1,908 research outputs found
Spin Effects in a Quantum Ring
Recent experiments are reviewed that explore the spin states of a ring-shaped
many-electron quantum dot. Coulomb-blockade spectroscopy is used to access the
spin degree of freedom. The Zeeman effect observed for states with successive
electron number allows to select possible sequences of spin ground states of
the ring. Spin-paired orbital levels can be identified by probing their
response to magnetic fields normal to the plane of the ring and electric fields
caused by suitable gate voltages. This narrows down the choice of ground-state
spin sequences. A gate-controlled singlet--triplet transition is identified and
the size of the exchange interaction matrix element is determined.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the QD2004 conference in Banf
Atomic structure of Mn wires on Si(001) resolved by scanning tunneling microscopy
At submonolayer coverage, Mn forms atomic wires on the Si(001) surface
oriented perpendicular to the underlying Si dimer rows. While many other
elements form symmetric dimer wires at room temperature, we show that Mn wires
have an asymmetric appearance and pin the Si dimers nearby. We find that an
atomic configuration with a Mn trimer unit cell can explain these observations
due to the interplay between the Si dimer buckling phase near the wire and the
orientation of the Mn trimer. We study the resulting four wire configurations
in detail using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging and
compare our findings with STM images simulated by density functional theory.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Signatures of dynamically polarized nuclear spins in all-electrical lateral spin transport devices
The effect of nuclear spins in Fe/GaAs all-electrical spin-injection devices
is investigated. At temperatures below 50 K, strong modifications of the
non-local spin signal are found that are characteristic for hyperfine coupling
between conduction electrons and dynamically polarized nuclear spins. The
perpendicular component of the nuclear Overhauser field depolarizes electron
spins near zero in-plane external magnetic field, and can suppress such
dephasing when antialigned with the external field, leading to satellite peaks
in a Hanle measurement. The features observed agree well with a Monte Carlo
simulation of the spin diffusion equation including hyperfine interaction, and
are used to study the nuclear spin dynamics and relate it to the spin
polarization of injected electrons.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Kondo Effect in a Many-Electron Quantum Ring
The Kondo effect is investigated in a many-electron quantum ring as a
function of magnetic field. For fields applied perpendicular to the plane of
the ring a modulation of the Kondo effect with the Aharonov-Bohm period is
observed. This effect is discussed in terms of the energy spectrum of the ring
and the parametrically changing tunnel coupling. In addition, we use gate
voltages to modify the ground-state spin of the ring. The observed splitting of
the Kondo-related zero-bias anomaly in this configuration is tuned with an
in-plane magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Probing confined phonon modes by transport through a nanowire double quantum dot
Strong radial confinement in semiconductor nanowires leads to modified
electronic and phononic energy spectra. We analyze the current response to the
interplay between quantum confinement effects of the electron and phonon
systems in a gate-defined double quantum dot in a semiconductor nanowire. We
show that current spectroscopy of inelastic transitions between the two quantum
dots can be used as an experimental probe of the confined phonon environment.
The resulting discrete peak structure in the measurements is explained by
theoretical modeling of the confined phonon mode spectrum, where the
piezoelectric coupling is of crucial importance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; final versio
Singlet-Triplet Transition Tuned by Asymmetric Gate Voltages in a Quantum Ring
Wavefunction and interaction effects in the addition spectrum of a Coulomb
blockaded many electron quantum ring are investigated as a function of
asymmetrically applied gate voltages and magnetic field. Hartree and exchange
contributions to the interaction are quantitatively evaluated at a crossing
between states extended around the ring and states which are more localized in
one arm of the ring. A gate tunable singlet-triplet transition of the two
uppermost levels of this many electron ring is identified at zero magnetic
field.Comment: 4 page
Regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by tyrosine kinases in the peripheral and central nervous system: same players, different roles
Abstract.: Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) exist in many subtypes and are found in the peripheral and central nervous system where they mediate or modulate synaptic transmission. We review how tyrosine phosphorylation and kinases regulate muscle and neuronal nAChRs. Interestingly, although some of the same kinase players interact with the various receptor subtypes, the functional consequences are different. While concerted action of MuSK, Abl- and Src-family kinases (SFKs) regulates the synaptic distribution of nAChRs at the neuromuscular junction, SFKs activate heteromeric neuronal nAChRs in adrenal chromaffin cells, thereby enhancing catecholamine secretion. In contrast, the activity of homomeric neuronal nAChRs, as found in the hippocampus, is negatively regulated by tyrosine phosphorylation and SFKs. It appears that tyrosine kinases provide the means to regulate all nAChRs; but the functional consequences, even those caused by the same kinase family, are specific for each receptor subtype and locatio
Multiple layer local oxidation for fabricating semiconductor nanostructures
Coupled semiconductor nanostructures with a high degree of tunability are
fabricated using local oxidation with a scanning force microscope. Direct
oxidation of the GaAs surface of a Ga[Al]As heterostructure containing a
shallow two-dimensional electron gas is combined with the local oxidation of a
thin titanium film evaporated on top. A four-terminal quantum dot and a double
quantum dot system with integrated charge readout are realized. The structures
are tunable via in-plane gates formed by isolated regions in the electron gas
and by mutually isolated regions of the Ti film acting as top gates. Coulomb
blockade experiments demonstrate the high quality of this fabrication process.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
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