301 research outputs found
Observation and Spectroscopy of a Two-Electron Wigner Molecule in an Ultra-Clean Carbon Nanotube
Coulomb interactions can have a decisive effect on the ground state of
electronic systems. The simplest system in which interactions can play an
interesting role is that of two electrons on a string. In the presence of
strong interactions the two electrons are predicted to form a Wigner molecule,
separating to the ends of the string due to their mutual repulsion. This
spatial structure is believed to be clearly imprinted on the energy spectrum,
yet to date a direct measurement of such a spectrum in a controllable
one-dimensional setting is still missing. Here we use an ultra-clean suspended
carbon nanotube to realize this system in a tunable potential. Using tunneling
spectroscopy we measure the excitation spectra of two interacting carriers,
electrons or holes, and identify seven low-energy states characterized by their
spin and isospin quantum numbers. These states fall into two multiplets
according to their exchange symmetries. The formation of a strongly-interacting
Wigner molecule is evident from the small energy splitting measured between the
two multiplets, that is quenched by an order of magnitude compared to the
non-interacting value. Our ability to tune the two-electron state in space and
to study it for both electrons and holes provides an unambiguous demonstration
of the fundamental Wigner molecule state.Comment: SP and FK contributed equally to this wor
Coupling of spin and orbital motion of electrons in carbon nanotubes
Electrons in atoms possess both spin and orbital degrees of freedom. In
non-relativistic quantum mechanics, these are independent, resulting in large
degeneracies in atomic spectra. However, relativistic effects couple the spin
and orbital motion leading to the well-known fine structure in their spectra.
The electronic states in defect-free carbon nanotubes (NTs) are widely believed
to be four-fold degenerate, due to independent spin and orbital symmetries, and
to also possess electron-hole symmetry. Here we report measurements
demonstrating that in clean NTs the spin and orbital motion of electrons are
coupled, thereby breaking all of these symmetries. This spin-orbit coupling is
directly observed as a splitting of the four-fold degeneracy of a single
electron in ultra-clean quantum dots. The coupling favours parallel alignment
of the orbital and spin magnetic moments for electrons and anti-parallel
alignment for holes. Our measurements are consistent with recent theories that
predict the existence of spin-orbit coupling in curved graphene and describe it
as a spin-dependent topological phase in NTs. Our findings have important
implications for spin-based applications in carbon-based systems, entailing new
design principles for the realization of qubits in NTs and providing a
mechanism for all-electrical control of spins in NTs.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Electronic Transport Spectroscopy of Carbon Nanotubes in a Magnetic Field
We report magnetic field spectroscopy measurements in carbon nanotube quantum
dots exhibiting four-fold shell structure in the energy level spectrum. The
magnetic field induces a large splitting between the two orbital states of each
shell, demonstrating their opposite magnetic moment and determining transitions
in the spin and orbital configuration of the quantum dot ground state. We use
inelastic cotunneling spectroscopy to accurately resolve the spin and orbital
contributions to the magnetic moment. A small coupling is found between
orbitals with opposite magnetic moment leading to anticrossing behavior at zero
field.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Dynamic nuclear polarization at the edge of a two-dimensional electron gas
We have used gated GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures to explore nonlinear
transport between spin-resolved Landau level (LL) edge states over a submicron
region of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The current I flowing from one
edge state to the other as a function of the voltage V between them shows
diode-like behavior---a rapid increase in I above a well-defined threshold V_t
under forward bias, and a slower increase in I under reverse bias. In these
measurements, a pronounced influence of a current-induced nuclear spin
polarization on the spin splitting is observed, and supported by a series of
NMR experiments. We conclude that the hyperfine interaction plays an important
role in determining the electronic properties at the edge of a 2DEG.Comment: 8 pages RevTeX, 7 figures (GIF); submitted to Phys. Rev.
Geometrical Dependence of High-Bias Current in Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes
We have studied the high-bias transport properties of the different shells
that constitute a multiwalled carbon nanotube. The current is shown to be
reduced as the shell diameter is decreased or the length is increased. We
assign this geometrical dependence to the competition between electron-phonon
scattering process and Zener tunneling.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Scanned Probe Microscopy of Electronic Transport in Carbon Nanotubes
We use electrostatic force microscopy and scanned gate microscopy to probe
the conducting properties of carbon nanotubes at room temperature. Multi-walled
carbon nanotubes are shown to be diffusive conductors, while metallic
single-walled carbon nanotubes are ballistic conductors over micron lengths.
Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes are shown to have a series of
large barriers to conduction along their length. These measurements are also
used to probe the contact resistance and locate breaks in carbon nanotube
circuits.Comment: 4 page
Multi-shell gold nanowires under compression
Deformation properties of multi-wall gold nanowires under compressive loading
are studied. Nanowires are simulated using a realistic many-body potential.
Simulations start from cylindrical fcc(111) structures at T=0 K. After
annealing cycles axial compression is applied on multi-shell nanowires for a
number of radii and lengths at T=300 K. Several types of deformation are found,
such as large buckling distortions and progressive crushing. Compressed
nanowires are found to recover their initial lengths and radii even after
severe structural deformations. However, in contrast to carbon nanotubes
irreversible local atomic rearrangements occur even under small compressions.Comment: 1 gif figure, 5 ps figure
Conductance oscillations in tunnel-coupled quantum dots in the quantum Hall regime
We present measurements of transport through two tunnel-coupled quantum dots
of different sizes connected in series in a strong, variable, perpendicular
magnetic field. Double dot conductance was measured both as a function of
magnetic field, which was varied across the filling factor nu = 4 quantum Hall
plateau, and as a function of charge induced evenly on the two dots. The
conductance peaks undergo position shifts and height modulations as the
magnetic field is varied. These shifts and modulations form a pattern that
repeats over large ranges of magnetic field and with the addition of double dot
charge. The robust pattern repetition is consistent with a frequency locking
effect.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Correlation effects in a quantum dot at high magnetic fields
We investigate the effects of electron correlations on the ground state
energy and the chemical potential of a droplet confined by a parabolic
potential at high magnetic fields. We demonstrate the importance of
correlations in estimating the transition field at which the first edge
reconstruction of the maximum density droplet occurs in the spin polarized
regime.Comment: 11 pages (revtex) 3 postscript figures are included at the end of the
tex file. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Interference effects in electronic transport through metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes
In a recent paper Liang {\it et al.} [Nature {\bf 411}, 665 (2001)] showed
experimentally, that metallic nanotubes, strongly coupled to external
electrodes, may act as coherent molecular waveguides for electronic transport.
The experimental results were supported by theoretical analysis based on the
scattering matrix approach. In this paper we analyze theoretically this problem
using a real-space approach, which makes it possible to control quality of
interface contacts. Electronic structure of the nanotube is taken into account
within the tight-binding model. External electrodes and the central part
(sample) are assumed to be made of carbon nanotubes, while the contacts between
electrodes and the sample are modeled by appropriate on-site (diagonal) and
hopping (off-diagonal) parameters. Conductance is calculated by the Green
function technique combined with the Landauer formalism. In the plots
displaying conductance {\it vs.} bias and gate voltages, we have found typical
diamond structure patterns, similar to those observed experimentally. In
certain cases, however, we have found new features in the patterns, like a
double-diamond sub-structure.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. To apear in Phys. Rev.
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