Dielectric mismatch and shallow donor impurities in GaN/HfO2 quantum wells

In this work we investigate electron-impurity binding energy in GaN/HfO$_2$ quantum wells. The calculation considers simultaneously all energy contributions caused by the dielectric mismatch: (i) image self-energy (i.e., interaction between electron and its image charge), (ii) the direct Coulomb interaction between the electron-impurity and (iii) the interactions among electron and impurity image charges. The theoretical model account for the solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation and the results shows how the magnitude of the electron-impurity binding energy depends on the position of impurity in the well-barrier system. The role of the large dielectric constant in the barrier region is exposed with the comparison of the results for GaN/HfO$_2$ with those of a more typical GaN/AlN system, for two different confinement regimes: narrow and wide quantum wells.Comment: 6 Pages, 7 figure

Simplified model for the energy levels of quantum rings in single layer and bilayer graphene

Within a minimal model, we present analytical expressions for the eigenstates and eigenvalues of carriers confined in quantum rings in monolayer and bilayer graphene. The calculations were performed in the context of the continuum model, by solving the Dirac equation for a zero width ring geometry, i.e. by freezing out the carrier radial motion. We include the effect of an external magnetic field and show the appearance of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and of a non-zero gap in the spectrum. Our minimal model gives insight in the energy spectrum of graphene-based quantum rings and models different aspects of finite width rings.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Confinement of two-dimensional excitons in a non-homogeneous magnetic field

The effective Hamiltonian describing the motion of an exciton in an external non-homogeneous magnetic field is derived. The magnetic field plays the role of an effective potential for the exciton motion, results into an increment of the exciton mass and modifies the exciton kinetic energy operator. In contrast to the homogeneous field case, the exciton in a non-homogeneous magnetic field can also be trapped in the low field region and the field gradient increases the exciton confinement. The trapping energy and wave function of the exciton in a GaAs two-dimensional electron gas for specific circular magnetic field configurations are calculated. The results show than excitons can be trapped by non-homogeneous magnetic fields, and that the trapping energy is strongly correlated with the shape and strength of the non-homogeneous magnetic field profile.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure

Snake states in graphene quantum dots in the presence of a p-n junction

We investigate the magnetic interface states of graphene quantum dots that contain p-n junctions. Within a tight-binding approach, we consider rectangular quantum dots in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field containing p-n, as well as p-n-p and n-p-n junctions. The results show the interplay between the edge states associated with the zigzag terminations of the sample and the snake states that arise at the p-n junction, due to the overlap between electron and hole states at the potential interface. Remarkable localized states are found at the crossing of the p-n junction with the zigzag edge having a dumb-bell shaped electron distribution. The results are presented as function of the junction parameters and the applied magnetic flux.Comment: 13 pages, 23 figures, to be appeared in Phys. Rev.

The split-operator technique for the study of spinorial wavepacket dynamics

The split-operator technique for wave packet propagation in quantum systems is expanded here to the case of propagating wave functions describing Schr\"odinger particles, namely, charge carriers in semiconductor nanostructures within the effective mass approximation, in the presence of Zeeman effect, as well as of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions. We also demonstrate that simple modifications to the expanded technique allow us to calculate the time evolution of wave packets describing Dirac particles, which are relevant for the study of transport properties in graphene.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

Wavepacket scattering on graphene edges in the presence of a (pseudo) magnetic field

The scattering of a Gaussian wavepacket in armchair and zigzag graphene edges is theoretically investigated by numerically solving the time dependent Schr\"odinger equation for the tight-binding model Hamiltonian. Our theory allows to investigate scattering in reciprocal space, and depending on the type of graphene edge we observe scattering within the same valley, or between different valleys. In the presence of an external magnetic field, the well know skipping orbits are observed. However, our results demonstrate that in the case of a pseudo-magnetic field, induced by non-uniform strain, the scattering by an armchair edge results in a non-propagating edge state.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure