Negative refraction at telecommunication wavelengths through plasmon-photon hybridization.

We demonstrate negative refraction at telecommunication wavelengths through plasmon-photon hybridization on a simple microcavity with metallic mirrors. Instead of using conventional metals, the plasmonic excitations are provided by a heavily doped semiconductor which enables us to tune them into resonance with the infrared photon modes of the cavity. In this way, the dispersion of the resultant hybrid cavity modes can be widely adjusted.

Ultrafast Nonlinear Response of Bulk Plasmons in Highly Doped ZnO Layers.

Longitudinal bulk plasmons in an n-doped ZnO layer system are studied by two-color femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy in the midinfrared. The optical bulk plasmon resonance identified in linear reflectivity spectra undergoes a strong redshift and a limited broadening upon intraband excitation of electrons. The nonlinear changes of plasmon absorption decay on a time scale of 2 ps and originate from the intraband redistribution of electrons.

Efficient light emission from inorganic and organic semiconductor hybrid structures by energy-level tuning.

The fundamental limits of inorganic semiconductors for light emitting applications, such as holographic displays, biomedical imaging and ultrafast data processing and communication, might be overcome by hybridization with their organic counterparts, which feature enhanced frequency response and colour range. Innovative hybrid inorganic/organic structures exploit efficient electrical injection and high excitation density of inorganic semiconductors and subsequent energy transfer to the organic semiconductor, provided that the radiative emission yield is high. An inherent obstacle to that end is the unfavourable energy level offset at hybrid inorganic/organic structures, which rather facilitates charge transfer that quenches light emission.

Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra of Thin Polycrystalline Organic Films: Structural Disorder and Site-Dependent van der Waals Interaction.

We propose a new approach for calculating the change of the absorption spectrum of a molecule when moved from the gas phase to a crystalline morphology. The so-called gas-to-crystal shift Δ[Formula: see text] is mainly caused by dispersion effects and depends sensitively on the molecule's specific position in the nanoscopic setting. Using an extended dipole approximation, we are able to divide Δ[Formula: see text] = - in two factors, where depends only on the molecular species and accounts for all nonresonant electronic transitions contributing to the dispersion while is a geometry factor expressing the site dependence of the shift in a given molecular structure.

Controlling the growth mode of para-sexiphenyl (6P) on ZnO by partial fluorination.

We report on the impact of partial fluorination of para-sexiphenyl (6P) on the growth mode when deposited on the non-polar ZnO(101̄0) surface. The evolution of the thin film structure and morphology is monitored by in situ atomic force microscopy and in situ real-time X-ray scattering. Both 6P and its symmetrical, terminally fluorinated derivative (6P-F4) grow in a highly crystalline mode, however, with a distinctly different morphology.

Strong coupling and laser action of ladder-type oligo(p-phenylene)s in a microcavity.

We investigate the coupling of ladder-type quarterphenyl to the photon modes of a dielectric ZrOx /SiOx microcavity at ultraviolet wavelengths. For a relatively long cavity (≈10 μm) with high-reflectivity mirrors (0.998), optically pumped laser action is demonstrated in the weak-coupling regime.

ZnO as a tunable metal: new types of surface plasmon polaritons.

The use of the free-electron gas in a heavily doped semiconductor (ZnO:Ga) enables the realization of almost arbitrarily shaped surface-plasmon-polariton dispersion curves in planar geometries. In particular, by preparing metal-metal-type interfaces, we demonstrate surface-plasmon polaritons exhibiting finite frequencies in the long-wavelength limit. Moreover, coupling of surface plasmon polaritons at adjacent interfaces allows for the controlled formation of frequency gaps or, alternatively, the opening of otherwise forbidden regions by an appropriate layer design.

Morphology-, synthesis- and doping-independent tuning of ZnO work function using phenylphosphonates.

The work function (WF) of ZnO is modified by two types of dipole-bearing phenylphosphonate layers, yielding a maximum WF span of 1.2 eV. H3CO-phenyl phosphonate, with a positive dipole (positive pole pointing outwards from the surface), lowers the WF by ∼350 meV.

Space-charge transfer in hybrid inorganic-organic systems.

We discuss density functional theory calculations of hybrid inorganic-organic systems that explicitly include the global effects of doping (i.e., position of the Fermi level) and the formation of a space-charge layer.

Electrostatic-field-driven alignment of organic oligomers on ZnO surfaces.

We study the physisorption of organic oligomers on the strongly ionic ZnO(1010) surface by using first-principles density-functional theory and nonempirical embedding methods. It turns out that the in-plane variation of the molecule-substrate interaction energy and the bonding dipole in the vertical direction are linked up by a linear relationship originating from the electrostatic coupling of the molecule with the periodic dipolar electric field generated by the Zn-O surface dimers. Long oligomers with a highly axial π-electron system such as sexiphenyl become well oriented with alignment energies of several 100 meV along rows of a positive electric field, in full agreement with recent experiments.

Odd-number theorem: optical feedback control at a subcritical Hopf bifurcation in a semiconductor laser.

A subcritical Hopf bifurcation is prepared in a multisection semiconductor laser. In the free-running state, hysteresis is absent due to noise-induced escape processes. The missing branches are recovered by stabilizing them against noise through application of phase-sensitive noninvasive delayed optical feedback control.

Random semiconductor lasers: scattered versus Fabry-Perot feedback.

As a result of growth imperfections, (Zn,Cd)O/ZnO quantum well structures exhibit random laser action. Fabrication of microresonators allows us to study and to compare directly cavity and scattered feedback. Our experimental and theoretical analysis shows that (i) pure random lasing generally requires a larger gain than in the standard Fabry-Perot regime, (ii) the presence of Mie scatterers in the semiconductor-based cavity does not substantially increase the lasing threshold, and (iii) the random feedback creates a subtle modal gain distribution that might be of particular importance for the dynamical properties, both with and without Fabry-Perot cavity.

Synchronization of quasiperiodic oscillations to a periodic force studied with semiconductor lasers.

We experimentally study synchronization processes in a system of two different multisection semiconductor lasers. Periodic self-pulsations of laser 1 are injected into laser 2, which is operating in a regime with two-frequency quasiperiodic self-pulsations. The experimental system demonstrates the new type of transitions to synchrony between three frequencies which has been recently revealed using generic coupled phase and van der Pol oscillator models.

Band-offset engineering in organic/inorganic semiconductor hybrid structures.

Control over the electronic structure of organic/inorganic semiconductor interfaces is required to realize hybrid structures with tailored opto-electronic properties. An approach towards this goal is demonstrated for a layered hybrid system composed of p-sexiphenyl (6P) and ZnO. The molecular orientation can be switched from "upright-standing" to "flat-lying" by tuning the molecule-substrate interactions through aggregation on different crystal faces.

Tristability of a semiconductor laser due to time-delayed optical feedback.

We present an experimental and theoretical study of multistability of a single-mode laser subject to feedback through phase tuning and amplifier sections integrated on the same chip. Closely above threshold, a regime of tristability of continuous-wave (CW) states is found for multiple ranges of amplifier and phase currents. The separation between the tristable wavelengths agrees with the channel spacing of dense wavelength multiplexing in the C band of optical communication making the device interesting for ternary logic applications.

All-optical noninvasive chaos control of a semiconductor laser.

We demonstrate experimentally control of a chaotic system on time scales much shorter than in any previous study. Combining a multisection laser with an external Fabry-Perot etalon, the chaotic output transforms into a regular intensity self-pulsation with a frequency in the 10-GHz range. The control is noninvasive as the feedback from the etalon is minimum when the target state is reached.

Nonequilibrium nuclear-electron spin dynamics in semiconductor quantum dots.

We study the spin dynamics in charged quantum dots in the situation where the resident electron is coupled to only about 200 nuclear spins and where the electron spin splitting induced by the Overhauser field does not exceed markedly the spectral broadening. The formation of a dynamical nuclear polarization as well as its subsequent decay by the dipole-dipole interaction is directly resolved in time. Because not limited by intrinsic nonlinearities, almost complete nuclear polarization is achieved, even at elevated temperatures.

Converting Wannier into Frenkel excitons in an inorganic/organic hybrid semiconductor nanostructure.

Electronic coupling between Wannier and Frenkel excitons in an inorganic/organic semiconductor hybrid structure is experimentally observed. Time-resolved photoluminescence and excitation spectroscopy directly demonstrate that electronic excitation energy can be transferred with an efficiency of up to 50% from an inorganic ZnO quantum well to an organic [2,2-p-phenylenebis-(5-phenyloxazol), alpha-sexithiophene] overlayer. The coupling is mediated via dipole-dipole-interaction analog to the Förster transfer in donor-acceptor systems.

All-optical noninvasive control of unstable steady states in a semiconductor laser.

All-optical noninvasive control of a multisection semiconductor laser by means of time-delayed feedback from an external Fabry-Perot cavity is realized experimentally. A theoretical analysis, in both a generic model as well as a device-specific simulation, points out the role of the optical phase. Using phase-dependent feedback we demonstrate stabilization of the continuous-wave laser output and noninvasive suppression of intensity pulsations.

Electron spin dynamics in a self-assembled semiconductor quantum dot: the limit of low magnetic fields.

Using the trion as an optical probe, we uncover novel electron spin dynamics in CdSe/ZnSe Stranski-Krastanov quantum dots. The longitudinal spin lifetime obeys an inverse power law associated with recharging processes in the dot ensemble. No hint at spin-orbit mediated spin relaxation is found.

Stimulated emission from the biexciton in a single self-assembled II-VI quantum dot.

Using two-photon excitation, stimulated emission from the biexciton state in a single CdSe/ZnSe quantum dot is observed in a two-pulse configuration. We directly time resolve the emission-absorption characteristics and verify the potential for laser action. By setting the polarization of the stimulation pulse, the recombination path of the biexciton and, by this, the state of the photons emitted in the decay cascade is controlled.

Coherence resonance near a Hopf bifurcation.

We report on the observation of coherence resonance for a semiconductor laser with short optical feedback close to Hopf bifurcations. Noise-induced self-pulsations are documented by distinct Lorentzian-like features in the power spectrum. The character of coherence is critically related to the type of the bifurcation.

Synchronization of delay-coupled oscillators: a study of semiconductor lasers.

Two delay-coupled semiconductor lasers are studied in the regime where the coupling delay is comparable to the time scales of the internal laser oscillations. Detuning the optical frequency between the two lasers, novel delay-induced scenarios leading from optical frequency locking to successive states of periodic intensity pulsations are observed. We demonstrate and analyze these dynamical phenomena experimentally using two distinct laser configurations.

Two-photon coherent control of a single quantum dot.

We report on two-photon coherent control of the biexciton state in single Stranski-Krastanov CdSe quantum dots. Clear interference patterns are observed at twice the optical frequency. The decay of the interference contrast is nonexponential and caused by a dynamical inhomogeneous broadening of the energy levels due to long-term fluctuations in the dot environment.