Beating Signals Research Articles

Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems

Photosynthetic complexes are exquisitely tuned to capture solar light efficiently, and then transmit the excitation energy to reaction centres, where long term energy storage is initiated. The energy transfer mechanism is often described by semiclassical models that invoke 'hopping' of excited-state populations along discrete energy levels. Two-dimensional Fourier transform electronic spectroscopy has mapped these energy levels and their coupling in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) bacteriochlorophyll complex, which is found in green sulphur bacteria and acts as an energy 'wire' connecting a large peripheral light-harvesting antenna, the chlorosome, to the reaction centre. The spectroscopic data clearly document the dependence of the dominant energy transport pathways on the spatial properties of the excited-state wavefunctions of the whole bacteriochlorophyll complex. But the intricate dynamics of quantum coherence, which has no classical analogue, was largely neglected in the analyses-even though electronic energy transfer involving oscillatory populations of donors and acceptors was first discussed more than 70 years ago, and electronic quantum beats arising from quantum coherence in photosynthetic complexes have been predicted and indirectly observed. Here we extend previous two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy investigations of the FMO bacteriochlorophyll complex, and obtain direct evidence for remarkably long-lived electronic quantum coherence playing an important part in energy transfer processes within this system. The quantum coherence manifests itself in characteristic, directly observable quantum beating signals among the excitons within the Chlorobium tepidum FMO complex at 77 K. This wavelike characteristic of the energy transfer within the photosynthetic complex can explain its extreme efficiency, in that it allows the complexes to sample vast areas of phase space to find the most efficient path.

Complete characterization of (ultra)short optical pulses using fast linear detectors

With the aim to determine the spectral phase of an optical pulse, we develop a new method based on the superimposition of two slightly shifted replicas of the spatial representation of the pulse spectrum. We record, at each point of the spectrum, the beating signal due to the superimposition of the two spectra. Knowledge of the phases of the beating signals allows for the reconstruction of the spectral phase. An additional measurement of the spectral intensity leads to the complete characterization of the pulse. Our setup does not involve any nonlinear optical process.

헤테로다인 방법을 이용한 펄스 증폭된 레이저빔의 주파수 Chirping연구

좁은 선폭을 갖는 연속 레이저 빔이 제이조화된 Nd:YAG레이저빔과 Bethune셀을 사용하여 좁은 선폭을 갖는 펄스 레이저빔이 생성되었다. 증폭된 펄스빔의 주파수 chirping정도는 헤테로다인 방법을 이용하여 측정되었으며, 헤테로다인 맥놀이신호로부터 순간적인 위상 변화량을 추출함으로서 분석되었다. 10 ns 펄스에 의해 MHz 이하의 선폭을 가지는 연속 레이저빔으로부터 증폭된 주파수 chirping은 80MHz정도로 매우 좁은 선폭의 증폭된 펄스 레이저빔이 얻어졌다. Amplified pulsed laser beam with narrow linewidth was generated from CW laser beam with narrow linewidth by using frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser beam and Bethune cell. The degree of the frequency chirping of the amplified pulse laser was measured by using the heterodyne method and obtained by calculating instantaneous phase change from heterodyne beating signals. The frequency chirping of amplified pulsed laser beam from CW laser beam with sub-MHz linewidth by 10 ns pulse was 80 MHz so that pulsed laser beam with very narrow linewidth was obtained.

Diffraction and Interference of Partially Coherent Light Traversing Two Superposed Sound Fields

The diffraction and interference of a light wave passing through two superposed sound waves have been studied theoretically on the basis of Huygens' principle. As a result of frequency shifts in every deflected light ray caused by the sound waves, the instantaneous intensity resulting from linear superposition of the deflected light rays consists of the d.c. component as well as the a.c. component as a sum of beating signals among those rays, provided that the coherence time of the light is long enough compared with the period of a beating signal under consideration. A general formula for diffraction is derived and two-beam interference is considered as a special case. The resultant formula illustrates that the complex degree of coherence is modulated, after traversing the sound field, with a form of the Bessel function of zeroth-order which varies with Raman-Nath parameters as well as with the separation of two points on the wavefront of the light. This validity will hold so long as the inclination factors for the deflected light rays in Huygens' principle are regarded to be nearly equivalent. The results for progressive and standing sound waves are described as special cases.