Separation of enantiomers by their enantiospecific interaction with achiral magnetic substrates.

It is commonly assumed that recognition and discrimination of chirality, both in nature and in artificial systems, depend solely on spatial effects. However, recent studies have suggested that charge redistribution in chiral molecules manifests an enantiospecific preference in electron spin orientation. We therefore reasoned that the induced spin polarization may affect enantiorecognition through exchange interactions. Here we show experimentally that the interaction of chiral molecules with a perpendicularly magnetized substrate is enantiospecific. Thus, one enantiomer adsorbs preferentially when the magnetic dipole is pointing up, whereas the other adsorbs faster for the opposite alignment of the magnetization. The interaction is not controlled by the magnetic field per se, but rather by the electron spin orientations, and opens prospects for a distinct approach to enantiomeric separations.

Ensemble-averaged Rabi oscillations in a ferromagnetic CoFeB film.

Rabi oscillations describe the process whereby electromagnetic radiation interacts coherently with spin states in a non-equilibrium interaction. To date, Rabi oscillations have not been studied in one of the most common spin ensembles in nature: spins in ferromagnets. Here, using a combination of femtosecond laser pulses and microwave excitations, we report the classical analogue of Rabi oscillations in ensemble-averaged spins of a ferromagnet. The microwave stimuli are shown to extend the coherence-time resulting in resonant spin amplification. The results we present in a dense magnetic system are qualitatively similar to those reported previously in semiconductors which have five orders of magnitude fewer spins and which require resonant optical excitations to spin-polarize the ensemble. Our study is a step towards connecting concepts used in quantum processing with spin-transport effects in ferromagnets. For example, coherent control may become possible without the complications of driving an electromagnetic field but rather by using spin-polarized currents.

Magnetization switching in ferromagnets by adsorbed chiral molecules without current or external magnetic field.

Ferromagnets are commonly magnetized by either external magnetic fields or spin polarized currents. The manipulation of magnetization by spin-current occurs through the spin-transfer-torque effect, which is applied, for example, in modern magnetoresistive random access memory. However, the current density required for the spin-transfer torque is of the order of 1 × 106 A·cm-2, or about 1 × 1025 electrons s-1 cm-2. This relatively high current density significantly affects the devices' structure and performance. Here we demonstrate magnetization switching of ferromagnetic thin layers that is induced solely by adsorption of chiral molecules. In this case, about 1013 electrons per cm2 are sufficient to induce magnetization reversal. The direction of the magnetization depends on the handedness of the adsorbed chiral molecules. Local magnetization switching is achieved by adsorbing a chiral self-assembled molecular monolayer on a gold-coated ferromagnetic layer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These results present a simple low-power magnetization mechanism when operating at ambient conditions.

Parametric Harmonic Generation as a Probe of Unconstrained Spin Magnetization Precession in the Shallow Barrier Limit.

We study the parametric excitation of high orders of magnetization precession in ultrathin films having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. We observe that for a given driving field amplitude the harmonic generation can be increased by lowering the barrier with the application of an in-plane magnetic field in the manner of the Smit-Beljers effect. In this effect, the magnetic stiffness is reduced not by lowering the magnitude of the magnetic field upon which the spins precess, but rather by effectively releasing the field's "anchoring" point. This results in a shallow energy barrier where the electrons' spin is locally unconstrained. While the observation is unveiled in the form of nonlinear high harmonic generation, we believe that the physics whereby the barrier is suppressed by an external magnetic field may apply to other phenomena associated with ultrathin films. In these cases, such unconstrained motion may serve as a sensitive probe of the torques associated with proximate spin currents. Moreover, our approach may be used as a model system for the study of phase transitions in the field of nonlinear dynamics.

Rabi oscillations and self-induced transparency in InAs/InP quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier operating at room temperature.

We report direct observations of Rabi oscillations and self-induced transparency in a quantum dot optical amplifier operating at room temperature. The experiments make use of pulses whose durations are shorter than the coherence time which are characterized using Cross-Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating. A numerical model which solves the Maxwell and Schrödinger equations and accounts for the inhomogeneously broadened nature of the quantum dot gain medium confirms the experimental results. The model is also used to explain the relationship between the observability of Rabi oscillations, the pulse duration and the homogeneous and inhomogeneous spectral widths of the semiconductor.

Extreme nonlinearities in InAs/InP nanowire gain media: the two-photon induced laser.

We demonstrate a novel laser oscillation scheme in an InAs / InP wire-like quantum dash gain medium. A short optical pulse excites carriers by two photon absorption which relax to the energy levels providing gain thereby enabling laser oscillations. The nonlinear dynamic interaction is analyzed and quantified using multi-color pump-probe measurements and shows a highly efficient nonlinear two photon excitation process which is larger by more than an order of magnitude compared to common quantum well and bulk gain media. The dynamic response of the nonlinearly induced laser line is characterized by spectrally resolved temporal response measurements, while changes incurring upon propagation in the stimulating short pulse itself are characterized by frequency resolved optical gating (FROG).

Complex characterization of short-pulse propagation through InAs/InP quantum-dash optical amplifiers: from the quasi-linear to the two-photon-dominated regime.

We describe direct measurements at a high temporal resolution of the changes experienced by the phase and amplitude of an ultra-short pulse upon propagation through an inhomogenously broadened semiconductor nanostructured optical gain medium. Using a cross frequency-resolved optical gating technique, we analyze 150 fs-wide pulses propagating along an InP based quantum dash optical amplifier in both the quasi-linear and saturated regimes. For very large electrical and optical excitations, a second, trailing peak is generated and enhanced by a unique two-photon-induced amplification process.

Static gain saturation in quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers.

Measurements of saturated amplified spontaneous emission-spectra of quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers demonstrate efficient replenishment of the quantum-dot ground state population from excited states. This saturation behavior is perfectly modeled by a rate equation model. We examined experimentally the dependence of saturation on the drive current and the saturating optical pump power as well as on the pump wavelength. A coherent noise spectral hole is observed with which we assess dynamical properties and propose optimization of the SOA operating parameters for high speed applications.