Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Crystal Growth in Ferroelectric Alloys

The growth rates and chemical ordering of ferroelectric alloys are studied with kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations using an electrostatic model with long-range Coulomb interactions, as a function of temperature, chemical composition, and substrate orientation. Crystal growth is characterized by thermodynamic processes involving adsorption and evaporation, with solid-on-solid restrictions and excluding diffusion. A KMC algorithm is formulated to simulate this model efficiently in the presence of long-range interactions. Simulations were carried out on Ba(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_3 (BMN) type materials. Compared to the simple rocksalt ordered structures, ordered BMN grows only at very low temperatures and only under finely tuned conditions. For materials with tetravalent compositions, such as (1-x)Ba(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_3 + xBaZrO_3 (BMN-BZ), the model does not incorporate tetravalent ions at low-temperature, exhibiting a phase-separated ground state instead. At higher temperatures, tetravalent ions can be incorporated, but the resulting crystals show no chemical ordering in the absence of diffusive mechanisms.Comment: 13 pages, 16 postscript figures, submitted to Physics Review B Journa

Spin Readout and Initialization in a Semiconductor Quantum Dot

Electron spin qubits in semiconductors are attractive from the viewpoint of long coherence times. However, single spin measurement is challenging. Several promising schemes incorporate ancillary tunnel couplings that may provide unwanted channels for decoherence. Here, we propose a novel spin-charge transduction scheme, converting spin information to orbital information within a single quantum dot by microwave excitation. The same quantum dot can be used for rapid initialization, gating, and readout. We present detailed modeling of such a device in silicon to confirm its feasibility.Comment: Published versio

Partial discharges location in power transformers using piezoceramic sensors

The detection and the spatial localization of partial discharges in high-voltage electrical machines are considered as an effective method in predictive maintenance that can provide valuable information on the health of the insulation system and allow to determine accurately the location of the risky insulation elements, which in turn will avoid any premature equipment’s deterioration by scheduling preventive maintenance action. After confirming in a previous published paper the efficiency of a new generation of piezoceramics sensors (high temperature ultrasonic transducers) to detect and characterize partial discharges, we are going to investigate, in this work, a second potential of this technology to locate the partial discharge sources by relying on its ability to detect acoustic signals emitted by partial discharge sources. We will present experimental results, demonstrating the effectiveness of these sensors to locate partial discharges sources and, we will also present an algorithm for calculating the partial discharge foci, based on the acoustic wave flight time

Phonitons as a sound-based analogue of cavity quantum electrodynamics

A quantum mechanical superposition of a long-lived, localized phonon and a matter excitation is described. We identify a realization in strained silicon: a low-lying donor transition (P or Li) driven solely by acoustic phonons at wavelengths where high-Q phonon cavities can be built. This phonon-matter resonance is shown to enter the strongly coupled regime where the "vacuum" Rabi frequency exceeds the spontaneous phonon emission into non-cavity modes, phonon leakage from the cavity, and phonon anharmonicity and scattering. We introduce a micropillar distributed Bragg reflector Si/Ge cavity, where Q=10^5-10^6 and mode volumes V<=25*lambda^3 are reachable. These results indicate that single or many-body devices based on these systems are experimentally realizable.Comment: Published PRL version. Note that the previous arXiv version has more commentary, figures, etc. Also see http://research.tahan.com

Rashba spin-orbit coupling and spin relaxation in silicon quantum wells

Silicon is a leading candidate material for spin-based devices, and two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) formed in silicon heterostructures have been proposed for both spin transport and quantum dot quantum computing applications. The key parameter for these applications is the spin relaxation time. Here we apply the theory of D'yakonov and Perel' (DP) to calculate the electron spin resonance linewidth of a silicon 2DEG due to structural inversion asymmetry for arbitrary static magnetic field direction at low temperatures. We estimate the Rashba spin-orbit coupling coefficient in silicon quantum wells and find the $T_{1}$ and $T_{2}$ times of the spins from this mechanism as a function of momentum scattering time, magnetic field, and device-specific parameters. We obtain agreement with existing data for the angular dependence of the relaxation times and show that the magnitudes are consistent with the DP mechanism. We suggest how to increase the relaxation times by appropriate device design.Comment: Extended derivations and info, fixed typos and refs, updated figs and data. Worth a re-downloa