Optical detection of the Casimir force between macroscopic objects

We report the optical detection of mechanical deformation of a macroscopic object induced by the Casimir force. An adaptive holographic interferometer based on a photorefractive BaTiO3:Co crystal was used to measure periodical nonlinear deformations of a thin pellicle caused by an oscillating Casimir force. A reasonable agreement between the experimental and calculated values of the first and second harmonics of the Casimir force oscillations has been obtained.     

Optical detection of terahertz radiation by using nonlinear parametric upconversion

We describe and demonstrate sensitive room-temperature detection of terahertz (THz) radiation by nonlinearly upconverting terahertz to the near-infrared regime, relying on telecommications components. THz radiation at 700 GHz is mixed with pump light at 1550 nm in a bulk GaAs crystal to generate an idler wave at 1555.6 nm, which is separated and detected by using a commercial p-i-n diode. The THz detector operates at room temperature and has an intrinsic THz-to-optical photon conversion efficiency of 0.001%.     

Quantum terahertz electrodynamics and macroscopic quantum tunneling in layered superconductors

We derive a quantum field theory of Josephson plasma waves (JPWs) in layered superconductors, which describes two types of interacting JPW bosonic quanta (one heavy and one lighter). We propose a mechanism of enhancement of macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions. Because of the long-range interaction between junctions in layered superconductors, the calculated MQT escape rate Gamma has a nonlinear dependence on the number of junctions in the stack. We show that the crossover temperature between quantum and thermal escape increases when increasing the number of junctions. This allows us to quantitatively describe striking recent experiments in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta stacks.     

太赫兹波段介质微腔光学特性研究

采用匀胶法制备了厚度在微米量级的 Si/[TiO₂/Al₂O₃]²TiO₂和Si/[TiO₂/MgO]²/TiO₂ 多层介质膜反射镜. 采用太赫兹(THz)时域透射光谱系统获得了多层膜的时域透射谱. 用传输矩阵法模拟了Si/[TiO₂/Al₂O₃]²TiO₂ 和Si/[TiO₂/MgO]²/TiO₂两种分布式布拉格反射镜 (DBR)的反射相移和相位穿透深度等光学特性. 设计了两种结构为 DBR/LT-GaAs/DBR的对称THz光学微腔结构并模拟了腔结构的辐射光谱. 结果表明:通过引入谐振腔, 两种DBR组成的微腔器件在谐振波长处的强度分别提高了19和14倍. 其中Si/[TiO₂/Al₂O₃]²TiO₂/LT-GaAs (12 μm)/ [TiO₂/Al₂O₃]²TiO₂腔的辐射光谱存在两个峰, 分别位于208和248 μm, 并分析了出现两个谐振峰的原因. 探讨了通过引入介质谐振腔实现对THz源的辐射特性进行调控的可行性. 关键词： 分布式布拉格反射镜 光子晶体 穿透深度 太赫兹微腔     

Optical actuation of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator

An intensity-modulated HeNe-laser beam was utilized to optically actuate the mechanical resonance of a macroscopic torsional silicon oscillator (f₀ = 67 700 Hz, Q = 42 100 at p = 1 mbar and T = 300 K). Both radiation pressure and photothermal effects may cause optical actuation of a mechanical device. Both excitation effects were studied. In actuation through radiation pressure, the actuating laser beam was focused on the high-reflectivity-coated oscillator surface. In the case where the intensity-modulated laser beam was incident on the uncoated silicon surface the photothermal effect was shown to be the dominating excitation factor. Oscillation amplitudes due to the actuation through radiation pressure and photothermal effects were Δ x_rad = 1.4 pm and Δ x_ph = 4.3 pm with the same optical power of 1.5 mW. The measured resonance frequency and quality value were not changed when purely mechanical and radiation pressure actuation mechanisms were compared. With photothermal actuation the absorbed optical power heats the oscillator, introducing a slight decrease in the resonance frequency. Our experiments demonstrate that optical actuation combined with sensitive optical interferometric measurements can be utilized to perform dynamic vibration analysis of micromechanical components. Prospects of using micromechanical devices for observing extremely weak external forces are discussed.     

First-principle calculations of the Berry curvature of Bloch states for charge and spin transport of electrons

Recent progress in wave packet dynamics based on the insight of Berry pertaining to adiabatic evolution of quantum systems has led to the need for a new property of a Bloch state, the Berry curvature, to be calculated from first principles. We report here on the response to this challenge by the ab initio community during the past decade. First we give a tutorial introduction of the conceptual developments we mentioned above. Then we describe four methodologies which have been developed for first-principle calculations of the Berry curvature. Finally, to illustrate the significance of the new developments, we report some results of calculations of interesting physical properties such as the anomalous and spin Hall conductivity as well as the anomalous Nernst conductivity and discuss the influence of the Berry curvature on the de Haas-van Alphen oscillation.     

Optical tuning of Berry phase effect in topological insulators

We theoretically discuss the influence of driving laser field on the topological nature, one of the manifestation of the electron Berry phase effect, in two-dimensional electronic systems. Adiabatic change of the laser amplitude with circular polarization alters the “order parameter”, termed the Chern number, in topological insulator with broken time-reversal symmetry, resulting in photo-induced phase transition. The finding is an optical analog of the integer quantum Hall effect, that is triggered by the laser field instead of magnetic field. This parallelism suggests the similarity of effects to electron dynamics between circularly polarized light and magnetic field.     

Optical properties of chalcogenide glasses in the terahertz spectral region

Optical properties of chalcogenide glasses of three different compositions (As₂S₃, As₂S₃ × As₂Se₃, and As₂Se₃) are studied via terahertz pulsed spectroscopy. Absorption coefficients and refractive indices are measured in a frequency range of 0.2–1.6 THz. The results show that the phonon modes of the studied materials vary with the composition of the glasses.     

CuS纳米粒子在太赫兹波段的光电性质研究

关键词： 太赫兹 CuS纳米粒子 Lorentz理论 Drude-Smith模型     

The effect of inertia on the Dirac electron,the spin Hall current and the momentum space Berry curvature

We have studied the spin dependent force and the associated momentum space Berry curvature in an accelerating system. The results are derived by taking into consideration the non-relativistic limit of a generally covariant Dirac equation with an electromagnetic field present, where the methodology of the Foldy–Wouthuysen transformation is applied to achieve the non-relativistic limit. Spin currents appear due to the combined action of the external electric field, the crystal field and the induced inertial electric field via the total effective spin–orbit interaction. In an accelerating frame, the crucial role of momentum space Berry curvature in the spin dynamics has also been addressed from the perspective of spin Hall conductivity. For time dependent acceleration, the expression for the spin polarization has been derived.     

On the Hamiltonian nature of semiclassical equations of motion in the presence of an electromagnetic field and Berry curvature

We consider the semiclassical equations of motion of a particle when both an external electromagnetic field and the Berry gauge field in the momentum space are present. It is shown that these equations are Hamiltonian and relations between the canonical and covariant variables are determined through a consistent account of all components of the Berry connection. The Jacobian of the canonical-to-covariant-variables transformation describes the nonconservation of the ‘naive’ phase space volume in the covariant coordinates [D. Xiao, J. Shi, Q. Niu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005) 137204].     

Optical magnus effect as a consequence of Berry phase anisotropy

Presented in this work is a modified geometric optics of smoothly inhomogeneous isotropic medium, which takes into account weak anisotropy introduced by inhomogeneity. Pointed out is the common nature of two fundamental phenomena: Berry’s geometrical phase and the optical Magnus effect, that is, propagation of rays of right and left circular polarization along different trajectories. Shown is that the former phenomenon can be explained by the difference in phase velocity of waves of right-hand and left-hand polarizations, while the latter one is the result of the difference in their group velocity. This work demonstrates that the optical Magnus effect is quite a topological effect that exclusively depends on the geometry of the system’s contour in the momentum space. We predict the effect of the splitting of a ray of mixed polarization into two circularly polarized rays and propose a scheme for the experimental observation of this phenomenon.     

Berry curvature on the fermi surface: anomalous Hall effect as a topological fermi-liquid property

The intrinsic anomalous Hall effect in metallic ferromagnets is shown to be controlled by Berry phases accumulated by adiabatic motion of quasiparticles on the Fermi surface, and is purely a Fermi-liquid property, not a bulk Fermi sea property like Landau diamagnetism, as has been previously supposed. Berry phases are a new topological ingredient that must be added to Landau Fermi-liquid theory in the presence of broken inversion or time-reversal symmetry.     

太赫兹技术在爆炸物检测中的应用

研究了太赫兹成像技术在爆炸物探测中的应用,分析了太赫兹透射型时域光谱系统的实验装置,介绍了太赫兹时域光谱的测量步骤。确定了四种爆炸物样品(TNT,RDX,DNT,HMX)在太赫兹波段的吸收谱。结果表明,这四种爆炸物样品在0~2.5THz的频率范围内均存在特征吸收峰,这为太赫兹技术检测爆炸物提供了一种有效的途径。     

The terahertz spectrum detection of transgenic food

This paper presents the optical characteristic of the four transgenic foods in the terahertz (THz) by means of electro-optic sampling. The transmission spectra and complex refractive index of the four transgenic foods are obtained. This paper finds that transgenic maize (TGM), transgenic rice (TGR), transgenic soybean (TGS) and transgenic potato (TGP) all have absorption within the frequency range of 0.2 and 2.5 THz. It can be seen that the TGM and TGR have obvious absorption peaks at 1.08 and 1.82 THz respectively, the TGS has a plurality of absorption peak in this frequency band, compared to the other three samples, and the TGP is slow. The unique absorption properties in THz of four transgenic foods show that the time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy can be applied to detect and identify transgenic food.     

Optical methods for the generation of terahertz radiation and subterahertz acoustics of solids

Various methods to increase the efficiency of the generation of broadband terahertz radiation based on optical rectification have been analyzed. The solutions of self-consistent optical terahertz equations have been studied using the inclined front technique. The effect of symmetric and asymmetric resonant impurity centers incorporated into a crystal has been examined. Transient and asymptotic stages of generation have been considered. Attention has been focused on the evolution of the spectra of both generated terahertz and input optic signals. One- and two-frequency generation modes have been discussed. Acoustic analogs that would provide the possibility of the generation of the gigahertz acoustic supercontinuum using subterahertz elastic signals in a solid have been analyzed. The main similarities and differences between terahertz optics and subterahertz acoustics have been revealed.     

Compton散射下太赫兹波段介质微腔光学特性

应用Compton散射模型、1维等离子体光子晶体模型和数值计算方法,研究太赫兹波段介质微腔光学特性,给出了系统反射率、反射相移和相位穿透深度修正方程和实验验证。结果表明：与散射前相比,系统中心波长左移15 ,这是因散射使等离子体层中电子与光子碰撞频率增大效应导致系统振荡频率增大的缘故;反射相移在截止区与波长呈准线性关系,中心波长处相对 有一定偏离,这是因散射使等离子体层中电子辐射阻尼增强效应导致系统振荡频率减小的缘故;禁带区相位穿透深度增大,这是因散射与入射光形成的耦合光与入射光在禁带区的相位不同,导致入射光禁带对于耦合光产生局部失效的缘故。谐振峰左移15 ,强度提高了22倍,这是因散射产生的等离子体频率和电子辐射阻尼增大效应使系统中心波长左移,透射几率增大,从而导致透射禁带两个谐振峰左移和谐振峰强度提高的缘故。     

Compton散射下太赫兹波段介质微腔光学特性

应用Compton散射模型、1维等离子体光子晶体模型和数值计算方法,研究太赫兹波段介质微腔光学特性,给出了系统反射率、反射相移和相位穿透深度修正方程和实验验证。结果表明：与散射前相比,系统中心波长左移15 ,这是因散射使等离子体层中电子与光子碰撞频率增大效应导致系统振荡频率增大的缘故;反射相移在截止区与波长呈准线性关系,中心波长处相对 有一定偏离,这是因散射使等离子体层中电子辐射阻尼增强效应导致系统振荡频率减小的缘故;禁带区相位穿透深度增大,这是因散射与入射光形成的耦合光与入射光在禁带区的相位不同,导致入射光禁带对于耦合光产生局部失效的缘故。谐振峰左移15 ,强度提高了22倍,这是因散射产生的等离子体频率和电子辐射阻尼增大效应使系统中心波长左移,透射几率增大,从而导致透射禁带两个谐振峰左移和谐振峰强度提高的缘故。     

全介质光栅在太赫兹波段的光调控特性

采用激光直写技术在100 μm厚的Si衬底上制备了全介质光栅结构, 利用近红外光抽运-太赫兹探测(near infrared pump-Terahertz probe)技术对该全介质光栅在THz波段的光谱响应及其光调控特性进行了测试, 最后结合电磁仿真结果, 对米谐振(Mie resonance)的形成机理和光调控机理进行了解释并对调控光作用下全介质光栅的电导率数值进行了估算. 研究结果表明: 在光栅与THz偏振垂直的情况下, 该全介质光栅在0-1.0 THz范围内有3个典型的米谐振峰且谐振模式各不相同; 随着调控光功率的增加, 3个谐振峰的谐振强度出现了不同程度的减弱, 其中第一个谐振峰的光调控幅度达到50%以上, 调控光作用下米谐振强度的减弱是由于光生载流子对入射THz波的吸收和散射导致了介质光栅内部感生电磁场减弱引起的. 上述工作对全介质超材料在THz波段的共振特性研究和相关光调控器件的研制具有重要参考价值.