Search results for " Optics"
showing 10 items of 5880 documents
Time-dependent Kohn-Sham approach to quantum electrodynamics
2010
We prove a generalization of the van Leeuwen theorem towards quantum electrodynamics, providing the formal foundations of a time-dependent Kohn-Sham construction for coupled quantized matter and electromagnetic fields. Thereby we circumvent the symmetry-causality problems associated with the action-functional approach to Kohn-Sham systems. We show that the effective external four-potential and four-current of the Kohn-Sham system are uniquely defined and that the effective four-current takes a very simple form. Further we rederive the Runge-Gross theorem for quantum electrodynamics.
Ultrabroadband single-cycle terahertz pulses with peak fields of 300 kV cm-1 from a metallic spintronic emitter
2017
To explore the capabilities of metallic spintronic thin-film stacks as a source of intense and broadband terahertz electromagnetic fields, we excite a W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer on a large-area glass substrate (diameter of 7.5 cm) by a femtosecond laser pulse (energy 5.5 mJ, duration 40 fs, wavelength 800 nm). After focusing, the emitted terahertz pulse is measured to have a duration of 230 fs, a peak field of 300 kV cm$^{-1}$ and an energy of 5 nJ. In particular, the waveform exhibits a gapless spectrum extending from 1 to 10 THz at 10% of amplitude maximum, thereby facilitating nonlinear control over matter in this difficult-to-reach frequency range and on the sub-picosecond time scale.
Sub-wavelength imaging of light confinement and propagation in SOI based photonic crystal devices
2006
A light source is coupled into photonic crystal devices and a near field optical probe is used to observe the electromagnetic field propagation and distribution at a sub-wavelength scale. Bloch modes are clearly observed.
Forward-backward equations for nonlinear propagation in axially invariant optical systems
2004
We present a novel general framework to deal with forward and backward components of the electromagnetic field in axially-invariant nonlinear optical systems, which include those having any type of linear or nonlinear transverse inhomogeneities. With a minimum amount of approximations, we obtain a system of two first-order equations for forward and backward components explicitly showing the nonlinear couplings among them. The modal approach used allows for an effective reduction of the dimensionality of the original problem from 3+1 (three spatial dimensions plus one time dimension) to 1+1 (one spatial dimension plus one frequency dimension). The new equations can be written in a spinor Dir…
Biorthonormal-basis method for the vector description of optical-fiber modes
1998
This paper gives the theoretical basis for the development of real vector modal methods to describe optical-fiber modes. To this end, the vector wave equations, which determine the electromagnetic fields, are written in terms of a pair of linear, nonself-adjoint operators, whose eigenvectors satisfy biorthogonality relations. The key of our method is to obtain a matrix representation of the vector wave equations in a basis that is defined by the modes of an auxiliary system. Our proposed technique can be applied to fibers with any profile, even those with a complex refractive index. An example is discussed to illustrate our approach.
Silencing and enhancement of second-harmonic generation in optical gap antennas
2012
International audience; Amplifying local electromagnetic fields by engineering optical interactions between individual constituents of an optical antenna is considered fundamental for efficient nonlinear wavelength conversion in nanometer-scale devices. In contrast to this general statement we show that high field enhancement does not necessarily lead to an optimized nonlinear activity. In particular, we demonstrate that second-harmonic responses generated at strongly interacting optical gap antennas can be significantly suppressed. Numerical simulations are confirming silencing of second-harmonic in these coupled systems despite the existence of local field amplification. We then propose a…
Exactly solvable model of two three-dimensional harmonic oscillators interacting with the quantum electromagnetic field: The far-zone Casimir-Polder …
2005
We consider two three-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillators interacting with the quantum electromagnetic field in the Coulomb gauge and within dipole approximation. Using a Bogoliubov-like transformation, we can obtain transformed operators such that the Hamiltonian of the system, when expressed in terms of these operators, assumes a diagonal form. We are also able to obtain an expression for the energy shift of the ground state, which is valid at all orders in the coupling constant. From this energy shift the nonperturbative Casimir-Polder potential energy between the two oscillators can be obtained. When approximated to the fourth order in the electric charge, the well-known expressi…
Loss of coherence and dressing in QED
2006
The dynamics of a free charged particle, initially described by a coherent wave packet, interacting with an environment, i.e. the electromagnetic field characterized by a temperature $T$, is studied. Using the dipole approximation the exact expressions for the evolution of the reduced density matrix both in momentum and configuration space and the vacuum and the thermal contribution to decoherence, are obtained. The time behaviour of the coherence lengths in the two representations are given. Through the analysis of the dynamic of the field structure associated to the particle the vacuum contribution is shown to be linked to the birth of correlations between the single momentum components o…
Analytical wave function of an atom in the presence of a laser pulse
2005
We study a simple model atom that has two bound states and a continuum of free states, interacting with a strong electromagnetic field. In our analysis we assume that only the continuum-continuum transitions occur- ring between degenerate free states are important for the dynamics of the atomic system; adopting this sim- plifying hypothesis, we show that it is possible to describe the time evolution of the atom by means of an infinite but discrete set of first-order differential equations describing a formal model atom that has two bound states and a degenerate quasicontinuum of states. Moreover, these equations depend on a small number of parameters of the bare atom and of the external las…
Computation of the field diffracted by a local surface defect: application to tip–sample interaction in the photon scanning tunneling microscope
1996
We use a method based on the Fourier transform of the electromagnetic field to compute the field diffracted by a local deformation of a plane boundary surface. We give a complete development of each step of the technique. To show the interaction that exists between the probe of a near-field optical microscope and the observed sample, we use the model of a truncated cone-shaped tip above a rectangular surface defect. We compute the electrical intensity along a line located between the tip and the local surface defect. We show the influence of the polarization of the incident wave and the effect of the position of the tip with respect to the position of the surface defect.