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Ioannis Thanopulos

Publications and source records attributed to Ioannis Thanopulos.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Fast chiral resolution with optimal control

In this work, we formulate the problem of achieving in minimum-time perfect chiral resolution with bounded control fields, as an optimal control problem on two non-interacting spins-$1/2$. We assume the same control bound for the two Raman fields (pump and Stokes) and a different bound for the field connecting directly the two lower-energy states. Using control theory, we show that the optimal fields can only take the boundary values or be zero, the latter corresponding to singular control. Subsequently, using numerical optimal control and intuitive arguments, we identify some three-stage symmetric optimal pulse-sequences, for relatively larger values of the ratio between the two control bounds, and analytically calculate the corresponding pulse timings as functions of this ratio. For smaller values of the bounds ratio, numerical optimal control indicates that the optimal pulse-sequence loses its symmetry and the number of stages increases in general. In all cases, the analytical or numerical optimal protocol achieves a faster perfect chiral resolution than other pulsed protocols, mainly because of the simultaneous action of the control fields. The present work is expected to be useful in the wide spectrum of applications across the natural sciences where enantiomer separation is a crucial task.

quant-ph↗

Efficient exciton generation in a semiconductor quantum dot-metal nanoparticle composite structure using conventional chirped pulses

We consider a nanostructure consisting of a semiconductor quantum dot coupled to a metal nanoparticle, and show with numerical simulations that the exciton state of the quantum dot can be robustly generated from the ground state even for small interparticle distances, using conventional chirped pulses with Gaussian and hyperbolic secant envelopes. The asymmetry observed in the final exciton population with respect to the chirp sign of the applied pulses is explained using the nonlinear density matrix equations describing the system, and is attributed to the real part of the parameter emerging from the interaction between excitons in the quantum dot and plasmons in the metal nanoparticle. The simplicity of the conventional chirped pulses, which can also be easily implemented in the laboratory, make the proposed robust quantum control scheme potentially useful for the implementation of ultrafast nanoswitches and quantum information processing tasks with semiconductor quantum dots.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Non-Markovian spontaneous emission dynamics of a quantum emitter near a MoS$_2$ nanodisk

We introduce a photonic nanostructure made of two dimensional materials that can lead to non-Markovian dynamics in the spontaneous emission of a nearby quantum emitter. Specifically, we investigate the spontaneous emission dynamics of a two-level quantum emitter with picosecond free-space decay time, modelling J-aggregates, close to a MoS$_2$ nanodisk. Reversible population dynamics in the quantum emitter is obtained when the emitter's frequency matches the frequency of an exciton-polariton resonance created by the nanodisk. When such isolated resonances exist, decaying Rabi oscillations may occur. The overlapping of exciton-polariton resonances also affects strongly the decay dynamics at close distances to the nanodisk, giving rise to complex decaying population oscillations. At very close distances of the emitter to the nanodisk the ultrastrong coupling regime appears, where after a very fast oscillatory partial decay of the initial population, the emitter rest population remains constant over long times and population trapping occurs. The size and material quality of the nanodisk is shown to be of lesser influence on the above results.

quant-ph↗

Two-Step Enantio-selective Optical Switch

We present an optical "enantio-selective switch", that, in two steps, turns a ("racemic") mixture of left-handed and right-handed chiral molecules into the enantiomerically pure state of interest. The optical switch is composed of an "enantio-discriminator" and an "enantio-converter" acting in tandem. The method is robust, insensitive to decay processes, and does not require molecular preorientation. We demonstrate the method on the purification of a racemate of (transiently chiral) D$_2$S$_2$ molecules, performed on the nanosecond timescale.

quant-ph↗