Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics Commons^™

Mega-Electron-Volt Ultrafast Electron Diffraction At Slac National Accelerator Laboratory, Stephen Weathersby, G. Brown, Martin Centurion, T. F. Chase, Ryan Coffee, Jeff Corbett, J. P. Eichner, J. C. Frisch, A. R. Fry, M. Gühr, Nick Hartmann, Carsten Hast, R. Hettel, R. K. Jobe, E. N. Jongewaard, J. R. Lewandowski, R. K. Li, A. M. Lindenberg, Igor Makasyuk, J. E. May, D. Mccormick, M. N. Nguyen, Alexander Reid, Xiaozhe Shen, K. Sokolowski-Tinten, Theodore Vecchione, Sharon Vetter, J. Wu, Jie Yang, H. A. Dürr, Xijie Wang

Martin Centurion Publications

Ultrafast electron probes are powerful tools, complementary to x-ray free-electron lasers, used to study structural dynamics in material, chemical, and biological sciences. High brightness, relativistic electron beams with femtosecond pulse duration can resolve details of the dynamic processes on atomic time and length scales. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory recently launched the Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED) and microscopy Initiative aiming at developing the next generation ultrafast electron scattering instruments. As the first stage of the Initiative, a mega-electron-volt (MeV) UED system has been constructed and commissioned to serve ultrafast science experiments and instrumentation development. The system operates at 120-Hz repetition rate …

Magnetic Chiral Spin Textures By Imprinting, Robert Streubel, F. Kronast, U. Rössler, O. G. Schmidt, P. Fischer, D. Makarov

Robert Streubel Papers

The unique properties of non-trivial topological states, e.g. magnetic skyrmions [1] may path the way towards novel spintronic devices [2]. However, these spin textures have only been observed in special classes of materials possessing non-centrosymmetric crystal structure [1,3-6] and at low temperatures, which limits their application potential. We offer an alternate route to design synthetic magnetic heterostructures that resemble swirls, vortices or skyrmions with distinct topological charge densities at room temperature. By vertically stacking two magnetic nanopatterns with in-and out-of-plane magnetization and tailoring the interlayer exchange coupling, non-collinear spin textures with tunable topological charge can be imprinted (Fig. 1a).

Construction And Optimization Of A Tapered Amplifier System For Applications In Ultra-Cold Plasma Research, Ryan Cole

Honors Theses

The number density of cold atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) is critically dependent on the intensity of the lasers used to cool the sample. To generate large optical powers while retaining the practicality of homemade external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), a tapered amplifier (TA) system was designed and constructed to amplify the output of an existing 780 nm, continuous-wave ECDL. The amplifier’s performance is discussed in terms of its gain and power output. Under standard operating conditions, optical amplification of 12 dB is achieved, with a maximum power output of 0.75 W. The completed amplifier is installed into …

Characterizing Double And Triple Laser Beam Interference Patterns In The Context Of Trapping Atoms For Quantum Computing, Ian E. Powell

Physics

We propose two optical neutral atom traps for quantum computing involving the intersection of two or three laser beams. We simulate both the intensity and the potential energy of the interference pattern. From these simulations we create animations of how the potential energy and intensity change with varying angles of separation between the laser beams in the system. We parameterize lines through our interference pattern and fit simple harmonic oscillator potential energies to the potential energy wells calculated to characterize our interference pattern’s atom trapping capabilities. Finally, we investigate a possible quantum entanglement routine by observing how the geometry of …

Theoretical And Computational Studies Of The Electronic, Structural, Vibrational, And Thermodynamic Properties Of Transition Metal Nanoparticles, Ghazal Shafai Erfani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this dissertation is to provide better understanding of the atomic configurations, electronic structure, vibrational properties, and thermodynamics of transition metal nanoparticles and evaluate the intrinsic (i.e. size and shape) and extrinsic (i.e. ligands, adsorbates, and support) effects on the aforementioned properties through a simulational approach. The presented research provides insight into better understanding of the morphological changes of the nanoparticles that are brought about by the intrinsic factors as well as the extrinsic ones. The preference of certain ligands to stabilize specific sizes of nanoparticles is investigated. The intrinsic and extrinsic effects on the electronic structure …

Attosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy Of Atoms And Molecules, Yan Cheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the most fundamental goals of attosecond science is to observe and to control the dynamic evolutions of electrons in matter. The attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy is a powerful tool to utilize attosecond pulse to measure electron dynamics in quantum systems directly. In this work, isolated single attosecond pulses are used to probe electron dynamics in atoms and to study dynamics in hydrogen molecules using the attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy technique. The target atom/molecule is first pumped to excited states and then probed by a subsequent attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulse or by a near infrared (NIR) laser pulse. …

Weak Values Obtained In Matter-Wave Interferometry, Stephan Sponar, Tobias Denkmayr, Hermann Geppert, Hartmutt Lemmel, Alexandre Matzkin, Jeff Tollaksen, Yuji Hasegawa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Weak values, introduced more than 25 years ago, underwent a metamorphosis from a theoretical curiosity to a powerful resource in photonics for exploring foundations of quantum mechanics, as well as a practical laboratory tool. Due to the tiny coherence volume of particles used in matter-wave optics, a straightforward implementation of weak measurements is not feasible. We have overcome this hurdle by developing a method to weakly measure a massive particle's spin component. A neutron optical approach is realized by utilizing neutron interferometry, where the neutron's spin is coupled weakly to its spatial degree of freedom. Here, we present how one …

Properties Of Cu(In,Ga,Al)Se² Thin Films Fabricated By Magnetron Sputtering, Talaat A. Hameed, Wei Cao, Bahiga A. Mansour, Inas K. Elzawaway, El-Metwally M. Abdelrazek, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali

Applied Research Center Publications

Cu (In,Ga,Al)Se₂ (CIGAS) thin films were studied as an alternative absorber layer material to Cu(In_xGa_1-x)Se₂. CIGAS thin films with varying Al content were prepared by magnetron sputtering on Si(100) and soda-lime glass substrates at 350 °C, followed by postdeposition annealing at 520 °C for 5 h in vacuum. The film composition was measured by an electron probe microanalyzer while the elemental depth profiles were determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry. X-ray diffraction studies indicated that CIGAS films are single phase with chalcopyrite structure and that the (112) peak clearly shifts to higher 2θ …

Proton-Electrostatic Localization: Explaining The Bioenergetic Conundrum In Alkalophilic Bacteria, James Weifu Lee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The decades-longstanding energetic conundrum of alkalophilic bacteria as to how they are able to synthesize ATP has now, for the first time, been clearly solved using the proton-electrostatics localization hypothesis. This is a major breakthrough advance in understanding proton-coupling bioenergetics over the Nobel-prize work of Peter Mitchell’s chemiosmotic theory. The widespread textbook Mitchellian proton motive force (pmf) equation has now been significantly revised. Use of the newly derived equation results in an overall pmf value (215~233 mV) that is more than 4 times larger than that (44.3 mV) calculated from the Mitchellian equation for the alkalophilic bacteria growing at pH …

Longitudinal Target-Spin Asymmetries For Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering, E. Seder, A. Biselli, S. Bültmann, A. Klein, S. E. Kuhn, Y. Prok, Clas Collaboration

Physics Faculty Publications

A measurement of the electroproduction of photons off protons in the deeply inelastic regime was performed at Jefferson Lab using a nearly 6 GeV electron beam, a longitudinally polarized proton target, and the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer. Target-spin asymmetries for e p → e'p'ɣ events, which arise from the interference of the deeply virtual Compton scattering and the Bethe-Heitler processes, were extracted over the widest kinematics in Q², x_B, t, and ɸ, for 166 four-dimensional bins. In the framework of generalized parton distributions, at leading twist the t dependence of these asymmetries provides insight into …

Measurements Of Population Densities Of Metastable And Resonant Levels Of Argon Using Laser Induced Fluorescence, M. Nikolic, J. Newton, C. I. Sukenik, L. Vuskovic, S. Popovic

Physics Faculty Publications

We present a new approach to measure population densities of Ar I metastable and resonant excited states in low temperature Ar plasmas at pressures higher than 1 Torr. This approach combines the time resolved laser induced fluorescence technique with the kinetic model of Ar. The kinetic model of Ar is based on calculating the population rates of metastable and resonant levels by including contributions from the processes that affect population densities of Ar I excited states. In particular, we included collisional quenching processes between atoms in the ground state and excited states, since we are investigating plasma at higher pressures. …

Measurement Of The Target-Normal Single-Spin Asymmetry In Quasielastic Scattering From The Reaction ³He↑(E, E'), Y. W. Zhang, E. Long, M. Mihoviloviĉ, G. Gin, M Canan, S. Golge, R. Schiavilla

Physics Faculty Publications

We report the first measurement of the target single-spin asymmetry, A_y, in quasielastic scattering from the inclusive reaction ³He↑(e, e') on a ³He gas target polarized normal to the lepton scattering plane. Assuming time-reversal invariance, this asymmetry is strictly zero for one-photon exchange. A nonzero A_y can arise from the interference between the one-and two-photon exchange processes which is sensitive to the details of the substructure of the nucleon. An experiment recently completed at Jefferson Lab yielded asymmetries with high statistical precision at Q² = 0.13, 0.46, and 0.97 GeV2. These measurements demonstrate, for the first …

Direct Observation Of Quark-Hadron Duality In The Free Neutron F2 Structure Function, I. Niculescu, G. Niculescu, W. Melnitchouk, J. Arrington, M. E. Christy, S. Kuhn

Physics Faculty Publications

Using the recently published data from the BONuS(Barely Off-shell Nucleon Structure) experiment at Jefferson Lab, which utilized a spectator tagging technique to extract the inclusive electron-free neutron scattering cross section, we obtain the first direct observation of quark-hadron duality in the neutron F₂ structure function. The data are used to reconstruct the lowest few (N = 2, 4, and 6) moments of F₂ in the three prominent nucleon resonance regions, as well as the moments integrated over the entire resonance region. Comparison with moments computed from global parametrizations of parton distribution functions suggest that quark-hadron duality holds locally …

Computational Investigations Of Potential Energy Function Development For Metal-Organic Framework Simulations, Metal Carbenes, And Chemical Warfare Agents, Christian R. Cioce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are three-dimensional porous nanomaterials with a variety of applications, including catalysis, gas storage and separation, and sustainable energy. Their potential as air filtration systems is of interest for designer carbon capture materials. The chemical constituents (i.e. organic ligands) can be functionalized to create rationally designed CO2 sequestration platforms, for example. Hardware and software alike at the bleeding edge of supercomputing are utilized for designing first principles-based molecular models for the simulation of gas sorption in these frameworks. The classical potentials developed herein are named PHAST -- Potentials with High Accuracy, Speed, and Transferability, and thus are designed …

Search For A Permanent Electric Dipole Moment Of 225Ra, Mukut R. Kalita

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

The observation of a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) in a non-degenerate system would indicate the violation of discrete symmetries of Time reversal (T) or combined application of Charge (C) and Parity (P) symmetry violation through the CPT theorem. The diamagnetic ²²⁵Ra atom with nuclear spin I=1/2 is a favorable candidate for an EDM search. Experimental sensitivity to its EDM is enhanced due to its high atomic mass and the increased Schiff moment of its octupole deformed nucleus. An experimental setup is developed where laser cooled neutral radium atoms are collected in a …

Inductive Measurement Of Optically Hyperpolarized Phosphorous Donor Nuclei In An Isotopically Enriched Silicon-28 Crystal, P. Gumann, O. Patange, C. Ramanathan, H. Haas

Dartmouth Scholarship

We experimentally demonstrate the first inductive readout of optically hyperpolarized phosphorus-31 donor nuclear spins in an isotopically enriched silicon-28 crystal. The concentration of phosphorus donors in the crystal was 1.5×1015  cm−3, 3 orders of magnitude lower than has previously been detected via direct inductive detection. The signal-to-noise ratio measured in a single free induction decay from a 1  cm3 sample (≈1015 spins) was 113. By transferring the sample to an X-band ESR spectrometer, we were able to obtain a lower bound for the nuclear spin polarization at 1.7 K of ∼64%. The 31P-T2 measured with a Hahn echo sequence was …

Sulfur Vacancies In Photorefractive Sn2P2S6 Crystals, Eric M. Golden, Sergey A. Basun, A. A. Grabar, I. M. Stoika, Nancy C. Giles, D. R. Evans, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

A photoinduced electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum in single crystals of Sn2P2S6 (SPS) is assigned to an electron trapped at a sulfur vacancy. These vacancies are unintentionally present in undoped SPS crystals and are expected to play an important role in the photorefractive behavior of the material. Nonparamagnetic sulfur vacancies are formed during the initial growth of the crystal. Subsequent illumination below 100 K with 442 nm laser light easily converts these vacancies to EPR-active defects. The resulting S = 1/2 spectrum shows well-resolved and nearly isotropic hyperfine interactions with two P ions and two Sn ions. Partially resolved interactions …

Molecular Physics Of Elementary Processes Relevant To Hypersonics: Electron-Molecule Collisions, R Celiberto, V Laporta, A Laricchiuta, J Tennyson, J. M. Wadehra

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Research Publications

Non-resonant, electron-impact, vibro-electronic excitation cross sections, involving vibrationally excited N2 molecules, to the mixed valence-Rydberg b,c,o 1Πu and b′,c′,e′ 1åu+ singlet states are presented. These cross sections are calculated using the so-called similarity approach, accounting for the vibronic coupling among excited states, and compared with the experiments and different theoretical calculations.

New cross sections for the electron-impact resonant vibrational excitation of CO2 molecule are calculated, for the symmetric stretching mode, as a function of the incident electron energy and for the transitions (υ i , 0,0)→(νf , 0,0) with νi = 0,1,2 and for some selected value of νf in …

Effects Of Major Sudden Stratospheric Warmings Identified In Midlatitude Mesospheric Rayleigh-Scatter Lidar Temperatures, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Chad Fish, Josh Herron

Physics Student Research

Mesospheric temperature anomalies associated with Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSWs) have been observed extensively in the polar regions. However, observations of these anomalies at midlatitudes are sparse. The very dense 11-year data set, collected between 1993–2004, with the Rayleigh-scatter lidar at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO; 41.7°N, 111.8°W) at the Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences (CASS) on the campus of Utah State University (USU), has been carefully examined for such anomalies. The temperatures derived from these data extend over the mesosphere, from 45 to 90 km. During this period extensive data were acquired during seven major SSW events. In this …

High Speed Control Of Atom Transfer Sequence From Magneto-Optical To Dipole Trap For Quantum Computing, Jason Garvey Schray

Physics

Two circuits were designed, built, and tested for the purpose of aiding in the transfer of 87Rb atoms from a MOT to dipole traps and for characterizing the final dipole traps. The first circuit was a current switch designed to quickly turn the magnetic fields of the MOT off. The magnetic coil switch was able to reduce the magnetic field intensity to 5 % of its initial value after 81 μs. The second circuit was an analog signal switch designed to turn the modulation signal of an AOM off. The analog switch was able to reduce the modulation signal intensity …