Time-relaxation approach in far from equilibrium semiconductor plasma

The dynamics of evolution of the LO-phonon population in semiconductors under high levels of optical excitation is determined. Collision operators are written in a Boltzmann-like form, with the relaxation-times being a functional of the nonequilibrium thermodynamic parameters which describe the instantaneous macroscopic state of the whole system. The expected behavior of the relaxation channels under different experimental constraints is discussed.     

金属超微粒子-半导体薄膜的光学瞬态响应

利用飞秒脉冲激光和泵浦 探测技术测量了金属超微粒子 半导体复合薄膜Ａｇ-ＢａＯ的瞬态光学透过率随延迟时间的变化曲线，观察到了薄膜对光的吸收漂白现象，并在不到２ｐｓ时间内恢复．该现象是薄膜中金属超微粒子内费密能级附近电子被飞秒激光脉冲激发，产生非平衡电子而经历瞬态弛豫造成的．弛豫主要包括非平衡电子越过超微粒子和周围介质的界面位垒进入周围介质，以及非平衡电子同晶格和界面的散射两种过程．超微粒子粒径的差别会引起非平衡电子弛豫时间的差别 关键词：     

Oscillations and fluctuations in a dissipative spin system

A dissipative spin system, which is also considered to be a model for optical fluorescence, is investigated from the viewpoint of Brownian motion of spins. The most probable path and the fluctuations are determined by the quantum mechanical version of the system size expansion method. For the most probable path, the flow lines as well as the time evolutions are obtained exactly. This system exhibits a sort of nonequilibrium phase transition as the strength of an external field exceeds the dissipation. The fluctuations show unusual behaviour associated with the Volterra-like oscillations above threshold.     

Many body theory of THz intervalence gain in quantum wells

This paper presents calculations of THz gain in III–V quantum wells based on transitions between the valence bands. The system is out of equilibrium and the optical susceptibility leading to absorption and gain is calculated after a Keldysh nonequilibrium Greens’ functions approach. The relevance of many body and nonresonant contribution to the spectrum is discussed as a function of local population inversion in k-space for a system where the injected holes are distributed within the two lowest subbands without global population inversion.     

Femtosecond infrared spectroscopy of semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures

Infrared spectroscopy on ultrafast time scales represents a powerful technique to investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of elementary excitations in bulk and nanostructured semiconductors. In this article, recent progress in this field is reviewed. After a brief introduction into electronic excitations below the fundamental bandgap and ultrafast processes in semiconductors, infrared pulse generation and the methodology of time-resolved infrared spectroscopy are reviewed. The main part of this paper is devoted to coherent optical polarizations and nonequilibrium excitations of the electronic system in the spectral range below the fundamental band gap. The focus is on the physics of single component plasmas, i.e. electrons or holes. In particular, intraband, inter-valence and intersubband transitions are considered. Processes of phase relaxation, carrier and energy redistribution are analyzed. The potential of ultrafast infrared technology and spectroscopy for future applications is discussed in the final part.     

Optical detection of the absorption of acoustical phonons by a two-dimensional electron gas in a magnetic field

The effect of absorption of nonequilibrium acoustical phonons on the intensity of recombination of a two-dimensional electron gas in a magnetic field is investigated. The nonequilibrium acoustical phonons are emitted in the relaxation of electrons in a tunnel junction deposited on the back side of a sample with a two-dimensional electronic channel. It is demonstrated that the optical signal showing the intensity of the recombination of nonequilibrium electrons from a photoexcited size-quantization subband can serve as a sensitive detector of acoustical phonons. Because the general heating of two-dimensional carriers and the intersubband transitions stimulated by the absorption of nonequilibrium acoustical phonons lead to effects of different sign, the useful signal can be discriminated unambiguously. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 1, 30–35 (10 January 1999)     

Universality of quantum critical dynamics in a planar optical parametric oscillator

We analyze the critical quantum fluctuations in a coherently driven planar optical parametric oscillator. We show that the presence of transverse modes combined with quantum fluctuations changes the behavior of the "quantum image" critical point. This zero-temperature nonequilibrium quantum system has the same universality class as a finite-temperature magnetic Lifshitz transition.     

Laser operation with output feedback pumping and first-order phase transition analogy

It is shown that by means of the newly proposed regime of output feedback pumping, a conventional laser exhibiting only second-order phase transition behavior generally displays the nonequilibrium analogue of a first-order phase transition. Optical bistability should also be achieved in the laser system under feedback pumping incorporated with an externally injected optical signal.     

1,3-diphenyltriazene as a possible optical molecular switch: A first-principles study

By applying nonequilibrium Green's function formalism combined with first-principles density functional theory, we investigate the electronic transport properties of a 1,3-diphenyltriazene-based optical molecular switch. The molecule that comprises the switch can convert between the cis and the trans forms upon photoexcitation. The transmission spectra of two forms are remarkably distinctive. Theoretical results show that the current through the trans form is significantly larger than that through the cis form, which suggests that this system has attractive potential application in future molecular switch technology.     

Dynamical quantum phase transitions in the dissipative Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model with proposed realization in optical cavity QED

We present an optical cavity QED configuration that is described by a dissipative version of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model of an infinitely coordinated spin system. This open quantum system exhibits both first- and second-order nonequilibrium quantum phase transitions as a single, effective field parameter is varied. Light emitted from the cavity offers measurable signatures of the critical behavior, including that of the spin-spin entanglement.     

Optical properties of III-nitrides in electric fields

The influence of intermediate to high electric fields on the optical properties of direct-gap strongly-polar III-Nitrides is characterized. It is manifested through the dependence on the electric field of the nonequilibrium thermodynamic state of the system, which is characterized by a nonequilibrium effective temperature (quasi-temperature), quasi-chemical potentials and drift velocities of the excited carriers driven away from equilibrium, and the quasi-temperatures of the phonons in the different branches. In particular, we analyze the processes of absorption and luminescence, and a field-dependent Roosbroeck-Shockley relation is derived. It is shown that it is possible to measure the carriers’ drift velocity and quasi-temperature, in the steady state or with ultrafast time resolution, resorting to luminescence together with Raman scattering experiments.     

Spectral incoherent solitons: a localized soliton behavior in the frequency domain

We show both theoretically and experimentally in an optical fiber system that a noninstantaneous nonlinear environment supports the existence of spectral incoherent solitons. Contrary to conventional solitons, spectral incoherent solitons do not exhibit a confinement in the spatiotemporal domain, but exclusively in the frequency domain. The theory reveals that the causality condition inherent to the nonlinear response function is the key property underlying the existence of spectral incoherent solitons. These solitons constitute nonequilibrium stable states of the incoherent field and are shown to be robust with respect to binary collisions.     

Heat fluctuations in a nonequilibrium bath

We measure the energy fluctuations of a Brownian particle confined by an optical trap in an aging gelatin after a very fast quench (less than 1 ms). The strong nonequilibrium fluctuations due to the assemblage of the gel are interpreted, within the framework of fluctuation theorem, as a heat flux from the particle towards the bath. We derive an analytical expression of the heat probability distribution, which fits the experimental data and satisfies a fluctuation relation similar to that of a system in contact with two baths at different temperatures.     

Thermodynamics of nonequilibrium radiation. (II) Irreversible evolution and experimental setup

Giving continuation to the study of the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium radiation presented in the preceding article [Physica A 300 (2001) 386], we derive the evolution in time of its macroscopic nonequilibrium state. The case of a semiconductor sample and the coupling of radiation and transverse optical phonons is explicitly considered. Excitation of the latter drives the radiation field out of equilibrium. Under constant excitation, a steady state sets in which is analyzed. It is shown that the quasitemperature per mode of the radiation field, which has been defined in the preceding paper, can be determined in optical experiments such as Raman scattering.     

Ultrafast nonlinear optical response of a single gold nanorod near its surface plasmon resonance

The ultrafast optical nonlinearity of an optically characterized single gold nanorod is investigated around its surface plasmon resonance, by combining a far-field spatial modulation technique with a high sensitivity pump-probe setup. The spectrally and temporally dependent response is quantitatively interpreted in terms of the bulklike optical nonlinearity enhanced by the plasmonic effect. The plasmon resonance dynamics is shown to be mostly governed by nonequilibrium electron and phonon processes. Their contributions to the nonlinear optical response of a single metal nano-object are elucidated, and the latter is connected to the nonlinearities of ensembles.     

Conductance of a Quantum Dot in the Presence of a Phonon Field

We theoretically investigate the electrical transport property of a quantum dot with longitudinal optical phonons. The conductance through the dot connected to two leads is calculated by the nonequilibrium Green function within the Landauer-Büttiker framework. The numerical examples of the conductance with different electron-phonon coupling strengths show that the presence of a phonon field typically results in the suppression of the main peak accompanied by some phonon side peaks. Both the main peak and the side peaks axe sensitive to the electron-phonon coupling strength, which is related to temperature. Our results for this system are consistent with some related previous works but the calculation is comparatively simple.     

Ising exchange interaction of two-level optical systems

It is shown that the indirect coupling between two-level optical systems through a radiation field has the form of the Ising exchange interaction if the coupling between atoms and the field is conducted through electric quadrupole interactions. The manifestation of the paired interaction between two-level systems in the form of a nonuniform optical transition width and in the kinetics of nonequilibrium optical processes is considered.     

Nonlinear absorption of CO2 laser radiation by nonequilibrium carriers in germanium

Nonlinear absorption of CO₂ laser pulses at the multi-MW level has been studied in n-type germanium at room temperature. This nonlinear absorption limits the level of CO₂ laser intensity that can be transmitted through an optical grade germanium crystal. The observed nonlinearity may be interpreted in terms of nonequilibrium electron-hole pairs generated by hot electrons created by the intense laser field. The number of nonequilibrium carriers generated is measured by photoconductivity experiments, and the results are correlated to the absorption measurements.