R. Meucci

Optimal Phase-Control Strategy for Damped-Driven Duffing Oscillators.

Phase-control techniques of chaos aim to extract periodic behaviors from chaotic systems by applying weak harmonic perturbations with a suitably chosen phase. However, little is known about the best strategy for selecting adequate perturbations to reach desired states. Here we use experimental measures and numerical simulations to assess the benefits of controlling individually the three terms of a Duffing oscillator. Using a real-time analog indicator able to discriminate on-the-fly periodic behaviors from chaos, we reconstruct experimentally the phase versus perturbation strength stability areas when periodic perturbations are applied to different terms governing the oscillator. We verify the system to be more sensitive to perturbations applied to the quadratic term of the double-well Duffing oscillator and to the quartic term of the single-well Duffing oscillator.

Generation of entanglement in quantum parametric oscillators using phase control

The control of quantum entanglement in systems in contact with environment plays an important role in information processing, cryptography and quantum computing. However, interactions with the environment, even when very weak, entail decoherence in the system with consequent loss of entanglement. Here we consider a system of two coupled oscillators in contact with a common heat bath and with a time dependent oscillation frequency. The possibility to control the entanglement of the oscillators by means of an external sinusoidal perturbation applied to the oscillation frequency has been theoretically explored. We demonstrate that the oscillators become entangled exactly in the region where the classical counterpart is unstable, otherwise when the classical system is stable, entanglement is not possible. Therefore, we can control the entanglement swapping from stable to unstable regions by adjusting amplitude and phase of our external controller. We also show that the entanglement rate is approximately proportional to the real part of the Floquet coefficient of the classical counterpart of the oscillators. Our results have the intriguing peculiarity of manipulating quantum information operating on a classical system.

Mixed mode oscillations and chaotic spiking in Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes

We report both experimentally and theoretically the appearance of Mixed Mode Oscillations and chaotic spiking in Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode. The proposed dimensionless model exhibits homoclinic chaos Furthermore, it is also able to reproduce Mixed Mode Oscillations and chaotic spiking regimes. The chaotic dynamics is completely determined by the variation of the injecting bias current and modulating current of the carrier in the wetting layer, as evidenced by means of the modulation depth of the system and bifurcation diagram. The influence of the injecting current on the transition between Mixed Mode Oscillations and chaos has been also investigated.

Experimental characterization of the dynamics in a network of chaotic FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons

When FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) driven oscillators are coupled, their dynamics tend to be synchronized. We show that the chaotically spiking neurons change their internal dynamics to subthreshold oscillations, the phenomenon referred to as firing death. These dynamical changes are observed below the critical coupling strength at which the transition to full chaotic synchronization occurs. Moreover, we find various dynamical regimes in the subthreshold oscillations, namely, regular, quasiperiodic, and chaotic states. We show numerically that these dynamical states may coexist with large-amplitude spiking regimes and that this coexistence is characterized by riddled basins of attraction. The reported results are obtained for neurons implemented in the electronic circuits as well as for the model equations. Finally, we comment on the possible scenarios where the coupling-induced firing death could play an important role in biological systems.

Exploring phase control in a quantum dot light-emitting diode:

We report phase control in a periodically driven chaotic nanosystem consisting of a quantum dot light-emitting diode. Such a dynamical system is a class C laser, whence the charactering features are intrinsically chaotic. Phase control relies on the addition of small parametric harmonic perturbations with adjustable phase. Phase control is demonstrated by changing both frequency and strength of the controlling perturbations. Our results show that phase control has two crucial effects on a quantum dot light-emitting diode. First, it can enhance the spiking behavior in either regular or chaotic regimes; second, it is able to turn periodic behavior to chaotic behavior with a minimal perturbation when a resonance condition at half of the driving frequency is achieved.

Identification of minimal parameters for optimal suppression of chaos in dissipative driven systems

Taming chaos arising from dissipative non-autonomous nonlinear systems by applying additional harmonic excitations is a reliable and widely used procedure nowadays. But the suppressory effectiveness of generic non-harmonic periodic excitations continues to be a significant challenge both to our theoretical understanding and in practical applications. Here we show how the effectiveness of generic suppressory excitations is optimally enhanced when the impulse transmitted by them (time integral over two consecutive zeros) is judiciously controlled in a not obvious way. Specifically, the effective amplitude of the suppressory excitation is minimal when the impulse transmitted is maximum. Also, by lowering the impulse transmitted one obtains larger regularization areas in the initial phase difference-amplitude control plane, the price to be paid being the requirement of larger amplitudes. These two remarkable features, which constitute our definition of optimum control, are demonstrated experimentally by means of an analog version of a paradigmatic model, and confirmed numerically by simulations of such a damped driven system including the presence of noise. Our theoretical analysis shows that the controlling effect of varying the impulse is due to a subsequent variation of the energy transmitted by the suppressory excitation.

Control of entanglement dynamics in a system of three coupled quantum oscillators

Dynamical control of entanglement and its connection with the classical concept of instability is an intriguing matter which deserves accurate investigation for its important role in information processing, cryptography and quantum computing. Here we consider a tripartite quantum system made of three coupled quantum parametric oscillators in equilibrium with a common heat bath. The introduced parametrization consists of a pulse train with adjustable amplitude and duty cycle representing a more general case for the perturbation. From the experimental observation of the instability in the classical system we are able to predict the parameter values for which the entangled states exist. A different amount of entanglement and different onset times emerge when comparing two and three quantum oscillators. The system and the parametrization considered here open new perspectives for manipulating quantum features at high temperatures.

Micro/Nano Surface Texturing in Si Using UV Femtosecond Laser Pulses

A fast laser texturing technique has been utilized to produce micro/nanosurface textures in Silicon by means of UV femtosecond laser. We have prepared good absorber surface for photovoltaic cells. The textured Silicon surface absorbs the incident light greater than the non-textured surface. The results show a photovoltaic current increase about 21.3% for photovoltaic cell with two-dimensional pattern as compared to the same cell without texturing.

Polarization dynamics in a transverse multimode class b laser: Role of the optical feedback

We investigate the polarization dynamics in a quasi-isotropic CO2 laser emitting on the annular mode subjected to an optical feedback. We observe a complex dynamics in which spatial mode and polarization competition are involved. The observed dynamics is well reproduced by a model that discriminates between the intrinsic asymmetry due to the kinetic coupling of molecules with different angular momenta and the anisotropy induced by the polarization feedback. We observe various dynamical regimes including chaotic dynamics and show that feedback changes these states from regular to chaotic and vice versa. Such a dynamics is also accompanied by spontaneous between the patterns that indicate the existence of bistability in the system. Finally the possible applications to polarization coding are discussed.

Polarization spatial dynamics in a transverse multimode CO 2 laser with optical feedback

We experimentally study the polarization dynamics in a quasi isotropic CO2 laser emitting on the TEM*01 mode subjected to an optical feedback. We observe a complex dynamics in which spatial mode and polarization competition are involved. The observed dynamic is well reproduced by means of a model that provides a quantitative discrimination between the intrinsic asymmetry due to the kinetic coupling of molecules with different angular momenta and the anisotropy induced by the polarization feedback. Possible applications to polarization coding and synchronization will be presented.