7,812 research outputs found
Quantum states in a magnetic anti-dot
We study a new system in which electrons in two dimensions are confined by a
non homogeneous magnetic field. The system consists of a heterostructure with
on top of it a superconducting disk. We show that in this system electrons can
be confined into a dot region. This magnetic anti-dot has the interesting
property that the filling of the dot is a discrete function of the magnetic
field. The circulating electron current inside and outside the anti-dot can be
in opposite direction for certain bound states. And those states exhibit a
diamagnetic to paramagnetic transition with increasing magnetic field. The
absorption spectrum consists of many peaks, some of which violate Kohn's
theorem, and which is due to the coupling of the center of mass motion with the
other degrees of freedom.Comment: 6 pages, 12 ps figure
Tuning the polarized quantum phonon transmission in graphene nanoribbons
We propose systems that allow a tuning of the phonon transmission function
T() in graphene nanoribbons by using C isotope barriers, antidot
structures, and distinct boundary conditions. Phonon modes are obtained by an
interatomic fifth-nearest neighbor force-constant model (5NNFCM) and
T() is calculated using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism.
We show that by imposing partial fixed boundary conditions it is possible to
restrict contributions of the in-plane phonon modes to T() at low
energy. On the contrary, the transmission functions of out-of-plane phonon
modes can be diminished by proper antidot or isotope arrangements. In
particular, we show that a periodic array of them leads to sharp dips in the
transmission function at certain frequencies which can be
pre-defined as desired by controlling their relative distance and size. With
this, we demonstrated that by adequate engineering it is possible to govern the
magnitude of the ballistic transmission functions T in graphene
nanoribbons. We discuss the implications of these results in the design of
controlled thermal transport at the nanoscale as well as in the enhancement of
thermo-electric features of graphene-based materials
Partially unzipped carbon nanotubes as magnetic field sensors
The conductance, , through graphene nanoribbons (GNR) connected to a
partially unzipped carbon nanotube (CNT) is studied in the presence of an
external magnetic field applied parallel to the long axis of the tube by means
of non-equilibrium Green's function technique. We consider (z)igzag and
(a)rmchair CNTs that are partially unzipped to form aGNR/zCNT/aGNR or
zGNR/aCNT/zGNR junctions. We find that the inclusion of a longitudinal magnetic
field affects the electronic states only in the CNT region, leading to the
suppression of the conductance at low energies. Unlike previous studies, for
the zGNR/aCNT/zGNR junction in zero field, we find a sharp dip in the
conductance as the energy approaches the Dirac point and we attribute this
non-trivial behavior to the peculiar band dispersion of the constituent
subsystems. We demonstrate that both types of junctions can be used as magnetic
field sensors.Comment: final version to appear in Applied Physics Letter
The role of atomic vacancies and boundary conditions on ballistic thermal transport in graphene nanoribbons
Quantum thermal transport in armchair and zig-zag graphene nanoribbons are
investigated in the presence of single atomic vacancies and subject to
different boundary conditions. We start with a full comparison of the phonon
polarizations and energy dispersions as given by a fifth-nearest-neighbor
force-constant model (5NNFCM) and by elasticity theory of continuum membranes
(ETCM). For free-edges ribbons we discuss the behavior of an additional
acoustic edge-localized flexural mode, known as fourth acoustic branch (4ZA),
which has a small gap when it is obtained by the 5NNFCM. Then, we show that
ribbons with supported-edges have a sample-size dependent energy gap in the
phonon spectrum which is particularly large for in-plane modes. Irrespective to
the calculation method and the boundary condition, the dependence of the energy
gap for the low-energy optical phonon modes against the ribbon width W is found
to be proportional to 1/W for in-plane, and 1/W for out-of-plane phonon
modes. Using the 5NNFCM, the ballistic thermal conductance and its
contributions from every single phonon mode are then obtained by the non
equilibrium Green's function technique. We found that, while edge and central
localized single atomic vacancies do not affect the low-energy transmission
function of in-plane phonon modes, they reduce considerably the contributions
of the flexural modes. On the other hand, in-plane modes contributions are
strongly dependent on the boundary conditions and at low temperatures can be
highly reduced in supported-edges samples. These findings could open a route to
engineer graphene based devices where it is possible to discriminate the
relative contribution of polarized phonons and to tune the thermal transport on
the nanoscale
Electron polarization function and plasmons in metallic armchair graphene nanoribbons
We calculate the polarization function of Dirac fermions in metallic armchair
graphene nanoribbons for an arbitrary temperature and doping. We find that at
finite temperatures due to the phase space redistribution among inter-band and
intra-band electronic transitions in the conduction and valence bands, the full
polarization function becomes independent of the temperature and the position
of the chemical potential. As a result, for a given width of nanoribbons there
exists a single plasmon mode, with the energy dispersion determined by the
graphene's fine structure constant. In Coulomb-coupled nanoribbons, this
plasmon splits into the basic in-phase and out-of-phase plasmon modes, with the
splitting energy determined additionally by the inter-ribbon spacing.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; in press in Phys. Rev.
Resistance effects due to magnetic guiding orbits
The Hall and magnetoresistance of a two dimensional electron gas subjected to
a magnetic field barrier parallel to the current direction is studied as
function of the applied perpendicular magnetic field. The recent experimental
results of Nogaret {\em et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 84}, 2231 (2000)] for
the magneto- and Hall resistance are explained using a semi-classical theory
based on the Landauer-B\"{u}ttiker formula. The observed positive
magnetoresistance peak is explained as due to a competition between a decrease
of the number of conducting channels as a result of the growing magnetic field,
from the fringe field of the ferromagnetic stripe as it becomes magnetized, and
the disappearance of snake orbits and the subsequent appearance of cycloidlike
orbits.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Polaron effects in electron channels on a helium film
Using the Feynman path-integral formalism we study the polaron effects in
quantum wires above a liquid helium film. The electron interacts with
two-dimensional (2D) surface phonons, i.e. ripplons, and is confined in one
dimension (1D) by an harmonic potential. The obtained results are valid for
arbitrary temperature (), electron-phonon coupling strength (), and
lateral confinement (). Analytical and numerical results are
obtained for limiting cases of , , and . We found the
surprising result that reducing the electron motion from 2D to quasi-1D makes
the self-trapping transition more continuous.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Quasi-bound states of Schrodinger and Dirac electrons in magnetic quantum dot
The properties of a two-dimensional electron are investigated in the presence
of a circular step magnetic field profile. Both electrons with parabolic
dispersion as well as Dirac electrons with linear dispersion are studied. We
found that in such a magnetic quantum dot no electrons can be confined.
Nevertheless close to the Landau levels quasi-bound states can exist with a
rather long life time.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Electron spin and charge switching in a coupled quantum dot quantum ring system
Few-electron systems confined in a quantum dot laterally coupled to a
surrounding quantum ring in the presence of an external magnetic field are
studied by exact diagonalization. The distribution of electrons between the dot
and the ring is influenced by the relative strength of the dot and ring
confinement, the gate voltage and the magnetic field which induces transitions
of electrons between the two parts of the system. These transitions are
accompanied by changes in the periodicity of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations of
the ground-state angular momentum. The singlet-triplet splitting for a two
electron system with one electron confined in the dot and the other in the ring
exhibits piecewise linear dependence on the external field due to the
Aharonov-Bohm effect for the ring-confined electron, in contrast to smooth
oscillatory dependence of the exchange energy for laterally coupled dots in the
side-by-side geometry.Comment: to appear in PRB in August 200
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