Peter Moroshkin

Nanowire formation by gold nano-fragment coalescence on quantized vortices in He II

We demonstrate that laser ablation of a gold target immersed in superfluid and normal fluid helium leads to the formation of elongated gold nano-fragments. In the superfluid phase these nano-fragments aggregate into filaments with extremely large aspect ratios displaying metallic electric conductivity. We attribute this unusual structure to the coalescence of gold particles trapped on quantized vortices. Our observations suggest new ways to visualize the structure of quantized vortex bundles and a new approach for producing centimeter-long metal nanowires.

Spectroscopy of the copper dimer in normal fluid, superfluid, and solid H4e

Copper atoms and molecules are laser ablated into bulk liquid and solid helium, and the emission spectra of the laser excited D→X, B→X, and a→X transitions of Cu(2) are observed to exhibit clearly resolved vibrational bands. Surprisingly, for the D→X and the B→X transitions, no differences were observed for superfluid He at 1.5 K, for the normal liquid at 2.65 K, or for the 1.5 K solid at higher pressures of about 30 bars. An interpretation based on the bubble model indicates that the interaction with the He matrix is much weaker than in the case of the alkali atoms. Compared to other solid rare gas matrices, the line shifts and line widths in condensed helium are much smaller by nearly an order of magnitude.

Spectroscopy of atomic and molecular defects in solid He4 using optical, microwave, radio frequency, and static magnetic and electric fields (Review)

A little more than a decade ago our team extended the field of defect spectroscopy in cryocrystals to solid He4 matrices, in both their body-centered cubic (bcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) configurations. In this review paper we survey our pioneering activities in the field and compare our results to those obtained in the related fields of doped superfluid helium and doped helium nanodroplets, domains developed in parallel to our own efforts. We present experimental details of the sample preparation and the different spectroscopic techniques. Experimental results of purely optical spectroscopic studies in atoms, exciplexes, and dimers and their interpretation in terms of the so-called bubble model will be discussed. A large part of the paper is devoted to optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) processes in alkali atoms. The quantum nature of the helium matrix and the highly isotropic shape of the local trapping sites in the bcc phase make solid helium crystals ideal matrices for high-resolutio...

Rb*Henexciplexes in solidHe4

We report the observation of emission spectra from Rb*He{sub n} exciplexes in solid {sup 4}He. Two different excitation channels were experimentally identified, viz., exciplex formation via laser excitation to the atomic 5P{sub 3/2} and to the 5P{sub 1/2} levels. While the former channel was observed before in liquid helium, on helium nanodroplets, and in helium gas by different groups, the latter creation mechanism occurs only in solid helium or in gaseous helium above 10 K. The experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions based on the extension of a model, used earlier by us for the description of Cs*He{sub n} exciplexes. We also report the observation of fluorescence from atomic rubidium in solid helium, and discuss striking differences between the spectroscopic features of Rb-He and Cs-He systems.

Cs*Hen exciplexes in solid He4

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the laser-induced formation process and of the emission spectra of Cs*He(n) exciplexes in the hcp and bcc phases of solid helium. Two different exciplex molecules are detected: a linear triatomic Cs*He2, which can exist in two electronic states: APi(1/2) and BPi(3/2), and a larger complex, where six or seven He atoms form a ring around a single cesium atom in the 6P(1/2) state. A theoretical model is presented, which allows the interpretation of the experimentally observed spectra.

Spectroscopy of Cs2, RbCs, and Rb2 in solid H4e

We present comparative experimental and theoretical studies of the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the alkali-metal dimer molecules Cs(2) and RbCs immersed in a solid helium matrix, thereby extending our recent observations of Rb(2) in solid (4)He. The laser-excited molecular states are mostly quenched by the interaction with the He matrix. The quenching efficiently populates the second lowest excited state of the molecule, i.e., (1)  (3)Π((u)) that is metastable in the homonuclear dimers. Molecular excitation and emission bands are modeled by calculating Franck-Condon factors that give a reasonable agreement with the experimental findings.

Phonon generation in condensed 4He by laser-excited atomic bubbles

We discuss the interaction between nanometer-sized defects (atomic bubbles) and elementary excitations (phonons) in quantum fluids and solids. We observe that optical excitations in embedded metal atoms induce bubble expansions/contractions that create strongly localized phonon wave packets in the quantum matrix. We derive the structure and dynamics of these vibronic excitations from the experimental laser-induced fluorescence spectra of Au and Cu atoms in liquid and solid He. The atomic vibrations are found to be strongly damped on the 50 A and 5 ps scales in agreement with pure hydrodynamic estimations.

Kennard-Stepanov relation connecting absorption and emission spectra in an atomic gas.

The Kennard-Stepanov relation describes a thermodynamic, Boltzmann-type scaling between the absorption and emission spectral profiles of an absorber, which applies in many liquid state dye solutions as well as in semiconductor systems. Here we examine absorption and emission spectra of rubidium atoms in a dense argon buffer gas environment. We demonstrate that the Kennard-Stepanov relation between absorption and emission spectra is well fulfilled in the collisionally broadened atomic gas system. Our experimental findings are supported by a simple theoretical model.

Spectroscopy of gold atoms isolated in liquid and solid 4He matrices

We present a systematic experimental study of absorption and fluorescence spectra of Au atoms in bulk liquid and solid helium matrices. The results are compared to the spectra of Cu atoms studied earlier. We investigate the dependence of the observed spectral lineshapes on the helium pressure. The observed splitting of the 5d(10)6p - 5d(9)6s(2) transitions of Au in hcp solid He gives evidence for an anisotropic trapping site structure formed either by a non-spherical atomic bubble or a four-vacancy center.

Bound-bound transitions in the emission spectra of Ba+-He excimer

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the emission and absorption spectra of the