for model systems which exhibit vibrational, electronic and a combination of electronic and vibrational coherent dynamics. The coherent motion manifests itself as periodic beatings of the spectrum cross-peak intensity with the population time. The intensity modulations are compared to evolution of the excited-state population and coordinate expectation value. The advantageous capabilities of the technique as well as possible difficulties in spectra interpretations are outlined. Possibilities for distinguishing electronic and vibrational coherences are discussed.     

Minimum-uncertainty coherent states of the hyperbolic and trigonometric Rosen–Morse oscillators

A mixed supersymmetric-algebraic approach is employed to generate the minimum uncertainty coherent states of the hyperbolic and trigonometric Rosen–Morse oscillators. The method proposed produces the superpotentials, ground state eigenfunctions and associated eigenvalues as well as the Schrödinger equation in the factorized form amenable to direct treatment in the algebraic or supersymmetric scheme. In the standard approach the superpotentials are calculated by solution of the Riccati equation for the given form of potential energy function or by differentiation of the ground state eigenfunction. The procedure applied is general and permits derivation the exact analytical solutions and coherent states for the most important model oscillators employed in molecular quantum chemistry, coherent spectroscopy (femtochemistry) and coherent nonlinear optics.

     

Effect of the donor-bridge energy gap on the electron-transfer mechanism in donor-bridge-acceptor systems

The effect of the energy gap between donor and bridge states in the electron transfer of a double mutant photosynthetic purple bacterial reaction center is thoroughly investigated using a recently introduced modified on-the-fly filtered propagator important path integral formalism. By decomposition of the reduced density matrix of a system coupled to a dissipative environment, partial contributions of incoherent hopping, coherent superexchange, and partially coherent hopping transport to the overall electron or charge transfer are evaluated. Within the tight-binding donor-bridge-acceptor model, the three mechanisms coexist for a wide range of donor-bridge energy gap values, and the governing mechanism changes from incoherent hopping to partially coherent hopping and eventually to coherent superexchange as the donor-bridge energy gap becomes large.     

Experimental Observables and Macroscopic Susceptibility/Microscopic Polarizability Tensors for Third and Fourth-Order Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Ordered Molecular System

There has been emerging needs for the quantitative polarization analysis for the Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Spectroscopy and Coherent Anti-stokes Hyper-raman Spectroscopy, as the experimental studies with coherent anti-stokes raman spectroscopy and coherent anti-stokes hyper-raman spectroscopy for the interface and membrane studies being growing. Recently we have demonstrated that orientational analysis of linear and nonlinear spectroscopy from the ordered molecular system, such as molecular interfaces and ˉlms, can be carried out with the formulation of the orientational function in simple functional forms. Applications of such formulation for the second order spectroscopy, namely, the Second Harmonic Generation and Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy, have helped to understand spectral and orientational details of the molecular interfaces and ˉlms. In order to employ this formulation for the higher order coherent nonlinear spectroscopy, the detailed expressions of the experimental observables and the macroscopic sus-ceptibility/microscopic polarizability tensors for the third and fourth-order nonlinear spectroscopy for the interface or ˉlm is presented with the rotational symmetry. General expressions for the typical third and fourth order spectroscopy, such as the Third Harmonic Generation, the degenerated coherent anti-stokes raman spectroscopy, the Fourth Harmonic Generation and the degenerated coherent anti-stokes hyper-raman spectroscopy, are presented for their future applications. The advantages and limitations of the third and fourth order spectroscopic techniques are also discussed.     

Conditions for coherent vibrations in the cytoskeleton.

Mechanism of organization and order in biological systems is not satisfactorily explained yet. Biophysical theories predicted that coherent endogenous electric field of high frequency can play a significant role in organization. The polarity of vibration structures, spectral energy transfer caused by nonlinearities, and energy supply can lead to energy condensation and excitation of coherent states. These conditions are satisfied in the polymer structures of the cytoskeleton, in particular, in the microtubules as follows from experimental findings. Nonetheless, experimental verification of energy condensation and coherent vibrations in the cytoskeleton is still missing.     

Experimental Overview of Complex Intermetallic Structures

A complete investigation of the Fourier space of complex intermetallic Mg₃₉Al₆₁ is reported. X-ray patterns reveal the reciprocal space of the whole system consisting in selective reflections and coherent diffuse scattering. Their temperature dependence are studied. Selective reflections are interpreted as incommensurately modulated states and a structural analysis of the coherent diffuse scattering is presented. The same type of coherent diffuse scattering curve was also observed in several quasicrystalline alloys. In all the studied cases, the disorder is interpreted by the presence of icosahedral arrangements that are reminiscent of Frank units in supercooled alloys.     

The construction of the Gilmore–Perelomov coherent states for the Kratzer–Fues anharmonic oscillator with the use of the algebraic approach

By applying the algebraic approach and the displacement operator to the ground state, the unknown Gilmore–Perelomov coherent states for the rotating anharmonic Kratzer–Fues oscillator are constructed. In order to obtain the displacement operator the ladder operators have been applied. The deduced SU(1, 1) dynamical symmetry group associated with these operators enables us to construct this important class of the coherent states. Several important properties of these states are discussed. It is shown that the coherent states introduced are not orthogonal and form complete basis set in the Hilbert space. We have found that any vector of Hilbert space of the oscillator studied can be expressed in the coherent states basis set. It has been established that the coherent states satisfy the completeness relation. Also, we have proved that these coherent states do not possess temporal stability. The approach presented can be used to construct the coherent states for other anharmonic oscillators. The coherent states proposed can find applications in laser-matter interactions, in particular with regards to laser chemical processing, laser techniques, in micro-machinning and the patterning, coating and modification of chemical material surfaces.     

Exciton coherence lifetimes from electronic structure

We model the coherent energy transfer of an electronic excitation within covalently linked aromatic homodimers from first-principles. Our results shed light on whether commonly used models of the bath calculated via detailed electronic structure calculations can reproduce the key dynamics. For the systems we model, the time scales of coherent transport are experimentally known from time-dependent polarization anisotropy measurements, and so we can directly assess whether current techniques are predictive for modeling coherent transport. The coupling of the electronic degrees of freedom to the nuclear degrees of freedom is calculated from first-principles rather than assumed, and the fluorescence anisotropy decay is directly reproduced. Surprisingly, we find that although time-dependent density functional theory absolute energies are routinely in error by orders of magnitude more than the coupling energy between monomers, the coherent transport properties of these dimers can be semi-quantitatively reproduced from these calculations. Future directions which must be pursued to yield predictive and reliable models of coherent transport are suggested.     

New coherent state representation for the imaginary time propagator with applications to forward-backward semiclassical initial value representations of correlation functions

There have been quite a few attempts in recent years to provide an initial value coherent state representation for the imaginary time propagator exp(-betaH). The most notable is the recent time evolving Gaussian approximation of Frantsuzov and Mandelshtam [J. Chem. Phys. 121, 9247 (2004)] which may be considered as an expansion of the imaginary time propagator in terms of coherent states whose momentum is zero. In this paper, a similar but different expression is developed in which exp(-betaH) is represented in a series whose terms are weighted phase space averages of coherent states. Such a representation allows for the formulation of a new and simplified forward-backward semiclassical initial value representation expression for thermal correlation functions.     

Analysis of bridge-mediated pathways for long-range charge transfer systems

With the density matrix decomposition scheme of the path integral method, an accurate quantitative analysis on bridge-mediated pathways in long-range charge transfer processes is presented. Unlike a donor-bridge-acceptor triad, a long-range charge transfer process with a number of bridges has additional pathways in which charges always migrate through bridges but not necessarily by incoherent nearest-neighbor hopping. By employing the density matrix decomposition and sorting the incoherent nearest-neighbor and the coherent next-nearest-neighbor hopping pathways, respective contributions to the charge transfer are evaluated quantitatively. Numerical results of two series of configurations with varying degrees of coherence within the system have found that, depending on the configuration, the contribution of the coherent pathways other than superexchange pathways is significant. In the presence of the coherence, long-range charge transfer dynamics may be dominated by the through-bridge mechanism that consists of the coherent through-bridge pathways as well as the incoherent nearest-neighbor hopping pathways.     

Coherent polarization radiation from crystals irradiated with relativistic charged particles

When polarization radiation (polarization bremsstrahlung) occurs in a crystal, the radiation becomes coherent in X-ray wavelengths. This radiation, called coherent polarization radiation (CPR) in this paper, is considered as a possible compact X-ray source because CPR is intense, monochromatic, tunable, small background, and easy to extract. We present a simple theory of CPR with emphasis on its relation to Cherenkov radiation and transition radiation. Various properties of CPR are also discussed.     

Basis set sampling in the method of coupled coherent states: coherent state swarms, trains, and pancakes

The paper provides a systematic account of simple sampling techniques used in the multidimensional quantum dynamical method of coupled coherent states. For the sampling techniques based on a Gaussian distribution, it is noticed that faster convergence is achieved if "compression" of the basis set decreases as the basis size is increased. Good results are obtained for the autocorrelation functions of wave packets propagated in Henon-Heiles potentials with up to 32 degrees of freedom. Further test calculations are performed by employing trains of coherent states sampled on the same classical trajectory with successive time delays.     

Non-linear coherent Raman spectroscopy

A general introduction to several coherent Raman methods, which are based on the third-order non-linear susceptibility is given. These methods are described basically under a common point of view, which is the excitation of coherent molecular vibrations in the field of two strong laser beams operating at different frequencies. Most of these methods can be applied successfully also under electronic resonance conditions. As a particular example, studies of coherent anti-Stokes continuum resonance Raman scattering in iodine vapour will be presented and discussed in detail.     

Application of quantum coherence and decoherence

Coherent phenomena in molecular chromophores interacting with a dissipative environment is addressed. We defined coherence by the phenomena of decoherence which collapses the system to pointer states. Coherent irreducible phenomena takes place in a time window before the system collapses. We describe a computational model: The Stochastic Surrogate Hamiltonian that can deal with such complex quantum systems. The conditions for coherent control are analyzed. A prerequisite for coherent phenomena is the ability to perform coherent control using shaped light sources. We show that weak field coherent control is enabled by interaction with the environment.     

Mode-focusing in molecules by feedback-controlled shaping of femtosecond laser pulses

The feasibility of mode-selective excitation with broadband femtosecond laser pulses is demonstrated for toluene in liquid phase. A learning-loop optimal control scheme was applied to a stimulated Raman excitation process. Modifications of the phase shape of one of the exciting pulses resulted in dramatic changes of the mode distribution reflected in coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectra. An evolutionary algorithm guided the coherent excitation process to a selective enhancement or suppression of one or more vibrational modes over the complete coherence lifetime spanning several picoseconds. New ways of spectral filtering as well as exciting possibilities of mode-selective studying of chemical reaction dynamics are indicated.     

Comparison of electrothermal atomization diode laser Zeeman- and wavelength-modulated atomic absorption and coherent forward scattering spectrometry

Atomic absorption and coherent forward scattering spectrometry by using a near-infrared diode laser with and without Zeeman and wavelength modulation were carried out with graphite furnace electrothermal atomization. Analytical curves and limits of detection were compared. The magnetic field was modulated with 50 Hz, and the wavelength of the diode laser with 10 kHz. Coherent forward scattering was measured with crossed and slightly uncrossed polarizers. The results show that the detection limits of atomic absorption spectrometry are roughly the same as those of coherent forward scattering spectrometry with crossed polarizers. According to the theory with bright flicker noise limited laser sources the detection limits and linear ranges obtained with coherent forward scattering spectrometry with slightly uncrossed polarizers are significantly better than those obtained with crossed polarizers and with atomic absorption spectrometry. This is due to the fact that employing approaches of polarization spectroscopy reduce laser intensity fluctuations to their signal carried fractions.     

Restoration of coherence effects in high-power excitation of an intramolecular quasicontinuum

Three theoretical models were advanced for the dynamics of molecular multiphoton excitation: (i) The zero-order optically active mode connected by intramolecular random anharmonic couplings to a background manifold. (ii) Molecular eigenstates coupled by random radiative transition dipole moments. (iii) The kinetic master equation approach. It is demonstrated that in the Markoffian limit, as long as the intramolecular vibrational relaxation width is small relative to the Rabi frequency, these three approaches are equivalent. In the case of high-field excitation, coherent quantum effects are exhibited even in a randomly coupled system. Resurrection of the quantum oscillations and coherent pumping can be exhibited in intense field excitation on the time scale of intramolecular vibrational relaxation.     

Interface phenomena in (super)hard nitride nanocomposites: from coatings to bulk materials

Mechanical properties of nanocomposites usually surpass the mechanical properties of their micro-structured and single-crystalline counterparts. This is mainly due to an extremely high density of internal interfaces in nanocomposites like grain, crystallite and phase boundaries. When compared to diamond, carbides and borides, nitrides are of interest because of their high temperature oxidation resistance and compatibility with iron containing alloys. This tutorial review classifies the contributions of various internal interfaces to the hardness of the nanocomposites, and appreciates the outstanding role of partially coherent phase boundaries in the hardness enhancement. With selected examples of transition metal nitrides containing aluminium and silicon as well as of boron nitrides, it is explained how the nanocomposites with partially coherent phase boundaries and thus with enhanced hardness can be synthesised. As the possible ways of the formation of coherent phase boundaries, the local epitaxial growth of phases with limited mutual solubility, the production of supersaturated solid solutions followed by the segregation of elements during the spinodal decomposition and the incomplete phase transformation are discussed. The most important techniques, used for synthesis of nitride nanocomposites, like CVD, PVD, precursor-based methods, mechanical alloying and high-pressure-high-temperature synthesis are briefly reviewed. Besides, a short overview on hardness definitions and hardness measurements is included.