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The static electric field effects on nonlinear carrier dynamics in low-doped GaAs bulk under the influence of an intense sub-terahertz field are studied by a three-dimensional multivalleys Monte Carlo simulation. The conversion efficiency is calculated by using the appropriate Maxwell equation for the propagation of an electromagnetic wave along a given direction in the medium. Production of odd and even harmonics due to the nonlinearity of the velocity-field relation is investigated.

This paper reports the results of Monte Carlo simulations of electronic noise in a GaAs bulk driven by two mixed high-frequency large-amplitude periodic electric fields. Under these conditions, the system response shows some peculiarities in the noise performance, such as a resonant-like enhancement of the spectra near the two frequencies of the applied fields. The relations among the frequency response and the velocity fluctuations as a function of intensities and frequencies of the sub-terahertz mixed excitation fields have been investigated. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The conditions are found when rapid heating of the electrons of a degenerate semiconductor in the presence of two electric fields, one constant and the other variable, is accompanied by the formation of a distribution function significantly departing from the Fermi one. It is also shown that the newly found modification of the electron distribution yields a relative amplification of nonlinear currents generation.

It is shown that using even harmonics of a test wave it is possible to diagnose the fast time evolution of the current density.

It is shown that in a weakly nonuniform plasma with electron heat flux the generation of odd and even harmonics of high frequency radiation is possible. The even harmonics properties qualitatively differ as compared to those of odd harmonics and depend in an essential way on the heat flux value and orientation with respect to the fundamental wave polarization and propagation directions.

To qualify the feasibility of standard semiconductor materials and Schottky‐barrier diodes (SBDs) for THz high‐order harmonic generation and extraction, the harmonic intensity, intrinsic noise and signal‐to‐noise ratio are calculated by the Monte Carlo method when a periodic high‐frequency large‐amplitude external signal is applied to a semiconductor device. Due to very high signal‐to‐noise ratio heavily doped GaAs SBDs are found to exhibit conditions for frequency mixing and harmonic extraction that are definitively superior to those of bulk materials. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The third harmonic generation in the skin-layer of a dense hot plasma due to inverse bremsstrahlung is investigated for regimes having increasing experimental relevance. New analytical dependencies of the radiation flux density at the frequency 3ω on the plasma and fundamental wave parameters are established.

Monte Carlo simulations for high harmonic generation by two mixed electric fields linearly polarized with frequency in the far-infrared range in GaAs crystal are examined. The wave-mixed signal conversion efficiency is calculated by the use of the appropriate Maxwell equation for the propagation of an electromagnetic wave along a given direction in a medium. We show how the efficiency of the harmonics and their polarization depend on: (i) the frequencies and the intensities of the incident waves; (ii) the angle between the polarization of the two incident fields.

The reflection of a test electromagnetic wave normally impinging on a plasma surface is investigated within the formalism of the surface impedance. The plasma is assumed to possess an anisotropic two-temperature bi-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution function. The linearly polarized impinging wave during reflection transforms into an elliptically polarized one, the degree of ellipticity depending on the electron temperature anisotropy. Polarization modifications of the reflected wave are particularly important in the conditions of the anomalous skin-effect, when the influence of the wave magnetic field on the electron kinetics in the skin layer is strong. Relations are reported connecting the reflected wave basic parameters to those of the reflecting plasma surface, making possible, through the experimental determination of the reflected wave characteristics, to find the plasma electron concentration and the two effective temperatures.

The dependencies of third harmonic generation due to electron scattering by charged impurities versus electron effective mass, electron temperature and infrared radiation intensity and frequency are derived. For semiconductors with strong electron effective mass anisotropy, a gigantic anisotropy in the generation efficiency is found.

Dense plasma heating by an ultrashort laser pulse is investigated in the regime of the high-frequency skin effect. The electron temperature evolution on the plasma surface and the properties of the classical heat transfer into the plasma interior are studied. Three possible plasma heating mechanisms are considered. At relatively not large temperatures the plasma heating, due to radiation absorption, is controlled by the electron–ion collisions in the skin layer. The others two pathways are related to high temperatures and take place in the regime of collisionless radiation absorption when the electrons are reflected by the plasma surface either specularly or diffusely. It is shown that, compared with the specular reflection, the diffuse one yields a larger increase of the electron temperature on the plasma surface and a faster propagation of the heat flux in the plasma interior, even when the fraction of diffusely reflected electrons is not high.

Dense plasma heating by an ultrashort laser pulse is investigated in the regime of the high-frequency skin-effect. It is shown that the diffuse electron reflection by the plasma boundary yields a significant increase of electron temperature as compared to the specular reflection case, and a faster propagation of the heat flux inside the plasma.

Collisionless absorption of linearly polarized electromagnetic wave in a plasma with anisotropic bi-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution is investigated. Due to the wave magnetic field influence on the electron kinetics in the skin layer, the wave absorption is found to significantly depend on the degree of the electron temperature anisotropy. Depending on the value of the skin layer anomaly parameter, and on the electron temperature anisotropy degree, the conditions are found when a significant decrease or increase of the collisionless absorption is expected.

A treatment is given of harmonics generation resulting from nonlinear inverse bremsstrahlung in a plasma with an anisotropic bi-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution function. A complete characterization of the process is reported. In particular, analytically and numerically we established how the efficiency of the odd harmonics generation and their polarization depend on such process parameters as: (1) the degree of effective temperature anisotropy, (2) the frequency and the intensity of the fundamental wave, and (3) the angle between the fundamental wave field direction and the symmetry axis of the electron distribution function.

The high-order harmonics generation in bulk InN, subjected to a high-frequency alternating electric field of strong-amplitude is investigated theoretically using Monte Carlo simulations of carrier interacting with a multi-mode electric field. This approach allows on the one hand to account in a natural way for the effect of the reabsorption of the generated radiation by the nonlinear medium itself, and on the other hand to estimate the constraints, which must be satisfied by the external experimental setup to achieve the maximum conversion efficiency. It is demonstrated, that InN is a promising material for such a conversion up to the THz frequency range. Under optimum conditions, the power conversion efficiency is found to reach several percents.

Inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of electromagnetic radiation in plasma with anisotropic two-temperature bi-Maxwellian electron distribution function over velocities is investigated. In the case of a weak field, absorption is more effective if the radiation field is polarized in the plane in which the plasma electrons have the smaller of the two temperatures. In the case when the distribution function is highly anisotropic, absorption changes strongly when the field polarization changes its direction with respect to the temperature anisotropy axis. In the intermediate domain, when the field is strong in directions not very close to that of the larger temperature, both absorption efficiency and degree of its anisotropy decrease. The conditions when the absorbed power practically does not depend on the field are established. Finally, in the case of a strong field, absorption decreases further while the degree of anisotropy is a weakly changing logarithmic function of effective electron temperatures.

The description of the Weibel instability linear stage for a plasma interacting with an ultrashort laser pulse is given. Pulse durations both smaller and larger than the inverse collision frequency of the thermal electrons are considered. In the latter case the pulse duration is smaller than the thermal electron heating time. The growth rate of the instability is derived and the possibility of a considerable quasistationary magnetic field amplification demonstrated.

A short review of the properties of electron distribution functions in a fully ionized plasma in the presence of high-frequency laser radiation is given. Weak and strong field situations are considered. In a weak field, when the amplitude of the electron quiver velocity in the field is smaller than the electron thermal velocity, the distributions of both the thermal and the under thermal electrons are considered. The conditions are shown when it is necessary to take into account the deviation of the electron distribution function from a Maxwellian. In a strong field the kinetics of the electron is strongly determined by the field intensity and the distribution function in the coordinate system oscillating with the radiation frequency is anisotropic under broad physical conditions, and may be approximated by a bi-Maxwellian distribution with two different transverse and longitudinal temperatures. Among the most peculiar features of the laser modified electron distribution functions, it is worth quoting the pathway of the anisotropy evolution. Depending on the laser field parameters, the distribution function in the initial stages of the laser-plasma interaction is either elongated or squeezed parallel to the field polarization. In the later stages it evolves towards isotropization, which is always approached from the elongated shape. Thus, an initially squeezed distribution function first evolves towards an elongated shape and subsequently towards isotropization. The physical origin and the consequences of the reported features are discussed. In addition, a number of physical processes for which the theory demands the use of the described non-equilibrium distribution functions are briefly addressed.

Harmonics spectra in an n-type InP bulk semiconductor showing up to the 13th harmonic are reported. The external field is linearly polarized with the frequency ν = 100 GHz. Calculations are based on a Monte Carlo simulation for the electron motion in the conducting band and on an electrodynamics equation for the harmonics generation. The effect of a significant reduction of efficiency in the generation of particular harmonics is found, and is traced back to a sort of alternating field Gunn effect. A short analysis of the different physical mechanisms giving rise to harmonics generation is presented.

We apply the average electron model to describe high harmonic generation in a collisional plasma in a laser field. The model is based on the coupled kinetic equations for electron velocity and electron temperature. The harmonic intensities are obtained from the Fourier coefficients of the nonlinear part of the electron velocity. Numerical calculations are reported for both strongly and weakly ionized plasmas in the nonstationary regime. We show the role of collisions frequencies as well as of quiver and thermal velocities in the harmonic generation efficiency.

International audience

New self-similar distributions functions (EDF's) in a non-uniform plasma embedded in a non-uniform high frequency electromagnetic field are reported. The dependences of the EDF's on the degree of density non-uniformity, on the rate of electron heating due to inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of high frequency field, and on the value of the electric current in a plasma are established. It is shown how the EDF modifications influence the energy absorption of the electromagnetic field and the electron heat transfer. The self-consistent states of the plasma and the electromagnetic field in which the self-similar electron distributions take place are described.

We show that a flying particle, such as an electron or a photon, scattering along a one-dimensional waveguide from a pair of static spin-1/2 centers, such as quantum dots, can implement a CZ gate (universal for quantum computation) between them. This occurs quasi-deterministically in a single scattering event, hence with no need for any post-selection or iteration, {and} without demanding the flying particle to bear any internal spin. We show that an easily matched hard-wall boundary condition along with the elastic nature of the process are key to such performances., 7 pages, 3 figures (including Suppl. Mater.)

We investigate whether a two-qubit quantum gate can be implemented in a scattering process involving a flying and a static qubit. To this end, we focus on a paradigmatic setup made out of a mobile particle and a quantum impurity, whose respective spin degrees of freedom couple to each other during a one-dimensional scattering process. Once a condition for the occurrence of quantum gates is derived in terms of spin-dependent transmission coefficients, we show that this can be actually fulfilled through the insertion of an additional narrow potential barrier. An interesting observation is that under resonance conditions the above enables a gate only for isotropic Heisenberg (exchange) interactions and fails for an XY interaction. We show the existence of parameter regimes for which gates able to establish a maximum amount of entanglement can be implemented. The gates are found to be robust to variations of the optimal parameters., 7 pages, 3 figures

We propose a physical model for generating multipartite entangled states of spin-$s$ particles that have important applications in distributed quantum information processing. Our protocol is based on a process where mobile spins induce the interaction among remote scattering centers. As such, a major advantage lies on the management of stationary and well separated spins. Among the generable states, there is a class of $N$-qubit singlets allowing for optimal quantum telecloning in a scalable and controllable way. We also show how to prepare Aharonov, W and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Format revised

We consider a one-dimensional (1D) structure where non-interacting spin-$s$ scattering centers, such as quantum impurities or multi-level atoms, are embedded at given positions. We show that the injection into the structure of unpolarized flying qubits, such as electrons or photons, along with {path} detection suffice to accomplish spin-state teleportation between two centers via a third ancillary one. {No action over the internal quantum state of both the spin-$s$ particles and the flying qubits is required. The protocol enables the transfer of quantum information between well-seperated static entities in nanostructures by exploiting a very low-control mechanism, namely scattering., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

We investigate the time evolution of entanglement in a process where a mobile particle is scattered by static spins. We show that entanglement increases monotonically during a transient and then saturates to a steady-state value. For a quasi-monochromatic mobile particle, the transient time depends only on the group-velocity and width of the incoming wavepacket and is insensitive to the interaction strength and spin-number of the scattering particles. These features do not depend on the interaction model and can be seen in various physical settings., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX4

We present a scheme for generating entanglement between two magnetic impurities in a solid-state system via electron scattering. The scheme applies to impurities of arbitrary quantum spin number. We show that resonance conditions yield generation of a maximally entangled state of the impurities' spins, regardless of the value of the electron–impurity coupling constant and the impurity spin quantum number. The mechanism behind the scheme is explained in terms of resonance-induced selection rules.

We present a protocol that sets maximum stationary entanglement between remote spins through scattering of mobile mediators without initialization, post-selection or feedback of the mediators' state. No time-resolved tuning is needed and, counterintuitively, the protocol generates two-qubit singlet states even when classical mediators are used. The mechanism responsible for such effect is resilient against non-optimal coupling strengths and dephasing affecting the spins. The scheme uses itinerant particles and scattering centres and can be implemented in various settings. When quantum dots and photons are used a striking result is found: injection of classical mediators, rather than quantum ones, improves the scheme efficiency., 7 pages, 5 figures, replaced with published version

We investigate how hot-electron fluctuations in n-type Si are affected by the presence of an intense (static) magnetic field in a Hall geometry. By using the Monte Carlo method, we find that the known Hall-effect-induced redistribution of electrons among valleys can suppress electron fluctuations with a simultaneous enhancement of the drift velocity. We investigate how hot-electron fluctuations in n-type Si are affected by the presence of an intense (static) magnetic field in a Hall geometry. By using the Monte Carlo method, we find that the known Hall-effect-induced redistribution of electrons among valleys can suppress electron fluctuations with a simultaneous enhancement of the drift velocity.

We present a pedagogic approach aimed at modelling electric conduction in semiconductors in order to describe and explain some macroscopic properties, such as the characteristic behaviour of resistance as a function of temperature. A simple model of the band structure is adopted for the generation of electron–hole pairs as well as for the carrier transport in moderate electric fields. The semiconductor behaviour is described by substituting the traditional statistical approach (requiring a deep mathematical background) with microscopic models, based on the Monte Carlo method, in which simple rules applied to microscopic particles and quasi-particles determine the macroscopic properties. We compare measurements of electric properties of matter with 'virtual experiments' built by using some models where the physical concepts can be presented at different formalization levels.

We consider a one-dimensional (1D) wire along which single conduction electrons can propagate in the presence of two spin-1/2 magnetic impurities. The electron may be scattered by each impurity via a contact-exchange interaction and thus a spin-flip generally occurs at each scattering event. Adopting a quantum waveguide theory approach, we derive the stationary states of the system at all orders in the electron-impurity exchange coupling constant. This allows us to investigate electron transmission for arbitrary initial states of the two impurity spins. We show that for suitable electron wave vectors, the triplet and singlet maximally entangled spin states of the impurities can respectively largely inhibit the electron transport or make the wire completely transparent for any electron spin state. In the latter case, a resonance condition can always be found, representing an anomalous behaviour compared to typical decoherence induced by magnetic impurities. We provide an explanation for these phenomena in terms of the Hamiltonian symmetries. Finally, a scheme to generate maximally entangled spin states of the two impurities via electron scattering is proposed., 19 pages

We investigate the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interference pattern in the electron transmission through a mesoscopic ring in which two identical non-interacting magnetic impurities are embedded. Adopting a quantum waveguide theory, we derive the exact transmission probability amplitudes and study the influence of maximally entangled states of the impurity spins on the electron transmittivity interference pattern. For suitable electron wave vectors, we show that the amplitude of AB oscillations in the absence of impurities is in fact not reduced within a wide range of the electron-impurity coupling constant when the maximally entangled singlet state is prepared. Such state is thus able to inhibit the usual electron decoherence due to scattering by magnetic impurities. We also show how this maximally entangled state of the impurity spins can be generated via electron scattering., Comment: 8 pages

The results of a Monte Carlo analysis of hot-electron intrinsic noise in a n-type GaAs bulk driven by two mixed large-amplitude alternating electric fields having frequency in the subterahertz range are presented. The noise properties are investigated by studying the velocity autocorrelation function and the noise spectrum. We explored the relations among the frequency response and the velocity fluctuations as a function of the frequencies and intensities of the mixed fields. When the semiconductor is driven by two mixed ciclostationary electric fields, a resonant-like enhancement of the spectra near the two frequencies of the applied fields is found.

In a recent paper -- F. Ciccarello \emph{et al.}, New J. Phys. \textbf{8}, 214 (2006) -- we have demonstrated that the electron transmission properties of a one-dimensional (1D) wire with two identical embedded spin-1/2 impurities can be significantly affected by entanglement between the spins of the scattering centers. Such effect is of particular interest in the control of transmission of quantum information in nanostructures and can be used as a detection scheme of maximally entangled states of two localized spins. In this letter, we relax the constraint that the two magnetic impurities are equal and investigate how the main results presented in the above paper are affected by a static disorder in the exchange coupling constants of the impurities. Good robustness against deviation from impurity symmetry is found for both the entanglement dependent transmission and the maximally entangled states generation scheme., 4 pages, 5 figures

By using a multiparticles Monte Carlo technique, with a self-consistently coupled one-dimensional Poisson solver, we investigate the dependence of the nonlinear carrier dynamics in GaAs n+nn+ micro e submicro-structures operating under very intense sub-terahertz signals by: (i) the frequency and the intensity of the excitation signal and (ii) the length of the n region.

Using a multiparticles Monte Carlo technique, we investigate the dependence of the nonlinear carrier dynamics in GaAs n+nn+ structures operating under very intense sub-terahertz signals from some process parameters as: i) the frequency and the intensity of the excitation signal and ii) the length of the n region

We consider a system consisting of single electrons moving along a 1D wire in the presence of two magnetic impurities. Such system shows strong analogies with a Fabry - Perot interferometer in which the impurities play the role of two mirrors with a quantum degree of freedom: the spin. We have analysed the electron transmittivity of the wire in the presence of entanglement between the impurity spins. The main result of our analysis is that, for suitable values of the electron momentum, there are two maximally entangled state of the impurity spins the first of which makes the wire transparent whatever the electron spin state while the other strongly inhibits the electron transmittivity. Such predicted striking effect is experimentally observable with present day technology., Published version (6 figures)

A concise overview of new optical properties of dense nonequilibrium plasma formed on the solid state target boundary is given. In this chapter, we describe phenomena such as the third harmonic generation in the skin layer, collisionless electron heating in the high frequency skin-effect regime, absorption, and reflection and transmission of radiation by a plasma with anisotropic electron distribution.

The case study described in this paper investigates the relationship among some pre-instructional knowledge, the learning gain and the final physics performance of computing engineering students in the introductory physics course. The results of the entrance engineering test (EET) have been used as a measurement of reading comprehension, logic and mathematics skills and basic physics knowledge of a sample of 47 Computing Engineering freshmen at the University of Palermo (Italy). These data give a significant picture of the initial knowledge status of a student choosing engineering studies. The students' physics learning gain has been calculated using a standardized tool in mechanics: the force concept inventory (FCI). The analysis shows that mathematical and physical background contribute to achieve a good final preparation in physics courses of engineering faculties; however the students' learning gain in physics is independent of students' initial level of mathematics skills and physics knowledge. Initi...

The explicit analytical forms of nonlinear currents in degenerate semiconductors serving as sources of coherent radiation in the wavelength millimetric and submillimetric ranges are established.

We present results obtained using a three-dimensional multivalleys Monte Carlo (MC) model to simulate the nonlinear carrier dynamics under the influence of an intense sub-terahertz electric field in a doped bulk semiconductor. By self-consistently coupling a one-dimensional Poisson solver to the ensemble MC code we simulate also the nonlinear carrier dynamics in n+nn+ structures operating under large-amplitude periodic signals and investigate the voltage-current characteristic hysteresis cycle and the high-order harmonic efficiency. For both cases we discuss the dependence of the nonlinearities and of the harmonic generation efficiency on the frequency and the intensity of the alternating signal. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

In this work we investigate some steady‐state stochastic properties of hot electron dynamics in bulk n‐type GaAs in the presence of crossed, static electric and magnetic fields. To this aim, a single particle, three valleys‐Monte Carlo method is adopted. In order to include the non‐parabolicity of valleys a local parabolic approximation is performed allowing us to get an analytic expression for k(t) during free flights. It is shown how the room temperature‐spectrum of longitudinal velocity fluctuations is markedly affected by the oscillations at the cyclotron frequency and is lowered or increased by the magnetic field depending on the considered frequency. On the contrary, the transverse spectral density turns out to be reduced in a suitable range of electric field strengths, as a consequence of the lowering of transverse velocity fluctuations’s variance. We found that in the same electric field range the mean kinetic energy is lowered too.

An application of the Monte Carlo method to the diffusion of neutrons passing through a slab of a moderating material is presented. This method can be used as a tool to improve the student's comprehension of the statistical properties of many particle systems, showing the necessity of simulation procedures to obtain information on the expected results of real experiments. We have chosen a very simple example to illustrate it: the evaluation of the transmission, reflection and absorption probabilities of a monochromatic beam of neutrons diffusing through a slab of a moderator material. After a collision with a nucleus of the moderator the neutron may be either elastically scattered or captured. The transmission, reflection and absorption properties of the neutrons diffused by different moderating materials are visualized with the help of an appropriate animation program.

A concise overview of a number of anomalous properties of hot dense nonequilibrium plasmas is given. The possibility of quasistationary megagauss magnetic field generation due to Weibel instability is discussed for plasmas created in atom tunnel ionization. The collisionless absorption and reflection of a test electromagnetic wave normally impinging on the plasma with two-temperature bi-maxwellian electron velocity distribution function are studied. Due to the wave magnetic field influence on the electron kinetics in the skin layer the wave absorption and reflection significantly depend on the degree of the electron temperature anisotropy. The linearly polarized impinging wave during reflection transforms into an elliptically polarized one. The problem of transmission of an ultrashort laser pulse through a layer of dense plasma, formed as a result of ionization of a thin foil, is considered. It is shown that the strong photoelectron distribution anisotropy yields an anomalous penetration of the wave field through the foil.

The third-harmonic generation of a pump wave, resulting from the electron-ion collision frequency dependence on the electric field in the skin layer of a hot dense plasma is investigated. The relation of the current third harmonic with the high-frequency field in the skin layer is established for arbitrary ratios of the electron-ion collision frequency to the field frequency. For arbitrary ratios of these two frequencies, the field structure inside the skin layer is determined, and the field of the wave irradiated by the plasma at tripled frequency, too, is calculated. It has permitted us to find the explicit dependencies of the third-harmonic generation efficiency on the plasma and pump field parameters.

Even order harmonics generation of the laser radiation due to electron-ion collisions in a plasma embedded in a constant electric field is investigated theoretically. Even harmonics are generated because the presence of a static electric field removes the invariance of the electron distribution function under the symmetry operation of velocity direction inversion. Efficiency generation dependencies are investigatedvsdifferent significant parameters as: harmonics number; the ratio of the electron quiver velocity to the thermal velocity; the orientation of the constant electric field with respect to the laser radiation electric field and its wavevector. It is shown that in the general case the polarization planes of different even harmonics are different and do not coincide with that of the generating laser radiation.

Harmonics generation of high-frequency radiation in a plasma embedded in a constant electric field is investigated theoretically. It is shown that the electron directed motion due to the static electric field yields the appearance in the plasma emission spectrum of high-frequency radiation even harmonics. The conditions are established when the even harmonics generation is as effective as that of the odd ones. At variance with the odd harmonics, the even harmonics polarization plane is found to rotate with respect to that of the fundamental field. The basic dependencies concerning the rotation angle and the generation efficiency on the plasma and field parameters are established.

The basic properties of infrared laser radiation odd harmonic generation due to electron-charged impurity collisions in degenerate semiconductors are investigated. It is found that in the case of relatively weak fields, the electron Fermi distribution is the cause of an anomalous suppression of harmonic radiation. In the case of strong fields, the effect of the selective suppression of single harmonics is established.