8,148 research outputs found
Structural origins of the properties of rare earth nickelate superlattices
NiO6 octahedral tilts in the LaNiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices are quantified using
position averaged convergent beam electron diffraction in scanning transmission
electron microscopy. It is shown that maintaining oxygen octahedra connectivity
across the interface controls the octahedral tilts in the LaNiO3 layers, their
lattice parameters and their transport properties. Unlike films and layers that
are connected on one side to the substrate, subsequent LaNiO3 layers in the
superlattice exhibit a relaxation of octahedral tilts towards bulk values. This
relaxation is facilitated by correlated tilts in SrTiO3 layers and is
correlated with the conductivity enhancement of the LaNiO3 layers in the
superlattices relative to individual films.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review B (Rapid Communication
Spin injection and electric field effect in degenerate semiconductors
We analyze spin-transport in semiconductors in the regime characterized by
(intermediate to degenerate), where is the Fermi
temperature. Such a regime is of great importance since it includes the lightly
doped semiconductor structures used in most experiments; we demonstrate that,
at the same time, it corresponds to the regime in which carrier-carrier
interactions assume a relevant role. Starting from a general formulation of the
drift-diffusion equations, which includes many-body correlation effects, we
perform detailed calculations of the spin injection characteristics of various
heterostructures, and analyze the combined effects of carrier density
variation, applied electric field and Coulomb interaction. We show the
existence of a degenerate regime, peculiar to semiconductors, which strongly
differs, as spin-transport is concerned, from the degenerate regime of metals.Comment: Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Holonomic quantum computing in symmetry-protected ground states of spin chains
While solid-state devices offer naturally reliable hardware for modern
classical computers, thus far quantum information processors resemble vacuum
tube computers in being neither reliable nor scalable. Strongly correlated many
body states stabilized in topologically ordered matter offer the possibility of
naturally fault tolerant computing, but are both challenging to engineer and
coherently control and cannot be easily adapted to different physical
platforms. We propose an architecture which achieves some of the robustness
properties of topological models but with a drastically simpler construction.
Quantum information is stored in the symmetry-protected degenerate ground
states of spin-1 chains, while quantum gates are performed by adiabatic
non-Abelian holonomies using only single-site fields and nearest-neighbor
couplings. Gate operations respect the symmetry, and so inherit some protection
from noise and disorder from the symmetry-protected ground states.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. v2: published versio
Spin Currents Induced by Nonuniform Rashba-Type Spin-Orbit Field
We study the spin relaxation torque in nonmagnetic or ferromagnetic metals
with nonuniform spin-orbit coupling within the Keldysh Green's function
formalism. In non-magnet, the relaxation torque is shown to arise when the
spin-orbit coupling is not uniform. In the absence of an external field, the
spin current induced by the relaxation torque is proportional to the vector
chirality of Rashba-type spin-orbit field (RSOF). In the presence of an
external field, on the other hand, spin relaxation torque arises from the
coupling of the external field and vector chirality of RSOF. Our result
indicates that spin-sink or source effects are controlled by designing RSOF in
junctions.Comment: 3 figure
Depth-Resolved Composition and Electronic Structure of Buried Layers and Interfaces in a LaNiO/SrTiO Superlattice from Soft- and Hard- X-ray Standing-Wave Angle-Resolved Photoemission
LaNiO (LNO) is an intriguing member of the rare-earth nickelates in
exhibiting a metal-insulator transition for a critical film thickness of about
4 unit cells [Son et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 062114 (2010)]; however, such
thin films also show a transition to a metallic state in superlattices with
SrTiO (STO) [Son et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 202109 (2010)]. In order to
better understand this transition, we have studied a strained LNO/STO
superlattice with 10 repeats of [4 unit-cell LNO/3 unit-cell STO] grown on an
(LaAlO)(SrAlTaO) substrate using soft x-ray
standing-wave-excited angle-resolved photoemission (SWARPES), together with
soft- and hard- x-ray photoemission measurements of core levels and
densities-of-states valence spectra. The experimental results are compared with
state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) calculations of band
structures and densities of states. Using core-level rocking curves and x-ray
optical modeling to assess the position of the standing wave, SWARPES
measurements are carried out for various incidence angles and used to determine
interface-specific changes in momentum-resolved electronic structure. We
further show that the momentum-resolved behavior of the Ni 3d eg and t2g states
near the Fermi level, as well as those at the bottom of the valence bands, is
very similar to recently published SWARPES results for a related
LaSrMnO/SrTiO superlattice that was studied using the
same technique (Gray et al., Europhysics Letters 104, 17004 (2013)), which
further validates this experimental approach and our conclusions. Our
conclusions are also supported in several ways by comparison to DFT
calculations for the parent materials and the superlattice, including
layer-resolved density-of-states results
Pulsational pair-instability supernovae in gravitational-wave and electromagnetic transients
Current observations of binary black-hole ({BBH}) merger events show support
for a feature in the primary BH-mass distribution at
, previously interpreted as a signature of
pulsational pair-instability (PPISN) supernovae. Such supernovae are expected
to map a wide range of pre-supernova carbon-oxygen (CO) core masses to a narrow
range of BH masses, producing a peak in the BH mass distribution. However,
recent numerical simulations place the mass location of this peak above
. Motivated by uncertainties in the progenitor's
evolution and explosion mechanism, we explore how modifying the distribution of
BH masses resulting from PPISN affects the populations of gravitational-wave
(GW) and electromagnetic (EM) transients. To this end, we simulate populations
of isolated {BBH} systems and combine them with cosmic star-formation rates.
Our results are the first cosmological BBH-merger predictions made using the
\textsc{binary\_c} rapid population synthesis framework. We find that our
fiducial model does not match the observed GW peak. We can only explain the
peak with PPISNe by shifting the expected CO core-mass
range for PPISN downwards by . Apart from being
in tension with state-of-the art stellar models, we also find that this is
likely in tension with the observed rate of hydrogen-less super-luminous
supernovae. Conversely, shifting the mass range upward, based on recent stellar
models, leads to a predicted third peak in the BH mass function at
. Thus we conclude that the
feature is unlikely to be related to PPISNe.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 19 pages, 8 figures includings
appendice
Shot noise in a diffusive F-N-F spin valve
Fluctuations of electric current in a spin valve consisting of a diffusive
conductor connected to ferromagnetic leads and operated in the giant
magnetoresistance regime are studied. It is shown that a new source of
fluctuations due to spin-flip scattering enhances strongly shot noise up to a
point where the Fano factor approaches the full Poissonian value.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Identification and tunable optical coherent control of transition-metal spins in silicon carbide
Color centers in wide-bandgap semiconductors are attractive systems for
quantum technologies since they can combine long-coherent electronic spin and
bright optical properties. Several suitable centers have been identified, most
famously the nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond. However, integration in
communication technology is hindered by the fact that their optical transitions
lie outside telecom wavelength bands. Several transition-metal impurities in
silicon carbide do emit at and near telecom wavelengths, but knowledge about
their spin and optical properties is incomplete. We present all-optical
identification and coherent control of molybdenum-impurity spins in silicon
carbide with transitions at near-infrared wavelengths. Our results identify
spin for both the electronic ground and excited state, with highly
anisotropic spin properties that we apply for implementing optical control of
ground-state spin coherence. Our results show optical lifetimes of 60 ns
and inhomogeneous spin dephasing times of 0.3 s, establishing
relevance for quantum spin-photon interfacing.Comment: Updated version with minor correction, full Supplementary Information
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