Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Commons^™

Realization Of Bsu First Magneto-Optical Trap For The Spatial Confinement Of Rb Atoms Using Next Generation Fiber Optic Capabilities With Minimot, Brahmin Thurber-Carbone

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This paper will be a combination of my theoretical and experimental work toward Bridgewater State Universities first Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) for laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms in order to study fundamental quantum mechanical behavior of Rubidium (Rb) atoms. The goal of the theoretical aspect is to complete details of well-established works on how the complicated quantum, atomic, and electromagnetic (laser) interactions required to understand the design and operation of the MOT reduce to the physics and mathematics of a damped oscillator. This is made explicitly clear using familiar damped oscillator systems, such as a spring/mass/damping or pendulum/mass/damping (ie …

Magnetism And Topological Hall Effect In Antiferromagnetic Ru2Mnsn-Based Heusler Compounds, Wenyong Zhang, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Yang Sun, Ahsan Ullah, Ralph Skomski, Rabindra Pahari, Shah R. Valloppilly, Xingzhong Li, Cai-Zhuang Wang, Kai-Ming Ho, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Heusler compounds and alloys based on them are of great recent interest because they exhibit a wide variety of spin structures, magnetic properties, and electron-transport phenomena. Their properties are tunable by alloying and we have investigated L2₁-ordered compound Ru₂MnSn and its alloys by varying the atomic Mn:Sn composition. While antiferromagnetic ordering with a Néel temperature of 361 K was observed in Ru₂MnSn, the Mn-poor Ru₂Mn_0.8Sn_1.2 alloy exhibits properties of a diluted antiferromagnet in which there are localized regions of uncompensated Mn spins. Furthermore, a noncoplanar spin structure, evident from …

Laser-Excitation Spectroscopy Of Niobium Hydride And Tantalum Hydride, Siddhant Singh

Macalester Journal of Physics and Astronomy

The experimental results presented in this paper shed light on some of the fundamental bonding characteristics of NbH and TaH. Six bands of niobium hydride and five weak bands of tantalum hydride were observed for the first time using laser excitation spectroscopy. The rotational assignments of observed bands were confirmed using dispersed fluorescence experiments for NbH and by checking the internal consistency of a global least squares fit for the weaker bands of TaH. For TaH, we were able to determine the term energies and molecular constants of each of its observed states to a high degree of accuracy …

Simulating Many Body Localization With Rydberg Atoms, Alicia Handian

Physics and Astronomy Honors Papers

In thermodynamics, interacting systems are expected to achieve equilibrium with one another over the course of time. However, there are exceptions to this rule. When systems localize, or fail to reach equilibrium, information about the initial state of the system is preserved and locally observable after long periods of time. Many-body localization focuses on systems of interacting particles that fail to thermalize. We have developed a simulation that models the behavior of a many-body quantum system. The simulation is inspired by experiments conducted by Liu, et al., in their recent publication “Time Dependence of Few Body Forster Interactions Among Ultracold …

Structural Origin Of Thermal, Mechanical Properties And Morphological Behaviors Of Semiconducting Polymers, Song Zhang

Dissertations

The past decades have witnessed a surging exploration of semiconducting polymers for the application of wearable and flexible organic electronic devices. Despite the increased amounts of molecular engineered polymers and their much-improved electrical performances, a systematic study of the structure-thermal/mechanical property-morphology relationship of semiconducting polymers is still less investigated.

To understand the thin-film mechanical properties, a pseudo-free standing tensile tester was self-built and utilized to obtain their real-time stress-strain behaviors through uniaxial stretching on top of the water surface. It also enables the first quantitative measurement of fracture energy on ultrathin polymeric films. Through multiple mechanical testing methods (i.e., strain-rate …

Voltage-Controlled Magnetic Anisotropy In Antiferromagnetic Mgo-Capped Mnpt Films, P. H. Chang, Wuzhang Fang, T. Ozaki, Kirill Belashchenko

Kirill Belashchenko Publications

The magnetic anisotropy in MgO-capped MnPt films and its voltage control are studied using first-principles calculations. Sharp variation of the magnetic anisotropy with film thickness, especially in the Pt-terminated film, suggests that it may be widely tuned by adjusting the film thickness. In thick films the linear voltage control coefficient is as large as 1.5 and -0.6 pJ/Vm for Pt-terminated and Mn-terminated interfaces, respectively. The combination of a widely tunable magnetic anisotropy energy and a large voltage-control coefficient suggest that MgO-capped MnPt films can serve as a versatile platform for magnetic memory and antiferromagnonic applications.

Quantum Dynamical Phenomena In Non-Hermitian And Magnomechanical Systems, Saeid Vashahri Ghamsari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we have investigated quantum dynamics via three case studies. First, we studied a system of two coupled waveguides respectively carrying optical damping and optical gain in addition to squeezing elements in one or both waveguides. Such a system is expected to generate highly entangled light fields in the two waveguides. We, however, show that the degree of the created entanglement is significantly affected by the quantum noises associated with the amplification and dissipation. Because of the noise effect, one can only have nonzero entanglement for a limited time interval. Second, we generalized the first project by considering …

Single-Shot Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy Using A Liquid Scintillator, Joshua R. Machacek, Shawn Mctaggart, Larry W. Burggraf

Faculty Publications

Liquid scintillators provide a fast, single component response. However, they traditionally have a low flashpoint and high vapor pressure. We demonstrate the use of an EJ-309 scintillator (high flashpoint and low vapor pressure variant) to acquire single-shot positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy spectra using a trap-based positron beam.

Non-Gaussian Measurements Of Coherent States Of Light For Metrology And Communication, Matthew Dimario

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

Conventional measurement technology is unable to extract the most amount of information possible from coherent states of light. Non-Gaussian measurements which can count individual photons can surpass the sensitivity limits of ideal conventional strategies, and approach the ultimate limits achievable given by quantum mechanics. This thesis presents investigations and demonstrations of these unconventional measurements, which utilize coherent operations and single photon counting. This thesis shows that non-Gaussian measurements can outperform conventional strategies in estimation tasks as well as a variety of communication problems. This thesis also investigates novel approaches and algorithms for building robustness to static and dynamic noise which …

Simulation Of Optical Properties Of Dielectric Layers From Visible To Near Infrared Spectral Range, Andrew Cochran, Cory Conkel

ONU Student Research Colloquium

Optical properties of dielectrics play a critical role in various applications including the design and manufacture of optical components & devices such as detectors, filters, imagers, lenses, optical coatings, photonic crystals, sensors and waveguides, and solar cells. Radiative properties of varying thicknesses of different dielectrics such as Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3), Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), Magnesium Fluoride (MgF2) and Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) have been simulated and compared in the range of visible to near infrared by mathematical modelling using MATLAB simulations. The results of the evolution of the radiative properties, as a function of dielectric material thickness, on …

Sf6+: Stabilizing Transient Ions In Helium Nanodroplets, Simon Albertini, Stefan Bergmeister, Felix Laimer, Paul Martini, Elisabeth Gruber, Fabio Zappa, Milan Ončák, Paul Scheier, Olof E. Echt

Faculty Publications

There are myriads of ions that are deemed too short-lived to be experimentally accessible. One of them is SF₆⁺. It has never been observed, although not for lack of trying. We demonstrate that long-lived SF₆⁺ can be formed by doping charged helium nanodroplets (HNDs) with sulfur hexafluoride; excess helium is then gently stripped from the doped HNDs by collisions with helium gas. The ion is identified by high-resolution mass spectrometry (resolution m/Dm = 15000), the close agreement between the expected and observed yield of ions that contain minor sulfur isotopes, and collision-induced dissociation …

Characterization Of A Boron-Loaded Deuterated Liquid Scintillator For Fast And Thermal Neutron Detection, Bryan V. Egner, Michael Febbraro, James E. Bevins

Faculty Publications

The preparation and characterization of novel boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillators (BLDLS) are presented for the first time to investigate the performance of a detector sensitive to both fast and thermal neutrons intended for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Three deuterated toluene-based scintillation cocktails were produced, one without boron, one loaded with ortho-carborane (natural boron isotopic abundance), and one with 96 wt% 10B enriched ortho-carborane. General optical and material properties were analyzed to include the composition, density, index of refraction, photoluminescence emission spectra, and absorbance spectra in addition to the relative light yield, resolution, relative efficiency, and pulse-shape-discrimination performance for all three …

Enhanced Nonlinear Interaction Of Polaritons Via Excitonic Rydberg States In Monolayer Wse2, Jie Gu, Valentin Walther, Lutz Waldecker, Daniel Rhodes, Archana Raja, James C. Hone, Tony F. Heinz, Stéphane Kéna-Cohen, Thomas Pohl, Vinod M. Menon

Publications and Research

Strong optical nonlinearities play a central role in realizing quantum photonic technologies. Exciton-polaritons, which result from the hybridization of material excitations and cavity photons, are an attractive candidate to realize such nonlinearities. While the interaction between ground state excitons generates a notable optical nonlinearity, the strength of such interactions is generally not sufficient to reach the regime of quantum nonlinear optics. Excited states, however, feature enhanced interactions and therefore hold promise for accessing the quantum domain of single-photon nonlinearities. Here we demonstrate the formation of exciton-polaritons using excited excitonic states in monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) embedded in a …

Direct Visualization Of 3-Dimensional Force And Energy Map Of A Single Molecular Switch, Abeykoon Mudiyanselage Shashika Darshani Wijerathna, Zaw Myo Win, K. Z. Latt, Yang Li, A. T. Ngo, L. Curtiss, R. Zhang, S. W. Hla, Y. Zhang

College of Sciences Posters

Mechanical properties of molecules adsorbed on materials surfaces are increasingly vital for the applications of molecular thin films. Here, we conduct a fundamental research to induce conformational change mechanically on a single molecule and quantify the driving force needed for such molecular shape switch via a low temperature (~ 5K) Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) and Qplus Atomic Force Microscope (Q+AFM). Our measurement maps a three-dimensional landscape for mechanical potential and force at single molecule level with high spatial resolution in all three dimensions of a few angstrom (10^-10 m).

Molecule TBrPP-Co (a cobalt porphyrin) deposited on an atomically clean …

Dipole Emission Characteristics Near A Topological Insulator Sphere Coated With A Metallic Nanoshell, Huai-Yi Xie, Railing Chang, P. T. Leung

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Topological insulators (TI) are quantum states of (2D/3D) matter with an insulating interior but conducting edge/surface states, with these boundary conducting states being protected topologically by time-reversal symmetry. Composite materials of heavy atoms such as Bi₂Te₃ can be fabricated to show TI properties due to the strong intrinsic spin-orbit coupling of the electrons in these materials. Among the so many intriguing physical properties of these materials, their topological magneto-electric (TME) response is unique and has been studied intensively in the literature, leading to intriguing optical effects such as Faraday and Kerr rotations of incident polarized beams at …

Study Of Neon Collisional Negative Ion Compound Resonance Using A Trochoidal Electron Monochromator, Will Brunner

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis describes the experimental apparatus and procedure used to measure the excitation function of the 2p⁵3p ³D₃ state of neon. First I describe the effect on this excitation of negative ion resonances and previous experiments to measure the excitation function, as well as suggestions for future applications of such studies. Then the experimental apparatus is described in three parts. The vacuum system uses a turbomolecular pump to decrease the pressure of the chamber to as low as 4*10^-9 Torr. The electron beam system incorporates a trochoidal electron monochromator to send a highly monochromatic beam …

Smart Quantum Technologies Using Photons, Narayan Bhusal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The technologies utilizing quantum states of light have been in the spotlight for the last two decades. In this regard, quantum metrology, quantum imaging, quantum-optical communication are some of the important applications that exploit fascinating quantum properties like quantum superposition, quantum correlations, and nonclassical photon statistics. However, the state-of-art technologies operating at the single-photon level are not robust enough to truly realize a reliable quantum-photonic technology.

In Chapter 1, I present a historical account of photon-based technologies. Furthermore, I discuss recent efforts and encouraging developments in the field of quantum-photonic technologies, and major challenges for the experimental realization of reliable …

Non-Adiabatic Quantum Interference In The Ultracold Li + Lina → Li2+ Na Reaction, Brian K. Kendrick, Hui Li, Ming Li, Svetlana Kotochigova, James F.E. Croft, Naduvalath Balakrishnan

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Electronically non-adiabatic effects play an important role in many chemical reactions. However, how these effects manifest in cold and ultracold chemistry remains largely unexplored. Here for the first time we present from first principles the non-adiabatic quantum dynamics of the reactive scattering between ultracold alkali-metal LiNa molecules and Li atoms. We show that non-adiabatic dynamics induces quantum interference effects that dramatically alter the ultracold rotationally resolved reaction rate coefficients. The interference effect arises from the conical intersection between the ground and an excited electronic state that is energetically accessible even for ultracold collisions. These unique interference effects might be exploited …

Implementing Inverse Design Tools For Plasmonic Digital Logic Devices, Krishna Narayan, Mark C. Harrison

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the benefits that optics and photonics have brought to improving communications, there remains a lack of commercialized optical computing devices and systems, which reduces the benefits of using light as an information-carrying medium. We are developing architectures and designs of photonic logic gates for creating larger-scale functional photonic logic circuits. In contrast to other approaches, we are focusing on the development of logic devices which can be cascaded in arbitrary ways to allow for more complex photonic integrated circuit design. Additionally, optical computing often uses on-off keying, which fails to take advantage of denser encoding schemes often used to …

Correction To "Quantitative Study Of The Energy Changes In Voltage-Controlled Spin Crossover Molecular Thin Films" [The Journal Of Physical Chemistry Letters (2020) 11:19 (8231-8237) Doi: 10.1021/Acs.Jpclett.0c02209], Aaron Mosey, Ashley S. Dale, Guanhua Hao, Alpha N'Diaye, Peter Dowben, Ruihua Cheng

Peter Dowben Publications

In our recent publication, Figure 5 was published without adequate due diligence. The correct TOC Abstract graphic and Figure 5 are contained here in this correction. The correct on to off current ratios are in the range of 4 to 5, not 100 and the signal to noise ratios are far less than previously shown.