Comment on "Temporally resolved electro-optic effect"

We comment on the recent Letter by S. P. Jamison et al. [Opt. Lett.31, 1753 (2006)] where the analysis of a chirped probe pulse that is electro-optically modulated by a terahertz pulse reportedly results in a new expression for the electric field. While in principle the derived expressions for the total field after the crystal are correct, in their treatment the authors implicitly assumed that the derived total field is identical to the measured field, without regard to the residual birefringence of a typical electro-optic crystal or a crossed analyzer. Based on this analysis neglecting birefringence, they report that earlier expressions of the temporal field are incorrect. Here we show, on the contrary, that for chirped single-shot terahertz measurement schemes that include residual birefringence, the temporally resolved electro-optic effect is described correctly by the commonly used expression in the literature. We verify this result with our experimental data.     

"Artificial atoms" in magnetic fields: wave-function shaping and phase-sensitive tunneling

We demonstrate the possibility to influence the shape of the wave functions in semiconductor quantum dots by the application of an external magnetic field B(z). The states of the so-called p shell, which show distinct orientations along the crystal axes for B(z) = 0, can be modified to become more and more circularly symmetric with an increasing field. Their changing probability density can be monitored using magnetotunneling wave function mapping. Calculations of the magnetotunneling signals are in good agreement with the experimental data and explain the different tunneling maps of the p(+) and p? states as a consequence of the different sign of their respective phase factors.     

Commentary on "Solid-like rheological response of non-entangled polymers in the molten state" by H. Mendil et al

We discuss the rheology experiments on classical and liquid crystal polymer melts by Mendil et al., in the light of the old and new piezorheometry experiments we have carried out on both types of melt. The mechanical behavior we have observed in the linear and non-linear regimes are independent of the melt studied (classical or liquid crystal), and of their nature (siloxane-type, acrylate-type and styrene-type). In the linear regime, the mechanical behavior of the melts presents two components: the first one is the conventional contribution. It is due to polymer chains, and is independent of sample thickness. The second one, which can be observed only when a strong interaction between the compound and the substrate exists, is associated with the glass transition. This component displays an elastic response depending on the sample thickness, and disappears at high temperature. It can be explained by assuming the presence of long-range density fluctuations, which are associated with the glass transition, and frozen at the frequencies used in the experiments. The experiments as a function of the applied strain show that the value of the elastic component decreases when the applied strain increases. This slipping transition occurs progressively, which highlights the heterogeneous nature of the anchoring. The results on the classical polymer by Mendil et al. can be considered to be consistent with ours. In contrast, their results on the liquid crystal polymer differ markedly from ours, showing that the elastic response of this sample has not the same origin.     

Unidirectional growth of l-lysine l-lysinium dichloride nitrate (l-LLDN) single crystals by the SR method

Bulk semi-organic single crystals of l-lysine l-lysinium dichloride nitrate (l-LLDN) were grown by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method. The experimental parameters involved in the present work are discussed in detail. The cut-off wavelength and the transmittance of the crystal were determined by UV-vis-NIR spectral analysis. Mechanical stability of the crystal was determined by Vickers microhardness tester. Refractive index of the crystal was measured using Brewster’s angle method. A simple interferometric technique was used for measuring birefringence of the crystal. The frequency dependent dielectric constant (ε_r) and dielectric loss (tan δ) were also measured. The results were analyzed for the l-LLDN crystals grown by both conventional and unidirectional methods.     

Breakdown of classical nucleation theory near isostructural phase transitions

We report simulations of crystal nucleation in binary mixtures of hard spherical colloids with a size ratio of 1:10. The stable crystal phase of this system can be either dense or expanded. We find that, in the vicinity of the solid-solid critical point where the crystallites are highly compressible, small crystal nuclei are less dense than large nuclei. This phenomenon cannot be accounted for by either classical nucleation theory or by the Gibbsian droplet model. We argue that the observed behavior is due to the surface stress of the crystal nuclei. The observed effect highlights a general deficiency of the most frequently used thermodynamic theories for crystal nucleation. Surface stress should lead to an experimentally observable expansion of crystal nuclei of colloids with short-ranged attraction and of globular proteins.     

Coherent effects in crystal collimation

We present theory for coherent effects observed in crystal collimation experiments that is in good quantitative agreement with the RHIC and Tevatron data. We show that these effects are caused by a coherent scattering on the field of bent crystal atomic planes, which amplifies beam diffusion in accelerator by orders of magnitude compared to the scattering in amorphous material. This coherent scattering could replace the traditional amorphous scattering in accelerator collimation systems. We predict that for negative particles this effect is as strong as for positive ones, opening a principle way for efficient crystal steering of negative particles at accelerators. Predictions are made for high energy accelerators where crystal collimation is seen as an interesting application.     

Radiation due to Josephson oscillations in layered superconductors

We derive the power of direct radiation into free space induced by Josephson oscillations in intrinsic Josephson junctions of layered superconductors. We consider the superradiation regime for a crystal cut in the form of a thin slice parallel to the c axis. We find that the radiation correction to the current-voltage characteristic in this regime depends only on crystal shape. We show that at a large number of junctions oscillations are synchronized providing high radiation power and efficiency in the terahertz frequency range. We discuss the crystal parameters and bias current optimal for radiation power and crystal cooling.     

Hydrodynamic Limit for Weakly Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Processes in Crystal Lattices

We investigate the hydrodynamic limit for weakly asymmetric simple exclusion processes in crystal lattices. We construct a suitable scaling limit by using a discrete harmonic map. As we shall observe, the quasi-linear parabolic equation in the limit is defined on a flat torus and depends on both the local structure of the crystal lattice and the discrete harmonic map. We formulate the local ergodic theorem on the crystal lattice by introducing the notion of local function bundle, which is a family of local functions on the configuration space. The ideas and methods are taken from the discrete geometric analysis to these problems. Results we obtain are extensions of ones by Kipnis, Olla and Varadhan to crystal lattices.     

Supersonic <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-Crowdions in a Two-Dimensional Morse Crystal

An interstitial atom placed in a close-packed atomic row of a crystal is called crowdion. Such defects are highly mobile; they can move along the row, transferring mass and energy. We generalize the concept of a classical supersonic crowdion to an N-crowdion in which not one but N atoms move simultaneously with a high velocity. Using molecular dynamics simulations for a close-packed two-dimensional Morse crystal, we show that N-crowdions transfer mass much more efficiently, because they are capable of covering large distances while having a lower total energy than that of a classical 1-crowdion.     

"Live" surface ferromagnetism in Fe nanodots/Cu multilayers on Cu(111)

We investigate the crossover behavior from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional in multilayers of magnetic nanodots grown by stacking 2D Fe nanodot assemblies on Cu(111) single crystal substrate with a Cu spacing layer. Using an in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect, we have observed a striking ferromagnetic to spin-glass-like phase transition with an increasing number of Fe dot layers. The topmost layer of the Fe dots survives the phase transition and remains ferromagnetic. This unusual surface ferromagnetism is likely caused by a surface-state-mediated coupling which is stronger than the coupling in bulk layers. This is confirmed by the fact that the critical temperature of the surface ferromagnetism is considerably higher than that of the bulk spin-glass phase in the system.     

The crystal change and "excess heat" produced by long time electrolysis of heavy water with titanium cathode

According to the theory given in the paper[1], the long time electrolysis experiment with titanium cathode in heavy water (D2O) were done for many times by using the open-loop multi-parameters electrolysis calorimetry system, which is established by us. The specialty is that the cathode is titanium rod and the anode is platinum wire. The early experiment result[3] is still repeated in our recent experiment. The obvious "excess heat" phenomenon can take place only when the electrolysis last more than ten days and amount of "excess heat" increased with the electrolysis time. The "excess heat" can also be obtained from the "boiling to dry" experiment. In the recent experiment, we obtain the results that the amount of "excess heat" is about 3.6 times the input energy, the "excess heat" power is 76.5 W, and the "excess heat" power density is 121.7 W/cm3. After the electrolysis, the crystal structure of the Ti cathode was measured with x-ray diffraction apparatus. We found that the crystal structure of Ti cathode was changed to face-centered cubic structure of TiD2 from its hexagonal structure. This result is in agreement with the Gou's theory mentioned in reference[1].     

Excitation of a nanowire "molecule" in gold-filled photonic crystal fiber

A pair of gold nanowires, incorporated into a photonic crystal fiber, acts as a plasmonic "molecule." Hybridized modes are excited at specific wavelengths by launching light into the glass core. The formation of bonding and antibonding solutions results in a modal splitting of more than 100 nm, even though the spatial separation between the wires is larger than 3 μm. The study provides insight into multiwire plasmonic devices with applications as polarizers or filters in near-field optics, nonlinear plasmonics, optical sensing, and telecommunications.     

Observation of speckle pattern formation in transparent nonlinear random media

We report on the experimental observation of speckle formation from a transparent crystal formed by a random distribution of nonlinear domains. The angular distribution of second-harmonic light generated by a transparent strontium barium niobate crystal is measured for different diameters of the fundamental beam and crystal thicknesses. Distinct manifestations of speckle pattern formation are found in these experiments. By using a theoretical Green's function formalism, we explain the reported observations as a result of the linear interference among the second-harmonic waves generated in all directions by each of the nonlinear domains forming the nonlinear crystal.     

The zero-point energy in the molecular hydrogen crystal

We propose a modified Einstein approximation to describe zero-point energy vibrations in a quantum crystal. Our aim was to develop a computationally cheap tool suitable for lattice structure optimisation. As in the classical Einstein model the representative atom vibrates in an effective potential due to the surrounding atoms of the crystal; the atoms however are not strictly placed at the positions corresponding to the crystal potential energy minima but their positions are described by the quantum mechanical density distributions. The effective potential computed that way is suitable for the application in solid para-hydrogen in contrast to the normal (unmodified) Einstein approximation. We compute the cohesive energy of the para-hydrogen crystal and perform lattice structure optimisation. The hexagonal closed packed is more stable than the fcc closed packed lattice and the lattice constants obtained are in very good agreement with the experimental values.     

二维点缺陷正方光子晶体的微腔结构

通过平面波展开法对由Al₂O₃介质棒在空气背景介质中构成含有点缺陷的二维正方光子晶体微腔结构进行研究,计算得出缺陷态能带以及缺陷态模场分布。缺陷模对应的电磁波波长为470~476nm。对该微腔结构的品质因数的求解,得出缺陷态光谱曲线。在光谱曲线中,随着传输波长的增大,将产生几个峰值,并且在475nm处的波动最为明显,反映出在475nm附近的电磁波段在缺陷处的光强较大。进一步利用全矢量等效折射率法研究该结构缺陷模频率的稳定性,得出等效折射率的变化曲线。从等效折射率变化曲线可以看出,当传输波长达到475nm时,该结构已经达到稳定传输的区域。含缺陷模的二维光子晶体微腔结构在光子晶体发光二极管以及高阈值半导体激光器等方面有着重要的应用价值。     

Study of transmission properties for waveguide bends by use of a circular photonic crystal

We study the transmission properties for the waveguide bends composed by a circular photonic crystal. Two types (Y and U type) of the waveguide bends utilizing the circular photonic crystal are studied. It has been shown, compared with the conventional photonic crystal waveguide bends, transmission properties for these bends can be significantly improved. Over a 6.4% bandwidth, less than 1-dB loss/bend are observed. U bent waveguide, i.e., 180° bend, can be easily realized with low loss using the circular photonic crystal.     

The calculation of electrical parameters of AT-cut quartz crystal resonators with the consideration of material viscosity

Electrical parameters like resistance and quality factor of a quartz crystal resonator cannot be determined through vibration analysis without considering the presence of material dissipation. In this study, we use the first-order Mindlin plate equations of piezoelectric plates for thickness-shear vibrations of a simple resonator model with partial electrodes. We derive the expressions of electrical parameters with emphasis on the resistance that is related to the imaginary part of complex elastic constants, or the viscosity, of quartz crystal. Since all electrical parameters are frequency dependent, this procedure provides the chance to study the frequency behavior of crystal resonators with a direct formulation. We understand that the electrical parameters are strongly affected by the manufacturing process, with the plating techniques in particular, but the theoretical approach we presented here will be the first step for the precise estimation of such parameters and their further applications in the analysis of nonlinear behavior of resonators. We calculated the parameters from our simple resonator model of AT-cut quartz crystal with the first-order Mindlin plate theory to demonstrate the procedure and show that the numerical results are consistent with earlier measurements.     

利用猫式自泵浦位相共轭镜的光学联想存储器

报道了以快速响应（１５０ｍｓ），成像质量高（分辨率＞５０ｐｌ／ｍｍ）的１６°切掺铜钾钠铌酸锶钡（Ｃｕ：ＫＮＳＢＮ）晶体猫式自泵浦位相共轭境作为取阈反馈器件，以低吸收薄晶体Ｃｅ：Ｆｅ：ＬｉＮｂＯ３作为存储介质的光学全息联想存储器，利用２５％原信息寻址，可得出完整的联想输出．     

Asymmetric transmission through a photorefractive crystal of barium titanate

We have investigated the feasibility of using a barium titanate crystal as a unidirectional device. The nonlinear interaction between a beam and its own reflection from the back face of the crystal causes an effective increase or decrease in the transmission through the crystal, depending on whether the incident beam propagates along or against the crystal c-axis, respectively. This effect was investigated for several wavelengths and compared with theory. It is possible to make a device that has an average transmission of ≈94% and a transmission asymmetry of 1% by using a crystal whose front and back faces are cut so that their normals are at angle of ≈30° to the crystal c-axis.     

Observation of "hidden" magnesium: first-principles calculations and 25Mg solid-state NMR of enstatite

²⁵Mg NMR parameters have been determined for two polymorphs of enstatite (MgSiO₃), an important magnesium silicate phase present as a major component of the Earth's upper mantle. The crystal structures of both polymorphs contain two crystallographically distinct magnesium sites; however, only a single resonance is observed in ²⁵Mg MAS NMR spectra recorded at 14.1 and 20.0 T. First-principles calculations performed on geometry-optimised crystal structures reveal that the quadrupolar interaction for the second site is expected to be very large, resulting in extensive broadening of the spectral resonance, explaining its apparent absence in the NMR spectrum. ²⁵Mg QCPMG NMR experiments employing variable offset cumulative spectroscopy (VOCS) are used to observe the broadened site and enable measurement of NMR parameters. The large difference in quadrupolar interaction between the two crystallographic magnesium sites is rationalised qualitatively in terms of the distortion of the local coordination environment as well as longer-range effects using a simple point charge model.