On the Kinetic Roughening in Polymer Film Growth by Vapor Deposition

This is a Comment on a recent publication: Y.-P. Zhao et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3229 (2000). In the Letter, the authors report on an experimental investigation of polymeric (p-xylene) thin film growth and propose a new universality class not previously known. Here, we point out that the critical exponents reported in the Letter are consistent with the critical exponents of Das Sarma-Tamborenea growth model.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure include

Transport properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors: Dynamical mean field theory and Boltzmann theory

The transport properties of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) are calculated using dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) and Boltzmann transport theory. Within DMFT we study the density of states and the dc-resistivity, which are strongly parameter dependent such as temperature, doping, density of the carriers, and the strength of the carrier-local impurity spin exchange coupling. Characteristic qualitative features are found distinguishing weak, intermediate, and strong carrier-spin coupling and allowing quantitative determination of important parameters defining the underlying ferromagnetic mechanism. We find that spin-disorder scattering, formation of bound state, and the population of the minority spin band are all operational in DMFT in different parameter range. We also develop a complementary Boltzmann transport theory for scattering by screened ionized impurities. The difference in the screening properties between paramagnetic ($T>T_c$) and ferromagnetic ($T<T_c$) states gives rise to the temperature dependence (increase or decrease) of resistivity, depending on the carrier density, as the system goes from the paramagnetic phase to the ferromagnetic phase. The metallic behavior below $T_c$ for optimally doped DMS samples can be explained in the Boltzmann theory by temperature dependent screening and thermal change of carrier spin polarization.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure

A Discrete Model for Nonequilibrium Growth Under Surface Diffusion Bias

A limited mobility nonequilibrium solid-on-solid dynamical model for kinetic surface growth is introduced as a simple description for the morphological evolution of a growing interface under random vapor deposition and surface diffusion bias conditions. Simulations using a local coordination dependent instantaneous relaxation of the deposited atoms produce complex surface mound morphologies whose dynamical evolution is inconsistent with all the proposed continuum surface growth equations. For any finite bias, mound coarsening is found to be only an initial transient which vanishes asymptotically, with the asymptotic growth exponent being 0.5 in both 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions. Possible experimental implications of the proposed limited mobility nonequilibrium model for real interface growth under a surface diffusion bias are critically discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures included, to appear in Surf. Sci. Let

Persistent Current in an Artificial Quantum Dot Molecule

Using an exact diagonalization technique within a generalized Mott-Hubbard Hamiltonian, we predict the existence of a ground state persistent current in coherent two-dimensional semiconductor quantum dot arrays pierced by an external magnetic flux. The calculated persistent current, which arises from the nontrivial dependence of the ground state energy on the external flux, exists in isolated arrays without any periodic boundary condition. The sensitivity of the calculated persistent current to interaction and disorder is shown to reflect the intricacies of various Anderson-Mott-Hubbard quantum phase transitions in two dimensional systems.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Absence of damping of low energy excitations in a quasi-2D dipolar Bose gas

We develop a theory of damping of low energy, collective excitations in a quasi-2D, homogenous, dipolar Bose gas at zero temperature, via processes whereby an excitation decays into two excitations with lower energy. We find that owing to the nature of the low energy spectrum of a quasi-2D dipolar gas, such processes cannot occur unless the momentum of the incoming quasi-particle exceeds a critical value k_{crit}. We find that as the dipolar interaction strength is increased, this critical value shifts to larger momenta. Our predictions can be directly verified in current experiments on dipolar Bose condensates using Bragg spectroscopy, and provide valuable insight into the quantum many-body physics of dipolar gases.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Localization in Semiconductor Quantum Wire Nanostructures

Localization properties of quasi-one dimensional quantum wire nanostructures are investigated using the transfer matrix-Lyapunov exponent technique. We calculate the localization length as a function of the effective mean-field mobility assuming the random disorder potential to be arising from dopant-induced short-range $\delta$-function or finite-range Gaussian impurity scattering. The localization length increases approximately linearly with the effective mobility, and is also enhanced by finite-range disorder. There is a sharp reduction in the localization length when the chemical potential crosses into the second subband.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX 3.0, 5 figures (available upon request