Center for Excitonics

Events

Indirect Excitonics

April 22, 2009 at 3pm/36-428

Leonid V. Butov
Department of Physics University of California, San Diego

abstract:
Bound electron-hole pairs – excitons – are light Bose particles. They have a relatively high temperature of quantum degeneracy of the order of a few Kelvin. Indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells have long lifetimes and can cool down to temperatures well below 1 Kelvin. This gives an opportunity to study cold exciton gases. We will present studies of pattern formation, coherence and condensation in cold exciton gases.

The indirect excitons are dipoles and their energy can be controlled by voltage. This gives an opportunity to build devices, which operate with excitons in place of electrons. We will present control of exciton fluxes in excitonic circuits.

The energy control by voltage also gives an opportunity to create a variety of potential profiles for the indirect excitons and use them as a tool for studying the physics of excitons. We will present studies of cold excitons in traps and lattices.

bio:

Professional Preparation

  • Postdoctoral Institution: Walter Schottky Institute, Garching, Germany, Physics, 1992-1993. Advisor Gerhard Abstreiter.
  • Graduate Institution: Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Physics, Ph.D. 1991, Ph.D. thesis on Many-body effects in neutral magnetoplasma in InGaAs quantum wells. Advisor Vladimir Kulakovskii
  • Undergraduate Institution: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Physics, Diploma 1987, Diploma thesis on DX centers in AlGaAs. Advisor Vladimir Kulakovskii.

Appointments

  • Since 2003 Professor of Physics, University of California San Diego
  • 2001 – 2003 Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
  • 2001 Special Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
  • 1997 Distinguished Visitor at the Center for Quantized Electronic Structures, UC Santa Barbara
  • 1992-1993 Karpinski Prize Fellow, Walter Schottky Institute, Germany
  • 1991-1992 & 1993-2000 Research Scientist, then Senior Research Scientist, then Leading Research Scientist, Doctor of Sciences, Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences