A simple formula to predict the influence of the near-field in the optical control of confined electron systems. (20th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Takeuchi, Takashi; Ohnuki, Shinichiro; Sako, Tokuei
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 50:Number 4(2017:Feb. 15)
• Publication Date: 2017-01-20
• Subjects: near-field -- light–matter interaction -- light control pulse -- Maxwell–Schrödinger equations -- FDTD method; Atoms -- Periodicals; Molecules -- Periodicals; Optics -- Periodicals; Nuclear physics -- Periodicals; 539.6
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6455/aa55f4
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-4075

Abstract

Abstract: A simple formula for predicting the ratio between the field strengths of the incident laser pulse and of the near-field created in the vicinity of the target electron system has been proposed, in the context of optically controlling confined electron systems. The formula is easy to use and does not involve elaborate computation, thus enabling one to judge whether to use the time-consuming Maxwell–Schrödinger hybrid simulation or to stay with the conventional time-dependent Schrödinger equation approach that takes no near-field effect into account. As a demonstration we have examined in detail the system of an electron confined in a quasi-one-dimensional nanoscale potential well. The highly accurate Maxwell–Schrödinger hybrid simulation has been employed to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed formula in predicting the significance of the near-field effect. The near-field effect has shown to depend sensitively on the characteristics of the laser pulse and of the geometry of the confined electron system, which can be predicted well by the proposed formula.