Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton polaritons

Phase transitions to quantum condensed phases--such as Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), superfluidity, and superconductivity--have long fascinated scientists, as they bring pure quantum effects to a macroscopic scale. BEC has, for example, famously been demonstrated in dilute atom gas of rubidium atoms at temperatures below 200 nanokelvin. Much effort has been devoted to finding a solid-state system in which BEC can take place. Promising candidate systems are semiconductor microcavities, in which photons are confined and strongly coupled to electronic excitations, leading to the creation of exciton polaritons. These bosonic quasi-particles are 10(9) times lighter than rubidium atoms, thus theoretically permitting BEC to occur at standard cryogenic temperatures. Here we detail a comprehensive set of experiments giving compelling evidence for BEC of polaritons. Above a critical density, we observe massive occupation of the ground state developing from a polariton gas at thermal equilibrium at 19 K, an increase of temporal coherence, and the build-up of long-range spatial coherence and linear polarization, all of which indicate the spontaneous onset of a macroscopic quantum phase.     

Bose-Einstein condensation of atomic gases

The early experiments on Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute atomic gases accomplished three long-standing goals. First, cooling of neutral atoms into their motional ground state, thus subjecting them to ultimate control, limited only by Heisenberg's uncertainty relation. Second, creation of a coherent sample of atoms, in which all occupy the same quantum state, and the realization of atom lasers - devices that output coherent matter waves. And third, creation of a gaseous quantum fluid, with properties that are different from the quantum liquids helium-3 and helium-4. The field of Bose-Einstein condensation of atomic gases has continued to progress rapidly, driven by the combination of new experimental techniques and theoretical advances. The family of quantum-degenerate gases has grown, and now includes metastable and fermionic atoms. Condensates have become an ultralow-temperature laboratory for atom optics, collisional physics and many-body physics, encompassing phonons, superfluidity, quantized vortices, Josephson junctions and quantum phase transitions.     

Towards Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons in potential traps

An exciton is an electron-hole bound pair in a semiconductor. In the low-density limit, it is a composite Bose quasi-particle, akin to the hydrogen atom. Just as in dilute atomic gases, reducing the temperature or increasing the exciton density increases the occupation numbers of the low-energy states leading to quantum degeneracy and eventually to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). Because the exciton mass is small--even smaller than the free electron mass--exciton BEC should occur at temperatures of about 1 K, many orders of magnitude higher than for atoms. However, it is in practice difficult to reach BEC conditions, as the temperature of excitons can considerably exceed that of the semiconductor lattice. The search for exciton BEC has concentrated on long-lived excitons: the exciton lifetime against electron-hole recombination therefore should exceed the characteristic timescale for the cooling of initially hot photo-generated excitons. Until now, all experiments on atom condensation were performed on atomic gases confined in the potential traps. Inspired by these experiments, and using specially designed semiconductor nanostructures, we have collected quasi-two-dimensional excitons in an in-plane potential trap. Our photoluminescence measurements show that the quasi-two-dimensional excitons indeed condense at the bottom of the traps, giving rise to a statistically degenerate Bose gas.     

Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons in bilayer electron systems

An exciton is the particle-like entity that forms when an electron is bound to a positively charged 'hole'. An ordered electronic state in which excitons condense into a single quantum state was proposed as a theoretical possibility many years ago. We review recent studies of semiconductor bilayer systems that provide clear evidence for this phenomenon and explain why exciton condensation in the quantum Hall regime, where these experiments were performed, is as likely to occur in electron-electron bilayers as in electron-hole bilayers. In current quantum Hall excitonic condensates, disorder induces mobile vortices that flow in response to a supercurrent and limit the extremely large bilayer counterflow conductivity.     

Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in an optical microcavity

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC)-the macroscopic ground-state accumulation of particles with integer spin (bosons) at low temperature and high density-has been observed in several physical systems, including cold atomic gases and solid-state quasiparticles. However, the most omnipresent Bose gas, blackbody radiation (radiation in thermal equilibrium with the cavity walls) does not show this phase transition. In such systems photons have a vanishing chemical potential, meaning that their number is not conserved when the temperature of the photon gas is varied; at low temperatures, photons disappear in the cavity walls instead of occupying the cavity ground state. Theoretical works have considered thermalization processes that conserve photon number (a prerequisite for BEC), involving Compton scattering with a gas of thermal electrons or photon-photon scattering in a nonlinear resonator configuration. Number-conserving thermalization was experimentally observed for a two-dimensional photon gas in a dye-filled optical microcavity, which acts as a 'white-wall' box. Here we report the observation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons in this system. The cavity mirrors provide both a confining potential and a non-vanishing effective photon mass, making the system formally equivalent to a two-dimensional gas of trapped, massive bosons. The photons thermalize to the temperature of the dye solution (room temperature) by multiple scattering with the dye molecules. Upon increasing the photon density, we observe the following BEC signatures: the photon energies have a Bose-Einstein distribution with a massively populated ground-state mode on top of a broad thermal wing; the phase transition occurs at the expected photon density and exhibits the predicted dependence on cavity geometry; and the ground-state mode emerges even for a spatially displaced pump spot. The prospects of the observed effects include studies of extremely weakly interacting low-dimensional Bose gases and new coherent ultraviolet sources.     

秦美猕猴桃的室温贮藏

采用ＰＥ袋和保鲜剂方法对室温下贮藏秦美猕猴桃进行了研究．结果表明,袋内Ｏ２体积分数为１０％以上,ＣＯ２体积分数在２．５％～６％范围情况下,果实呼吸峰的出现推迟,峰值降低,果实贮藏期显著延长．袋内ＣＯ２体积分数高于６％,Ｏ２体积分数低于１０％时,则产生伤害．ＣＯ２体积分数低于２．５％时,贮藏期缩短．适合的ＰＥ－３袋加保鲜剂室温贮藏三个月,其猕猴桃果实硬度可保持在４．１０ｋｇ／ｃｍ２,好果率达９６．４％．     

谐振势阱中有限粒子玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚的数值计算

从统计力学原理出发,用数值方法研究了三维等方谐振势阱中有限粒子数玻色子系统的化学势及其导数随温度的变化．结果表明,粒子数有限的系统没有一级相变,但在有限温度发生玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚;利用化学势二阶导数的极小值定义的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚临界温度很好地符合实验结果．     

室温下孔隙结构、空气湿度和粒径对煤低温氧化的影响

为研究室温下煤对氧气的吸附情况,选择不同变质程度的样品,利用氮吸附法、介孔分析模型(berreit joyner halenda,BJH)和多层吸附方程(brunauer emmett teller,BET)计算并分析样品的孔隙结构,在不同空气湿度和粒径条件下测定样品的氧气吸附量。结果表明:氧气吸附量与微孔体积呈正相关,与平均孔径呈负相关;随着空气湿度的变化,氧气吸附量先增加再减小;粒径对吸氧量的影响较为复杂,随着粒径的减小无烟煤氧气吸附量大幅度减小,长焰煤、褐煤和烟煤的吸氧量先增加后减小。本研究对抑制煤在常压下发生低温氧化具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

Water-driven structure transformation in nanoparticles at room temperature

The thermodynamic behaviour of small particles differs from that of the bulk material by the free energy term gammaA--the product of the surface (or interfacial) free energy and the surface (or interfacial) area. When the surfaces of polymorphs of the same material possess different interfacial free energies, a change in phase stability can occur with decreasing particle size. Here we describe a nanoparticle system that undergoes structural changes in response to changes in the surface environment rather than particle size. ZnS nanoparticles (average diameter 3 nm) were synthesized in methanol and found to exhibit a reversible structural transformation accompanying methanol desorption, indicating that the particles readily adopt minimum energy structural configurations. The binding of water to the as-formed particles at room temperature leads to a dramatic structural modification, significantly reducing distortions of the surface and interior to generate a structure close to that of sphalerite (tetrahedrally coordinated cubic ZnS). These findings suggest a route for post-synthesis control of nanoparticle structure and the potential use of the nanoparticle structural state as an environmental sensor. Furthermore, the results imply that the structure and reactivity of nanoparticles at planetary surfaces, in interplanetary dust and in the biosphere, will depend on both particle size and the nature of the surrounding molecules.     

室温干法研磨合成1,4-二(芳氧基乙酰基)氨基脲

在无溶剂条件下,以1,4 二(芳氧基乙酰基)氨基硫脲为原料,高碘酸作氧化剂,室温研磨合成了14个新型 1,4 二(芳氧基乙酰基)氨基脲化合物,该法具有无有机溶剂污染、反应速度快、产率高等优点.用IR、1HNMR及元 素分析表征了产物结构.     

Manipulation of atoms across a surface at room temperature

Since the realization that the tips of scanning probe microscopes can interact with atoms at surfaces, there has been much interest in the possibility of building or modifying nanostructures or molecules directly from single atoms. Individual large molecules can be positioned on surfaces, and atoms can be transferred controllably between the sample and probe tip. The most complex structures are produced at cryogenic temperatures by sliding atoms across a surface to chosen sites. But there are problems in manipulating atoms laterally at higher temperatures--atoms that are sufficiently well bound to a surface to be stable at higher temperatures require a stronger tip interaction to be moved. This situation differs significantly from the idealized weakly interacting tips of scanning tunnelling or atomic force microscopes. Here we demonstrate that precise positioning of atoms on a copper surface is possible at room temperature. The triggering mechanism for the atomic motion unexpectedly depends on the tunnelling current density, rather than the electric field or proximity of tip and surface.     

导向剂室温老化合成低硅X型沸石

利用导向剂室温(15～30℃)老化后高温晶化合成低硅X型沸石(LSX),用XRD测定样品晶型.对导向剂作用的研究表明,加入老化5h的导向剂17Na2O.6SiO2.Al2O3.250H2O可抑制LSX样品中的羟基方钠石(HS)杂晶,但没有加快LSX反应体系的晶化速度.对原料配比和反应条件的研究表明,产物对H2O/(Na2O K2O)摩尔比和Na2O/(Na2O K2O)摩尔比非常敏感,稍有变化就会引起杂晶的生成;随着室温老化和晶化温度的升高以及时间的延长,样品LSX结晶度增大.室温(25～30℃)老化12h、110℃晶化3h合成的LSX结晶度好、纯度高,Si/Al摩尔比为1.02±0.03.     

室温下氯化锆催化的Baeyer—Villiger氧化反应

研究了以氯化锆为催化剂,H2O2(质量分数为30%)为氧化剂,室温条件下酮的Baeyer-Villiger氧化反应,并探讨了溶剂种类、催化剂用量、氧化剂用量、温度、时间等因素对反应的影响.结果表明,环酮、链酮都可以转化为相应的酯并具有较高的转化率和选择性.     

Mo-30Cu合金室温变形组织

对Mo-30Cu合金室温拉伸性能进行了研究,并对其断口进行观察分析.通过对Mo-30Cu合金冷轧实验,研究了不同变形量下组织的变化规律.结果表明:Mo-30Cu合金的断裂以Cu相的韧性断裂为主,并伴随着Mo/Cu界面的分离和Mo晶粒的解理断裂.Mo/Cu界面的分离和Mo晶粒的解理断裂是Mo-30Cu合金室温轧制过程中产生裂纹的主要原因.     

室温离子液体催化阿司匹林的合成

研究了以几种1,3-二烷基咪唑离子液体为催化剂来合成阿司匹林的反应,考察了反应时间、酸醇摩尔比等对该反应的影响。结果表明:[BMIm]Br离子液体对阿司匹林的合成有较好的催化作用,最佳反应条件为:n水杨酸:n乙酸酐=1∶2,催化剂用量2mL,反应温度80~85℃,反应时间3h,收率可达81.6%。产物和离子液体不溶而分层,便于分离,且离子液体可以重复使用。     

玉米芯在常温下的水解动力学研究

为解决可渗透反应墙固定化硫酸盐还原菌原位治理酸性矿井水的碳源问题,以玉米芯为材料,通过模拟废水条件下单因素实验,分析温度、质量浓度、pH值、时间等参数对玉米芯水解液中还原糖含量的影响.根据玉米芯水解实验数据建立了玉米芯水解动力学模型,产糖率CG=k1·(e-k1t-e-k2t)/(k2-k1),mg/g;确定了不同温度下还原糖生成速率以及降解速率常数;玉米芯水解活化能Ea为33 342.213kJ/mol;指前因子为3.068×105.说明玉米芯作为缓释碳源在中低温条件下易水解,为以玉米芯固定SRB方法治理酸性矿山废水提供了理论依据.     

Bose-Einstein condensation of the triplet states in the magnetic insulator TlCuCl3

Bose-Einstein condensation denotes the formation of a collective quantum ground state of identical particles with integer spin or intrinsic angular momentum. In magnetic insulators, the magnetic properties are due to the unpaired shell electrons that have half-integer spin. However, in some such compounds (KCuCl3 and TlCuCl3), two Cu2+ ions are antiferromagnetically coupled to form a dimer in a crystalline network: the dimer ground state is a spin singlet (total spin zero), separated by an energy gap from the excited triplet state (total spin one). In these dimer compounds, Bose-Einstein condensation becomes theoretically possible. At a critical external magnetic field, the energy of one of the Zeeman split triplet components (a type of boson) intersects the ground-state singlet, resulting in long-range magnetic order; this transition represents a quantum critical point at which Bose-Einstein condensation occurs. Here we report an experimental investigation of the excitation spectrum in such a field-induced magnetically ordered state, using inelastic neutron scattering measurements of TlCuCl3 single crystals. We verify unambiguously the theoretically predicted gapless Goldstone mode characteristic of the Bose-Einstein condensation of the triplet states.     

Two-electron dissociation of single molecules by atomic manipulation at room temperature

Using the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to mechanically manipulate individual atoms and molecules on a surface is now a well established procedure. Similarly, selective vibrational excitation of adsorbed molecules with an STM tip to induce motion or dissociation has been widely demonstrated. Such experiments are usually performed on weakly bound atoms that need to be stabilized by operating at cryogenic temperatures. Analogous experiments at room temperature are more difficult, because they require relatively strongly bound species that are not perturbed by random thermal fluctuations. But manipulation can still be achieved through electronic excitation of the atom or molecule by the electron current tunnelling between STM tip and surface at relatively high bias voltages, typically 1-5 V. Here we use this approach to selectively dissociate chlorine atoms from individual oriented chlorobenzene molecules adsorbed on a Si(111)-7 x 7 surface. We map out the final destination of the chlorine daughter atoms, finding that their radial and angular distributions depend on the tunnelling current and hence excitation rate. In our system, one tunnelling electron has nominally sufficient energy to induce dissociation, yet the process requires two electrons. We explain these observations by a two-electron mechanism that couples vibrational excitation and dissociative electron attachment steps.     

室温固相反应制备纳米氧化锌

以七水硫酸锌和碳酸氢铵为原料 ,用室温固相化学反应首先制备前驱物碳酸锌 ,然后在微波场的辐射下进行热分解 ,制得纳米氧化锌。用 X射线粉末衍射、透射电镜以及红外光谱对产物进行了表征。结果表明 :当硫酸锌和碳酸氢铵等摩尔混合后 ,微波辐射 2 0 min,可得到粒度分布均匀的球形六角晶系结构的纳米氧化锌 ,平均粒径约为 8nm。