New light shed on electron flips

http://thznetwork.net/index.php/archives/2033

Researchers from Berlin Joint EPR Lab at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and University of Washington (UW) derived a new set of equations that allows for calculating electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) transition probabilities with arbitrary alignment and polarization of the exciting electromagnetic radiation. The validity of the equations could be demonstrated with a newly designed THz-EPR experiment at HZB’s storage ring BESSY II. This progress is relevant for a broad community of EPR users and is published in Physical Review Letters on January 6, 2015.

HZB-scientists Karsten Holldack, Alexander Schnegg and Joscha Nehrkorn at the BESSY II Beamline. Credit: HZB

Electron spins are quantum objects with fascinating characteristics. They can be used as sensitive probes to explore material properties at the atomic level. Electron spins behave like tiny magnets that can be aligned parallel or anti parallel to an external magnetic field. Flips between these states may be induced by electromagnetic radiation matching the energy difference of the spin states. The probability for an EPR induced spin flip critically depends on the orientation of the magnetic component of the electromagnetic radiation with respect to the external magnetic field. These probabilities can be calculated, however, up to now respective expressions have been available only for a very limited number of experimental settings.

Set of equations for unconventional geometries

Joscha Nehrkorn, Alexander Schnegg, Karsten Holldack (HZB) and Stefan Stoll (UW) now succeeded to lift this restriction and derive general expressions for the magnetic transition rates, which are valid for any excitation configuration. The expressions apply to arbitrary excitation geometry and work for linear and circular polarized as well as unpolarized radiation. “We developed a general theory for EPR transition rates of anisotropic spins systems and implemented it in a freely available computer program. Thereby, EPR users can now interpret and predict experiments and extract highly desired information which was not accessible recently” explains Joscha Nehrkorn.

Tests have been successful

To test the new theoretical expressions, the authors employed the properties of a unique THz-EPR experiment at BESSY II. They aligned the spins of iron atoms incorporated in small organic molecules to a static magnetic field and excited them by linear polarized coherent synchrotron radiation in the THz range with varying orientations of the magnetic component of the THz radiation. By comparing the polarization dependence of theoretical predicted and experimental EPR line intensities, they could verify the newly derived equations and determine the parities of ground and excited high spin iron states. “This experiment is an excellent example how broad band THz radiation from a storage ring may be used for very high frequency EPR applications, these possibilities will be further boosted by BESSY VSR, the next generation of our storage ring,” states Karsten Holldack scientist at the THz beam line.

Alexander Schnegg who coordinates the project within a priority program (SPP 1601) of the German Research Foundation (DFG) further outlines: “The achieved breakthrough in EPR methodology strongly improves the predictive power of EPR for applications in e.g. life sciences, spintronics or energy materials research and paves the way for future EPR experiments with novel excitation schemes. ”

More information: General Magnetic Transition Dipole Moments for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (authors: J. Nehrkorn, A. Schnegg, K. Holldack and S. Stoll), Physical Review Letters.
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.010801.

Source: Phys.org

Department of Defense funds terahertz-range metamaterials research

http://phys.org/wire-news/161698553/department-of-defense-funds-terahertz-range-metamaterials-resear.html

Metamaterials research having potential applications in high-speed data transmission, medical imaging and other kinds of imaging and remote sensing is the focus of a U.S. Department of Defense project funded for five years at $7.5 million.

Penn State is part of this six-member Multi-University Research Initiative by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The project is led by Mark Cappelli, professor of mechanical engineering, Stanford University. Also collaborating with Stanford are the University of Texas at Austin, Tufts University, UCLA and the University of Washington.

Penn State researchers will focus on the fundamental science necessary to develop plasma photonic crystals and plasma-embedded metamaterials that operate in the terahertz range. Terahertz is the region of the electromagnetic spectrum that lies between far infrared and microwave, and is a nonionizing frequency invisible to the human eye. This regime is already being used in airport surveillance and astronomy.

The researchers will generate the plasmas inside holes in the metamaterial arrays using radio frequency excitation with the entire device encapsulated in an inert gas. Using micro-lens arrays, focused lasers will generate very dense, highly ionized plasma arrays. Unlike the metal structures of typical metamaterials, researchers can control a plasma's dielectric properties by varying the plasma density. Plasmas afford the possibility of controlling metamaterials at high bandwidth. This will enable such applications as antennas with beam steering, filter devices, multiplexers, phase shifters and electro-optical modulators.

Researchers at Penn State will be the primary team charged to develop a new class of low-loss dielectric resonators and multilayer low temperature co-fired ceramics to replace the usual metallic split-ring resonators found in traditional metamaterial structures. Metamaterials are artificial structures with sub-wavelength features that can interact with electromagnetic waves in a manner unlike that of natural materials. Long-term goals of metamaterials research include invisibility cloaking devices and perfect lenses to capture short-range light waves for fine detail light microscopy.

The principal investigators at Penn State are Clive Randall, professor of materials science and engineering, and Michael Lanagan, professor of engineering science and mechanics. The Penn State team members are pioneers in the development of dielectric materials and leaders in the long-running Center for Dielectric Studies, an industry supported research center that recently was renewed with technical new opportunities with North Carolina State University as the NSF I/UCRC Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics.

Provided by Pennsylvania State University

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