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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

William & Mary

2011

Optics

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Microscopic Dynamics And Transport Of Hydrogen In Proton Conducting Oxides, Erik J. Spahr Jan 2011

Microscopic Dynamics And Transport Of Hydrogen In Proton Conducting Oxides, Erik J. Spahr

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The microscopic motion of hydrogen in solid oxides plays an important role in defect migration and reaction processes. Understanding the vibrational dynamics associated with both hydrogen-oxygen (O-H) bonds and the surrounding ionic environment allows one to better characterize these fundamental interactions. This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation into the vibrational decay dynamics of O-H and O-D stretch modes in crystalline oxides using time-resolved infrared pump-probe spectroscopy.;Measurements of the vibrational lifetimes of hydrogen related local modes in potassium tantalate (KTaO3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) show that the localized O-H vibration is very closely tied to proton transport. In KTaO3 we …


Slow And Stored Light Under Conditions Of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency And Four Wave Mixing In An Atomic Vapor, Nathaniel Blair Phillips Jan 2011

Slow And Stored Light Under Conditions Of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency And Four Wave Mixing In An Atomic Vapor, Nathaniel Blair Phillips

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The recent prospect of efficient, reliable, and secure quantum communication relies on the ability to coherently and reversibly map nonclassical states of light onto long-lived atomic states. A promising technique that accomplishes this employs Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), in which a strong classical control field modifies the optical properties of a weak signal field in such a way that a previously opaque medium becomes transparent to the signal field. The accompanying steep dispersion in the index of refraction allows for pulses of light to be decelerated, then stored as an atomic excitation, and later retrieved as a photonic mode. This …