Negative Circular Polarization Research Articles

First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. VII. Polarization of the Ring

The Event Horizon Telescope observed the horizon-scale synchrotron emission region around the Galactic center supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), in 2017. These observations revealed a bright, thick ring morphology with a diameter of 51.8 ± 2.3 μas and modest azimuthal brightness asymmetry, consistent with the expected appearance of a black hole with mass M ≈ 4 × 106 M ⊙. From these observations, we present the first resolved linear and circular polarimetric images of Sgr A*. The linear polarization images demonstrate that the emission ring is highly polarized, exhibiting a prominent spiral electric vector polarization angle pattern with a peak fractional polarization of ∼40% in the western portion of the ring. The circular polarization images feature a modestly (∼5%–10%) polarized dipole structure along the emission ring, with negative circular polarization in the western region and positive circular polarization in the eastern region, although our methods exhibit stronger disagreement than for linear polarization. We analyze the data using multiple independent imaging and modeling methods, each of which is validated using a standardized suite of synthetic data sets. While the detailed spatial distribution of the linear polarization along the ring remains uncertain owing to the intrinsic variability of the source, the spiraling polarization structure is robust to methodological choices. The degree and orientation of the linear polarization provide stringent constraints for the black hole and its surrounding magnetic fields, which we discuss in an accompanying publication.

Trion magnetic polarons in (Cd,Mn)Te/(Cd,Mn,Mg)Te quantum wells

A trion magnetic polaron formed by the exchange interaction of a positively charged exciton (trion) with localized spins of Mn$^{2+}$ ions is found experimentally in a 4\,nm wide Cd$_{0.98}$Mn$_{0.02}$Te/Cd$_{0.78}$Mn$_{0.02}$Mg$_{0.2}$Te quantum well containing resident holes. The experiment is performed at a temperature of 1.6 K using resonant excitation of the trion with circularly polarized light. The trion is formed from a resident hole, which is in a hole magnetic polaron state, and a photogenerated electron-hole pair. The dynamical evolution from the hole magnetic polaron to the trion magnetic polaron is accompanied by a spin-flip of the electron, which results in negative circular polarization of the photoluminescence. The degree of circular polarization reaches $-8\%$ at zero magnetic field and strongly decreases in transverse magnetic fields exceeding 0.2 T. Our model considerations show that different localization sizes of the resident and photogenerated holes and the resulting difference in their exchange interaction with the Mn$^{2+}$ spins maintains Mn spin polarization. The resulting exchange field of Mn acting on the electron provides a robust spin polarization of the trion magnetic polaron. We evaluate the electron exchange energy in the T$^+$MP to be 0.19~meV, and the T$^+$MP binding energy to be about 0.5 - 1 meV.

Spin memory effect in charged single telecom quantum dots.

Single InP-based quantum dots emitting in the third telecom window are probed quasi-resonantly in polarization-resolved microphotoluminescence experiments. For charged quantum dots we observe negative circular polarization being a fingerprint of the optical spin writing of the carriers within the quantum dots. The investigated quantum dots have a very dense ladder of excited states providing relatively easy quasi-resonant optical excitation, and together with telecom wavelengths emission they bring quantum gates and memories closer to compatibility with fiber-optic communication.

Spin Dynamics of Negatively Charged Excitons in InP/(In,Ga)P Quantum Dots in a Magnetic Field

The dynamics of the photoluminescence negative circular polarization of an ensemble of InP/(In,Ga)P quantum dots is studied. It was found that, the time-resolved polarization has no oscillations in the magnetic field in the Voigt geometry. At the same time, with increasing field, the polarization decreases to zero. This effect is explained by the specificities of the spin dynamics of a negatively charged exciton; in particular, by the fact that, in the ground state, its spin dynamics is determined by a heavy hole. It is shown that, in order that the photoluminescence be depolarized by a magnetic field, it is necessary to overcome the field of dynamically polarized nuclear spins acting on the electron spins.

Спиновая динамика отрицательно заряженных экситонов в квантовых точках InP/(In,Ga)P в магнитном поле

The dynamics of the photoluminescence negative circular polarization of the InP/(In,Ga)P quantum dots ensemble was studied. We find that in the time-resolved dependences of the polarization there are no oscillations in Voigt magnetic field. Also, with increasing field the polarization declines to zero. Such behavior is attributed to the peculiarities of the negatively charged exciton spin dynamics, particularly, to the fact that in the negatively charged exciton ground state the spin dynamics is governed by the heavy hole. We show that magnetic field depolarization of the photoluminescence occurs once the field of dynamically polarized nuclear spins acting on electron spins is surpassed.

Negative circular polarization emissions from WSe2/MoSe2 commensurate heterobilayers

Van der Waals heterobilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides with spin–valley coupling of carriers in different layers have emerged as a new platform for exploring spin/valleytronic applications. The interlayer coupling was predicted to exhibit subtle changes with the interlayer atomic registry. Manually stacked heterobilayers, however, are incommensurate with the inevitable interlayer twist and/or lattice mismatch, where the properties associated with atomic registry are difficult to access by optical means. Here, we unveil the distinct polarization properties of valley-specific interlayer excitons using epitaxially grown, commensurate WSe2/MoSe2 heterobilayers with well-defined (AA and AB) atomic registry. We observe circularly polarized photoluminescence from interlayer excitons, but with a helicity opposite to the optical excitation. The negative circular polarization arises from the quantum interference imposed by interlayer atomic registry, giving rise to distinct polarization selection rules for interlayer excitons. Using selective excitation schemes, we demonstrate the optical addressability for interlayer excitons with different valley configurations and polarization helicities.

Discovery of spin-modulated circular polarization from IGR J17014−4306, the remnant of Nova Scorpii 1437 AD

Polarimetry of IGR J1401−4306, a long-period (12.7 h) eclipsing intermediate polar and remnant of Nova Scorpii 1437 AD, reveals periodic variations of optical circular polarization, confirming the system as the longest-period eclipsing intermediate polar known. This makes it an interesting system from an evolutionary perspective. The circular polarization is interpreted as optical cyclotron emission from an accreting magnetic white dwarf primary. Based on the polarimetry, we propose that it is a disc-fed intermediate polar. The detection of predominantly negative circular polarization is consistent with only one of the magnetic poles dominating the polarized emission, while the other is mostly obscured by the accretion disc.

Polarimetry, photometry, and spectroscopy of comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd)

We present the results of photometry, linear spectropolarimetry, and imaging circular polarimetry ofcomet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) performed at the 6-m telescope BTA of the Special Astrophysical Observatory(Russia) equipped by the multi-mode focal reducer SCORPIO-2. The comet was observed at two epochspost-perihelion: on February 2-14, 2012 at r=1.6 au and {\alpha}=36 {\deg}; and on April 14-21, 2012 at r=2.2 au and {\alpha}=27 deg. The spatial maps of the relative intensity and circular polarization as well as the spectral distribution of linear polarization are presented. There were two features (dust and gas tails) orientedin the solar and antisolar directions on February 2 and 14 that allowed us to determine rotation periodof the nucleus as 11.1 hours. We detected emissions of C2 , C3 , CN, CH, NH2 molecules as well as CO+ and H2O+ ions, along with a high level of the dust continuum. On February 2, the degree of linear polarization in the continuum, within the wavelength range of 0.67-0.68 {\mu}m, was about 5% in the near-nucleus region up to near 6000 km and decreased to about 3% at near 40,000 km. The left-handed (negative) circular polarization at the level approximately from -0.06% to -0.4% was observed at the distances up to 3*10^4 km from the nucleus on February 14 and April 21, respectively.

Negative circular polarization dynamics in InP/InGaP quantum dots

Photoluminescence (PL) negative circular polarization (NCP) dynamics of InP/InGaP quantum dots (QDs) was studied. Time resolved measurements of PL demonstrated that NCP vanishes, when transverse magnetic field is applied, while oscillations of polarization (that are typical for both low-dimensional and bulk materials) do not occur. Hole g-factor spread in the QD ensemble was supposed to be the most probable reason for such NCP magnetic field behavior. The dependence of NCP dynamics on the repetition period of excitation laser pulses was investigated. In case of fairly small repetition period (T = 13.3 ns) long living NCP (13.3 ns < t < 133 ns) was detected, what was ascribed to resident electron spin orientation, accumulated during many laser pulses. In that regime more than one luminescence polarization decay time exist.

Negative circular polarization as a universal property of quantum dots

This paper shows that negative circular polarization, a spin flip of polarized carriers resulting in emission of opposite helicity, can be observed in undoped, n-doped, and p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum dots. These results contradict the usual interpretation of the effect. We show using power dependent and time resolved spectroscopy that the generation of negative circular polarization correlates with excited state emission. Furthermore, a longer spin lifetime of negatively polarized excitons is observed where emission is largely ground state in character.

Magnetooptical study of CdSe/ZnMnSe semimagnetic quantum-dot ensembles with n-type modulation doping

Magnetic and polarization investigations of the photoluminescence and resonant electron spin-flip Raman scattering in ensembles of self-organized CdSe/ZnMnSe semimagnetic quantum dots with n-type modulation doping are carried out. It is demonstrated that exciton transitions contribute to the photoluminescence band intensity, along with the transitions of trions in the singlet state. In the Hanle-effect measurements, negative circular polarization in zero magnetic field is observed, which is related to the optical orientation of a trion heavy hole. The lifetime and spin-relaxation time of a heavy hole are estimated as ≤3 and ≤1 ps, respectively. Such short times are assumed to be due to Auger recombination with the excitation of an intrinsic transition in a Mn2+ ion. Investigations of the photoluminescence-maximum intensity and shift in a longitudinal magnetic field at the σ−σ+ and σ−σ− polarizations reveal the pronounced spin polarization of electrons. Under resonant excitation conditions, a sharp increase in the photoluminescence-band maximum intensity at σ− excitation polarization over the σ+ one is observed. The Raman scattering peak at the electron spin-flip transition is observed upon resonant excitation in a transverse magnetic field in crossed linear polarizations. This peak is shown to be a Brillouin function of a magnetic field.

Linear and circular polarization of comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd)

We report measurements of linear and circular polarization for the recent comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) during its approach to the Earth in 2011–2012. Aperture photoelectric observations were carried out on July 29, 2011-April 22, 2012 in the R and WR wide-band filters at the 2.6-m telescope of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (Ukraine). Spectropolarimetric measurements of linear polarization in the range 3800–8000 A and imaging circular polarimetry in the comet continuum filter (λ0 = 6840/90 A) were also carried out with the SCORPIO-2 focal reducer at the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory (Russia) on February 2-April 21, 2012. The degree of polarization of light scattered by comet Garradd changes from −2.2 ± 0.2% to 4.9 ± 0.2% at phase angles 13.7° and 35.9°, respectively. These values are in a good agreement with those for dusty comets at the respective phase angles. Left-handed (negative) circular polarization of comet Garradd in the continuum filter was identified. The values of Pc vary noticeably over the coma in the range from −0.03 to −0.08% and from −0.05 to −0.3% on February 14 and April 21, respectively. These results confirm our previous conclusion that the observed circular polarization for comets is predominantly left-handed.

THE ROLE OF ROTATION AND POLAR-CAP CURRENTS ON PULSAR RADIO EMISSION AND POLARIZATION

The perturbations such as rotation and PC--current have been believed to be greatly affecting the pulsar radio emission and polarization. The two effects have not been considered simultaneously in the literature, however, each one of these has been considered separately and deduced the picture by simply superposing them, but such an approach can lead to spurious results. Hence by considering pulsar rotation and PC--current perturbations together instead of one at a time we have developed a single particle curvature radiation model, which is expected to be much more realistic. By simulating a set of typical pulse profiles we have made an attempt to explain most of the observational results on pulsar radio emission and polarization. The model predicts that due to the perturbations leading side component can become either stronger or weaker than the corresponding trailing one in any given cone depending on the passage of sight line and modulation (nonuniform source distribution). Further we find that the phase delay of polarization angle inflection point with respect to the core component greatly depends upon the viewing geometry. The correlation between the sign reversal of circular polarization and the polarization angle swing in the case of core dominated pulsars become obscure once the perturbations and modulation become significant. However the correlation that the negative circular polarization associates with the increasing polarization angle and vice versa shows up very clearly in the case of conal-double pulsars. The `kinky' type distortions in polarization angle swing could be due to the incoherent superposition of modulated emissions in the presence of strong perturbations.

Carrier-dopant exchange interactions in Mn-doped PbS colloidal quantum dots

Carrier-dopant exchange interactions in Mn-doped PbS colloidal quantum dots were studied by circularly polarized magneto-photoluminescence. Mn substitutional doping leads to paramagnetic behavior down to 5 K. While undoped quantum dots show negative circular polarization, Mn doping changes its sign to positive. A circular polarization value of 40% was achieved at T=7 K and B=7 tesla. The results are interpreted in terms of Zeeman splitting of the band edge states in the presence of carrier-dopant exchange interactions that are qualitatively different from the s,p-d exchange interactions in II-VI systems.

Negative circular polarization of InP QD luminescence: Mechanism of formation and main regularities

The spectrum and kinetics of the circular polarization of InP quantum dot (QD) photoluminescence have been experimentally investigated under different conditions of optical excitation and at different bias voltages applied to the sample. It is established that, at a bias of about −0.1 V, the degree of photoluminescence polarization is negative and reaches −50% in limiting cases. It is concluded that the negative polarization is formed in QDs containing one recident electron per dot and is mainly caused by the optical orientation of the electron spin. It is shown that all experimentally observed regularities are well described in the framework of the model assuming the energy relaxation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs accompanied by the electron- hole spin flip-flop process.

The 15-43 GHz parsec-scale circular polarization of 41 active galactic nuclei

We present the results of parsec-scale circular-polarization measurements based on Very Long Baseline Array data for a number of radio-bright, core-dominated active galactic nuclei obtained simultaneously at 15, 22 and 43 GHz. The degrees of circular polarization m c for the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) core region at 15 GHz are similar to the values reported earlier at this wavelength, with typical values of a few tenths of a per cent. We find that m c as often rises as falls with increasing frequency between 15 and 22 GHz, while the degree of circular polarization at 43 GHz is in all cases higher than at 22 and 15 GHz. This behaviour seems contrary to expectations, since the degree of circular polarization from both synchrotron radiation and the Faraday conversion of linear to circular polarization – the two main mechanisms considered thus far in the literature – should decrease towards higher frequencies if the source is homogeneous. The increase in m c at 43 GHz may be due to the presence of regions of both positive and negative circular polarization with different frequency dependences (but decreasing with increasing frequency) on small scales within the core region; alternatively, it may be associated with the intrinsic inhomogeneity of a Blandford–Konigl like jet. In several objects, the detected circular polarization appears to be near, but not coincident with, the core, although further observations are needed to confirm this. We find several cases of changes in sign with frequency, most often between 22 and 43 GHz. We find tentative evidence for transverse structure in the circular polarization of 1055+018 and 1334−127, that is consistent with their being generated by either the synchrotron mechanism or the Faraday conversion in a helical magnetic field. Our results confirm the earlier finding that the sign of the circular polarization at a given observing frequency is generally consistent across epochs separated by several years or more, suggesting stability of the magnetic-field orientation in the innermost jets.

Polarization resolved luminescence in asymmetric n-type GaAs∕AlGaAs resonant tunneling diodes

We have investigated the polarized emission from a n-type GaAs∕AlGaAs resonant tunneling diode under magnetic field. The GaAs contact layer emission shows a large constant negative circular polarization. A similar result is observed for the quantum well, but only when electrons are injected from the substrate, while for inverted biases, the polarization tends to become positive for small voltages and large laser excitation intensities. We believe that the quantum well polarization may be associated to the partial thermalization of minority carriers on the well subbands and is thus critically dependent on the bias-controlled density of carriers accumulated in the well.

Negative spin polarization in AlGaAs photoluminescence

AbstractOptical orientation of carrier spins has been studied in pure direct‐gap AlxGa1–xAs alloys (x up to 15%). It is shown that optical excitation with circularly‐polarized light with quanta energy in a narrow range (less than 1.6 meV) just above the free exciton transition results in the appearance of negative circular polarization of near‐band edge photoluminescence (PL), which indicates a reversal of the spin orientation direction. The PL polarization degree becomes negative on all the excitonic transitions in the spectrum, free as well as bound. Carrier spin kinetics observed using the Hanle technique shows insignificant modification under the resonant excitation. The resonant switching of PL polarization seen in the excitation spectrum points to a change in the dominating carrier generation channel from heavy‐hole to light‐hole. The change is attributed to the influence of mechanical stress between the ternary epitaxial film and the substrate of GaAs. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Negative circular polarization as a general property ofn-doped self-assembledInAs∕GaAsquantum dots under nonresonant optical excitation

Negative circular polarization as a general property of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>n</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>-doped self-assembled<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>InAs</mml:mi><mml:mo>∕</mml:mo><mml:mi>GaAs</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>quantum dots under nonresonant optical excitation

Spin processes related to trions in quantum dots

The trion state is used to monitor spin processes in charged CdSe/ZnSe quantum dots. The single-dot photoluminescence from the singlet groundstate is identified by its magnetic-field pattern. The charged bi-exciton is used to uncover the fine structure of the triplet state. Clear signatures for isotropic as well as anisotropic electron–hole exchange are observed. Photoluminescence excitation measurements enable to determine the energy positions of the excited trion states. Time-resolved measurements provide a single hole spin relaxation time longer than 10 ns at low temperature. The trion emission exhibits negative circular polarization. We present single-dot polarization data that enable to identify the states responsible for this effect. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)