1,190 research outputs found
Effect of deconfinement on resonant transport in quantum wires
The effect of deconfinement due to finite band offsets on transport through
quantum wires with two constrictions is investigated. It is shown that the
increase in resonance linewidth becomes increasingly important as the size is
reduced and ultimately places an upper limit on the energy (temperature) scale
for which resonances may be observed.Comment: 6 pages, 6 postscript files with figures; uses REVTe
Exciton and negative trion dissociation by an external electric field in vertically coupled quantum dots
We study the Stark effect for an exciton confined in a pair of vertically
coupled quantum dots. A single-band approximation for the hole and a parabolic
lateral confinement potential are adopted which allows for the separation of
the lateral center-of-mass motion and consequently for an exact numerical
solution of the Schr\"odinger equation. We show that for intermediate tunnel
coupling the external electric field leads to the dissociation of the exciton
via an avoided crossing of bright and dark exciton energy levels which results
in an atypical form of the Stark shift. The electric-field-induced dissociation
of the negative trion is studied using the approximation of frozen lateral
degrees of freedom. It is shown that in a symmetric system of coupled dots the
trion is more stable against dissociation than the exciton. For an asymmetric
system of coupled dots the trion dissociation is accompanied by a positive
curvature of the recombination energy line as a function of the electric field.Comment: PRB - in prin
Influence of symmetry and Coulomb-correlation effects on the optical properties of nitride quantum dots
The electronic and optical properties of self-assembled InN/GaN quantum dots
(QDs) are investigated by means of a tight-binding model combined with
configuration interaction calculations. Tight-binding single particle wave
functions are used as a basis for computing Coulomb and dipole matrix elements.
Within this framework, we analyze multi-exciton emission spectra for two
different sizes of a lens-shaped InN/GaN QD with wurtzite crystal structure.
The impact of the symmetry of the involved electron and hole one-particle
states on the optical spectra is discussed in detail. Furthermore we show how
the characteristic features of the spectra can be interpreted using a
simplified Hamiltonian which provides analytical results for the interacting
multi-exciton complexes. We predict a vanishing exciton and biexciton ground
state emission for small lens-shaped InN/GaN QDs. For larger systems we report
a bright ground state emission but with drastically reduced oscillator
strengths caused by the quantum confined Stark effect.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figure
Eight-band calculations of strained InAs/GaAs quantum dots compared with one, four, and six-band approximations
The electronic structure of pyramidal shaped InAs/GaAs quantum dots is
calculated using an eight-band strain dependent Hamiltonian. The
influence of strain on band energies and the conduction-band effective mass are
examined. Single particle bound-state energies and exciton binding energies are
computed as functions of island size. The eight-band results are compared with
those for one, four and six bands, and with results from a one-band
approximation in which m(r) is determined by the local value of the strain. The
eight-band model predicts a lower ground state energy and a larger number of
excited states than the other approximations.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, revtex, eps
Study of the Negative Magneto-Resistance of Single Proton-Implanted Lithium-Doped ZnO Microwires
The magneto-transport properties of single proton-implanted ZnO and of
Li(7\%)-doped ZnO microwires have been studied. The as-grown microwires were
highly insulating and not magnetic. After proton implantation the Li(7\%) doped
ZnO microwires showed a non monotonous behavior of the negative
magneto-resistance (MR) at temperature above 150 K. This is in contrast to the
monotonous NMR observed below 50 K for proton-implanted ZnO. The observed
difference in the transport properties of the wires is related to the amount of
stable Zn vacancies created at the near surface region by the proton
implantation and Li doping. The magnetic field dependence of the resistance
might be explained by the formation of a magnetic/non magnetic heterostructure
in the wire after proton implantation.Comment: 6 pages with 5 figure
Geometry dependence of Auger carrier capture rates into cone-shaped self-assembled quantum dots
Tight-Binding model for semiconductor nanostructures
An empirical tight-binding (TB) model is applied to the
investigation of electronic states in semiconductor quantum dots. A basis set
of three -orbitals at the anions and one -orbital at the cations is
chosen. Matrix elements up to the second nearest neighbors and the spin-orbit
coupling are included in our TB-model. The parametrization is chosen so that
the effective masses, the spin-orbit-splitting and the gap energy of the bulk
CdSe and ZnSe are reproduced. Within this reduced TB-basis the
valence (p-) bands are excellently reproduced and the conduction (s-) band is
well reproduced close to the -point, i.e. near to the band gap. In
terms of this model much larger systems can be described than within a (more
realistic) -basis. The quantum dot is modelled by using the (bulk)
TB-parameters for the particular material at those sites occupied by atoms of
this material. Within this TB-model we study pyramidal-shaped CdSe quantum dots
embedded in a ZnSe matrix and free spherical CdSe quantum dots (nanocrystals).
Strain-effects are included by using an appropriate model strain field. Within
the TB-model, the strain-effects can be artifically switched off to investigate
the infuence of strain on the bound electronic states and, in particular, their
spatial orientation. The theoretical results for spherical nanocrystals are
compared with data from tunneling spectroscopy and optical experiments.
Furthermore the influence of the spin-orbit coupling is investigated
Monitoring the spread of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in The Netherlands from a reference laboratory perspective
SummaryBackgroundIn The Netherlands, efforts to control meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals have been largely successful due to stringent screening of patients on admission and isolation of those that fall into defined risk categories. However, Dutch hospitals are not free of MRSA, and a considerable number of cases are found that do not belong to any of the risk categories. Some of these may be due to undetected nosocomial transmission, whereas others may be introduced from unknown reservoirs.AimIdentifying multi-institutional clusters of MRSA isolates to estimate the contribution of potential unobserved reservoirs in The Netherlands.MethodsWe applied a clustering algorithm that combines time, place, and genetics to routine data available for all MRSA isolates submitted to the Dutch Staphylococcal Reference Laboratory between 2008 and 2011 in order to map the geo-temporal distribution of MRSA clonal lineages in The Netherlands.FindingsOf the 2966 isolates lacking obvious risk factors, 579 were part of geo-temporal clusters, whereas 2387 were classified as MRSA of unknown origin (MUOs). We also observed marked differences in the proportion of isolates that belonged to geo-temporal clusters between specific multi-locus variable number of tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) clonal complexes, indicating lineage-specific transmissibility. The majority of clustered isolates (74%) were present in multi-institutional clusters.ConclusionThe frequency of MRSA of unknown origin among patients lacking obvious risk factors is an indication of a largely undefined extra-institutional but genetically highly diverse reservoir. Efforts to understand the emergence and spread of high-risk clones require the pooling of routine epidemiological information and typing data into central databases
- …