256 research outputs found
Shot noise of large charge quanta in superconductor/semiconductor/superconductor junctions
We have found experimentally that the noise of ballistic electron transport
in a superconductor/semiconductor/superconductor junction is enhanced relative
to the value given by the general relation, S_V=2eIR^2coth(eV/2kT), for two
voltage regions in which this expression reduces to its thermal and shot noise
limits. The noise enhancement is explained by the presence of large charge
quanta, with effective charge q*=(1+2Delta/eV)e, that generate a noise spectrum
S_V=2q*IR^2, as predicted in Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3814 (1996). These charge
quanta result from multiple Andreev reflections at each junction interface,
which are also responsible for the subharmonic gap structure observed in the
voltage dependence of the junction's conductance.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review B as a Rapid
Communication. v2 author name in reference corrected. v3 added references. v4
clarifications in the text and reference added thanks to C. Urbin
Impact of tunnel barrier strength on magnetoresistance in carbon nanotubes
We investigate magnetoresistance in spin valves involving CoPd-contacted
carbon nanotubes. Both temperature and bias voltage dependence clearly indicate
tunneling magnetoresistance as the origin. We show that this effect is
significantly affected by the tunnel barrier strength, which appears to be one
reason for the variation between devices previously detected in similar
structures. Modeling the data by means of the scattering matrix approach, we
find a non-trivial dependence of the magnetoresistance on the barrier strength.
Furthermore, analysis of the spin precession observed in a nonlocal Hanle
measurement yields a spin lifetime of ns, a value comparable
with those found in silicon- or graphene-based spin valve devices.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Carrier relaxation in GaAs v-groove quantum wires and the effects of localization
Carrier relaxation processes have been investigated in GaAs/AlGaAs v-groove
quantum wires (QWRs) with a large subband separation (46 meV). Signatures of
inhibited carrier relaxation mechanisms are seen in temperature-dependent
photoluminescence (PL) and photoluminescence-excitation (PLE) measurements; we
observe strong emission from the first excited state of the QWR below ~50 K.
This is attributed to reduced inter-subband relaxation via phonon scattering
between localized states. Theoretical calculations and experimental results
indicate that the pinch-off regions, which provide additional two-dimensional
confinement for the QWR structure, have a blocking effect on relaxation
mechanisms for certain structures within the v-groove. Time-resolved PL
measurements show that efficient carrier relaxation from excited QWR states
into the ground state, occurs only at temperatures > 30 K. Values for the low
temperature radiative lifetimes of the ground- and first excited-state excitons
have been obtained (340 ps and 160 ps respectively), and their corresponding
localization lengths along the wire estimated.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B Attempted to correct
corrupt figure
Spin-orbit coupling and phase-coherence in InAs nanowires
We investigated the magnetotransport of InAs nanowires grown by selective
area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. In the temperature range between 0.5
and 30 K reproducible fluctuations in the conductance upon variation of the
magnetic field or the back-gate voltage are observed, which are attributed to
electron interference effects in small disordered conductors. From the
correlation field of the magnetoconductance fluctuations the phase-coherence
length l_phi is determined. At the lowest temperatures l_phi is found to be at
least 300 nm, while for temperatures exceeding 2 K a monotonous decrease of
l_phi with temperature is observed. A direct observation of the weak
antilocalization effect indicating the presence of spin-orbit coupling is
masked by the strong magnetoconductance fluctuations. However, by averaging the
magnetoconductance over a range of gate voltages a clear peak in the
magnetoconductance due to the weak antilocalization effect was resolved. By
comparison of the experimental data to simulations based on a recursive
two-dimensional Green's function approach a spin-orbit scattering length of
approximately 70 nm was extracted, indicating the presence of strong spin-orbit
coupling.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
The Fano-Rashba effect
We analyze the linear conductance of a semiconductor quantum wire containing
a region where a local Rashba spin-orbit interaction is present. We show that
Fano lineshapes appear in the conductance due to the formation of quasi bound
states which interfere with the direct transmission along the wire, a mechanism
that we term the Fano-Rashba effect. We obtain the numerical solution of the
full Schr\"odinger equation using the quantum-transmitting-boundary method. The
theoretical analysis is performed using the coupled-channel model, finding an
analytical solution by ansatz. The complete numerical solution of the
coupled-channel equations is also discussed, showing the validity of the ansatz
approach.Comment: 5 pages, proceedings of ICN+T 2006 (Basel, Switzerland, 30/7-4/9),
accepted, to appear in J. Phys.: Conf. Se
Exfoliated hexagonal BN as gate dielectric for InSb nanowire quantum dots with improved gate hysteresis and charge noise
We characterize InSb quantum dots induced by bottom finger gates within a
nanowire that is grown via the vapor-liquid-solid process. The gates are
separated from the nanowire by an exfoliated 35\,nm thin hexagonal BN flake. We
probe the Coulomb diamonds of the gate induced quantum dot exhibiting charging
energies of and orbital excitation energies up to
. The gate hysteresis for sweeps covering 5 Coulomb diamonds
reveals an energy hysteresis of only between upwards and
downwards sweeps. Charge noise is studied via long-term measurements at the
slope of a Coulomb peak revealing potential fluctuations of at 1\,Hz. This makes h-BN the dielectric with
the currently lowest gate hysteresis and lowest low-frequency potential
fluctuations reported for low-gap III-V nanowires. The extracted values are
similar to state-of-the art quantum dots within Si/SiGe and Si/SiO
systems
Longitudinal photocurrent spectroscopy of a single GaAs/AlGaAs v-groove quantum wire
Modulation-doped GaAs v-groove quantum wires (QWRs) have been fabricated with
novel electrical contacts made to two-dimensional electron-gas (2DEG)
reservoirs. Here, we present longitudinal photocurrent (photoconductivity/PC)
spectroscopy measurements of a single QWR. We clearly observe conductance in
the ground-state one-dimensional subbands; in addition, a highly
temperature-dependent response is seen from other structures within the
v-groove. The latter phenomenon is attributed to the effects of structural
topography and localization on carrier relaxation. The results of
power-dependent PC measurements suggest that the QWR behaves as a series of
weakly interacting localized states, at low temperatures
Doppler Shift in Andreev Reflection from a Moving Superconducting Condensate in Nb/InAs Josephson Junctions
We study narrow ballistic Josephson weak links in a InAs quantum wells
contacted by Nb electrodes and find a dramatic magnetic-field suppression of
the Andreev reflection amplitude, which occurs even for in-plane field
orientation with essentially no magnetic flux through the junction. Our
observations demonstrate the presence of a Doppler shift in the energy of the
Andreev levels, which results from diamagnetic screening currents in the hybrid
Nb/InAs-banks. The data for conductance, excess and critical currents can be
consistently explained in terms of the sample geometry and the McMillan energy,
characterizing the transparency of the Nb/InAs-interface.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, title modifie
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