Instantaneous measurement of field quadrature moments and entanglement

We present a method of measuring expectation values of quadrature moments of a multimode field through two-level probe “homodyning”. Our approach is based on an integral transform formalism of measurable probe observables, where analytically derived kernels unravel efficiently the required field information at zero interaction time, minimizing decoherence effects. The proposed scheme is suitable for fields that, while inaccessible to a direct measurement, enjoy one and two-photon Jaynes-Cummings interactions with a two-level probe, like spin, phonon, or cavity fields. Available data from previous experiments are used to confirm our predictions.     

Ballistic phonon thermal transport across topologically structured nanojunctions on Gold wires

We investigate the coherent phonon thermal transport at low temperatures in Gold nanowires, in order to study the effects of scattering on the lattice thermal conductivity. Three types of shaped joint nanostructures are employed in our calculation. We present a detailed study of the thermal conductance as a function of the temperature for different shaped joint. This is done by solving the phonon Boltzmann transport equation in the ballistic regime and calculating the transmission rates of the vibration modes through the consideration of the phonon group velocity modification in the system. The transmission properties are calculated by use of the matching method in the harmonic approximation with nearest and next nearest neighbor force constants. The results show that the transmission probabilities depend on the type of joint nanostructure. The pronounced fluctuations of the transmission spectra as a function of the frequency can be understood as Fano resonances. It is also found that the behavior of the thermal conductance versus temperature is qualitatively different for different nanostructures and depends sensitively on the width of the shaped joint.     

Infrared spectra and lattice vibrations of the spin-chain compound LiCuVO 4

The infrared spectra of the one-dimensional antiferromagnet LiCuVO₄ are measured in the frequency range from 10 cm^-1 to 10 000 cm^-1 and at temperatures from 2 K to 300 K, for the electric field vector E of the radiation polarized either along the a- or along the b-crystallographic directions. For each polarization six infrared active phonon modes are observed in accordance with factor group analysis of the crystal structure of LiCuVO₄. The theoretical group analysis of the possible spinel low-symmetry phases is performed within the framework of Landau's theory of phase transitions. The parameters of several phonon lines show noticeable anomalies around 150 K where the magnetic correlations appear in the copper chains, which may indicate a finite interaction between the phonon and the magnon subsystems in LiCuVO₄. Received 19 February 2001 and Received in final form 26 June 2001     

The influence of surfaces and interfaces on coherent phonons in semiconductors

Experiments have shown that ultrafast optical excitation of semiconductors can produce oscillating changes in the optical properties of the material. The frequency of the oscillations in transmission or reflection usually matches one of the phonon modes, typically theq = 0 optical mode. These oscillations are known as coherent phonons. We discuss the role of surfaces and interfaces on the coherent phonon signal. We show that: (1) the coherent phonon signal can be used as a probe of the surface depletion field and (2) multiple interfaces as in a superlattice, can drastically alter the coherent phonon spectrum: screening of the modes in the superlattices is reduced and acoustic modes can now be excited.     

Supersonic cluster beam deposition of nanostructured titania

Nanostructured titanium dioxide films have been deposited by supersonic cluster beam deposition (CBD). Nanoparticles are produced by a pulsed microplasma cluster source (PMCS) and selected by aerodynamic separation effects. The as-deposited film is a complex mixture where amorphous material coexists, at the nanoscale, with anatase and rutile crystal phases. The nanocrystalline fraction of the film is characterized by crystal size ranging from 100 nm to less than 5 nm. We have characterized the film structure by transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectromicroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV-visible spectroscopy showing that correlations exist between cluster size and film properties. In particular if very small clusters are deposited, the film shows a predominant rutile phase whereas larger clusters form films with mainly anatase structure. Our observations suggest that phonon confinement effects are responsible for a significant shift and broadening observed for the Raman peaks. In addition, optical gap tuning is provided by mass selection: large clusters assembling generates a film with 3.22 eV optical gap, while smallest clusters 3.52 eV.     

Acoustic phonon dynamics in strained cubic and hexagonal GaN/Al2O3 superlattices

We study the acoustic-phonon spectra in periodic and quasiperiodic (Fibonacci type) superlattices made up from III–V nitride materials (GaN) intercalated by sapphire (Al₂O₃). Due to the misalignments between the sapphire and the GaN layers that can lead to threading dislocation densities as high as 10⁸-10¹⁰ cm^-1, and a significant lattice mismatch (~14%), the phonon dynamics is described beyond the continuum elastic model using coupled elastic and electromagnetic equations, stressing the importance of the piezoelectric polarization field in a strained condition. We use a transfer-matrix treatment to simplify the algebra, which would be otherwise quite complicated, allowing a neat analytical expressions for the phonon dispersion relation. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis of the localization and magnitude of the allowed band widths in the phonon's spectra, as well as their scale law and the parametric spectrum of singularities f(α), are presented and discussed.     

Infrared reflectivity spectra of <Emphasis Type="Italic">η</Emphasis>-Na<Subscript>1.3</Subscript>V<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> in the charge disordered and ordered phase

We have measured the far-infrared reflectivity spectra of the sodium vanadium oxide η-Na_1.3V₂O₅ polycrystals in the wide temperature (80–300 K) and frequency (150–1500 cm⁻¹) range. Appearance of new phonon oscillators, phonon oscillator mode splitting and step-like shift of TO and LO frequencies at low temperatures are correlated with the charge-ordering phase transition, which takes place at about 120 K in this vanadium oxide.     

Effect of external Gaussian random field on phonon spectrum of linear atomic chains

We present the theoretical study of the effect of external random field characterized by a Gaussian probability distribution function on the continuous phonon spectrum of one-dimensional (1D) chain, based on the Jacobian matrix method. The cumulative effect of the random field and simple isotopic defect is studied analytically and numerically. The Gaussian random field removes a square-root divergence appearing in the phonon spectrum of ideal 1D chain. The impurity phonon DOS shows strong dependence on the variance and the mean of the random field and exhibits very different behavior from the non-random case: the continuous spectrum is expanded and the δ-peak, describing discrete impurity vibrations in the non-random chain with the impurity, falls into a continuous zone.     

Electron-LO-phonon interaction in wurtzite GaN quantum wells under a magnetic field

We calculate the electron-LO-phonon relaxation rates in wurtzite GaN quantum wells in the presence of a magnetic field parallel to the growth direction. Using the dielectric continuum model (DCM), we are able to include contributions from both the interface and the quasi-confined phonon modes. The relaxation rate expression takes the phonon dispersion into account, and is applicable to all phonon modes. We find that the relaxation rates show strong oscillations as a function of the applied magnetic field. In relatively wide (8 nm) quantum wells, the inclusion of interface phonon mode decreases this oscillation amplitude. But in thin wells (5 nm), the interface phonon mode is of the same importance as the quasi-confined mode, and it strongly modifies the oscillation behavior.     

Polaronic effects in one-dimensional quantum antidot arrays

We study the effect of polaronic corrections arising from theelectron-longitudinal optical phonon interaction on the energyspectrum of a two-dimensional electron system with a one-dimensionalperiodic antidot array geometry created by a weak electrostaticmodulation potential, and subjected to a weak magnetic fieldmodulation as well as a uniform strong perpendicular staticmagnetic field. To incorporate the effects of electron-phononinteractions within the framework of Fröhlich polaron theory, wefirst apply a displaced-oscillator type unitary transformation todiagonalise the relevant Fröhlich Hamiltonian, and we thendetermine the parameters of this transformation together with theparameter included in the electronic trial wave function . On thebasis of this technique, it has been shown that the polaroniccorrections have non-negligible effects on the electronic spectrumof a two-dimensional electron system with a quantum antidot array,since switching such an interaction results in shifting thedegeneracy restoring points of Landau levels wherein the flatbandcondition is fulfilled, thus suppressing the Weiss oscillations.     

Quantum thermal transport in nanostructures

In this colloquia review we discuss methods for thermal transport calculations for nanojunctions connected to two semi-infinite leads served as heat-baths. Our emphases are on fundamental quantum theory and atomistic models. We begin with an introduction of the Landauer formula for ballistic thermal transport and give its derivation from scattering wave point of view. Several methods (scattering boundary condition, mode-matching, Piccard and Caroli formulas) of calculating the phonon transmission coefficients are given. The nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method is reviewed and the Caroli formula is derived. We also give iterative methods and an algorithm based on a generalized eigenvalue problem for the calculation of surface Green's functions, which are starting point for an NEGF calculation. A systematic exposition for the NEGF method is presented, starting from the fundamental definitions of the Green's functions, and ending with equations of motion for the contour ordered Green's functions and Feynman diagrammatic expansion. In the later part, we discuss the treatments of nonlinear effects in heat conduction, including a phenomenological expression for the transmission, NEGF for phonon-phonon interactions, molecular dynamics (generalized Langevin) with quantum heat-baths, and electron-phonon interactions. Some new results are also shown. We briefly review the experimental status of the thermal transport measurements in nanostructures.     

Electron transmission through organized organic thin films studied by discrete initial electron kinetic energies

Synchrotron radiation (SR) pulses are used to eject electrons from a gold substrate covered with organized organic thin films (OOTF) in order to investigate their transmission probability through the OOTF as a function of the electron initial kinetic energy. By variation of the SR photon energy within a few eV above the Au-4f binding energy levels we controlled the initial kinetic energy of the substrate electrons. The observed oscillations in the transmission probability for porphyrin-based films as a function of the kinetic energy is argued to be due to effects of band structure above the vacuum level in the well-ordered molecular adsorbate. We also present valence photoemission spectra (PES) of different type OOTF and demonstrate how their coverage of the substrate affects the PES. Received 24 July 1998     

Ultrafast dynamics of surface electromagnetic waves in nanohole array on metallic film

We study the ultrafast dynamics of surface electromagnetic waves photogenerated on aluminum film perforated with subwavelength holes array by means of transient photomodulation with ∼100 fs time resolution. We observed a pronounced blueshift of the resonant transmission band that reveals the important role of plasma attenuation in the dynamics and that is inconsistent with plasmon–polariton mechanism of extraordinary transmission. The transient photomodulation spectra were successfully modeled within the Boltzmann equation approach for the electron–phonon relaxation dynamics, involving non-equilibrium hot electrons and quasi-equilibrium phonons.     

Optical properties of a hydrogenic impurity in a confined Zn1−xCdxSe/ZnSe spherical quantum dot

The effect of longitudinal optical phonon field on the ground state and low lying-excited state energies of a hydrogenic impurity in a Zn_1−xCd_xSe/ZnSe strained quantum dot is investigated for various Cd content using the Aldrich-Bajaj effective potential. We consider the strain effect considering the internal electric field induced by the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. Calculations have been performed using Bessel function as an orthonormal basis for different confinement potentials of barrier height. Polaron induced photoionization cross section of the hydrogenic impurity in the quantum dot is investigated. We study the oscillator strengths, the linear and third-order nonlinear optical absorption coefficients as a function of incident photon energy for 1s-1p and 1p-1d transitions with and without the polaronic effect. It is observed that the potential taking into account the effects of phonon makes the binding energies more than the obtained results using a Coulomb potential screened by a static dielectric constant and the optical properties of hydrogenic impurity in a quantum dot are strongly affected by the confining potential and the radii. It is also observed that the magnitude of the absorption coefficients increases for the transitions between higher levels with the inclusion of phonon effect.     

Effect of electron–phonon interaction on the energy spectrum of a quantum antidot in the presence of a uniform strong magnetic field

We have studied the effect of electron–phonon interaction for small electron–phonon coupling on the electronic energy spectrum of an electron confined by a parabolic potential and a repulsive antidot potential in the presence of a uniform strong magnetic field and an Aharonov–Bohm flux field by using a variational procedure. We have shown that the presence of the antidot potential removes degeneracy of the Landau levels and electron–phonon interaction has nonnegligible effects on these levels.     

TA1[110] phonon dispersion and martensitic phase transition in ordered alloys Fe3Pt

In a previous neutron scattering study, we had observed that the TA phonon softening in L1₂-ordered ferromagnetic Fe₇₂Pt₂₈ Invar is pronounced at the zone boundary M-point and leads to an antiferrodistortive phase transition at low temperatures. Here, we report on similar neutron scattering investigations on two ordered crystals with higher Fe content to investigate the relation between the TA phonon softening and the martensitic transformation, which occurs in Fe-rich ordered Fe-Pt. We find that the TA phonon softening, especially at the M-point zone boundary, does not depend on the composition of the investigated crystals. In Fe_74.5Pt_25.5, however, the antiferrodistortive phase transition temperature is enhanced due to tetragonal strain preceding the martensitic transition. In Fe₇₇Pt₂₃ a precursor driven premartensitic phase transition is not observed. The structure of the martensite is, however, influenced by the soft mode lattice instability of the austenite. This would explain the origin of structural details found previously for Fe₃Pt thermoelastic martensite. Received 18 January 1999 and Received in final form 11 March 1999     

Electronic structure investigation of the Ag(1 1 0)(n×1)O surfaces––new photoemission results for an old problem

We have used angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the occupied antibonding electron states of the Ag(1 1 0)(n×1)O surface along different directions in the surface Brillouin zone. We present experimental evidence that several earlier results obtained along (along the Ag–O chains) contain admixtures from contamination, most probably from carbonate-like contributions. New results are obtained along and (perpendicular to the chains). These data indicate that the n=2 structure is stabilized by repulsive electronic interaction between neighbouring chains, which diminishes drastically for n=3 and disappears almost completely at n4. This observation points to a strain field within the substrate which stabilizes the geometry between n=3 (interchain distance 8.7 Å) and n=8 (23.1 Å). Its existence is indirectly seen in the n-dependence of the surface phonon energies at , which can be explained quantitatively by umklapp-processes induced by the lateral periodicity of the strain field. We compare our photoemission results for (2 × 1)O with available surface band structure calculations.     

Ab initio calculations of magnetic structure and lattice dynamics of Fe/Pt multilayers

The magnetization distribution, its energetic characterization by the interlayer coupling constants and lattice dynamics of (001)-oriented Fe/Pt multilayers are investigated using density functional theory combined with the direct method to determine phonon frequencies. It is found that ferromagnetic order between consecutive Fe layers is favoured, with the enhanced magnetic moments at the interface. The bilinear and biquadratic coupling coefficients between Fe layers are shown to saturate fast with increasing thickness of nonmagnetic Pt layers which separate them. The phonon calculations demonstrate a rather strong dependence of partial iron phonon densities of states on the actual position of Fe monolayer in the multilayer structure.     

The smooth structural change in mesoscopic Peierls chains

We investigate the Peierls transition in finite chains by exact (Lanczos) diagonalization and within a seminumerical method based on the factorization of the electron-phonon wave function (Adiabatic Ansatz, AA). AA can be applied for mesoscopic chains up to micrometer sizes and its reliability can be checked self-consistently. Our study demonstrates the important role played for finite systems by the tunneling in the double well potential. The chains are dimerized only if their size N exceeds a critical value N_c which increases with increasing phonon frequency. Quantum phonon fluctuations yield a broad transition region. This smooth Peierls transition contrasts not only to the sharp mean field transition, but also with the sharp RPA soft mode instability, although RPA partially accounts for quantum phonon fluctuations. For weak coupling the dimerization disappears below micrometer sizes; therefore, this effect could be detected experimentally in mesoscopic systems. Received: 3 January 1998 / Revised: 13 March 1998 / Accepted: 3 April 1998     

Ab initio study of structural,electronic and dynamical properties of MgAuSn

The structural and electronic properties of MgAuSn in the cubic AlLiSi structure have been studied, using density functional theory within the local density approximation. The calculated lattice constant for MgAuSn is found to be in good agreement with its experimental value. Our calculated electronic structure is also compared in detail with a recent tight-binding. A linear-response approach to density-functional theory is used to calculate the phonon spectrum and density of states for MgAuSn.