Group Velocity Effects Research Articles

The nondegenerate solitons solutions for the generalized coupled higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equations with variable coefficients via the Hirota bilinear method

In this paper, the generalized coupled higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equations (GCHNLSEs) with variable coefficients, describing the propagation of femtosecond pulse with high peak power in birefringence fibers and inhomogeneous media, are researched by the Hirota bilinear method. The nondegenerate two-solitons and nondegenerate N-solitons solutions for these equations are obtained successfully for the first time. Then, we attain the v-shape, u-shape and wave-type double-hump solitons by adjusting the group velocity dispersion, cross-phase modulation and group velocity effect. Finally, through selecting the appropriate complex wave parameters, we change the distances between solitons and analyze the dynamic behaviors of the collisions.

Small attenuation negative group delay of spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) waveguides can be used to effectively construct on-chip microwave systems due to the single-side conductor structure. SSPP waveguides usually exhibit normal dispersion, which can introduce large group delays to transmission signal and impair waveform shapes. However, the negative group velocity (NGV) effect may occur in the split modes of coupled surface plasmon polariton waveguides. In this regard, the synthesis wave model of forward and backward transmission waves is applied, which generates a quadrupole vortex wave transmission. In this paper, the SSPP unit structure with folded multi-split rings is proposed to achieve anomalous dispersion with NGV feature in the fundamental mode. The SSPP unit can be equivalent to an epsilon-negative medium, and a maximum negative group delay (NGD) can be reached at the frequency where the NGV begins to appear. For the corresponding SSPP waveguide, a NGD band with lower attenuation can be achieved at the stopband edge. While the SSPP unit structures are loaded as dispersive materials in a microstip line, the similar NGD performance can be obtained. Clearly, the SSPP NGD with lower attenuation provides a new delay equalization method for ultra reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), and can also be used as an effective dispersion compensation means.

Phonon transport properties of Janus Pb2 XAs (X = P, Sb, and Bi) monolayers: A DFT study

Grasping the underlying mechanisms behind the low lattice thermal conductivity of materials is essential for the efficient design and development of high-performance thermoelectric materials and thermal barrier coating materials. In this paper, we present a first-principles calculations of the phonon transport properties of Janus Pb2PAs and Pb2SbAs monolayers. Both materials possess low lattice thermal conductivity, at least two orders of magnitude lower than graphene and h-BN. The room temperature thermal conductivity of Pb2SbAs (0.91 W/mK) is only a quarter of that of Pb2PAs (3.88 W/mK). We analyze in depth the bonding, lattice dynamics, and phonon mode level information of these materials. Ultimately, it is determined that the synergistic effect of low group velocity due to weak bonding and strong phonon anharmonicity is the fundamental cause of the intrinsic low thermal conductivity in these Janus structures. Relative regular residual analysis further indicates that the four-phonon processes are limited in Pb2PAs and Pb2SbAs, and the three-phonon scattering is sufficient to describe their anharmonicity. In this study, the thermal transport properties of Janus Pb2PAs and Pb2SbAs monolayers are illuminated based on fundamental physical mechanisms, and the low lattice thermal conductivity endows them with the potential applications in the field of thermal barriers and thermoelectrics.

Phonon transport characteristics of α, β, and γ crystalline phases of magnesium hydride from first-principles-based anharmonic lattice dynamics

The superior gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen capacities of magnesium hydride (MgH2) make it a promising candidate material for solid-state hydrogen storage. However, the slow kinetics of hydrogen atoms and the high thermodynamic stability of MgH2 hinder its practical application. To address the challenging issue of adsorption–desorption in MgH2, structural engineering involving nanostructuring has been used to improve the hydrogen-storage characteristics of this material. However, although structural engineering and thermal management significantly influence material properties, no microscopic understanding of the heat conduction property of pristine MgH2 exists. Further advances in the thermal engineering of MgH2-based hydrogen-storage materials require a better understanding of heat conduction in pristine MgH2, particularly knowledge of how the crystalline phases of MgH2 depend on the hydrogen concentration and external pressure. This study uses first-principles-based anharmonic lattice dynamics to quantitatively investigate the intrinsic thermal conductivity of heat-carrying phonons in pristine MgH2 with three different crystalline phases α, β, and γ. The results show that the thermal conductivity of MgH2 depends on the crystalline phase and that the magnitude of the thermal conductivity increases in the order α, γ, and β. In contrast, the volumetric heat capacity and mean squared displacements of the constituent atoms are similar for all three phases. Furthermore, as observed for the pressure dependence of phonon transport, increasing the pressure reduces the thermal conductivity of all phases. However, for the γ and β phases, these reductions are relatively moderate because of the competing effects of group velocity and relaxation time, which have opposite dependencies on pressure. Finally, modal analysis indicates that the spectral features of the phonon transport properties under an applied external pressure are comparable to those at atmospheric pressure. These results should help tailor the heat dissipation of MgH2 while maintaining its hydrogen adsorption–desorption performance through structural engineering.

Spoof surface plasmon polaritons of complementary periodic units with negative group velocity effect

AbstractPeriodically patterned conductor surfaces can transmit electromagnetic modes similar to surface plasmon polaritons, which are called spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs). In this paper, noncoplanar dentate complementary structure units are proposed. In this case, the fundamental SSPP is split into two modes, of which the mode in the high‐frequency side exhibits negative group velocity (NGV) near the cutoff frequency. The dispersion characteristics of NGV modes can be controlled by manipulating the symmetry of the complementary structure. It is confirmed that the actual transmission wave in the SSPP waveguide is the superposition result of the two split‐mode wave components.

Group delay compensation based on negative group velocity effect of spoof surface plasmon polaritons

Negative group velocity (NGV) exists only in the anomalous dispersion band with resonance absorption. In this paper, it is verified that spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) with spiral-shaped periodic units have the NGV characteristics near cutoff frequency. The negative group delay of this NGV SSPP can be used to achieve the compression of the pulse signal, and also to compensate the positive group delay with high efficiency. Of course, this group delay compensation scheme based on NGV may introduce an absorption loss, which is the characteristic of all passive negative group delay circuits.

On-the-fly machine learning potential accelerated accurate prediction of lattice thermal conductivity of metastable silicon crystals

In this paper, we propose a convenient strategy to accelerate the evaluation of lattice thermal conductivity through combining phonon Boltzmann transport equation (PBTE) and on-the-fly machine learning potential (FMLP). The thermal conductivity of diamond silicon ($d\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Si}$) is evaluated firstly by density functional theory (DFT), FMLP, and empirical potential with PBTE, respectively. The results demonstrate the proposed strategy integrates the prediction accuracy of DFT and computational speed of empirical potential, breaking the dilemma of traditional thermal conductivity assessment schemes. Based on this, the efficient strategy is applied to predict thermal conductivity of 102 low-energy metastable silicon crystals with energies between $d\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Si}$ and experimentally ${\mathrm{Si}}_{24}$. Among them, the $Cmcm\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{Si}}_{16}, P6/mmm\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{Si}}_{36}$-2, $Pnma\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{Si}}_{32}$-2 are predicted to host lowest lattice thermal conductivity in $xx$ (8.213 ${\mathrm{Wm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}{\mathrm{K}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$), $yy$ (10.917 ${\mathrm{Wm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}{\mathrm{K}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$), and $zz$ (11.807 ${\mathrm{Wm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}{\mathrm{K}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$) directions, respectively. Such low lattice thermal conductivity benefits from the combined effect of low phonon group velocity and intense phonon scattering caused by distorted $s{p}^{3}$ hybrid states in these metastable silicon crystals. The findings presented in this work provide new candidates and insights of silicon-based materials with ultra-low thermal conductivity, which will greatly expand the applications in thermoelectric and thermal insulation fields.

NaBeAs and NaBeSb: Novel Ternary Pnictides with Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance

Thermoelectrics is a clean energy technology that converts thermal energy into electrical energy and provides an environmentally friendly and viable route to produce electricity. In this work, we thoroughly explore the thermoelectric performance of two novel ternary pnictide compounds, NaBeAs and NaBeSb, using full ab initio calculations and solving linear Boltzmann transport equations. We predict that both compounds exhibit excellent dynamical and thermal stability. The combined effect of low phonon group velocity and weak bonding interaction results in intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivities of 1.41 and 0.59 W/mK for NaBeAs and NaBeSb, respectively, in the z-axis direction at 600 K. The electronic structure exhibits high conduction band degeneracy, which results in favorable electrical transport characteristics. The unique combination of very low lattice thermal conductivity and good electrical transport properties leads to excellent n-type thermoelectric properties. Furthermore, in n-type doping, the figures of merit reach 1.82 and 4.26 for NaBeAs and NaBeSb at 600 K. Our findings show that both compounds are promising n-type thermoelectric materials at medium temperatures.

Remarkable decrease in lattice thermal conductivity of transition metals borides TiB2 by dimensional reduction

Two-dimensional transition metals borides Ti x B x have excellent magnetic and electronic properties and great potential in metal-ion batteries and energy storage. The thermal management is important for the safety and stability in these applications. We investigated the lattice dynamical and thermal transport properties of bulk-TiB2 and its two-dimensional (2D) counterparts based on density functional theory combined with solving phonon Boltzmann transport equation. The Poisson’s ratio of bulk-TiB2 is positive while it changes to negative for monolayer TiB2. We found that dimension reduction can cause the room-temperature in-plane lattice thermal conductivity decrease, which is opposite the trend of MoS2, MoSe2, WSe2 and SnSe. Additionally, the room temperature thermal conductivity of mono-TiB2 is only one sixth of that for bulk-TiB2. It is attributed to the higher Debye temperature and stronger bonding stiffness in bulk-TiB2. The bulk-TiB2 has higher phonon group velocity and weaker anharmonic effect comparing with its 2D counterparts. On the other hand, the room temperature lattice thermal conductivity of mono-Ti2B2 is two times higher than that of mono-TiB2, which is due to three-phonon selection rule caused by the horizontal mirror symmetry.

Lattice thermal conductivity in isotope diamond asymmetric superlattices

We study the lattice thermal conductivity of isotope diamond superlattices consisting of 12C and 13C diamond layers at various superlattice periods. It is found that the thermal conductivity of a superlattice is significantly deduced from that of pure diamond because of the reduction of the phonon group velocity near the folded Brillouin zone. The results show that asymmetric superlattices with a different number of layers of 12C and 13C diamonds exhibit higher thermal conductivity than symmetric superlattices even with the same superlattice period, and we find that this can be explained by the trade-off between the effects of phonon specific heat and phonon group velocity. Furthermore, impurities and imperfect superlattice structures are also found to significantly reduce the thermal conductivity, suggesting that these effects can be exploited to control the thermal conductivity over a wide range.

Effect of laser pulse group velocity on ion acceleration from transversely expanded plasma foil in radiation pressure dominant regime

We have analytically and numerically analysed the interaction of an ultra-intense laser pulse with ultra thin dense plasma foil in the radiation pressure dominant (RPD) regime taking into account the group velocity of the laser and the transverse expansion of the target. The group velocity decreases and the transverse expansion increases the ion energy. As the group velocity reduces the transverse expansion due to the early termination of the acceleration process, its effect dominates the transparency.

Effect of pulse group velocity on charge loading in laser wakefield acceleration

Total charge and energy evaluations for the electron beams generated in the laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is the primary step in the determination of the required laser and target parameters. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is an efficient numerical tool that can provide such evaluations unless the effect of numerical dispersion is not diminished. The numerical dispersion, which is specific for the PIC modeling, affects not only the dephasing lengths in LWFA but also the total amount of the self-injected electrons. A numerical error of the order of 10−4−10−3 in the calculation of the speed of the driving laser pulse results in a significant error in the total injected charge, energy gain and other critical parameters of the accelerated electron bunches. In the standard numerical approach, the numerical correction in the speed of the laser pulse either requires infinitely small spatial grid resolution (which needs large computation platform) or force to compromise with the numerical accuracy. Here, we present a simple and easy to implement numerical scheme to suppress the numerical dispersion of the electromagnetic pulse in PIC simulations even with a modest spatial resolution, and without any special treatments to the core structure of the numerical algorithm. Evaluated charges of the self-injected electron bunches become essentially lower owing to the better calculations of the wake phase velocity.

Effect of Laser Group Velocity on Maximum Attainable Ion Energy in the Radiation Pressure Dominant (RPD) Regime

The effect of group velocity of the incident laser pulse, which being smaller than the vacuum speed of light, plays an important role in laser-driven ion acceleration as it limits the value of the maximum attainable velocity of the ultrathin solid density foil target. This effect significantly alters the radiation pressure acceleration (RPA), and the maximum energy gained by the ions as well. This article presents our analytical and numerical results showing the effect of laser group velocity on the frequency of the reflected wave, and the energy transfer to the accelerated ions. The other important factor that limits the transfer of laser energy to the ions is the transverse expansion of the foil. We make a comparative study of these two limiting factors on the transfer of laser energy to the dense foil.

Strain effect on phonon transport in open framework Si24: A first-principles study

Strain engineering is one of the most efficient methods to modulate the thermal transport property due to its flexibility and easy realization in experiments. In this paper, taking the newly synthesized open framework Si24 as an example, we systematically investigated the strain effect on phonon transport by means of the first-principles study. The phonon thermal conductivity (κ) of bulk material usually increases under compression and decreases under tension. However, our calculations show that the κ of Si24 decreases abnormally in the range of ε = −4% (compression, P = 4 GPa) to ε = 5% (tension, P = -4 GPa). When the tensile strain increases further, the κ begins to decrease and finally reaches the value (31.6 W/mK at ε = 19%) below the pristine κ (45.3 W/mK). By analyzing the key factors of κ at the phonon mode level, we find that this abnormal variation on κ of Si24 is mainly depending on the competition between the phonon relaxation time (τ) and other phonon parameters which include volume, specific heat capacity, and phonon group velocity. The abnormally increased κ in the strain range of ε = −4% to ε = 5% is mainly attributed to the increase of phonon relaxation time (τ), which can be further explained by phonon scattering intensity. However, as for tension ε > 5%, the reduction of κ under tensile strain mainly comes from the negative effect of phonon group velocity, specific heat capacity, and crystal volume on κ. The findings presented in this work are expected to deepen our understanding of phonon transport in the open framework Si24 and uncovers the underlying mechanism behind the anomalous strain-dependent κ of Si24, which is helpful for further research of Si allotropes, such as improve the thermoelectric performance.

Electronic, elastic, optical and thermal transport properties of penta-PdAs2 monolayer: First-principles study

PdAs2 monolayer, a new pentagonal two-dimensional (2D) material, greatly attracts widely research interest due to its extremely high carrier mobility with a direct band gap. We have systematically studied the electronic structure, elastic, optical and thermal transport properties of monolayer PdAs2 from first-principles calculations. Our electronic structure calculations show that the monolayer PdAs2 is a semiconductor with a direct band gap of 0.78 eV. Tensile strain has a good regulating effect on the band gap, which can be adjusted from 0.01 eV to 0.84 eV. The calculated elastic constants of monolayer PdAs2 confirm that the PdAs2 monolayer is mechanically stable. The calculated optical properties reveal that the energy range of the absorption spectrum is 1 eV–15 eV. The absorption range of PdAs2 monolayer is mainly visible and ultraviolet light. Under the tensile strain, the absorption spectrum shows obvious redshift. With the increase of strain, the reflectivity and refractivity increase. The calculated thermal conductivity of the monolayer PdAs2 at 300 K is 1.04 W/(mK), which is lower than that of known pentagonal monolayer. In addition, the effects of phonon free path, group velocity and phonon scattering rate on lattice thermal conductivity are analyzed.

Effects of Neuromuscular Fatigue on Eccentric Strength and Electromechanical Delay of the Knee Flexors: The Role of Training Status.

Purpose: To examine the effects of fatiguing isometric contractions on maximal eccentric strength and electromechanical delay (EMD) of the knee flexors in healthy young adults of different training status.Methods: Seventy-five male participants (27.7 ± 5.0 years) were enrolled in this study and allocated to three experimental groups according to their training status: athletes (ATH, n = 25), physically active adults (ACT, n = 25), and sedentary participants (SED, n = 25). The fatigue protocol comprised intermittent isometric knee flexions (6-s contraction, 4-s rest) at 60% of the maximum voluntary contraction until failure. Pre- and post-fatigue, maximal eccentric knee flexor strength and EMDs of the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus muscles were assessed during maximal eccentric knee flexor actions at 60, 180, and 300°/s angular velocity. An analysis of covariance was computed with baseline (unfatigued) data included as a covariate.Results: Significant and large-sized main effects of group (p ≤ 0.017, 0.87 ≤ d ≤ 3.69) and/or angular velocity (p < 0.001, d = 1.81) were observed. Post hoc tests indicated that regardless of angular velocity, maximal eccentric knee flexor strength was lower and EMD was longer in SED compared with ATH and ACT (p ≤ 0.025, 0.76 ≤ d ≤ 1.82) and in ACT compared with ATH (p = ≤0.025, 0.76 ≤ d ≤ 1.82). Additionally, EMD at post-test was significantly longer at 300°/s compared with 60 and 180°/s (p < 0.001, 2.95 ≤ d ≤ 4.64) and at 180°/s compared with 60°/s (p < 0.001, d = 2.56), irrespective of training status.Conclusion: The main outcomes revealed significantly higher maximal eccentric strength and shorter eccentric EMDs of knee flexors in individuals with higher training status (i.e., athletes) following fatiguing exercises. Therefore, higher training status is associated with better neuromuscular functioning (i.e., strength, EMD) of the hamstring muscles in fatigued condition. Future longitudinal studies are needed to substantiate the clinical relevance of these findings.

Superluminal plasmons with resonant gain in population inverted bilayer graphene

AB-stacked bilayer graphene with a tunable electronic bandgap in excess of the optical phonon energy presents an interesting active medium, and we consider such theoretical possibility in this work. We argue the possibility of a highly resonant optical gain in the vicinity of the asymmetry gap. Associated with this resonant gain are strongly amplified plasmons, plasmons with negative group velocity and superluminal effects, as well as directional leaky modes.

A novel scheme of cascaded four-wave mixing for phase-sensitive amplification in nonlinear optical fibre

We propose and numerically verify a scheme of phase-sensitive amplifier (PSA) using four-wave mixing (FWM) in cascaded highly nonlinear fibres (HNLFs), without requiring initial phase-locking between signal and pump. The first HNLF is used to generate two phase-conjugate waves, which act as two pumps for FWM process in second HNLF. We feed the two pumps from opposite ends of second HNLF and a signal co-propagating with one of the pumps. We keep the signal frequency in the middle of two pump frequencies to obtain phase-conjugate wave at the same frequency as the signal by FWM process in second HNLF. Signal and phase-conjugate wave appear at opposite ends of the second HNLF and combined to obtain PSA. The frequency-shift-free operation of phase conjugation helps in preserving the frequency of input signal during phase-sensitive amplification. We derive the expression for PSA signal output and PSA gain and show analytically that PSA gain depends upon signal phase only, as the two pumps are phase conjugate to each other. Thus, eliminating the need of phase locking between signal and pump waves. We show that PSA provides high gain for in-phase component and almost cancellation for quadrature-phase component of signal. We show the broadband nature of PSA due to minimum effect of group velocity and group velocity dispersion owing to counter-propagating nature of signal and conjugate waves. We study the performance of PSA under the effects of pump-signal detuning, amplifier length and input signal phase. Simulation results show that PSA output is forced to attain 0 or phase regardless of large variation of phase in the input signal. Nonlinear phase noise reduction of 100 Gbps DPSK signal transmitted over 1000-km standard single-mode fibre confirms phase regeneration by PSA.

Magnetoconductivity of type-II Weyl semimetals

Type-II Weyl semimetals are characterized by the tilted linear dispersion in the low-energy excitations, mimicking Weyl fermions but with manifest violation of the Lorentz invariance, which has intriguing quantum transport properties. The magnetoconductivity of type-II Weyl semimetals is investigated numerically based on lattice models in parallel electric and magnetic field. We show that in the high-field regime, the sign of the magnetoconductivity of an inversion-symmetry-breaking type-II Weyl semimetals depends on the direction of the magnetic field, whereas in the weak field regime, positive magnetoconductivity is always obtained regardless of magnetic field direction. We find that the weak localization is sensitive to the spatial extent of impurity potential. In time-reversal symmetry breaking type-II Weyl semimetals, the system displays either positive or negative magnetoconductivity along the direction of band tilting, owing to the associated effect of group velocity, Berry curvature and the magnetic field.

Cation Dynamics Governed Thermal Properties of Lead Halide Perovskite Nanowires.

Metal halide perovskite (MHP) nanowires such as hybrid organic-inorganic CH3NH3PbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I) have drawn significant attention as promising building blocks for high-performance solar cells, light-emitting devices, and semiconductor lasers. However, the physics of thermal transport in MHP nanowires is still elusive even though it is highly relevant to the device thermal stability and optoelectronic performance. Through combined experimental measurements and theoretical analyses, here we disclose the underlying mechanisms governing thermal transport in three different kinds of lead halide perovskite nanowires (CH3NH3PbI3, CH3NH3PbBr3 and CsPbBr3). It is shown that the thermal conductivity of CH3NH3PbBr3 nanowires is significantly suppressed as compared to that of CsPbBr3 nanowires, which is attributed to the cation dynamic disorder. Furthermore, we observed different temperature-dependent thermal conductivities of hybrid perovskites CH3NH3PbBr3 and CH3NH3PbI3, which can be attributed to accelerated cation dynamics in CH3NH3PbBr3 at low temperature and the combined effects of lower phonon group velocity and higher Umklapp scattering rate in CH3NH3PbI3 at high temperature. These data and understanding should shed light on the design of high-performance MHP based thermal and optoelectronic devices.