186 research outputs found
Nanomechanics of a magnetic shuttle device
We show that self sustained mechanical vibrations in a model magnetic shuttle device can be driven by both the charge and the spin accumulated on the movable central island of the device. Different scenarios for how spin- and charge-induced shuttle instabilities may develop are discussed and shown to depend on whether there is a Coulomb blockade of tunneling or not. The crucial role of electronic spin flips in a magnetically driven shuttle is established and shown to cause giant magnetoresistance and dynamic magnetostriction effects
Superconductive pumping of nanomechanical vibrations
We demonstrate that a supercurrent can pump energy from a battery that
provides a voltage bias into nanomechanical vibrations. Using a device
containing a nanowire Josephson weak link as an example we show that a
nonlinear coupling between the supercurrent and a static external magnetic
field leads to a Lorentz force that excites bending vibrations of the wire at
resonance conditions. We also demonstrate the possibility to achieve more than
one regime of stationary nonlinear vibrations and how to detect them via the
associated dc Josephson currents and we discuss possible applications of such a
multistable nanoelectromechanical dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Umklapp-Assisted Electron Transport Oscillations in Metal Superlattices
We consider a superlattice of parallel metal tunnel junctions with a
spatially non-homogeneous probability for electrons to tunnel. In such
structures tunneling can be accompanied by electron scattering that conserves
energy but not momentum. In the special case of a tunneling probability that
varies periodically with period in the longitudinal direction, i.e.,
perpendicular to the junctions, electron tunneling is accompanied by "umklapp"
scattering, where the longitudinal momentum changes by a multiple of . We
predict that as a result a sequence of metal-insulator transitions can be
induced by an external electric- or magnetic field as the field strength is
increased.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Vibrational Instability due to Coherent Tunneling of Electrons
Effects of a coupling between the mechanical vibrations of a quantum dot
placed between the two leads of a single electron transistor and coherent
tunneling of electrons through a single level in the dot has been studied. We
have found that for bias voltages exceeding a certain critical value a
dynamical instability occurs and mechanical vibrations of the dot develop into
a stable limit cycle. The current-voltage characteristics for such a transistor
were calculated and they seem to be in a reasonably good agreement with recent
experimental results for the single -molecule transistor by Park et
al.(Nature {\bf 407,} (2000) 57).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Suppression of stochastic fluctuations of suspended nanowires by temperature-induced single-electron tunnelling
We investigate theoretically the electromechanical properties of freely
suspended nanowires that are in tunnelling contact with the tip of a scanning
tunnelling microscope (STM) and two supporting metallic leads. The aim of our
analysis is to characterize the fluctuations of the dynamical variables of the
nanowire when a temperature drop is mantained between the STM tip and the
leads, which are all assumed to be electrically grounded. By solving a quantum
master equation that describes the coupled dynamics of electronic and
mechanical degrees of freedom we find that the stationary state of the
mechanical oscillator has a Gaussian character, but that the amplitude of its
root-mean square center-of-mass fluctuations is smaller than would be expected
if the system were coupled only to the leads at thermal equilibrium.Comment: Published versio
Resonant microwave properties of a voltage-biased single-Cooper-pair transistor
We consider the microwave dynamics and transport properties of a
voltage-biased single-Cooper-pair transistor. The dynamics is shown to be
strongly affected by interference between multiple microwave-induced
inter-level transitions. As a result the magnitude and direction of the dc
Josephson current are extremely sensitive to small variations of the bias
voltage and to changes in the frequency of the microwave field.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Electronic spin working mechanically
A single-electron tunneling (SET) device with a nanoscale central island that
can move with respect to the bulk source- and drain electrodes allows for a
nanoelectromechanical (NEM) coupling between the electrical current through the
device and mechanical vibrations of the island. Although an electromechanical
"shuttle" instability and the associated phenomenon of single-electron
shuttling were predicted more than 15 years ago, both theoretical and
experimental studies of NEM-SET structures are still carried out. New
functionalities based on quantum coherence, Coulomb correlations and coherent
electron-spin dynamics are of particular current interest. In this article we
present a short review of recent activities in this area.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1303.074
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