Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Atomic Nuclei: Magnetic Resonance01:05

Atomic Nuclei: Magnetic Resonance

The number of nuclear spins aligned in the lower energy state is slightly greater than those in the higher energy state. In the presence of an external magnetic field, as the spins precess at the Larmor frequency, the excess population results in a net magnetization oriented along the z axis. When a pulse or a short burst of radio waves at the Larmor frequency is applied along the x axis, the coupling of frequencies causes resonance and flips the nuclear spins of the excess population from the...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes01:23

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis,  the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis. This...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview01:03

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview

NMR-active nuclei have energy levels called 'spin states' that are associated with the orientations of their nuclear magnetic moments. In the absence of a magnetic field, the nuclear magnetic moments are randomly oriented, and the spin states are degenerate. When an external magnetic field is applied, the spin states have only 2 + 1 orientations available to them. A proton with = ½ has two available orientations. Similarly, for a quadrupolar nucleus with a nuclear spin value of one, the...
NMR Spectrometers: Radiofrequency Pulses and Pulse Sequences01:17

NMR Spectrometers: Radiofrequency Pulses and Pulse Sequences

A pulse is a short burst of radio waves distributed over a range of frequencies that simultaneously excites all the nuclei in the sample. Upon passing a radio frequency pulse along the x-axis, the nuclei absorb energy corresponding to their Larmor frequencies and achieve resonance. This shifts the net magnetization vector from the z-axis toward the transverse plane. This angle of rotation of the magnetization vector, or the flip angle, is proportional to the duration and intensity of the pulse.
Carrier Generation and Recombination01:22

Carrier Generation and Recombination

Carrier generation is the process by which electron-hole pairs (EHPs) are created within the semiconductor. In direct-bandgap semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), this occurs efficiently when energy absorption prompts valence electrons to leap into the conduction band, leaving behind holes.
This process is given by the generation rate G and is efficient due to the conservation of momentum between the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum.
Indirect generation involves an...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

High Pressure Synthesis of Ultrasmall Nanodiamonds with Nitrogen Vacancy Centers.

Nano letters·2026
Same author

Tunable Microporous Bimetallic Carboxylate-Pyrazolate Metal-Organic Frameworks for CO<sub>2</sub> Capture.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026
Same author

A Resonant Life.

Annual review of chemical and biomolecular engineering·2026
Same author

Geometric phase detection via NMR interferometry.

Journal of magnetic resonance (San Diego, Calif. : 1997)·2026
Same author

Polyolefin blends with co-continuous architectures enabled by dynamic covalent crosslinking.

Science advances·2026
Same author

Out-of-time-order correlators bridge classical transport and quantum dynamics.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Measurement of Coherence Decay in GaMnAs Using Femtosecond Four-wave Mixing
15:58

Measurement of Coherence Decay in GaMnAs Using Femtosecond Four-wave Mixing

Published on: December 3, 2013

Optically rewritable patterns of nuclear magnetization in gallium arsenide.

Jonathan P King1, Yunpu Li, Carlos A Meriles

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, 201 Gilman Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. jpking@berkeley.edu

Nature Communications
|June 28, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Researchers can now control nuclear spin polarization patterns in semiconductors using light. This breakthrough enables precise, rewritable polarization for quantum computing and spintronics applications.

More Related Videos

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor
10:00

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Published on: November 11, 2013

High-Sensitivity Nuclear Magnetic Resonance at Giga-Pascal Pressures: A New Tool for Probing Electronic and Chemical Properties of Condensed Matter under Extreme Conditions
08:42

High-Sensitivity Nuclear Magnetic Resonance at Giga-Pascal Pressures: A New Tool for Probing Electronic and Chemical Properties of Condensed Matter under Extreme Conditions

Published on: October 10, 2014

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 21, 2026

Measurement of Coherence Decay in GaMnAs Using Femtosecond Four-wave Mixing
15:58

Measurement of Coherence Decay in GaMnAs Using Femtosecond Four-wave Mixing

Published on: December 3, 2013

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor
10:00

Gradient Echo Quantum Memory in Warm Atomic Vapor

Published on: November 11, 2013

High-Sensitivity Nuclear Magnetic Resonance at Giga-Pascal Pressures: A New Tool for Probing Electronic and Chemical Properties of Condensed Matter under Extreme Conditions
08:42

High-Sensitivity Nuclear Magnetic Resonance at Giga-Pascal Pressures: A New Tool for Probing Electronic and Chemical Properties of Condensed Matter under Extreme Conditions

Published on: October 10, 2014

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Quantum Information Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

  • Nuclear spin polarization is crucial for developing quantum computing and spintronics technologies.
  • Precise spatial control over nuclear polarization sign and magnitude is needed for advanced applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate all-optical control and imaging of nuclear spin polarization patterns in bulk semiconductors.
  • To investigate the use of light properties and NMR sequences for tailoring polarization.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing optical pumping with controlled light helicity, intensity, and wavelength.
  • Exploiting different electron-nuclear interaction mechanisms.
  • Employing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) pulse sequences for fine-tuning polarization.

Main Results:

  • Successfully controlled and imaged the sign of nuclear polarization spatially, as a function of distance from an irradiated GaAs surface.
  • Demonstrated all-optical creation of micron-scale, rewritable patterns of positive and negative nuclear polarization.
  • Achieved polarization control without ferromagnets, lithography, or quantum-confined structures.

Conclusions:

  • This method offers a novel way to engineer nuclear spin polarization in bulk semiconductors.
  • The all-optical, rewritable polarization patterns are promising for future spintronic devices and quantum information processing.