1,826 research outputs found
Frequency dependent polarizability of small metallic grains
We study the dynamic electronic polarizability of a single nano-scale
spherical metallic grain using quantum mechanical approach. We introduce the
model for interacting electrons bound in the grain allowing us numerically to
calculate the frequency dependence of the polarizability of grains of different
sizes. We show that within this model the main resonance peak corresponding to
the surface plasmon mode is blue-shifted and some minor secondary resonances
above and below the main peak exist. We study the behavior of blue shift as a
function of grain size and compare our findings with the classical
polarizability and with other results in the literature.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Single-electron latch with granular film charge leakage suppressor
A single-electron latch is a device that can be used as a building block for
Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) circuits. It consists of three nanoscale
metal "dots" connected in series by tunnel junctions; charging of the dots is
controlled by three electrostatic gates. One very important feature of a
single-electron latch is its ability to store ("latch") information represented
by the location of a single electron within the three dots. To obtain latching,
the undesired leakage of charge during the retention time must be suppressed.
Previously, to achieve this goal, multiple tunnel junctions were used to
connect the three dots. However, this method of charge leakage suppression
requires an additional compensation of the background charges affecting each
parasitic dot in the array of junctions. We report a single-electron latch
where a granular metal film is used to fabricate the middle dot in the latch
which concurrently acts as a charge leakage suppressor. This latch has no
parasitic dots, therefore the background charge compensation procedure is
greatly simplified. We discuss the origins of charge leakage suppression and
possible applications of granular metal dots for various single-electron
circuits.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
Thermoelectric performance of weakly coupled granular materials
We study thermoelectric properties of inhomogeneous nanogranular materials
for weak tunneling conductance between the grains, g_t < 1. We calculate the
thermopower and figure of merit taking into account the shift of the chemical
potential and the asymmetry of the density of states in the vicinity of the
Fermi surface. We show that the weak coupling between the grains leads to a
high thermopower and low thermal conductivity resulting in relatively high
values of the figure of merit on the order of one. We estimate the temperature
at which the figure of merit has its maximum value for two- and
three-dimensional samples. Our results are applicable for many emerging
materials, including artificially self-assembled nanoparticle arrays.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Thermoelectric performance of granular semiconductors
We study thermoelectric properties of granular semiconductors with weak
tunneling conductance between the grains, g_t < 1. We calculate the thermopower
and figure of merit taking into account the shift of the chemical potential and
the asymmetry of the density of states in the vicinity of the Fermi surface due
to n- or p-type doping in the Efros-Shklovskii regime for temperatures less
than the charging energy. We show that for weakly coupled semiconducting grains
the figure of merit is optimized for grain sizes of order 5nm for typical
materials and its values can be larger than one. We also study the case of
compensated granular semiconductors and show that in this case the thermopower
can be still finite, although two to three orders of magnitude smaller than in
the uncompensated regime.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Two-loop approximation in the Coulomb blockade problem
We study Coulomb blockade (CB) oscillations in the thermodynamics of a
metallic grain which is connected to a lead by a tunneling contact with a large
conductance in a wide temperature range, ,
where is the charging energy. Using the instanton analysis and the
renormalization group we obtain the temperature dependence of the amplitude of
CB oscillations which differs from the previously obtained results. Assuming
that at the oscillation amplitude weakly depends on
temperature we estimate the magnitude of CB oscillations in the ground state
energy as .Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Plasma Ejection from Magnetic Flares and the X-ray Spectrum of Cygnus X-1
The hard X-rays in Cyg X-1 and similar black hole sources are possibly
produced in an active corona atop an accretion disk. We suggest that the
observed weakness of X-ray reflection from the disk is due to bulk motion of
the emitting hot plasma away from the reflector. A mildly relativistic motion
causes aberration reducing X-ray emission towards the disk. This in turn
reduces the reprocessed radiation from the disk and leads to a hard spectrum of
the X-ray source. The resulting spectral index is Gamma=1.9B^{1/2} where
B=gamma(1+beta) is the aberration factor for a bulk velocity beta=v/c. The
observed Gamma=1.6 and the amount of reflection, R=0.3, in Cyg X-1 in the hard
state can both be explained assuming a bulk velocity beta=0.3. We discuss one
possible scenario: the compact magnetic flares are dominated by e+- pairs which
are ejected away from the reflector by the pressure of the reflected radiation.
We also discuss physical constraints on the disk-corona model and argue that
the magnetic flares are related to magneto-rotational instabilities in the
accretion disk.Comment: The final version, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Correlation induced switching of local spatial charge distribution in two-level system
We present theoretical investigation of spatial charge distribution in the
two-level system with strong Coulomb correlations by means of Heisenberg
equations analysis for localized states total electron filling numbers taking
into account pair correlations of local electron density. It was found that
tunneling current through nanometer scale structure with strongly coupled
localized states causes Coulomb correlations induced spatial redistribution of
localized charges. Conditions for inverse occupation of two-level system in
particular range of applied bias caused by Coulomb correlations have been
revealed. We also discuss possibility of charge manipulation in the proposed
system.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Submitted to JETP Letter
Quantum interference and Coulomb interaction in arrays of tunnel junctions
We study the electronic properties of an array of small metallic grains
connected by tunnel junctions. Such an array serves as a model for a granular
metal. Previous theoretical studies of junction arrays were based on models of
quantum dissipation which did not take into account the diffusive motion of
electrons within the grains. We demonstrate that these models break down at
sufficiently low temperatures: for a correct description of the screening
properties of a granular metal at low energies the diffusive nature of the
electronic motion within the grains is crucial. We present both a diagrammatic
and a functional integral approach to analyse the properties of junction
arrays. In particular, a new effective action is obtained which enables us to
describe the array at arbitrary temperature. In the low temperature limit, our
theory yields the correct, dynamically screened Coulomb interaction of a normal
metal, whereas at high temperatures the standard description in terms of
quantum dissipation is recovered.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Stellar disk in the galactic center -- a remnant of a dense accretion disk?
Observations of the galactic center revealed a population of young massive
stars within 0.4 pc from Sgr A* -- the presumed location of a supermassive
black hole. The origin of these stars is a puzzle as their formation in citu
should be suppressed by the black hole's tidal field. We find that out of 13
stars whose 3-dimensional velocities have been measured by Genzel et. al.
(2000), 10 lie in a thin disk. The half-opening angle of the disk is consistent
with zero within the measurement errors, and does not exceed 10 degrees. We
propose that a recent burst of star formation has occurred in a dense gaseous
disk around Sgr A*. Such a disk is no longer present because, most likely, it
has been accreted by the central black hole. The three-dimensional orbit of S2,
the young star closest to Sgr A*, has been recently mapped out with high
precision. It is inclined to the stellar disk by 75 degrees. We find that the
orbit should undergo Lense-Thirring precession with the period of (5/a) Myr,
where a<1 is the dimensionless spin of the black hole. Therefore it is possible
that originally S2 orbit lay in the disk plane. If so, we can constrain the
black hole spin be greater than 0.2(t_{S2}/5 Myr), where t_{S2} is the age
of S2.Comment: submitted to ApJ Letter
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