A lattice of magneto-optical and magnetic traps for cold atoms

We describe basic periodic trapping configurations for ultracold atoms above surfaces. The approach is based on a simple wire grid and can be scaled to provide large arrays of periodically arranged magnetic or magneto-optical traps. The unit cells of the trap lattices are based on crossed wire segments. By alternating the current directions in the wires of the grid it can be distinguished between 3 basic lattice configurations. As a first demonstration, we used macroscopic wires in a 2 layer configuration to realize the unit cells of the lattices. With this experimental setup, we observe two of the basic unit cells and an array of 2×2 magneto optical traps. Received 29 August 2002 / Received in final form 12 December 2002 Published online 18 February 2003     

Guided Waves in a Multi-Layered Cylindrical Elastic Solid Medium

We investigate the guided waves in a multi-layered cylindrical elastic solid medium. The dispersion function of guided waves is usually complex and the dispersion curves of all modes are not conveniently obtained. Here we present an effective method to obtain the dispersion curves of all modes. First, the dispersion function of the guided waves is transformed into a real function. The dispersion curves are then calculated for all the modes of the guided waves by the bisection method. The modes with the orders n = 0, 1, and 2 are analysed in two- and three-layer media. The existence condition of Stoneley wave is discussed. The modes of the guided waves are also investigated in a two-layer medium, in which the velocity of shear wave in the outer layer is less than that in the inner layer.     

Surface plasmon polaritons and their role in the enhanced transmission of light through periodic arrays of subwavelength holes in a metal film

We present results of the transmitted, reflected, and absorbed power associated with the enhanced transmittance of light through a silver film pierced by a periodic array of subwavelength holes. Comparing experimentally acquired dispersion curves under different polarization conditions shows that the transmission features of the array are consistent with p-polarized resonant modes of the structure. By exploring the regime in which no propagating diffracted orders are allowed, we further show that the transmittance maxima are associated with both reflectance minima and absorption maxima. These new results provide strong experimental evidence for transmission based on diffraction, assisted by the enhanced fields associated with surface plasmon polaritons.     

Optical absorption and magnetotransport in quantum wires in a perpendicular magnetic field

A periodic array of δ function potentials are used to simulate the potential barriers between quantum wires in the presence or absence of lattice site dislocation. The exact eigenenergies and eigenfunctions are found by employing a numerical diagonalization procedure. Based on these results, a self-consistent field theory is derived for the mid-infrared absorption coefficient of the system. The crossover from a cyclotron mode to two tunneling coupled modes and finally to edge and 1D lattice magnetoplasmon modes with increasing modulation strength is investigated. The magnetic field enhanced and suppressed electron tunneling, associated with the evolution to cyclotron modes at strong magnetic fields passing through the formation of tunneling coupled modes, is observed. The edge mode excitation energy oscillates as a function of the electron density. These oscillations correspond to a soft or hard potential wall for which the electron states are extended or localized, respectively. The displacement of the 1D lattice magnetoplasmon modes under strong modulation is found to be periodic and corresponds to the evolution from a complex unit cell which is composed of one narrow and one wide quantum wire to a simple unit cell containing only one quantum wire. The magnetoresistivities and the associated conductivities are also calculated for the lateral surface superlattice. At strong potential modulation there is a giant peak in the Hall conductivity and many peaks in its resistivity in the quantum regime. With strong modulation, the suppression of the transverse conductivity along with oscillations in its resistivity are obtained.     

Elastic resonances of a periodic array of fluid-filled cylindrical cavities embedded in an elastic matrix

The resonant scattering by a periodic infinite array of fluid-filled cylindrical cavities in an elastic matrix is studied. The exact reflection and transmission coefficients of the array are calculated by means of a multiple scattering formalism taking into account all the interactions between the cavities. Numerical results are next given for low frequencies for which only the longitudinal and transverse zero modes propagate. A first study based on the analysis of the transmission coefficients clearly shows that the resonances of the array can be classified into two sets: those close to the resonances of a single cavity and those due to a resonant coupling between a cavity and its nearer neighbors. The resonant coupling is due to the interaction between the whispering-gallery surface waves propagating around each cavity. In the case of cavities with very close spacing, it is observed that the dispersion curves of the waves propagating along the array can also be classified into two sets: those with a positive group velocity have cut-off frequencies that correspond to the resonances of a single cavity, those with a negative group velocity have cut-off frequencies that correspond to the resonances resulting from the strong coupling. A new method for the analysis of the resonances is presented. It is based on the properties of the scattering matrix and consists in studying the resonant eigenvalues of the scattering matrix of the array once the background is removed. For the detection of very fine resonances, as well as in the separation of several resonances very close to each other, this method proves to be more efficient than one based on the analysis of the reflection and transmission coefficients.     

Nonlinear dynamics of dimers on periodic substrates

We study the dynamics of a dimer moving on a periodic one-dimensional substrate as a function of the initial kinetic energy at zero temperature. The aim is to describe, in a simplified picture, the microscopic dynamics of diatomic molecules on periodic surfaces, which is of importance for thin film formation and crystal growth. We find a complex behaviour, characterized by a variety of dynamical regimes, namely oscillatory, “quasi-diffusive” (chaotic) and drift motion. Parametrically resonant excitations of internal vibrations can be induced both by oscillatory and drift motion of the centre of mass. For weakly bound dimers a chaotic regime is found for a whole range of velocities between two non-chaotic phases at low and high kinetic energy. The chaotic features have been monitored by studying the Lyapunov exponents and the power spectra. Moreover, for a short-range interaction, the dimer can dissociate due to the parametric excitation of the internal motion. Received 8 July 2002 / Received in final form 15 November 2002 Published online 27 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: fusco@sci.kun.nl.     

Absorption and dispersion by a multiple driven two-level atom

We investigate the absorption and dispersion properties of a two-level atom driven by a polychromatic field. The driving field is composed of a strong resonant (carrier) frequency component and a large number of symmetrically detuned sideband fields (modulators). A rapid increase in the absorption at the central frequency and the collapse of the response of the system from multiple frequencies to a single frequency are predicted to occur when the Rabi frequency of the modulating fields is equal to the Rabi frequency of the carrier field. These are manifestations of the undressing or a disentanglement of the atomic and driving field states, that leads to a collapse of the atom to its ground state. Our calculation permits consideration of the question of the undressing of the driven atom by a multiple-modulated field and the predicted spectra offer a method of observing undressing. Moreover, we find that the absorption and dispersion spectra split into multiplets whose structures depend on the Rabi frequency of the modulating fields. The spectral features can jump between different resonance frequencies by changing the Rabi frequency of the modulating fields or their initial phases, which can have potential applications as a quantum frequency filter. Received 23 October 2001 and Received in final form 31 January 2002     

Thickness-shear modes and magnetoelastic waves in a longitudinally magnetized ferromagnetic plate

Magnetoelastic (ME) waves and thickness-shear modes in the ferromagnetic plate are studied. Coupled vibrations of magnetization and shear elastic deformations excited simultaneously by a variable magnetic field propagate in two mutually perpendicular directions: parallel and normal to a surface. For parameters characteristic of isotropic ferromagnet with the sample magnetization and Zeeman field parallel to the surface, resonant frequencies of shear modes are computed and their dispersion law is examined. It is shown that the dependence of dimensional resonances frequencies on wave number k_z of ME wave propagating along saturating field direction occurs. The possibility of excitation of ME waves with different k_z explains multimode character of thickness ME resonances.     

Infinite chain of different deltas: A simple model for a quantum wire

We present the exact diagonalization of the Schr?dinger operator corresponding to a periodic potential with N deltas of different couplings, for arbitrary N. This basic structure can repeat itself an infinite number of times. Calculations of band structure can be performed with a high degree of accuracy for an infinite chain and of the correspondent eigenlevels in the case of a random chain. The main physical motivation is to modelate quantum wire band structure and the calculation of the associated density of states. These quantities show the fundamental properties we expect for periodic structures although for low energy the band gaps follow unpredictable patterns. In the case of random chains we find Anderson localization; we analize also the role of the eigenstates in the localization patterns and find clear signals of fractality in the conductance. In spite of the simplicity of the model many of the salient features expected in a quantum wire are well reproduced. Received 24 June 2002 Published online 29 November 2002     

Stability and instability of a hot and dilute nuclear droplet

The diabatic approach to dissipative collective nuclear motion is reformulated in the local-density approximation in order to treat the normal modes of a spherical nuclear droplet analytically. In a first application the adiabatic isoscalar modes are studied and results for the eigenvalues of compressional (bulk) and pure surface modes are presented as function of density and temperature inside the droplet, as well as for different mass numbers and for soft and stiff equations of state. We find that the region of bulk instabilities (spinodal regime) is substantially smaller for nuclear droplets than for infinite nuclear matter. For small densities below 30% of normal nuclear matter density and for temperatures below 5 MeV all relevant bulk modes become unstable with similar growth rates. The surface modes have a larger spinodal region, reaching out to densities and temperatures way beyond the spinodal line for bulk instabilities. Essential experimental features of multifragmentation, like fragmentation temperatures and fragment-mass distributions (in particular the power-law behavior) are consistent with the instability properties of an expanding nuclear droplet, and hence with a dynamical fragmentation process within the spinodal regime of bulk and surface modes (spinodal decomposition). Received: 4 September 2000 / Accepted: 14 November 2000     

Delocalization and wave-packet dynamics in one-dimensional diluted Anderson models

We study the nature of one-electron eigen-states in a one-dimensional diluted Anderson model where every Anderson impurity is diluted by a periodic function f(l). Using renormalization group and transfer matrix techniques, we provide accurate estimates of the extended states which appear in this model, whose number depends on the symmetry of the diluting function f(l). The density of states (DOS) for this model is also numerically obtained and its main features are related to the symmetries of the diluting function f(l). Further, we show that the emergence of extended states promotes a sub-diffusive spread of an initially localized wave-packet.Received: 7 July 2003, Published online: 19 November 2003PACS: 63.50. + x Vibrational states in disordered systems - 63.22. + m Phonons or vibrational states in low-dimensional structures and nanoscale materials - 62.30. + d Mechanical and elastic waves; vibrations     

Dimensional resonances of elastic and magnetoelastic vibrations in two layered structure

Peculiarities of dimensional resonances of elastic and magnetoelastic waves in bi-layered insulator structure: ferromagnetic film–non-magnetic elastic substrate have been investigated. Dependences of resonant frequencies of vibration modes upon thicknesses of magnetic and non-magnetic layers, elastic and magnetoelastic parameters, applied magnetic field have been calculated. The presence of peculiarities of resonant frequencies harmonics behavior with change of magnetic layer thickness have been shown.     

Hydrodynamical model for bulk and surface plasmons in cylindrical wires

In this paper, we study the electrostatic surface and volume modes of a cylindrical wire using the hydrodynamical model of plasmon excitation, which allows an analytical study of dispersion effects. We solve the hydrodynamical equations for a cylindrical wire geometry, obtaining new analytical expressions for the bulk and surface modes. New dispersion relations are obtained for each type of mode and numerical solutions are given. We analyze in detail the characteristics of the solutions and their differences with previous treatments based on non-dispersive models. These differences become important for wires of small radii, particularly in the range of few nanometers.     

Experimental evidence of one-dimensional plasma modes in superconducting thin wires

We have studied niobium superconducting thin wires deposited onto a SrTiO3 substrate. By measuring the reflection coefficient of the wires, resonances are observed in the superconducting state in the 130 MHz to 4 GHz range. They are interpreted as standing wave resonances of one-dimensional plasma modes propagating along the superconducting wire. The experimental dispersion law, omega versus q, presents a linear dependence over the entire wave vector range. The modes are softened as the temperature increases close the superconducting transition temperature. Very good agreement is obtained between our data and the predicted dispersion relation of one-dimensional plasma modes.     

Guided surface modes in a hollow slab waveguide with a left-handed material substrate or cover

The structural dispersion characteristics of guided surface modes in a hollow slab waveguide with a left-handed material substrate or cover are investigated. Dispersion relation is derived by using normalized parameters, and universal dispersion curves have been obtained analytically, by solving transcendental dispersion equations in a reverse way. Existence condition, mode degeneracy and other dispersion properties of guided surface modes have been discussed for different ? or μ of three layers for this substrate or cover layer.     

Scattering of a sound wave by a vibrating surface

We report an experimental study of the scattering of a sound wave of frequency f by a surface vibrating at frequency F. Both the Doppler shift at the vibrating surface and acoustic nonlinearities in the bulk of the fluid, generate the frequencies f±nF (n integer) in the spectrum of the scattered wave. We show that these two contributions can be separated because they scale differently with respect to the vibration frequency and to the distance between the vibrating scatterer and the detector. We determine the parameter ranges in which one or the other mechanism dominates and present quantitative studies of these two regimes. Received 2 December 2002 / Received in final form 27 March 2003 Published online 4 June 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: fauve@physique.ens.fr RID="b" ID="b"UMR 8550     

Carrier scattering by Auger mechanism in a single quantum wire

We report on time-resolved microphotoluminescence experiments in a single GaAs/GaAlAs V-shaped quantum wire as a function of optical excitation intensity. At low pump power we observe that excitons are localized in quantum boxes formed by the local potential minima existing along the wire axis. As the pump power is increased, state filling of the lowest lying levels of the boxes appears. When two carriers occupy the first excited level of the box, a very efficient Auger scattering occurs, leading to a transfer of carriers from one box to another neighbouring one. The intradot Auger scattering time has been measured and is of the same order of magnitude as the LA-phonon emission rate. Received 5 February 2001     

Terahertz surface plasmon-polariton propagation and focusing on periodically corrugated metal wires

In this Letter, we show how the dispersion relation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along a perfectly conducting wire can be tailored by corrugating its surface with a periodic array of radial grooves. In this way, highly localized SPPs can be sustained in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Importantly, the propagation characteristics of these spoof SPPs can be controlled by the surface geometry, opening the way to important applications such as energy concentration on cylindrical wires and superfocusing using conical structures.     

Strain and piezoelectric fields in embedded quantum wire arrays

Utilizing a recently developed exact closed-form solution for a single polygonal quantum wire (QWR) inclusion problem, we theoretically investigate the elastic strain and electric fields induced by QWR arrays embedded in GaAs. We consider arrays ranging from 1×1 to 7×7 QWRs embedded in infinite substrates and up to 4×7 QWRs in half space substrates where the wires are near a surface. Our results for the infinite substrate indicate that although the elastic fields within any single QWR are similar to the fields in the other wires with only a weak dependence on the number of QWRs, the electric fields (both inside and outside the QWRs) can be significantly different for different array sizes. Due to the existence of the free surface, the half space solutions show that the elastic and electric fields both inside of and outside of the QWRs depend significantly on the number of QWRs, again with the electric field having the stronger dependence. A detailed analysis of the strain and electric fields for embedded QWR arrays is presented and the results could impact the design of proposed strain-modulated electronic devices.     

Local triboelectricity on oxide surfaces

In triboelectric phenomena, electric charges are transferred when two materials are touched or rubbed together. We present in this paper a study of this effect performed on metallic oxides at the nanometric scale by an Atomic Force Microscope in the resonant mode. We show that following the electrification processes, positive or negative charges can be deposited. From our experimental data, we conclude that the charge transfer results in an equilibrium final state, the occupied states in the gap being “surface states” with large density and spread under the surface along a characteristic distance of about 100 nm. Received 18 March 1998 and Received in final form 8 July 1998