Anomalous variation of the exciton Fano-resonance spectra in strongly biased Wannier-Stark ladder

Effects of the Wannier-Stark ladder (WSL) resonance on optical absorption spectra in strongly biased superlattices are theoretically investigated by solving the multichannel scattering problem relevant to the WSL-exciton Fano-resonance. When the bias of an electric field F is applied such that a WSL subband state is energetically aligned with adjacent ones, resulting in strong repulsion (anticrossing) due to Zener resonance, an onset of exciton absorption notably shifts toward the lower energy side. However, just a slight change of F away from the anticrossing leads to a peculiar suppression, lowering the absorption edge. According to a qualitative analytic model, such an anomalous variance is found ascribable to delocalization of WSL subband wave functions across several periods through a mixing of an exciton reduced mass in the region of the potential well with that in the region of the potential barrier.     

Doppler-free satellites of resonances of electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption on the D 2 lines of alkali metals

The peculiarities of intra-Doppler structures that are observed in the atomic absorption spectrum of alkali metals with the help of two independent lasers have been studied. These structures accompany ultranarrow coherent resonances of electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption. With the D ₂ line of rubidium taken as an example, it is shown that, in the scheme of unidirectional waves, the maximum number of satellite resonances caused by optical pumping selective with respect to the atomic velocity is equal to seven, while only six resonances are observed in the traditional scheme of saturated absorption with counterpropagating waves of the same frequency. The spectral position of the resonances and their polarity depend on the frequency of the saturating radiation, while their number and relative amplitude depend also on the experimental geometry. These features are of general character and should show themselves in the absorption spectrum on the D ₂ lines of all alkali metals. An explanation of these features is given. The calculated spectral separations between the resonances are compared to the experimental ones, and their possible application is discussed.     

The effects of intense laser on nonlinear properties of shallow donor impurities in quantum dots with the Woods-Saxon potential

A theoretical study of the effects of intense laser fields on the nonlinear properties of donor impurities in a quantum dot with Woods-Saxon potential is performed within the matrix diagonalization method with the use of the effective mass approximation. The great advantage of our methodology is that it enables confinement regimes by varying two parameters in the model potential. The intense laser effects are included through the Floquet method, by modifying the confining potential associated to the heterostructure. Based on the computed energies and wave functions, the optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index between the ground state (L=0) and the first excited state (L=1) have been examined. Several configurations of the barrier height, the dot radius, the barrier slope of the confinement potential and the incident intense laser radiation have been considered. The outcome of the calculation suggests that all the factors mentioned above can influence the nonlinear optical properties strongly.     

Electron tunneling through thin barrier with smooth potential at GaAs/AlAs(001) heterointerfaces

The influence of actual microscopic potential on the characteristics of resonant electron tunneling from the Γ valley in GaAs through the AlAs barrier with thickness of one lattice constant has been investigated by the methods of pseudopotential and scattering matrix factorized by the irreducible representations of the symmetry group of the heterostructure. The transition regions between the potentials of components and the barrier region are treated as the components of the Ga₂Al₂As₄ superlattice spacing to provide the continuity of the crystal potential at the boundaries of the matching of wave functions. It is demonstrated that, compared to the results obtained in the abrupt-interface model, the inclusion of the actual potential in the calculation leads to changes in the number and location of the Fano resonances, an enhancement in the localization of electron density within the barrier, and a drastic increase in the tunneling time.     

Dependence of the integral polariton effect on the crystal thickness and light incidence geometry

Solutions of the problems of integrated absorption and amplitude-phase dispersion relations for transmission spectra in the range of isolated exciton resonances taking into account the interference of exciton-polariton waves based on the application of the causality principle to optical response functions and the limiting transition of these solutions for thick crystals are considered. It is shown that the results obtained are equivalent in the limit to the results of single-wave solution, which considers a wave with the least absorption. Generalization to the case of oblique incidence of light is performed.     

Polaron in a superlattice with δ-like potentials

The problem of the polaron spectrum is studied in a superlattice having narrow quantum wells and relatively wide potential barriers. A δ-like superlattice potential is chosen to solve the problem. This model is adequate, if the penetration depth of the electron wave function into the barrier region is much greater than the width of the quantum well. A weak-coupling polaron at low temperature is studied. Only volume phonons are considered. Expressions are obtained for the polaron mass and the shift of the polaron energy under these assumptions. To test the model, numerical calculations were performed for an InAs-GaSb superlattice, whose quantum wells are quite deep (the energy offset of the conduction bands in InAs and GaSb equals 830 meV), narrow (the width of a quantum well corresponds to the width of an InAs monolayer 6 Å), and the barrier width corresponding to the thickness of the GaSb layers equals 150 Å. The assumption that the penetration depth of the wave function is much greater than the barrier width holds well.     

Low-frequency and broad band metamaterial absorber: design, fabrication, and characterization

We report a metamaterial absorber (MA) with a broad absorption band in the frequency region of 2–4 GHz, whose thickness is not limited to the quarter-wavelength. Theoretical and experimental results show that the absorber has two adjacent absorption apexes at 2.24 and 3.46 GHz, respectively, which are both related to the electric and magnetic resonances of the metamaterial. The absorption is over 68% in the whole wave band of 2–4 GHz provided the thickness of 4 mm. The distributions of the surface currents and the power loss density indicate that the surface currents produced by the electric and magnetic resonances are strongly consumed by the resistive patches. This low-frequency absorber has potential applications in many scientific and martial fields.     

Optical resonances and angular filtering functionality of subwavelength hyperbolic etalons

We show that a slab of subwavelength thickness can exhibit etalon resonances and can provide angular filtering functionality at optical wavelengths if it is filled by an anisotropic medium whose principal permittivities have different signs (hyperbolic medium) and have amplitudes smaller than one. This is possible since extraordinary plane waves hyperbolic dispersion allows the vacuum radiation to couple with medium plane waves whose longitudinal wavenumbers are sufficiently large to allow the settlement of standing waves within the nanometric slab thickness. We consider a mixture of metal nanoparticles dispersed within a liquid crystal matrix and we show that it can be designed to exhibit the considered unusual optical response.     

Improved theoretical pion-nucleus optical potentials

An approach which makes the first order pion-nucleus optical potential theoretically sound is presented. This study should permit higher order improvements to the potential to be more meaningful and the nuclear structure information extracted from pi-nucleus scattering to be more reliable. Based on multiple scattering theory, three optical potentials are constructed and studied in momentum space. These models are the popular Kisslinger potential, the local “Laplacian” potential, and an “improved off-shell potential;” the latter one is derived from absorptive separable pion-nucleon potentials which exactly reproduce on-shell πN scattering. By working in momentum space and explicitly including πN resonances and off-shell effects in the definition of the optical potential, the approach described here is capable of handling any number of pi-nucleon partial waves, is applicable over a very wide energy region, is based on a physical model for off-shell behavior, and is extended easily to include higher order effects. The optical potentials are inserted into two different relativistic wave equations to determine the total cross section and elastic differential cross section for pi-nucleus scattering. It is found that the various models for off-shell πN scattering determine significantly different πC¹² scattering, with the improved off-shell model preferred on theoretical grounds. Also discussed is the importance of properly transforming πN scattering to the pi-nucleus c.m. system, the origin of the shift in the peak position of the π^?C total cross section, and the reason for the increased diffractive nature of the differential cross section at 180 MeV.     

Vibrational properties of thin films adsorbed on crystals with strong spatial dispersion

The effect of strong spatial dispersion of the substrate crystal onto the dynamics of thin epitaxially adsorbed films is described in a simple model through the following quantities: i) phonon reflection coefficients ii) depth-dependent local densities of states (LDOS) and iii) finite-lifetime surface states called leaky waves. The correspondence of these three types of characteristics accessible in different experimental methods is established. The bulk band of the substrate crystal consists of two distinct frequency ranges separated by an edge singularity: above the singularity the substrate supports two different waves for a given frequency, whereas only one wave can exist for each frequency in the low-frequency range. The resonances in the low-frequency range are found to correspond to maxima in the LDOS, to maxima in the amplitude of a near field arising in phonon reflection and to leaky waves involving a single leakage wave packet. The antiresonances in the same frequency range are characterised by minima in LDOS and in the near field, whereas the corresponding leaky waves involve two leakage wave packets. The only leaky waves found in the high-frequency range involve two leakage wave packets and are related to resonances. The antiresonances then are characterised by an anomalous increase in the extraordinary reflected wave. The edge singularity manifests itself in an additional quasi resonance, whose features depend on the coupling between the substrate and the thin film.     

A resonance of the electronic polaron appearing in the optical absorption of alkali halides

Excited states (scattering states) of free and bound electronic polarons in non metals are introduced and investigated in the continuum approximation. It is suggested that transitions to these states might lead to prominent resonances in the optical absorption at energies approximately twice the bandgap energy. A shift towards higher energies of the corresponding resonances in the energy loss function is calculated. Such resonances and the predicted shift are found in the experimental data for alkali halides; previously they have generally been attributed to plasma excitations. Limitations of the present model, due to the continuum approximation, (and related to the oscillator strength of the transitions) are discussed. The electronic polaron coupling constant a is calculated and tabulated for a number of alkali halides.     

Polarization phenomena in the transparency and adsorption effects induced by the field of counterpropagating waves

The physical processes that form the resonances of saturated absorption and magnetic scanning in the field of counterpropagating waves of an arbitrary intensity when their polarizations change are numerically simulated. The atomic transition with level moment J = 1 is used as an example to show that the anomalies in the experimental saturated absorption spectra are determined by the degree of opening of the atomic transition. In the case of magnetic scanning, the anomalies are caused by the magnetic coherence induced by the wave fields at the levels of the lower state rather than by its transfer from the excited states, as was proposed earlier.     

Klein tunneling in graphene: optics with massless electrons

This article provides a pedagogical review on Klein tunneling in graphene, i.e. the peculiar tunneling properties of two-dimensional massless Dirac electrons. We consider two simple situations in detail: a massless Dirac electron incident either on a potential step or on a potential barrier and use elementary quantum wave mechanics to obtain the transmission probability. We emphasize the connection to related phenomena in optics, such as the Snell-Descartes law of refraction, total internal reflection, Fabry-Pérot resonances, negative refraction index materials (the so called meta-materials), etc. We also stress that Klein tunneling is not a genuine quantum tunneling effect as it does not necessarily involve passing through a classically forbidden region via evanescent waves. A crucial role in Klein tunneling is played by the conservation of (sublattice) pseudo-spin, which is discussed in detail. A major consequence is the absence of backscattering at normal incidence, of which we give a new shorten proof. The current experimental status is also thoroughly reviewed. The Appendix contains the discussion of a one-dimensional toy model that clearly illustrates the difference in Klein tunneling between mono- and bi-layer graphene.     

Influence of spatial dispersion of the first and the second orders simultaneously on the parameters of natural waves in a uniaxial crystal

It is found for the first time that the coexistence of two principal and two additional natural waves and only one additional wave (in the absence of the second one) is impossible in the exact solution and in the approximate solution, respectively, of the problem formulated in the title, because Fresnel’s general equation beaks up into two independent equations for two principal and two additional waves. A probable relationship is found between the small parameters of spatial dispersion of the first (γ) and the second (α₀) orders (α₀/γ≈1) for the spectral region far from resonances, for which the refractive index of the third additional wave for α₀=0 is approximately equal to the refractive index of one of two additional waves for α₀≠0 and γ≠0, when the wave normal is directed along the optical axis of a uniaxial crystal.     

Optical anisotropy of InAs/GaSb broken-gap quantum wells

We investigate in detail the optical anisotropy of absorption of linearly polarized light in InAs/GaSb quantum wells grown on GaSb along the [001] direction, which can be used as an active region of different laser structures. The energy level positions, the wave functions, the optical matrix elements, and the absorption coefficients are calculated using the eight-band k · p model and the Burt-Foreman envelope function theory. In these calculations, the Schr?dinger and Poisson equations are solved self-consistently taking the lattice-mismatched strain into account. We find that a realistic Hamiltonian, which has the C _2v symmetry, results in considerable anisotropy of optical matrix elements for different directions of light polarization and different directions of the initial-state in-plane wave vector, including low-symmetry directions. We trace how the optical matrix elements and absorption are modified when spin-orbit interaction and important symmetry breaking mechanisms are taken into account (structural inversion asymmetry, bulk inversion asymmetry, and interface Hamiltonian). These mechanisms result in an almost 100% anisotropy of the absorption coefficients as the light polarization vector rotates in the plane of the structure and in a plane normal to the interfaces.     

Excitation of states of medium-mass nuclei in the region of giant resonances in inelastic deuteron scattering

Results are presented that were obtained by measuring a continuum in the inelastic scattering of 37-MeV deuterons on ¹²C, ⁴⁸Ti, and ^58,64Ni nuclei in the angular range 16° ≤ θ ≤ 61°. Broad excitation maxima are found for deuteron scattering angles in the range θ ≤ 21°. The region of a broad maximum includes giant resonances of target nuclei, whose levels are excited quite readily at E _d = 37 MeV. Summation of the inelastic-scattering cross sections over all final states of the excited| nucleus and the use of completeness of the wave functions for these states make it possible to express the total cross section for inelastic (incoherent) deuteron scattering only in terms of the wave functions for the ground state of the target nucleus. The corresponding quasielastic-scattering amplitude is taken in the diffraction approximation. Nucleon correlations in the target nucleus are disregarded. Upon disregarding a small contribution of multiple quasielastic scattering at small scattering angles, the cross section for incoherent deuteron scattering is represented approximately as the product of known factors—the square of the absolute value of the amplitude for diffractive quasielastic scattering and the effective number of target nucleons scattering deuterons. The results of these calculations agree qualitatively with experimental data.     

On induced double-nucleon emission. III. 12C, (π−, NN) and short-range correlations

The reaction channel (π^?, NN) for the absorption of bound negative pions by nuclei is used as a means to study nuclear short range correlations. A three-body partial-wave analysis has been carried out for the final-state scattering which includes a Reid soft-core nucleon-nucleon interaction and an optical potential. This coupled-channel formalism rapidly converges as we eliminate the asymptotic single-nucleon and deuteron interactions. It is found that for ¹²C reasonable agreement with experiment cannot be obtained in this model without modification of the high relative-momentum components of bound shell model pair wave functions.