Contact interference in molecular junctions

We highlight a new manifestation of quantum interference in transport through single-molecule junctions, owing to different charge transport pathways from the molecule through the contacts into the three-dimensional electrode. Such contact interference can be identified with characteristic features of the current–voltage curve, as dramatic as closing an otherwise open transport channel. Based on analysis of the necessary conditions for observation of this phenomenon, we conclude that this effect should be detectable in relatively small molecules, where a molecular site shares coupling to two electrodes, and an electrode surface site shares coupling to different molecular sites. The importance of the surface-molecule connectivity scheme implies that commonly used reduced models which couple different molecular sites to effectively independent electrodes, fail to account for this effect and must be corrected in order to properly capture contact interference.     

Extraordinary magnetic field behavior of SIFS Josephson junctions with an inhomogeneous transparency of the FS interface

Within the framework of the Usadel equations, the Josephson effect in a superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor (SIFS) structure with a spatially heterogeneous transparency of the SF interface has been studied. It is shown that, at a certain thickness of the F layer, a stepwise variation of the transparency leads to the formation of a region of size ∼ξ _F (coherence length in a ferromagnet), where the Josephson supercurrents of different signs may flow. This may lead to the dependence of the junction critical current on the external magnetic field qualitatively different from the Fraunhofer pattern typically observed in usual Josephson junctions. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Plasmon-polariton self-induced transparency

The formation and evolution of a localized plasmon-polariton soliton in a metallic cylinder surrounded by a layer of two-level atoms with a frequency close to the plasmon resonance have been investigated. The dynamics of the transverse plasmons in a extended medium is described in the hydrodynamic approximation. It has been shown that the evolution equation can be reduced to Maxwell-Bloch-like equations, which describe self-induced transparency in optics. The effect of losses and nonlinearities caused by the self-action of the electron cloud on the evolution of soliton structures has been studied numerically.     

Plasmon-exciton self-induced transparency

The possibility of forming stable bound plasmon-polariton states in an extended metallic cylinder surrounded by a two-level medium has been investigated. The dynamics of plasmons is described in the hydrodynamic approximation. It has been shown that the equations of motion of charge-density bunches and the Bloch equations for the two-level medium are reduced in certain approximations to integrable equations for both transverse and longitudinal plasmons. In the former case, the initial system of equations after the application of the slow-envelope approximation is reduced to equations equivalent to the Maxwell-Bloch equations. In the latter case, the equations describe wave dynamics beyond the slow-envelope approximation. In the approximation of unidirectional wave propagation, the initial system of equations is reduced to equations related to the reduced Maxwell-Bloch equations. Soliton and breather-like solutions of the derived equations describe plasmon-exciton self-induced transparency.     

Quantum theory of self-induced transparency

It is known that classical electromagnetic radiation at a frequency in resonance with energy splittings of atoms in a dielectric medium can be described using the classical sine-Gordon theory. In this paper we quantize the electromagnetic field and compute some quantum effects by using known results from the sine-Gordon quantum field theory. In particular, we compute the intensity of spontaneously emitted radiation using the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz with boundary interactions.     

Phase-modulated soliton of self-induced transparency

A theory of optical self-induced transparency for a two-component soliton in the presence of phase modulation is developed. It is shown that, under these conditions, it is possible to generate a vector soliton with characteristic parameters of oscillations with the sum and difference frequencies in the region of the carrier wave frequency. Explicit analytical expressions for nonlinear wave parameters under experimentally implemented conditions are given. In particular case, a well-known solution in the form of a breather is obtained.     

Orientation-dependent transparency of metallic interfaces

As devices are reduced in size, interfaces start to dominate electrical transport, making it essential to be able to describe reliably how they transmit and reflect electrons. For a number of nearly perfectly lattice-matched materials, we calculate from first principles the dependence of the interface transparency on the crystal orientation. Quite remarkably, the largest anisotropy is predicted for interfaces between the prototype free-electron materials silver and aluminum, for which a massive factor of 2 difference between (111) and (001) interfaces is found.     

Plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials

A plasmonic "molecule" consisting of a radiative element coupled with a subradiant (dark) element is theoretically investigated. The plasmonic molecule shows electromagnetic response that closely resembles the electromagnetically induced transparency in an atomic system. Because of its subwavelength dimension, this electromagnetically induced transparency-like molecule can be used as a building block to construct a "slow light" plasmonic metamaterial.     

Level mixing induced transparency

We discuss level mixing induced transparency (LMIT), which is experimentally found in a thick absorber of FeCO₃ containing the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer nuclei. LMIT is observed if two hyperfine levels of the excited state nucleus cross. Absorption of gamma radiation drops by about 25% with respect to the sum of two overlapping absorption lines. The absorption deficit is explained by the mixing of the crossing levels with a symmetry breaking interaction. The level mixing induces a polarization change of the scattered radiation. In such a way, the radiation develops in “normal modes,” which are less absorbed in a thick absorber. We show that, in spite of the absorption drop, the area of the absorption line does not change. This confirms the general knowledge that interference phenomena (destructive or constructive) do not change the lifetime of an excited state particle (atom, nucleus, etc).     

Intracavity electromagnetically induced transparency

The effect of intracavity electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) on the properties of optical resonators and active laser devices is discussed theoretically. Pronounced frequency pulling and cavity-linewidth narrowing are predicted. The EIT effect can be used to reduce classical and quantum-phase noise of the beat note of an optical oscillator substantially. Fundamental limits of this stabilization mechanism as well as its potential application to high-resolution spectroscopy are discussed.     

Self-induced transparency in waveguides

A theory of self-induced transparency (SIT) in waveguides, covered by thin films (thickness d ? λ = 2π/cω) of a resonant substance, has been developed. The shape of a waveguiding soliton (waveguiding “2π”-pulse) has been determined, and its velocity as a function of the film thickness and other characteristics of the resonant layer has been investigated.     

Switching from "absorption within transparency" to "transparency within transparency" in an electromagnetically induced absorption dominated transition

The absorption of a resonant coupling laser driving a closed degenerate two-level system in an atomic cesium beam was investigated as a function of the detuning of a second laser probing the same transition. The measurements were performed for four different polarization combinations of the two laser beams. Except for the beams of counterrotating polarizations all coupling-laser absorption profiles showed "absorption within transparency," i.e., the absorption in the region around the two-photon resonance was smaller than the absorption corresponding to the one-photon transition induced by the coupling laser, and an extra absorption peak was observed on this curve at the two-photon resonance. With regard to the beams of counterrotating polarizations we observed a switch from absorption within transparency to "transparency within transparency" when the probe-laser power exceeded the constant coupling-laser power. In other words, the cesium ensemble became mostly transparent to the coupling-laser beam at the two-photon resonance.     

Nonlinear effects of resonance transparency

This paper represents a comparative analysis of two resonance optical effects—self-induced and electromagnetically-induced transparencies—as well as their acoustic analogs. The similarities of the appearance and the radical internal differences of the physical mechanisms of the given phenomena are emphasized.     

Total transparency of a two-moving-magnetized-plasma-layer structure

In the present Letter the transparency of a two-moving-magnetized-plasma-layer structure irradiated by an electromagnetic wave is investigated theoretically and its resonant conditions are determined. Here, the direction of the external magnetic field is normal to the plasma surface and two layers move with different velocities parallel to the interface. The effects of the external magnetic field, speed of plasma layers and the magnitude of the wave number component on transparency are simulated. These investigations for S-polarized and P-polarized electromagnetic waves have been done separately.     

Self-induced transparency of excitons in semiconductors

Self-induced transparency of excitons is analysed in a model where intraband processes are described by density matrices and interband processes by coherent pair amplitudes. We determine the dispersion law of the carrier wave and the exciton wave function. The theory predicts: (a) a forbidden energy gap centered at the exciton line which broadens with increasing intensity, (b) a critical dependence of the effect on intensity, (c) a strong influence of intensity and carrier frequency on the exciton wave function.