10,140 research outputs found
Role of electronic structure in photoassisted transport through atomic-sized contacts
We study theoretically quantum transport through laser-irradiated metallic
atomic-sized contacts. The radiation field is treated classically, assuming its
effect to be the generation of an ac voltage over the contact. We derive an
expression for the dc current and compute the linear conductance in one-atom
thick contacts as a function of the ac frequency, concentrating on the role
played by electronic structure. In particular, we present results for three
materials (Al, Pt, and Au) with very different electronic structures. It is
shown that, depending on the frequency and the metal, the radiation can either
enhance or diminish the conductance. This can be intuitively understood in
terms of the energy dependence of the transmission of the contacts in the
absence of radiation.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures; four new figures adde
Opportunities and limitations of transition voltage spectroscopy: a theoretical analysis
In molecular charge transport, transition voltage spectroscopy (TVS) holds
the promise that molecular energy levels can be explored at bias voltages lower
than required for resonant tunneling. We investigate the theoretical basis of
this novel tool, using a generic model. In particular, we study the length
dependence of the conducting frontier orbital and of the 'transition voltage'
as a function of length. We show that this dependence is influenced by the
amount of screening of the electrons in the molecule, which determines the
voltage drop to be located at the contacts or across the entire molecule. We
observe that the transition voltage depends significantly on the length, but
that the ratio between the transition voltage and the conducting frontier
orbital is approximately constant only in strongly screening (conjugated)
molecules. Uncertainty about the screening within a molecule thus limits the
predictive power of TVS. We furthermore argue that the relative length
independence of the transition voltage for non-conjugated chains is due to
strong localization of the frontier orbitals on the end groups ensuring binding
of the rods to the metallic contacts. Finally, we investigate the
characteristics of TVS in asymmetric molecular junctions. If a single level
dominates the transport properties, TVS can provide a good estimate for both
the level position and the degree of junction asymmetry. If more levels are
involved the applicability of TVS becomes limited.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure
Subharmonic gap structure in short ballistic graphene junctions
We present a theoretical analysis of the current-voltage characteristics of a
ballistic superconductor-normal-superconductor (SNS) junction, in which a strip
of graphene is coupled to two superconducting electrodes. We focus in the
short-junction regime, where the length of the strip is much smaller than
superconducting coherence length. We show that the differential conductance
exhibits a very rich subharmonic gap structure which can be modulated by means
of a gate voltage. On approaching the Dirac point the conductance normalized by
the normal-state conductance is identical to that of a short diffusive SNS
junction.Comment: revtex4, 4 pages, 4 figure
Multibreather and vortex breather stability in Klein--Gordon lattices: Equivalence between two different approaches
In this work, we revisit the question of stability of multibreather
configurations, i.e., discrete breathers with multiple excited sites at the
anti-continuum limit of uncoupled oscillators. We present two methods that
yield quantitative predictions about the Floquet multipliers of the linear
stability analysis around such exponentially localized in space, time-periodic
orbits, based on the Aubry band method and the MacKay effective Hamiltonian
method and prove that their conclusions are equivalent. Subsequently, we
showcase the usefulness of the methods by a series of case examples including
one-dimensional multi-breathers, and two-dimensional vortex breathers in the
case of a lattice of linearly coupled oscillators with the Morse potential and
in that of the discrete model
Effect of the Introduction of Impurities on the Stability Properties of Multibreathers at Low Coupling
sing a theorem dubbed the {\em Multibreather Stabiliy Theorem} [Physica D 180
(2003) 235-255] we have obtained the stability properties of multibreathers in
systems of coupled oscillators with on-site potentials, with an inhomogeneity.
Analytical results are obtained for 2-site, 3-site breathers, multibreathers,
phonobreathers and dark breathers. The inhomogeneity is considered both at the
on-site potential and at the coupling terms. All the results have been checked
numerically with excellent agreement. The main conclusion is that the
introduction of a impurity does not alter the stability properties.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure
Binary holograms for shaping light with digital micromirror devices
Digital micromirror devices are a popular type of spatial light modulators
for wavefront shaping applications. While they offer several advantages when
compared to liquid crystal modulators, such as polarization insensitivity and
rapid-switching, they only provide a binary amplitude modulation. Despite this
restriction, it is possible to use binary holograms to modulate both the
amplitude and phase of the incoming light, thus allowing the creation of
complex light fields. Here, a didactic exploration of various types of binary
holograms is presented. A particular emphasis is placed on the fact that the
finite number of pixels coupled with the binary modulation limits the number of
complex values that can be encoded into the holograms. This entails an
inevitable trade-off between the number of complex values that can be modulated
with the hologram and the number of independent degrees of freedom available to
shape light, both of which impact the quality of the shaped field. Nonetheless,
it is shown that by appropriately choosing the type of hologram and its
parameters, it is possible to find a suitable compromise that allows shaping a
wide range of complex fields with high accuracy. In particular, it is shown
that choosing the appropriate alignment between the hologram and the
micromirror array allows for maximizing the number of complex values. Likewise,
the implications of the type of hologram and its parameters on the diffraction
efficiency are also considered
Evidence for Two Time Scales in Long SNS Junctions
We use microwave excitation to elucidate the dynamics of long superconductor
/ normal metal / superconductor Josephson junctions. By varying the excitation
frequency in the range 10 MHz - 40 GHz, we observe that the critical and
retrapping currents, deduced from the dc voltage vs. dc current characteristics
of the junction, are set by two different time scales. The critical current
increases when the ac frequency is larger than the inverse diffusion time in
the normal metal, whereas the retrapping current is strongly modified when the
excitation frequency is above the electron-phonon rate in the normal metal.
Therefore the critical and retrapping currents are associated with elastic and
inelastic scattering, respectively
Stability of non-time-reversible phonobreathers
Non-time reversible phonobreathers are non-linear waves that can transport
energy in coupled oscillator chains by means of a phase-torsion mechanism. In
this paper, the stability properties of these structures have been considered.
It has been performed an analytical study for low-coupling solutions based upon
the so called {\em multibreather stability theorem} previously developed by
some of the authors [Physica D {\bf 180} 235]. A numerical analysis confirms
the analytical predictions and gives a detailed picture of the existence and
stability properties for arbitrary frequency and coupling.Comment: J. Phys. A.:Math. and Theor. In Press (2010
Subharmonic Gap Structure in Superconductor/Ferromagnet/Superconductor Junctions
The behavior of dc subgap current in magnetic quantum point contact is
discussed for the case of low-transparency junction with different tunnel
probabilities for spin-up () and spin-down ()
electrons. Due to the presence of Andreev bound states in the
system the positions of subgap electric current steps are split at temperature with respect to the
nonmagnetic result . It is found that under the condition
the spin current also manifests subgap
structure, but only for odd values of . The split steps corresponding to
in subgap electric and spin currents are analytically calculated and
the following steps are described qualitatively.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, minor stylistic changes, journal-ref adde
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