4,058 research outputs found
Charge Transport in Manganites: Hopping Conduction, the Anomalous Hall Effect and Universal Scaling
The low-temperature Hall resistivity \rho_{xy} of La_{2/3}A_{1/3}MnO_3 single
crystals (where A stands for Ca, Pb and Ca, or Sr) can be separated into
Ordinary and Anomalous contributions, giving rise to Ordinary and Anomalous
Hall effects, respectively. However, no such decomposition is possible near the
Curie temperature which, in these systems, is close to metal-to-insulator
transition. Rather, for all of these compounds and to a good approximation, the
\rho_{xy} data at various temperatures and magnetic fields collapse (up to an
overall scale), on to a single function of the reduced magnetization
m=M/M_{sat}, the extremum of this function lying at m~0.4. A new mechanism for
the Anomalous Hall Effect in the inelastic hopping regime, which reproduces
these scaling curves, is identified. This mechanism, which is an extension of
Holstein's model for the Ordinary Hall effect in the hopping regime, arises
from the combined effects of the double-exchange-induced quantal phase in
triads of Mn ions and spin-orbit interactions. We identify processes that lead
to the Anomalous Hall Effect for localized carriers and, along the way, analyze
issues of quantum interference in the presence of phonon-assisted hopping. Our
results suggest that, near the ferromagnet-to-paramagnet transition, it is
appropriate to describe transport in manganites in terms of carrier hopping
between states that are localized due to combined effect of magnetic and
non-magnetic disorder. We attribute the qualitative variations in resistivity
characteristics across manganite compounds to the differing strengths of their
carrier self-trapping, and conclude that both disorder-induced localization and
self-trapping effects are important for transport.Comment: 29 pages, 20 figure
Quantum transport in ultracold atoms
Ultracold atoms confined by engineered magnetic or optical potentials are
ideal systems for studying phenomena otherwise difficult to realize or probe in
the solid state because their atomic interaction strength, number of species,
density, and geometry can be independently controlled. This review focuses on
quantum transport phenomena in atomic gases that mirror and oftentimes either
better elucidate or show fundamental differences with those observed in
mesoscopic and nanoscopic systems. We discuss significant progress in
performing transport experiments in atomic gases, contrast similarities and
differences between transport in cold atoms and in condensed matter systems,
and survey inspiring theoretical predictions that are difficult to verify in
conventional setups. These results further demonstrate the versatility offered
by atomic systems in the study of nonequilibrium phenomena and their promise
for novel applications.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures. A revie
Atom Interferometers
Interference with atomic and molecular matter waves is a rich branch of
atomic physics and quantum optics. It started with atom diffraction from
crystal surfaces and the separated oscillatory fields technique used in atomic
clocks. Atom interferometry is now reaching maturity as a powerful art with
many applications in modern science. In this review we first describe the basic
tools for coherent atom optics including diffraction by nanostructures and
laser light, three-grating interferometers, and double wells on AtomChips. Then
we review scientific advances in a broad range of fields that have resulted
from the application of atom interferometers. These are grouped in three
categories: (1) fundamental quantum science, (2) precision metrology and (3)
atomic and molecular physics. Although some experiments with Bose Einstein
condensates are included, the focus of the review is on linear matter wave
optics, i.e. phenomena where each single atom interferes with itself.Comment: submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic
Aharonov-Bohm Physics with Spin II: Spin-Flip Effects in Two-dimensional Ballistic Systems
We study spin effects in the magneto-conductance of ballistic mesoscopic
systems subject to inhomogeneous magnetic fields. We present a numerical
approach to the spin-dependent Landauer conductance which generalizes recursive
Green function techniques to the case with spin. Based on this method we
address spin-flip effects in quantum transport of spin-polarized and
-unpolarized electrons through quantum wires and various two-dimensional
Aharonov-Bohm geometries. In particular, we investigate the range of validity
of a spin switch mechanism recently found which allows for controlling spins
indirectly via Aharonov-Bohm fluxes. Our numerical results are compared to a
transfer-matrix model for one-dimensional ring structures presented in the
first paper (Hentschel et al., submitted to Phys. Rev. B) of this series.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures. Second part of a series of two article
Imaging and controlling electron transport inside a quantum ring
Traditionally, the understanding of quantum transport, coherent and
ballistic1, relies on the measurement of macroscopic properties such as the
conductance. While powerful when coupled to statistical theories, this approach
cannot provide a detailed image of "how electrons behave down there". Ideally,
understanding transport at the nanoscale would require tracking each electron
inside the nano-device. Significant progress towards this goal was obtained by
combining Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) with transport measurements2-7. Some
studies even showed signatures of quantum transport in the surrounding of
nanostructures4-6. Here, SPM is used to probe electron propagation inside an
open quantum ring exhibiting the archetype of electron wave interference
phenomena: the Aharonov-Bohm effect8. Conductance maps recorded while scanning
the biased tip of a cryogenic atomic force microscope above the quantum ring
show that the propagation of electrons, both coherent and ballistic, can be
investigated in situ, and even be controlled by tuning the tip potential.Comment: 11 text pages + 3 figure
Robustness of topologically protected edge states in quantum walk experiments with neutral atoms
Discrete-time quantum walks allow Floquet topological insulator materials to
be explored using controllable systems such as ultracold atoms in optical
lattices. By numerical simulations, we study the robustness of topologically
protected edge states in the presence of decoherence in one- and
two-dimensional discrete-time quantum walks. We also develop a simple
analytical model quantifying the robustness of these edge states against either
spin or spatial dephasing, predicting an exponential decay of the population of
topologically protected edge states. Moreover, we present an experimental
proposal based on neutral atoms in spin-dependent optical lattices to realize
spatial boundaries between distinct topological phases. Our proposal relies on
a new scheme to implement spin-dependent discrete shift operations in a
two-dimensional optical lattice. We analyze under realistic decoherence
conditions the experimental feasibility of observing unidirectional,
dissipationless transport of matter waves along boundaries separating distinct
topological domains.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
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