Phonon-photon

Fig. 3. Dispersion curves of the long-wavelength optical phonons, photons, and polaritons in the centre of BZ 1. In order to demonstrate the connection with the dispersion effects in the region 107 < k < 10 cm-1, the branches of an LO and an LA phonon in this region have been added in a different linear scale. The figures correspond to a cubic lattice with two atoms in the unit cell 3S)...

The results from the general theory for the vibrational spectrum of a localized harmonic oscillator, linearly coupled with a noninteracting boson continuum (phonons, photons, electron-hole pairs), can be used to estimate the contribution of different relaxation processes at smfaces. The spectral function of the oscillator obtained by normal-mode analysis at zero temperature is [25]... 

The model of non-mteracting hannonic oscillators has a broad range of applicability. Besides vibrational motion of molecules, it is appropriate for phonons in hannonic crystals and photons in a cavity (black-body radiation). 

The quanta of the elastic wave energy are called phonons The themral average number of phonons in an elastic wave of frequency or is given, just as in the case of photons, by... 

There are differences between photons and phonons while the total number of photons in a cavity is infinite, the number of elastic modes m a finite solid is finite and equals 3N if there are N atoms in a three-dimensional solid. Furthennore, an elastic wave has tliree possible polarizations, two transverse and one longimdinal, in contrast to only... 

In an ideal Bose gas, at a certain transition temperature a remarkable effect occurs a macroscopic fraction of the total number of particles condenses into the lowest-energy single-particle state. This effect, which occurs when the Bose particles have non-zero mass, is called Bose-Einstein condensation, and the key to its understanding is the chemical potential. For an ideal gas of photons or phonons, which have zero mass, this effect does not occur. This is because their total number is arbitrary and the chemical potential is effectively zero for tire photon or phonon gas. 

In this chapter, the foundations of equilibrium statistical mechanics are introduced and applied to ideal and weakly interacting systems. The coimection between statistical mechanics and thennodynamics is made by introducing ensemble methods. The role of mechanics, both quantum and classical, is described. In particular, the concept and use of the density of states is utilized. Applications are made to ideal quantum and classical gases, ideal gas of diatomic molecules, photons and the black body radiation, phonons in a hannonic solid, conduction electrons in metals and the Bose—Einstein condensation. Introductory aspects of the density... 

There are many ways of increasing tlie equilibrium carrier population of a semiconductor. Most often tliis is done by generating electron-hole pairs as, for instance, in tlie process of absorjition of a photon witli h E. Under reasonable levels of illumination and doping, tlie generation of electron-hole pairs affects primarily the minority carrier density. However, tlie excess population of minority carriers is not stable it gradually disappears tlirough a variety of recombination processes in which an electron in tlie CB fills a hole in a VB. The excess energy E is released as a photon or phonons. The foniier case corresponds to a radiative recombination process, tlie latter to a non-radiative one. The radiative processes only rarely involve direct recombination across tlie gap. Usually, tliis type of process is assisted by shallow defects (impurities). Non-radiative recombination involves a defect-related deep level at which a carrier is trapped first, and a second transition is needed to complete tlie process. 

Ideal Performance and Cooling Requirements. Eree carriers can be excited by the thermal motion of the crystal lattice (phonons) as well as by photon absorption. These thermally excited carriers determine the magnitude of the dark current,/ and constitute a source of noise that defines the limit of the minimum radiation flux that can be detected. The dark carrier concentration is temperature dependent and decreases exponentially with reciprocal temperature at a rate that is determined by the magnitude of or E for intrinsic or extrinsic material, respectively. Therefore, usually it is necessary to operate infrared photon detectors at reduced temperatures to achieve high sensitivity. The smaller the value of E or E, the lower the temperature must be. 

Molecules vibrate at fundamental frequencies that are usually in the mid-infrared. Some overtone and combination transitions occur at shorter wavelengths. Because infrared photons have enough energy to excite rotational motions also, the ir spectmm of a gas consists of rovibrational bands in which each vibrational transition is accompanied by numerous simultaneous rotational transitions. In condensed phases the rotational stmcture is suppressed, but the vibrational frequencies remain highly specific, and information on the molecular environment can often be deduced from hnewidths, frequency shifts, and additional spectral stmcture owing to phonon (thermal acoustic mode) and lattice effects. 

A simplified schematic diagram of transitions that lead to luminescence in materials containing impurides is shown in Figure 1. In process 1 an electron that has been excited well above the conduction band et e dribbles down, reaching thermal equilibrium with the lattice. This may result in phonon-assisted photon emission or, more likely, the emission of phonons only. Process 2 produces intrinsic luminescence due to direct recombination between an electron in the conduction band... 

Graphite exhibits strong second-order Raman-active features. These features are expected and observed in carbon tubules, as well. Momentum and energy conservation, and the phonon density of states determine, to a large extent, the second-order spectra. By conservation of energy hut = huty + hbi2, where bi and ill) (/ = 1,2) are, respectively, the frequencies of the incoming photon and those of the simultaneously excited normal modes. There is also a crystal momentum selection rule hV. = -I- q, where k and q/... 

Coupling the motion of the mosaic cell (TLS and boson peak) to phonons is necesssary to explain thermal conductivity therefore the interaction effects discussed later follow from our identification of the origin of amorphous state excitations. The emission of a phonon followed by its absorption by another cell will give an effective interaction, in the same way that photon exchange leads to... 

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