537 research outputs found
Quantum point contact due to Fermi-level pinning and doping profiles in semiconductor nanocolumns
We show that nanoscale doping profiles inside a nanocolumn in combination
with Fermi-level pinning at the surface give rise to the formation of a
saddle-point in the potential profile. Consequently, the lateral confinement
inside the channel varies along the transport direction, yielding an embedded
quantum point contact. An analytical estimation of the quantization energies
will be given
Charge transport through weakly open one dimensional quantum wires
We consider resonant transmission through a finite-length quantum wire
connected to leads via finite transparency junctions. The coherent electron
transport is strongly modified by the Coulomb interaction. The low-temperature
current-voltage () curves show step-like dependence on the bias voltage
determined by the distance between the quantum levels inside the conductor, the
pattern being dependent on the ratio between the charging energy and level
spacing. If the system is tuned close to the resonance condition by the gate
voltage, the low-voltage curve is Ohmic. At large Coulomb energy and low
temperatures, the conductance is temperature-independent for any relationship
between temperature, level spacing, and coupling between the wire and the
leads
Negative 4-Probe Conductances of Mesoscopic Superconducting Wires
We analyze the longitudinal 4-probe conductance of mesoscopic normal and
superconducting wires and predict that in the superconducting case, large
negative values can arise for both the weakly disordered and localized regimes.
This contrasts sharply with the behaviour of the longitudinal 4-probe
conductance of normal wires, which in the localized limit is always
exponentially small and positive.Comment: Latex, 3 figures available on request to [email protected]
(Simon Robinson
Evidence for a colour dependence in the size distribution of main belt asteroids
We present the results of a project to detect small (~1 km) main-belt
asteroids with the 3.6 meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). We observed
in 2 filters (MegaPrime g' and r') in order to compare the results in each
band. Owing to the observational cadence we did not observe the same asteroids
through each filter and thus do not have true colour information. However
strong differences in the size distributions as seen in the two filters point
to a colour-dependence at these sizes, perhaps to be expected in this regime
where asteroid cohesiveness begins to be dominated by physical strength and
composition rather than by gravity. The best fit slopes of the cumulative size
distributions (CSDs) in both filters tend towards lower values for smaller
asteroids, consistent with the results of previous studies. In addition to this
trend, the size distributions seen in the two filters are distinctly different,
with steeper slopes in r' than in g'. Breaking our sample up according to
semimajor axis, the difference between the filters in the inner belt is found
to be somewhat less pronounced than in the middle and outer belt, but the CSD
of those asteroids seen in the r' filter is consistently and significantly
steeper than in g' throughout. The CSD slopes also show variations with
semimajor axis within a given filter, particularly in r'. We conclude that the
size distribution of main belt asteroids is likely to be colour dependent at
kilometer sizes and that this dependence may vary across the belt.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journa
Localization fom conductance in few-channel disordered wires
We study localization in two- and three channel quasi-1D systems using
multichain tight-binding Anderson models with nearest-neighbour interchain
hopping. In the three chain case we discuss both the case of free- and that of
periodic boundary conditions between the chains. The finite disordered wires
are connected to ideal leads and the localization length is defined from the
Landauer conductance in terms of the transmission coefficients matrix. The
transmission- and reflection amplitudes in properly defined quantum channels
are obtained from S-matrices constructed from transfer matrices in Bloch wave
bases for the various quasi-1D systems. Our exact analytic expressions for
localization lengths for weak disorder reduce to the Thouless expression for 1D
systems in the limit of vanishing interchain hopping. For weak interchain
hopping the localization length decreases with respect to the 1D value in all
three cases. In the three-channel cases it increases with interchain hopping
over restricted domains of large hopping
Ballistic Composite Fermions in Semiconductor Nanostructures
We report the results of two fundamental transport measurements at a Landau
level filling factor of 1/2. The well known ballistic electron transport
phenomena of quenching of the Hall effect in a mesoscopic cross-junction and
negative magnetoresistance of a constriction are observed close to B~=~0 and
. The experimental results demonstrate semi-classical charge
transport by composite fermions, which consist of electrons bound to an even
number of flux quanta.Comment: 9 pages TeX 3.1415 C version 6.1, 3 PostScript figure
Time Dependent Current Oscillations Through a Quantum Dot
Time dependent phenomena associated to charge transport along a quantum dot
in the charge quantization regime is studied. Superimposed to the Coulomb
blockade behaviour the current has novel non-linear properties. Together with
static multistabilities in the negative resistance region of the I-V
characteristic curve, strong correlations at the dot give rise to
self-sustained current and charge oscillations. Their properties depend upon
the parameters of the quantum dot and the external applied voltages.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; to appear in PR
Sensitivity and back-action in charge qubit measurements by a strongly coupled single-electron transistor
We consider charge-qubit monitoring (continuous-in-time weak measurement) by
a single-electron transistor (SET) operating in the sequential-tunneling
regime. We show that commonly used master equations for this regime are not of
the Lindblad form that is necessary and sufficient for guaranteeing valid
physical states. In this paper we derive a Lindblad-form master equation and a
corresponding quantum trajectory model for continuous measurement of the charge
qubit by a SET. Our approach requires that the SET-qubit coupling be strong
compared to the SET tunnelling rates. We present an analysis of the quality of
the qubit measurement in this model (sensitivity versus back-action).
Typically, the strong coupling when the SET island is occupied causes
back-action on the qubit beyond the quantum back-action necessary for its
sensitivity, and hence the conditioned qubit state is mixed. However, in one
strongly coupled, asymmetric regime, the SET can approach the limit of an ideal
detector with an almost pure conditioned state. We also quantify the quality of
the SET using more traditional concepts such as the measurement time and
decoherence time, which we have generalized so as to treat the strongly
responding regime.Comment: About 11 pages, 6 figures. Changes in v2: we made general
improvements to the manuscript including, but not limited to(!), the removal
of one reference, and modification of the footnote
Why does a metal-superconductor junction have a resistance?
This is a tutorial article based on a lecture delivered in June 1999 at the
NATO Advanced Study Institute in Ankara. The phenomenon of Andreev reflection
is introduced as the electronic analogue of optical phase-conjugation. In the
optical problem, a disordered medium backed by a phase-conjugating mirror can
become completely transparent. Yet, a disordered metal connected to a
superconductor has the same resistance as in the normal state. The resolution
of this paradox teaches us a fundamental difference between phase conjugation
of light and electrons.Comment: 12 pages, 5 postscript figures [v2: all figures inline
Structure of Disk Dominated Galaxies I. Bulge/Disk Parameters, Simulations, and Secular Evolution
(Abridged) A robust analysis of galaxy structural parameters, based on the
modeling of bulge and disk brightnesses in the BVRH bandpasses, is presented
for 121 face-on and moderately inclined late-type spirals. Each surface
brightness (SB) profile is decomposed into a sum of a generalized Sersic bulge
and an exponential disk. The reliability and limitations of our bulge-to-disk
(B/D) decompositions are tested with extensive simulations of galaxy brightness
profiles (1D) and images (2D). Galaxy types are divided into 3 classes
according to their SB profile shapes; Freeman Type-I and Type-II, and a third
``Transition'' class for galaxies whose profiles change from Type-II in the
optical to Type-I in the infrared. We discuss possible interpretations of
Freeman Type-II profiles. The Sersic bulge shape parameter for nearby Type-I
late-type spirals shows a range between n=0.1-2 but, on average, the underlying
surface density profile for the bulge and disk of these galaxies is adequately
described by a double-exponential distribution. We confirm a coupling between
the bulge and disk with a scale length ratio r_e/h=0.22+/-0.09, or
h_bulge/h_disk=0.13+/-0.06 for late-type spirals, in agreement with recent
N-body simulations of disk formation and models of secular evolution. This
ratio increases from ~0.20 for late-type spirals to ~0.24 for earlier types.
The similar scaling relations for early and late-type spirals suggest
comparable formation and/or evolution scenarios for disk galaxies of all Hubble
types.Comment: 78 pages with 23 embedded color figures + tables of galaxy structural
parameters. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. The
interested reader is strongly encouraged to ignore some of the low res
figures within; instead, download the high resolution version from
http://www.astro.ubc.ca/people/courteau/public/macarthur02_disks.ps.g
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