783 research outputs found
Correlation between molecular orbitals and doping dependence of the electrical conductivity in electron-doped Metal-Phthalocyanine compounds
We have performed a comparative study of the electronic properties of six
different electron-doped metal phthalocyanine (MPc) compounds (ZnPc, CuPc,
NiPc, CoPc, FePc, and MnPc), in which the electron density is controlled by
means of potassium intercalation. In spite of the complexity of these systems,
we find that the nature of the underlying molecular orbitals produce observable
effects in the doping dependence of the electrical conductivity of the
materials. For all the MPc's in which the added electrons are expected to
occupy orbitals centered on the ligands (ZnPc, CuPc, and NiPc), the doping
dependence of the conductivity has an essentially identical shape. This shape
is different from that observed in MPc materials in which electrons are also
added to orbitals centered on the metal atom (CoPc, FePc, and MnPc). The
observed relation between the macroscopic electronic properties of the MPc
compounds and the properties of the molecular orbitals of the constituent
molecules, clearly indicates the richness of the alkali-doped
metal-phthalocyanines as a model class of compounds for the investigation of
the electronic properties of molecular systems
Linear and planar molecules formed by coupled P donors in silicon
Using the effective mass theory and the multi-valley envelope function
representation, we have developed a theoretical framework for computing the
single-electron electronic structure of several phosphorus donors interacting
in an arbitrary geometrical configuration in silicon taking into account the
valley-orbit coupling. The methodology is applied to three coupled phosphorus
donors, arranged in a linear chain and in a triangle, and to six donors
arranged in a regular hexagon. The results of the simulations evidence that the
valley composition of the single-electron states strongly depends on the
geometry of the dopant molecule and its orientation relative to the
crystallographic axes of silicon. The electron binding energy of the triatomic
linear molecules is larger than that of the diatomic molecule oriented along
the same crystallographic axis, but the energy gap between the ground state and
the first excited state is not significantly different for internuclear
distances from 1.5 to 6.6 nm. Three donor atoms arranged in a triangle geometry
have larger binding energies than a triatomic linear chain of dopants with the
same internuclear distances. The planar donor molecules are characterized by a
strong polarization in favor of the valleys oriented perpendicular to the plane
of the molecule. The polarization increases with number of atoms forming the
planar molecule
Spin Blockade in Capacitively Coupled Quantum Dots
We present transport measurements on a lateral double dot produced by
combining local anodic oxidation and electron beam lithography. We investigate
the tunability of our device and demonstrate, that we can switch between
capacitive and tunnel coupling. In the regime of capacitive coupling we observe
the phenomenon of spin blockade in a magnetic field and analyze the influence
of capacitive interdot coupling on this effect.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Balanced ternary addition using a gated silicon nanowire
We demonstrate the proof of principle for a ternary adder using silicon
metal-on-insulator single electron transistors (SET). Gate dependent rectifying
behavior of a single electron transistor results in a robust three-valued
output as a function of the potential of the SET island. Mapping logical,
ternary inputs to the three gates controlling the potential of the SET island
allows us to perform complex, inherently ternary operations, on a single
transistor
Combined atomic force microscope and electron-beam lithography used for the fabrication of variable-coupling quantum dots
We have combined direct nanofabrication by local anodic oxidation with
conventional electron-beam lithography to produce a parallel double quantum dot
based on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. The combination of both nanolithography
methods allows to fabricate robust in-plane gates and Cr/Au top gate electrodes
on the same device for optimal controllability. This is illustrated by the
tunability of the interdot coupling in our device. We describe our fabrication
and alignment scheme in detail and demonstrate the tunability in
low-temperature transport measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Evidence for the formation of a Mott state in potassium-intercalated pentacene
We investigate electronic transport through pentacene thin-films intercalated
with potassium. From temperature-dependent conductivity measurements we find
that potassium-intercalated pentacene shows metallic behavior in a broad range
of potassium concentrations. Surprisingly, the conductivity exhibits a
re-entrance into an insulating state when the potassium concentration is
increased past one atom per molecule. We analyze our observations theoretically
by means of electronic structure calculations, and we conclude that the
phenomenon originates from a Mott metal-insulator transition, driven by
electron-electron interactions.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Real-time observation of epitaxial graphene domain reorientation.
Graphene films grown by vapour deposition tend to be polycrystalline due to the nucleation and growth of islands with different in-plane orientations. Here, using low-energy electron microscopy, we find that micron-sized graphene islands on Ir(111) rotate to a preferred orientation during thermal annealing. We observe three alignment mechanisms: the simultaneous growth of aligned domains and dissolution of rotated domains, that is, 'ripening'; domain boundary motion within islands; and continuous lattice rotation of entire domains. By measuring the relative growth velocity of domains during ripening, we estimate that the driving force for alignment is on the order of 0.1 meV per C atom and increases with rotation angle. A simple model of the orientation-dependent energy associated with the moiré corrugation of the graphene sheet due to local variations in the graphene-substrate interaction reproduces the results. This work suggests new strategies for improving the van der Waals epitaxy of 2D materials
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