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T. Xie

Publications and source records attributed to T. Xie.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Measurement of a quantum system using spin-mechanical conversion

Levitated macroscopic particles exhibiting quantum mechanical effects are garnering increased attention as a means for precision sensing and testing quantum mechanics. Defects in diamond, such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre possess optically-addressable spins with long coherence times at room temperature and offer an intriguing system to examine quantum spin dynamics coupled to a macroscopic classical particle. In this work, we convert the outcome of a quantum measurement on an ensemble of spins into a macroscopic rotation of the host particle via spin-mechanical coupling. Following a sequence of green laser and microwave control pulses, spin-mechanical coupling between the final qubit spin state and the host particle -- an electrically-levitated diamond -- exerts a torque on the particle that deflects a weak near-infra-red laser beam. We measure spin readout contrast in excess of 70\%, and demonstrate pulsed mechanical detection of coherent Rabi oscillations, spin-echo interferometry and $T_1$-induced relaxation. We directly measure with temporal resolution the particle reorientation from a 60\,attonewton-metre spin torque induced by flipping the spins. Our results open up interesting new opportunities for levitated spin-mechanical systems using pulsed control, from improved sensing to the prospect of realising macroscopic quantum superposition states.

quant-ph

On the drift wave eigenmode crossing zero frequency in Tokamak

The conventional ion temperature gradient or η_i mode is known to propagate in the ion diamagnetic direction. Investigation of a generic drift fluid model with warm ions and adiabatic electrons, reveals that as η_i decreases, the propagation characteristics of the unstable mode may change drastically, the mode frequency first decreases in magnitude, and reaches zero for a critical η_i. But as η_i goes down further, the mode begins to propagate in the electron diamagnetic direction. The lower toroidal mode number perturbations are more prone to reversal in propagation direction. Even for η_i=0, the mode remains unstable, drawing free energy form the density gradients. Since finite ion temperature appears to be essential for propagation in the electron direction, it is appropriate to introduce new terminology and call this wave the warm ion electron drift (WIED) mode. The model drift wave system is explored within the framework of the two dimensional (2D) weakly asymmetric ballooning theory (WABT) for local eigenmode satisfying natural boundary conditions. The physics behind the excitation of the eigenmode crossing zero frequency is identified to be the reactive instability induced by the curvature coupling between the positive energy wave and the negative energy wave, a damped mode in electron direction coupled to a growing mode in the ion direction in non-dissipative slab limit. Apart from its intrinsic scientific value, this mechanism may shed some light onto the nature of tokamak edge turbulence observed in frequencies moderately lower than the electron diamagnetic frequency; understanding this phenomenon could be helpful in conceptual design around the edge region of future tokamak.

physics.plasm-ph

Engineering long-range interactions between ultracold atoms with light

Ultracold temperatures in dilute quantum gases opened the way to an exquisite control of matter at the quantum level. Here we focus on the control of ultracold atomic collisions using a laser to engineer their interactions at large interatomic distances. We show that the entrance channel of two colliding ultracold atoms can be coupled to a repulsive collisional channel by the laser light so that the overall interaction between the two atoms becomes repulsive: this prevents them to come close together and to undergo inelastic processes, thus protecting the atomic gases from unwanted losses. We illustrate such an optical shielding mechanism with potassium and cesium atoms colliding at ultracold temperature (\textless 1 microkelvin). The process is described in the framework of the dressed-state picture and we then solve the resulting staionary coupled Schrödinger equations. The role of spontaneous emission and photoinduced inelastic scattering is also investigated as possible limitations of the shielding efficiency. We predict an almost complete suppression of inelastic collisions using a laser-induced coupling characterized by a Rabi frequency of $ω= 200$~MHz and a frequency detuned from the potassium D2 transition by $Δ= 200$~MHz. We found the polarization of the laser has no influence on this efficiency. This proposal could easily be formulated for other bi-alkali-metal pairs as their long-range interaction are all very similar to each other.

cond-mat.quant-gas

The intermittent excitation of geodesic acoustic mode by nonlinear Instanton of electron drift wave envelope in L-mode discharge near tokamak edge

There are two distinct phases in the evolution of drift wave envelope in the presence of zonal flow. A long-lived standing wave phase, which we call the Caviton, and a short-lived traveling wave phase (in radial direction) we call the Instanton. For drift wave turbulence driven by ion temperature gradient mode (ITG), these two stages of dynamics were displayed in [Zhang Y Z, Liu Z Y, Xie T, Mahajan S M and Liu J 2017 Physics of Plasmas 24 122304]. In this paper we show that the dynamical attributes of ITG turbulence are readily replicated when the turbulence rotates in the electron direction; our model calculation deals specifically with the toroidal electron drift waves (EDW) in the well-known δ_e model. While the basic calculations are presented in parallel to the ITG counterpart, more emphasis is laid here on the motion of Instanton; several abrupt phenomena observed in tokamaks, such as intermittent excitation of geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) shown in this paper, could be attributed to the sudden and fast radial motion of Instanton. The calculation brings out the defining characteristics of the Instanton: it begins as a linear traveling wave right after the transition. Then, it evolves to a nonlinear stage with increasing frequency all the way to 20 kHz. The modulation to Reynolds stress in zonal flow equation will cause resonant excitation to GAM. The intermittency is shown due to the random phase mixing between multiple central rational surfaces in the reaction region.

physics.plasm-ph

Optical shielding of destructive chemical reactions between ultracold ground-state NaRb molecules

We propose a method to suppress the chemical reactions between ultracold bosonic ground-state $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb molecules based on optical shielding. By applying a laser with a frequency blue-detuned from the transition between the lowest rovibrational level of the electronic ground state $X^1Σ^+ (v_X=0, j_X=0)$, and the long-lived excited level $b^3Π_0 (v_b=0, j_b=1)$, the long-range dipole-dipole interaction between the colliding molecules can be engineered, leading to a dramatic suppression of reactive and photoinduced inelastic collisions, for both linear and circular laser polarizations. We demonstrate that the spontaneous emission from $b^3Π_0 (v_b=0, j_b=1)$ does not deteriorate the shielding process. This opens the possibility for a strong increase of the lifetime of cold molecule traps, and for an efficient evaporative cooling. We also anticipate that the proposed mechanism is valid for alkali-metal diatomics with sufficiently large dipole-dipole interactions.

cond-mat.quant-gas

Strain-Engineered High Responsivity MoTe2 Photodetector for Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits

In integrated photonics, specific wavelengths are preferred such as 1550 nm due to low-loss transmission and the availability of optical gain in this spectral region. For chip-based photodetectors, layered two-dimensional (2D) materials bear scientific and technologically-relevant properties leading to strong light-matter-interaction devices due to effects such as reduced coulomb screening or excitonic states. However, no efficient photodetector in the telecommunication C-band using 2D materials has been realized yet. Here, we demonstrate a MoTe2-based photodetector featuring strong photoresponse (responsivity = 0.5 A/W) operating at 1550nm on silicon photonic waveguide enabled by engineering the strain (4%) inside the photo-absorbing transition-metal-dichalcogenide film. We show that an induced tensile strain of ~4% reduces the bandgap of MoTe2 by about 0.2 eV by microscopically measuring the work-function across the device. Unlike Graphene-based photodetectors relying on a gapless band structure, this semiconductor-2D material detector shows a ~100X improved dark current enabling an efficient noise-equivalent power of just 90 pW/Hz^0.5. Such strain-engineered integrated photodetector provides new opportunities for integrated optoelectronic systems.

physics.app-ph

The unified ballooning theory with weak up-down asymmetric mode structure and the numerical studies

A unified ballooning theory, constructed on the basis of two special theories [Y. Z. Zhang, S. M. Mahajan, X. D. Zhang, Phys. Fluids B4, 2729 (1992); Y. Z. Zhang, T. Xie, Nucl. Fusion & Plasma Phys. 33, 193 (2013)], shows that a weak up-down asymmetric mode structure is normally formed in an up-down symmetric equilibrium; the weak up-down asymmetry in mode structure is the manifestation of non-trivial higher order effects beyond the standard ballooning equation. It is shown that the asymmetric mode may have even higher growth rate than symmetric modes. Salient features of the theory are illustrated by investigating a fluid model for the ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode. The two dimensional (2D) analytical form of ITG mode, solved in ballooning representation, is then converted into the radial-poloidal space to provide the natural boundary condition for solving the 2D mathematical local eigenmode problem. We find the analytical expression of mode structure in good agreement with finite difference solution. This sets a reliable framework for quasi-linear computation.

physics.plasm-ph

Constraints on Low-Mass WIMP Interactions on 19F from PICASSO

Recent results from the PICASSO dark matter search experiment at SNOLAB are reported. These results were obtained using a subset of 10 detectors with a total target mass of 0.72 kg of 19F and an exposure of 114 kgd. The low backgrounds in PICASSO allow recoil energy thresholds as low as 1.7 keV to be obtained which results in an increased sensitivity to interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with masses below 10 GeV/c^2. No dark matter signal was found. Best exclusion limits in the spin dependent sector were obtained for WIMP masses of 20 GeV/c^2 with a cross section on protons of sigma_p^SD = 0.032 pb (90% C.L.). In the spin independent sector close to the low mass region of 7 GeV/c2 favoured by CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA, cross sections larger than sigma_p^SI = 1.41x10^-4 pb (90% C.L.) are excluded.

hep-ex

Electronic Structures of Fe$_{3-x}V$_x$Si Probed by Photoemission Spectroscopy

The electronic structures of the Heusler type compounds Fe$_{3-x}V$_x$Si in the concentration range between x = 0 and x = 1 have been probed by photoemission spectroscopy (PES). The observed shift of Si 2p core- level and the main valence band structres indicate a chemical potential shift to higher energy with increasing x. It is also clarified that the density of state at Fermi edge is owing to the collaboration of V 3d and Fe 3d derived states. Besides the decrease of the spectral intensity near Fermi edge with increasing x suggests the formation of pseudo gap at large x.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Soft X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism of c(2x2) CuMn Ordered Surface Alloy

Mn 2p soft X-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopy excited with circularly polarized synchrotron radiation has been applied to a new class of material, c(2x2)CuMn/Cu(001) two-dimensional ordered surface alloy. A significant X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) signal has been clearly observed at T=25K, indicating the existence of the ferromagnetic state under the external magnetic field of 1.4 Tesla. The lineshape analyses of the XAS and XMCD spectra clearly show that the Mn 3d state is rather localized and has a high spin magnetic moment due to its half-filled character.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

HI ``Tails'' from Cometary Globules in IC1396

IC 1396 is a relatively nearby (750 pc), large (>2 deg), HII region ionized by a single O6.5V star and containing bright-rimmed cometary globules. We have made the first arcmin resolution images of atomic hydrogen toward IC 1396, and have found remarkable ``tail''-like structures associated with some of the globules and extending up to 6.5 pc radially away from the central ionizing star. These HI ``tails'' may be material which has been ablated from the globule through ionization and/or photodissociation and then accelerated away from the globule by the stellar wind, but which has since drifted into the ``shadow'' of the globules. This report presents the first results of the Galactic Plane Survey Project recently begun by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory.

astro-ph