This thesis presents the first study of the damping of a Bloch oscillating wave packet by Zener tunneling to above-barrier states [1]. We investigate the time evolution of an below-barrier subband Wannier-Stark wave packet in a strongly coupled GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice (SL) with shallow quantum well barriers by optical interband spectroscopy. We use a sub-100 fs homodyne pump-probe technique which is sensitive to the intraband polarization. The presented experimental data unambiguously show an electric field-dependent continuous decrease of the intraband coherence time. Besides the continuous field-induced damping of the intraband polarization, we observe the signature of resonant Zener tunneling of a Bloch oscillating wave packet between discrete states belonging to below and above-barrier bands. This coupling manifests itself as a revival of the intraband polarization [2]. The experiment is modelled in two aspects. First, in a 1D single-particle calculation the wave functions the BO wave packet is composed of are derived. Here, the inter-subband dynamics are found to be given by the energetic splitting between nearly-degenerate below and above-barrier states. The wave packet tunnels from the below-barrier band to the above-barrier band while remaining coherently oscillating. At this time, it is spatially spread over more than 100 nm...

Cette thèse traite du contrôle et de la caractérisation de l'alignement et de l'orientation du point de vue théorique et expérimental. L'alignement d'une molécule linéaire consiste à obtenir une probabilité élevée de localisation de l'axe internucléaire symétrique autour de l'axe de polarisation du champ tandis que l'orientation privilégie un sens particulier le long du champ. L'orientation à l'aide d'impulsions bi couleur (2+1) non résonnantes est étudiée en détail et les conditions permettant d'obtenir une orientation efficace sont examinées. Un schéma bi couleur où la deuxième harmonique est en quasi-résonance avec un niveau vibrationnel de la molécule est également étudié. Cette technique présente l'avantage d'offrir un paramètre supplémentaire à savoir l'écart à la résonance qui peut être ajusté de manière à optimiser l'orientation moléculaire. Finalement une nouvelle technique expérimentale de détection de l'alignement moléculaire est présentée. Celle-ci permet une détection monocoup de l'alignement moléculaire sur une étendue temporelle jusqu'alors inégalée. / This thesis is about the control and characterisation of the alignment and orientation of molecules by ultra short laser pulses on a theoretical and experimental approach. Alignment corresponds to a symmetric angular distribution of the molecular axis peaked along the laser field axis, whereas orientation provides an asymmetric distribution favouring one spatial direction. Orientation by sudden two-colour (2+1) pulses is studied extensively for the non resonant case and conditions required for achieving significant orientation are explored. A second two-colour scheme, where the second harmonic is in quasi resonance with a vibrational level of the molecule, is also presented and discussed. The last technique has the advantage to offer the detuning of the laser frequency as an additional free parameter, which can be adjusted to enhance molecular orientation. A new experimental polarization imaging 2D technique for the detection alignment is also developed. Experimental results on single shot detection of molecular alignment achieved over an unprecedented temporal span are presented.

This thesis presents the first study of the damping of a Bloch oscillating wave packet by Zener tunneling to above-barrier states [1]. We investigate the time evolution of an below-barrier subband Wannier-Stark wave packet in a strongly coupled GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice (SL) with shallow quantum well barriers by optical interband spectroscopy. We use a sub-100 fs homodyne pump-probe technique which is sensitive to the intraband polarization. The presented experimental data unambiguously show an electric field-dependent continuous decrease of the intraband coherence time. Besides the continuous field-induced damping of the intraband polarization, we observe the signature of resonant Zener tunneling of a Bloch oscillating wave packet between discrete states belonging to below and above-barrier bands. This coupling manifests itself as a revival of the intraband polarization [2]. The experiment is modelled in two aspects. First, in a 1D single-particle calculation the wave functions the BO wave packet is composed of are derived. Here, the inter-subband dynamics are found to be given by the energetic splitting between nearly-degenerate below and above-barrier states. The wave packet tunnels from the below-barrier band to the above-barrier band while remaining coherently oscillating. At this time, it is spatially spread over more than 100 nm...

Understanding the connection of the atomic structure and the physical properties of materials remains one of the elementary questions of condensed-matter physics. One research line in this quest started with the discovery of quasicrystals by Shechtman et al. in 1982. It soon became clear that these materials with their 5-, 8-, 10- or 12-fold rotational symmetries, which are forbidden according to classical crystallography, can be described in terms of mathematical models for nonperiodic tilings of a plane proposed by Penrose and Ammann in the 1970s. Due to the missing translational symmetry of quasicrystals, till today only finite, relatively small systems or periodic approximants have been investigated by means of numerical calculations and theoretical results have mainly been obtained for one-dimensional systems. In this thesis we study d-dimensional quasiperiodic models, so-called labyrinth tilings, with separable Hamiltonians in the tight-binding approach. This method paves the way to study higher-dimensional, quantum mechanical solutions, which can be directly derived from the one-dimensional results. This allows the investigation of very large systems in two and three dimensions with up to 10^10 sites. In particular, we contemplate the class of metallic-mean sequences. Based on this model we focus on the electronic properties of quasicrystals with a special interest on the connection of the spectral and dynamical properties of the Hamiltonian. Hence, we investigate the characteristics of the eigenstates and wave functions and compare these with the wave-packet dynamics in the labyrinth tilings by numerical calculations and by a renormalization group approach in connection with perturbation theory. It turns out that many properties show a qualitatively similar behavior in different dimensions or are even independent of the dimension as e.g. the scaling behavior of the participation numbers and the mean square displacement of a wave packet. Further, we show that the structure of the labyrinth tilings and their transport properties are connected and obtain that certain moments of the spectral dimensions are related to the wave-packet dynamics. Besides this also the photonic properties are studied for one-dimensional quasiperiodic multilayer systems for oblique incidence of light, and we show that the characteristics of the transmission bands are related to the quasiperiodic structure. / Eine der elementaren Fragen der Physik kondensierter Materie beschäftigt sich mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen der atomaren Struktur und den physikalischen Eigenschaften von Materialien. Eine Forschungslinie in diesem Kontext begann mit der Entdeckung der Quasikristalle durch Shechtman et al. 1982. Es stellte sich bald heraus, dass diese Materialien mit ihren laut der klassischen Kristallographie verbotenen 5-, 8-, 10- oder 12-zähligen Rotationssymmetrien durch mathematische Modelle für die aperiodische Pflasterung der Ebene beschrieben werden können, die durch Penrose und Ammann in den 1970er Jahren vorgeschlagen wurden. Aufgrund der fehlenden Translationssymmetrie in Quasikristallen sind bis heute nur endliche, relativ kleine Systeme oder periodische Approximanten durch numerische Berechnungen untersucht worden und theoretische Ergebnisse wurden hauptsächlich für eindimensionale Systeme gewonnen. In dieser Arbeit werden d-dimensionale quasiperiodische Modelle, sogenannte Labyrinth-Pflasterungen, mit separablem Hamilton-Operator im Modell starker Bindung betrachtet. Diese Methode erlaubt es, quantenmechanische Lösungen in höheren Dimensionen direkt aus den eindimensionalen Ergebnissen abzuleiten und ermöglicht somit die Untersuchung von sehr großen Systemen in zwei und drei Dimensionen mit bis zu 10^10 Gitterpunkten. Insbesondere betrachten wir dabei quasiperiodische Folgen mit metallischem Schnitt. Basierend auf diesem Modell befassen wir uns im Speziellen mit den elektronischen Eigenschaften der Quasikristalle im Hinblick auf die Verbindung der spektralen und dynamischen Eigenschaften des Hamilton-Operators. Hierfür untersuchen wir die Eigenschaften der Eigenzustände und Wellenfunktionen und vergleichen diese mit der Dynamik von Wellenpaketen in den Labyrinth-Pflasterungen basierend auf numerischen Berechnungen und einem Renormierungsgruppen-Ansatz in Verbindung mit Störungstheorie. Dabei stellt sich heraus, dass viele Eigenschaften wie etwa das Skalenverhalten der Partizipationszahlen und der mittleren quadratischen Abweichung eines Wellenpakets für verschiedene Dimensionen ein qualitativ gleiches Verhalten zeigen oder sogar unabhängig von der Dimension sind. Zudem zeigen wir, dass die Struktur der Labyrinth-Pflasterungen und deren Transporteigenschaften sowie bestimmte Momente der spektralen Dimensionen und die Dynamik der Wellenpakete in Beziehung zueinander stehen. Darüber hinaus werden auch die photonischen Eigenschaften für eindimensionale quasiperiodische Mehrschichtsysteme für beliebige Einfallswinkel untersucht und der Verlauf der Transmissionsbänder mit der quasiperiodischen Struktur in Zusammenhang gebracht.

The vibrational wave-packet dynamics of diatomic rubidium molecules (Rb2) in triplet states formed on the surface of superfluid helium nanodroplets is investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Detailed comparison of experimental femtosecond pump–probe spectra with dissipative quantum dynamics simulations reveals that vibrational relaxation is the main source of dephasing. The rate constant for vibrational relaxation in the first excited triplet state 13Σ+g is found to be constant γ ≈ 0.5 ns−1 for the lowest vibrational levels v [less, similar] 15 and to increase sharply when exciting to higher energies. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.