978 research outputs found
Reduced electron relaxation rate in multi-electron quantum dots
We use a configuration-interaction approach and Fermi golden rule to
investigate electron-phonon interaction in realistic multi-electron quantum
dots. Lifetimes are computed in the low-density, highly correlated regime. We
report numerical evidence that electron-electron interaction generally leads to
reduced decay rates of excited electronic states in weakly confined quantum
dots, where carrier relaxation is dominated by the interaction with
longitudinal acoustic phonons.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Towards Continuous Nano-Plastic Monitoring in Water by High Frequency Impedance Measurement with Nano-Electrode Arrays
We explore the potentiality of high frequency impedance measurements with CMOS nano-electrode arrays for nano-plastic pollutant particles monitoring in water. This technology offers benefits as nano-scale resolution, high parallelization, scalability, label-free single particle detection, and automatic measurements without operator intervention. Simple models are proposed for size and concentration estimation. The former integrates measurements of adjacent electrodes and shows uncertainty comparable to the nominal one with mean prediction error lower than 45 % down to 50 nm radius. The latter accounts for noise in the definition of the sensing volume. We report a worst-case concentration error lower than a factor 1.7 under stationary and continuous flow, which demonstrates the potential of this technology for automated measurements
Raman signatures of classical and quantum phases in coupled dots: A theoretical prediction
We study electron molecules in realistic vertically coupled quantum dots in a
strong magnetic field. Computing the energy spectrum, pair correlation
functions, and dynamical form factor as a function of inter-dot coupling via
diagonalization of the many-body Hamiltonian, we identify structural
transitions between different phases, some of which do not have a classical
counterpart. The calculated Raman cross section shows how such phases can be
experimentally singled out.Comment: 9 pages, 2 postscript figures, 1 colour postscript figure, Latex 2e,
Europhysics Letters style and epsfig macros. Submitted to Europhysics Letter
Electron-vibration coupling constants in positively charged fullerene
Recent experiments have shown that C60 can be positively field-doped. In that
state, fullerene exhibits a higher resistivity and a higher superconducting
temperature than the corresponding negatively doped state. A strong
intramolecular hole-phonon coupling, connected with the Jahn-Teller effect of
the isolated positive ion, is expected to be important for both properties, but
the actual coupling strengths are so far unknown. Based on density functional
calculations, we determine the linear couplings of the two a_g, six g_g, and
eight h_g vibrational modes to the H_u HOMO level of the C60 molecule. The
couplings predict a D_5 distortion, and an H_u vibronic ground state for C60^+.
They are also used to generate the dimensionless coupling constant
which controls the superconductivity and the phonon contribution to the
electrical resistivity in the crystalline phase. We find that is 1.4
times larger in positively-charged C60 than in the negatively-doped case. These
results are discussed in the context of the available transport data and
superconducting temperatures. The role of higher orbital degeneracy in
superconductivity is also addressed.Comment: 22 pages - 3 figures. This revision includes few punctuation
corrections from proofreadin
The X-ray spectrum of the bursting atoll source 4U~1728-34 observed with INTEGRAL
We present for the first time a study of the 3-200 keV broad band spectra of
the bursting atoll source 4U 1728-34 (GX 354-0) along its hardness intensity
diagram. The analysis was done using the INTEGRAL public and Galactic Center
deep exposure data ranging from February 2003 to October 2004. The spectra are
well described by a thermal Comptonization model with an electron temperature
from 35 keV to 3 keV and Thomson optical depth, tau_T, from 0.5 to 5 in a slab
geometry. The source undergoes a transition from an intermediate/hard to a soft
state where the source luminosity increases from 2 to 12% of Eddington. We have
also detected 36 type I X-ray bursts two of which show photospheric radius
expansion. The energetic bursts with photospheric radius expansion occurred at
an inferred low mass accretion rate per unit area of \dot m ~ 1.7x10E3 g/cm2/s,
while the others at a higher one between 2.4x10E3 - 9.4x10E3 g/cm2/s. For
4U1728-34 the bursts' total fluence, and the bursts' peak flux are
anti-correlated with the mass accretion rate. The type I X-ray bursts involve
pure helium burning either during the hard state, or during the soft state of
the source.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in A&
Effect of electron-electron interaction on the phonon-mediated spin relaxation in quantum dots
We estimate the spin relaxation rate due to spin-orbit coupling and acoustic
phonon scattering in weakly-confined quantum dots with up to five interacting
electrons. The Full Configuration Interaction approach is used to account for
the inter-electron repulsion, and Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings
are exactly diagonalized. We show that electron-electron interaction strongly
affects spin-orbit admixture in the sample. Consequently, relaxation rates
strongly depend on the number of carriers confined in the dot. We identify the
mechanisms which may lead to improved spin stability in few electron (>2)
quantum dots as compared to the usual one and two electron devices. Finally, we
discuss recent experiments on triplet-singlet transitions in GaAs dots subject
to external magnetic fields. Our simulations are in good agreement with the
experimental findings, and support the interpretation of the observed spin
relaxation as being due to spin-orbit coupling assisted by acoustic phonon
emission.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. Revised version. Changes in section V
(simulation of PRL 98, 126601 experiment
Low molecular weight ϵ-caprolactone-pcoumaric acid copolymers as potential biomaterials for skin regeneration applications
ϵ-caprolactone-p-coumaric acid copolymers at different mole ratios (ϵ-caprolactone:p-coumaric acid 1:0, 10:1, 8:1, 6:1, 4:1, and 2:1) were synthesized by melt-polycondensation and using 4-dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid as catalyst. Chemical analysis by NMR and GPC showed that copolyesters were formed with decreasing molecular weight as p-coumaric acid content was increased. Physical characteristics, such as thermal and mechanical properties, as well as water uptake and water permeability, depended on the mole fraction of pcoumaric acid. The p-coumarate repetitive units increased the antioxidant capacity of the copolymers, showing antibacterial activity against the common pathogen Escherichia coli. In addition, all the synthesized copolyesters, except the one with the highest concentration of the phenolic acid, were cytocompatible and hemocompatible, thus becoming potentially useful for skin regeneration applications
Shape-independent scaling of excitonic confinement in realistic quantum wires
The scaling of exciton binding energy in semiconductor quantum wires is
investigated theoretically through a non-variational, fully three-dimensional
approach for a wide set of realistic state-of-the-art structures. We find that
in the strong confinement limit the same potential-to-kinetic energy ratio
holds for quite different wire cross-sections and compositions. As a
consequence, a universal (shape- and composition-independent) parameter can be
identified that governs the scaling of the binding energy with size. Previous
indications that the shape of the wire cross-section may have important effects
on exciton binding are discussed in the light of the present results.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. (12 pages + 2 figures in postscript
SIGMA and XTE observations of the soft X-ray transient XTEJ1755-324
We present observations of the X-ray transient XTEJ1755-324 performed during
summer 1997 with the XTE satellite and with the SIGMA hard X-ray telescope
onboard the GRANAT observatory. The source was first detected in soft X-rays
with XTE on July 25 1997 with a rather soft X-ray spectrum and its outburst was
monitored in soft X-rays up to November 1997. On September 16 it was first
detected in hard X-rays by the French soft gamma ray telescope SIGMA during a
Galactic Center observation. The flux was stronger on September 16 and 17
reaching a level of about 110 mCrab in the 40-80 keV energy band. On the same
days the photon index of the spectrum was determined to be alpha =-2.3 +/- 0.9
(1 sigma error) while the 40-150 keV luminosity was about 8 x 10^{36} erg/s for
a distance of 8.5 kpc. SIGMA and XTE results on this source indicate that this
source had an ultrasoft-like state during its main outburst and a harder
secondary outburst in September. These characteristics make the source similar
to X-Nova Muscae 1991, a well known black hole candidate.Comment: 19 pages LaTeX, 6 Postscript figures included, Accepted by
Astrophysical Journa
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