110 research outputs found
Dark states in the magnetotransport through triple quantum dots
We consider the transport through a system of three coupled quantum dots in a
perpendicular magnetic field. At zero field, destructive interference can trap
an electron in a dark state -- a coherent superposition of dot states that
completely blocks current flow. The magnetic field can disrupt this
interference giving rise to oscillations in the current and its higher-order
statistics as the field is increased. These oscillations have a period of
either the flux-quantum or half the flux-quantum, depending on the dot
geometry. We give results for the stationary current and for the shotnoise and
skewness at zero and finite frequency.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Zero-bias anomalies in electrochemically fabricated nanojunctions
A streamlined technique for the electrochemical fabrication of metal
nanojunctions (MNJs) between lithographically defined electrodes is presented.
The first low-temperature transport measurements in such structures reveal
suppression of the conductance near zero-bias. The size of the zero-bias
anomaly (ZBA) depends strongly on the fabrication electrochemistry and the
dimensions of the resulting MNJ. We present evidence that the nonperturbative
ZBA in atomic-scale junctions is due to a density of states suppression in the
leads.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Tunneling of Bloch electrons through vacuum barrier
Tunneling of Bloch electrons through a vacuum barrier introduces new physical
effects in comparison with the textbook case of free (plane wave) electrons.
For the latter, the exponential decay rate in the vacuum is minimal for
electrons with the parallel component of momentum , and
the prefactor is defined by the electron momentum component in the normal to
the surface direction. However, the decay rate of Bloch electrons may be
minimal at an arbitrary (``hot spots''), and the prefactor
is determined by the electron's group velocity, rather than by its
quasimomentum.Comment: 4 pages, no fig
Nonlinear magnetoconductance of a classical ballistic system
We study nonlinear transport through a classical ballistic system accounting
for the Coulomb interaction between electrons. The joint effect of the applied
bias and magnetic field on the electron trajectories results in a
component of the non-linear current which lacks the
symmetry: . At zero temperature the magnitude of
is of the same order as that arising from the quantum
interference mechanism. At higher temperatures the classical mechanism is
expected to dominate due to its relatively weak temperature dependence.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Spin-polarized electron transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor heterostructures: Unification of ballistic and diffusive transport
A theory of spin-polarized electron transport in ferromagnet/semiconductor
heterostructures, based on a unified semiclassical description of ballistic and
diffusive transport in semiconductor structures, is developed. The aim is to
provide a framework for studying the interplay of spin relaxation and transport
mechanism in spintronic devices. A key element of the unified description of
transport inside a (nondegenerate) semiconductor is the thermoballistic current
consisting of electrons which move ballistically in the electric field arising
from internal and external electrostatic potentials, and which are thermalized
at randomly distributed equilibration points. The ballistic component in the
unified description gives rise to discontinuities in the chemical potential at
the boundaries of the semiconductor, which are related to the Sharvin interface
conductance. By allowing spin relaxation to occur during the ballistic motion
between the equilibration points, a thermoballistic spin-polarized current and
density are constructed in terms of a spin transport function. An integral
equation for this function is derived for arbitrary values of the momentum and
spin relaxation lengths. For field-driven transport in a homogeneous
semiconductor, the integral equation can be converted into a second-order
differential equation that generalizes the standard spin drift-diffusion
equation. The spin polarization in ferromagnet/semiconductor heterostructures
is obtained by invoking continuity of the current spin polarization and
matching the spin-resolved chemical potentials on the ferromagnet sides of the
interfaces. Allowance is made for spin-selective interface resistances.
Examples are considered which illustrate the effects of transport mechanism and
electric field.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, REVTEX 4; minor corrections introduced; to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Impeded Growth of Magnetic Flux Bubbles in the Intermediate State Pattern of Type I Superconductors
Normal state bubble patterns in Type I superconducting Indium and Lead slabs
are studied by the high resolution magneto-optical imaging technique. The size
of bubbles is found to be almost independent of the long-range interaction
between the normal state domains. Under bubble diameter and slab thickness
proper scaling, the results gather onto a single master curve. On this basis,
in the framework of the "current-loop" model [R.E. Goldstein, D.P. Jackson and
A.T. Dorsey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3818 (1996)], we calculate the equilibrium
diameter of an isolated bubble resulting from the competition between the
Biot-and-Savart interaction of the Meissner current encircling the bubble and
the superconductor-normal interface energy. A good quantitative agreement with
the master curve is found over two decades of the magnetic Bond number. The
isolation of each bubble in the superconducting matrix and the existence of a
positive interface energy are shown to preclude any continuous size variation
of the bubbles after their formation, contrary to the prediction of mean-field
models.Comment: \'{e}quipe Nanostructures Quantique
Pinholes May Mimic Tunneling
Interest in magnetic-tunnel junctions has prompted a re-examination of
tunneling measurements through thin insulating films. In any study of
metal-insulator-metal trilayers, one tries to eliminate the possibility of
pinholes (small areas over which the thickness of the insulator goes to zero so
that the upper and lower metals of the trilayer make direct contact). Recently,
we have presented experimental evidence that ferromagnet-insulator-normal
trilayers that appear from current-voltage plots to be pinhole-free may
nonetheless in some cases harbor pinholes. Here, we show how pinholes may arise
in a simple but realistic model of film deposition and that purely classical
conduction through pinholes may mimic one aspect of tunneling, the exponential
decay in current with insulating thickness.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, plain TeX; submitted to Journal of Applied
Physic
Effect of connecting wires on the decoherence due to electron-electron interaction in a metallic ring
We consider the weak localization in a ring connected to reservoirs through
leads of finite length and submitted to a magnetic field. The effect of
decoherence due to electron-electron interaction on the harmonics of AAS
oscillations is studied, and more specifically the effect of the leads. Two
results are obtained for short and long leads regimes. The scale at which the
crossover occurs is discussed. The long leads regime is shown to be more
realistic experimentally.Comment: LaTeX, 4 pages, 4 eps figure
Chaotic scattering through coupled cavities
We study the chaotic scattering through an Aharonov-Bohm ring containing two
cavities. One of the cavities has well-separated resonant levels while the
other is chaotic, and is treated by random matrix theory. The conductance
through the ring is calculated analytically using the supersymmetry method and
the quantum fluctuation effects are numerically investigated in detail. We find
that the conductance is determined by the competition between the mean and
fluctuation parts. The dephasing effect acts on the fluctuation part only. The
Breit-Wigner resonant peak is changed to an antiresonance by increasing the
ratio of the level broadening to the mean level spacing of the random cavity,
and the asymmetric Fano form turns into a symmetric one. For the orthogonal and
symplectic ensembles, the period of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations is half of
that for regular systems. The conductance distribution function becomes
independent of the ensembles at the resonant point, which can be understood by
the mode-locking mechanism. We also discuss the relation of our results to the
random walk problem.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures; minor change
Spectroscopy of phonons and spin torques in magnetic point contacts
Phonon spectroscopy is used to investigate the mechanism of current-induced
spin torques in nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic (N/F) point contacts. Magnetization
excitations observed in the magneto-conductance of the point contacts are
pronounced for diffusive and thermal contacts, where the electrons experience
significant scattering in the contact region. We find no magnetic excitations
in highly ballistic contacts. Our results show that impurity scattering at the
N/F interface is the origin of the new single-interface spin torque effect.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figs., accepted for publication in PR
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