Biomedical subjects

R Merlin

Publications and source records attributed to R Merlin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Observation of surface-avoiding waves: a new class of extended states in periodic media.

Coherent time-domain optical experiments on GaAs-AlAs superlattices reveal the existence of an unusually long-lived acoustic mode at approximately 0.6 THz which couples weakly to the environment by evading the sample boundaries. Classical as well as quantum states that steer clear of surfaces are generally shown to occur in the spectrum of periodic structures, for most boundary conditions. These surface-avoiding waves are associated with frequencies outside forbidden gaps and wave vectors in the vicinity of the center and edge of the Brillouin zone. Possible consequences for surface science and resonant-cavity applications are discussed.

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PubMed2004

Magnon squeezing in an antiferromagnet: reducing the spin noise below the standard quantum limit.

We report the first experimental demonstration of quantum squeezing of a collective spin-wave excitation (magnon) using femtosecond optical pulses to generate correlations involving pairs of spins in an antiferromagnetic insulator MnF2. In the squeezed state, the fluctuations of the magnetization of a crystallographic unit cell vary periodically in time and are reduced below that of the ground-state quantum noise.

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PubMed2004

Ultrafast dynamic control of spin and charge density oscillations in a GaAs quantum well.

We use subpicosecond laser pulses to generate and monitor in real time collective oscillations of electrons in a modulation-doped GaAs quantum well. The observed frequencies match those of intersubband spin- and charge-density excitations. Light couples to coherent density fluctuations through resonant stimulated Raman scattering. Because the spin- and charge-related modes obey different selection rules and resonant behavior, the amplitudes of the corresponding oscillations can be independently controlled by using shaped pulses of the proper polarization.

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PubMed2003

Transient strain driven by a dense electron-hole plasma.

We measure transient strain in ultrafast laser-excited Ge by time-resolved x-ray anomalous transmission. The development of the coherent strain pulse is dominated by rapid ambipolar diffusion. This pulse extends considerably longer than the laser penetration depth because the plasma initially propagates faster than the acoustic modes. X-ray diffraction simulations are in agreement with the observed dynamics.

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PubMed2001

Coherent control of pulsed X-ray beams.

Synchrotrons produce continuous trains of closely spaced X-ray pulses. Application of such sources to the study of atomic-scale motion requires efficient modulation of these beams on timescales ranging from nanoseconds to femtoseconds. However, ultrafast X-ray modulators are not generally available. Here we report efficient subnanosecond coherent switching of synchrotron beams by using acoustic pulses in a crystal to modulate the anomalous low-loss transmission of X-ray pulses. The acoustic excitation transfers energy between two X-ray beams in a time shorter than the synchrotron pulse width of about 100 ps. Gigahertz modulation of the diffracted X-rays is also observed. We report different geometric arrangements, such as a switch based on the collision of two counter-propagating acoustic pulses: this doubles the X-ray modulation frequency, and also provides a means of observing a localized transient strain inside an opaque material. We expect that these techniques could be scaled to produce subpicosecond pulses, through laser-generated coherent optical phonon modulation of X-ray diffraction in crystals. Such ultrafast capabilities have been demonstrated thus far only in laser-generated X-ray sources, or through the use of X-ray streak cameras.

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PubMed2001

Probing impulsive strain propagation with X-ray pulses.

Pump-probe time-resolved x-ray diffraction of allowed and nearly forbidden reflections in InSb is used to follow the propagation of a coherent acoustic pulse generated by ultrafast laser excitation. The surface and bulk components of the strain could be simultaneously measured due to the large x-ray penetration depth. Comparison of the experimental data with dynamical diffraction simulations suggests that the conventional model for impulsively generated strain underestimates the partitioning of energy into coherent modes.

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PubMed2001

Cherenkov radiation at speeds below the light threshold: phonon-assisted phase matching.

Charged particles traveling through matter at speeds larger than the phase velocity of light in the medium emit Cherenkov radiation. Calculations reveal that a given angle of the radiation conical wavefront is associated with two velocities, one above and one below a certain speed threshold. Emission at subluminal but not superluminal speeds is predicted and verified experimentally for relativistic dipoles generated with an optical method based on subpicosecond pulses moving in a nonlinear medium. The dipolar Cherenkov field, in the range of infrared-active phonons, is identical to that of phonon polaritons produced by impulsive laser excitation.

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PubMed1997

Vacuum Squeezing of Solids: Macroscopic Quantum States Driven by Light Pulses

Femtosecond laser pulses and coherent two-phonon Raman scattering were used to excite KTaO3 into a squeezed state, nearly periodic in time, in which the variance of the atomic displacements dips below the standard quantum limit for half of a cycle. This nonclassical state involves a continuum of transverse acoustic modes that leads to oscillations in the refractive index associated with the frequency of a van Hove singularity in the phonon density of states.

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PubMed1996