1,249 research outputs found
Towards spin injection from silicon into topological insulators: Schottky barrier between Si and Bi2Se3
A scheme is proposed to electrically measure the spin-momentum coupling in
the topological insulator surface state by injection of spin polarized
electrons from silicon. As a first approach, devices were fabricated consisting
of thin (<100nm) exfoliated crystals of Bi2Se3 on n-type silicon with
independent electrical contacts to silicon and Bi2Se3. Analysis of the
temperature dependence of thermionic emission in reverse bias indicates a
barrier height of 0.34 eV at the Si-Bi2Se3 interface. This robust Schottky
barrier opens the possibility of novel device designs based on sub-band gap
internal photoemission from Bi2Se3 into Si
Nonequilibrium Transport through a Kondo Dot in a Magnetic Field: Perturbation Theory
Using nonequilibrium perturbation theory, we investigate the nonlinear
transport through a quantum dot in the Kondo regime in the presence of a
magnetic field. We calculate the leading logarithmic corrections to the local
magnetization and the differential conductance, which are characteristic of the
Kondo effect out of equilibrium. By solving a quantum Boltzmann equation, we
determine the nonequilibrium magnetization on the dot and show that the
application of both a finite bias voltage and a magnetic field induces a novel
structure of logarithmic corrections not present in equilibrium. These
corrections lead to more pronounced features in the conductance, and their form
calls for a modification of the perturbative renormalization group.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Suppression of Kondo effect in a quantum dot by external irradiation
We demonstrate that the external irradiation brings decoherence in the spin
states of the quantum dot. This effect cuts off the Kondo anomaly in
conductance even at zero temperature. We evaluate the dependence of the DC
conductance in the Kondo regime on the power of irradiation, this dependence
being determined by the decoherence.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Exact non-equilibrium current from the partition function for impurity transport problems
We study the partition functions of quantum impurity problems in the domain
of complex applied bias for its relation to the non-equilibrium current
suggested by Fendley, Lesage and Saleur (cond-mat/9510055). The problem is
reformulated as a certain generalization of the linear response theory that
accomodates an additional complex variable. It is shown that the mentioned
relation holds in a rather generic case in the linear response limit, or under
certain condition out of equilibrium. This condition is trivially satisfied by
the quadratic Hamiltonians and is rather restrictive for the interacting
models. An example is given when the condition is violated.Comment: 10 pages, RevTex. Final extended versio
Medication errors during simulated paediatric resuscitations: a prospective, observational human reliability analysis
Introduction: Medication errors during paediatric resuscitation are thought to be common. However, there is little evidence about the individual process steps that contribute to such medication errors in this context. /
Objectives: To describe the incidence, nature and severity of medication errors in simulated paediatric resuscitations, and to employ human reliability analysis to understand the contributory role of individual process step discrepancies to these errors. /
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of simulated resuscitations subject to video micro-analysis, identification of medication errors, severity assessment and human reliability analysis in a large English teaching hospital. Fifteen resuscitation teams of two doctors and two nurses each conducted one of two simulated paediatric resuscitation scenarios. /
Results: At least one medication error was observed in every simulated case, and a large magnitude or clinically significant error in 11 of 15 cases. Medication errors were observed in 29% of 180 simulated medication administrations, 40% of which considered to be moderate or severe. These errors were the result of 884 observed discrepancies at a number of steps in the drug ordering, preparation and administration stages of medication use, 8% of which made a major contribution to a resultant medication error. Most errors were introduced by discrepancies during drug preparation and administration. /
Conclusions: Medication errors were common with a considerable proportion likely to result in patient harm. There is an urgent need to optimise existing systems and to commission research into new approaches to increase the reliability of human interactions during administration of medication in the paediatric emergency setting
Medication errors during simulated paediatric resuscitations: a prospective, observational human reliability analysis
Introduction: Medication errors during paediatric resuscitation are thought to be common. However, there is little evidence about the individual process steps that contribute to such medication errors in this context. Objectives: To describe the incidence, nature and severity of medication errors in simulated paediatric resuscitations, and to employ human reliability analysis to understand the contribution of discrepancies in individual process steps to the occurrence of these errors. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of simulated resuscitations subjected to video micro-analysis, identification of medication errors, severity assessment and human reliability analysis in a large English teaching hospital. Fifteen resuscitation teams of two doctors and two nurses each conducted one of two simulated paediatric resuscitation scenarios. Results: At least one medication error was observed in every simulated case, and a large magnitude (>25% discrepant) or clinically significant error in 11 of 15 cases. Medication errors were observed in 29% of 180 simulated medication administrations, 40% of which considered to be moderate or severe. These errors were the result of 884 observed discrepancies at a number of steps in the drug ordering, preparation and administration stages of medication use, 8% of which made a major contribution to a resultant medication error. Most errors were introduced by discrepancies during drug preparation and administration. Conclusions: Medication errors were common with a considerable proportion likely to result in patient harm. There is an urgent need to optimise existing systems and to commission research into new approaches to increase the reliability of human interactions during administration of medication in the paediatric emergency setting
The Kondo Effect in Non-Equilibrium Quantum Dots: Perturbative Renormalization Group
While the properties of the Kondo model in equilibrium are very well
understood, much less is known for Kondo systems out of equilibrium. We study
the properties of a quantum dot in the Kondo regime, when a large bias voltage
V and/or a large magnetic field B is applied. Using the perturbative
renormalization group generalized to stationary nonequilibrium situations, we
calculate renormalized couplings, keeping their important energy dependence. We
show that in a magnetic field the spin occupation of the quantum dot is
non-thermal, being controlled by V and B in a complex way to be calculated by
solving a quantum Boltzmann equation. We find that the well-known suppression
of the Kondo effect at finite V>>T_K (Kondo temperature) is caused by inelastic
dephasing processes induced by the current through the dot. We calculate the
corresponding decoherence rate, which serves to cut off the RG flow usually
well inside the perturbative regime (with possible exceptions). As a
consequence, the differential conductance, the local magnetization, the spin
relaxation rates and the local spectral function may be calculated for large
V,B >> T_K in a controlled way.Comment: 9 pages, invited paper for a special edition of JPSJ "Kondo Effect --
40 Years after the Discovery", some typos correcte
Transport in Quantum Dots from the Integrability of the Anderson Model
In this work we exploit the integrability of the two-lead Anderson model to
compute transport properties of a quantum dot, in and out of equilibrium. Our
method combines the properties of integrable scattering together with a
Landauer-Buttiker formalism. Although we use integrability, the nature of the
problem is such that our results are not generically exact, but must only be
considered as excellent approximations which nonetheless are valid all the way
through crossover regimes.
The key to our approach is to identify the excitations that correspond to
scattering states and then to compute their associated scattering amplitudes.
We are able to do so both in and out of equilibrium. In equilibrium and at zero
temperature, we reproduce the Friedel sum rule for an arbitrary magnetic field.
At finite temperature, we study the linear response conductance at the
symmetric point of the Anderson model, and reproduce Costi et al.'s numerical
renormalization group computation of this quantity. We then explore the
out-of-equilibrium conductance for a near-symmetric Anderson model, and arrive
at quantitative expressions for the differential conductance, both in and out
of a magnetic field. We find the expected splitting of the differential
conductance peak into two in a finite magnetic field, . We determine the
width, height, and position of these peaks. In particular we find for H >> T_k,
the Kondo temperature, the differential conductance has maxima of e^2/h
occuring for a bias V close to but smaller than H. The nature of our
construction of scattering states suggests that our results for the
differential magneto-conductance are not merely approximate but become exact in
the large field limit.Comment: 88 pages, 16 figures, uses harvmac.te
Quantum dots with even number of electrons: Kondo effect in a finite magnetic field
We study a small spin-degenerate quantum dot with even number of electrons,
weakly connected by point contacts to the metallic electrodes, and subject to
an external magnetic field. If the Zeeman energy B is equal to the
single-particle level spacing in the dot, the ground state of the dot
becomes doubly degenerate, and the system exhibits Kondo effect, despite the
fact that B exceeds by far the Kondo temperature . A possible
realization of this in tunneling experiments is discussed
Nonlinear Response of a Kondo system: Direct and Alternating Tunneling Currents
Non - equilibrium tunneling current of an Anderson impurity system subject to
both constant and alternating electric fields is studied. A time - dependent
Schrieffer - Wolff transformation maps the time - dependent Anderson
Hamiltonian onto a Kondo one. Perturbation expansion in powers of the Kondo
coupling strength is carried out up to third order, yielding a remarkably
simple analytical expression for the tunneling current. It is found that the
zero - bias anomaly is suppressed by an ac - field. Both dc and the first
harmonic are equally enhanced by the Kondo effect, while the higher harmonics
are relatively small. These results are shown to be valid also below the Kondo
temperature.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, 3 PS figures attached, the article has been
significantly developed: time - dependent Schrieffer - Wolff transformation
is presented in the full form, the results are applied to the change in the
direct current induced by an alternating field (2 figures are new
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