Spin Effects in a Quantum Ring

Recent experiments are reviewed that explore the spin states of a ring-shaped many-electron quantum dot. Coulomb-blockade spectroscopy is used to access the spin degree of freedom. The Zeeman effect observed for states with successive electron number allows to select possible sequences of spin ground states of the ring. Spin-paired orbital levels can be identified by probing their response to magnetic fields normal to the plane of the ring and electric fields caused by suitable gate voltages. This narrows down the choice of ground-state spin sequences. A gate-controlled singlet--triplet transition is identified and the size of the exchange interaction matrix element is determined.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the QD2004 conference in Banf

Atomic structure of Mn wires on Si(001) resolved by scanning tunneling microscopy

At submonolayer coverage, Mn forms atomic wires on the Si(001) surface oriented perpendicular to the underlying Si dimer rows. While many other elements form symmetric dimer wires at room temperature, we show that Mn wires have an asymmetric appearance and pin the Si dimers nearby. We find that an atomic configuration with a Mn trimer unit cell can explain these observations due to the interplay between the Si dimer buckling phase near the wire and the orientation of the Mn trimer. We study the resulting four wire configurations in detail using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging and compare our findings with STM images simulated by density functional theory.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Signatures of dynamically polarized nuclear spins in all-electrical lateral spin transport devices

The effect of nuclear spins in Fe/GaAs all-electrical spin-injection devices is investigated. At temperatures below 50 K, strong modifications of the non-local spin signal are found that are characteristic for hyperfine coupling between conduction electrons and dynamically polarized nuclear spins. The perpendicular component of the nuclear Overhauser field depolarizes electron spins near zero in-plane external magnetic field, and can suppress such dephasing when antialigned with the external field, leading to satellite peaks in a Hanle measurement. The features observed agree well with a Monte Carlo simulation of the spin diffusion equation including hyperfine interaction, and are used to study the nuclear spin dynamics and relate it to the spin polarization of injected electrons.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Kondo Effect in a Many-Electron Quantum Ring

The Kondo effect is investigated in a many-electron quantum ring as a function of magnetic field. For fields applied perpendicular to the plane of the ring a modulation of the Kondo effect with the Aharonov-Bohm period is observed. This effect is discussed in terms of the energy spectrum of the ring and the parametrically changing tunnel coupling. In addition, we use gate voltages to modify the ground-state spin of the ring. The observed splitting of the Kondo-related zero-bias anomaly in this configuration is tuned with an in-plane magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Probing confined phonon modes by transport through a nanowire double quantum dot

Strong radial confinement in semiconductor nanowires leads to modified electronic and phononic energy spectra. We analyze the current response to the interplay between quantum confinement effects of the electron and phonon systems in a gate-defined double quantum dot in a semiconductor nanowire. We show that current spectroscopy of inelastic transitions between the two quantum dots can be used as an experimental probe of the confined phonon environment. The resulting discrete peak structure in the measurements is explained by theoretical modeling of the confined phonon mode spectrum, where the piezoelectric coupling is of crucial importance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; final versio

Singlet-Triplet Transition Tuned by Asymmetric Gate Voltages in a Quantum Ring

Wavefunction and interaction effects in the addition spectrum of a Coulomb blockaded many electron quantum ring are investigated as a function of asymmetrically applied gate voltages and magnetic field. Hartree and exchange contributions to the interaction are quantitatively evaluated at a crossing between states extended around the ring and states which are more localized in one arm of the ring. A gate tunable singlet-triplet transition of the two uppermost levels of this many electron ring is identified at zero magnetic field.Comment: 4 page

Regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by tyrosine kinases in the peripheral and central nervous system: same players, different roles

Abstract.: Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) exist in many subtypes and are found in the peripheral and central nervous system where they mediate or modulate synaptic transmission. We review how tyrosine phosphorylation and kinases regulate muscle and neuronal nAChRs. Interestingly, although some of the same kinase players interact with the various receptor subtypes, the functional consequences are different. While concerted action of MuSK, Abl- and Src-family kinases (SFKs) regulates the synaptic distribution of nAChRs at the neuromuscular junction, SFKs activate heteromeric neuronal nAChRs in adrenal chromaffin cells, thereby enhancing catecholamine secretion. In contrast, the activity of homomeric neuronal nAChRs, as found in the hippocampus, is negatively regulated by tyrosine phosphorylation and SFKs. It appears that tyrosine kinases provide the means to regulate all nAChRs; but the functional consequences, even those caused by the same kinase family, are specific for each receptor subtype and locatio

Multiple layer local oxidation for fabricating semiconductor nanostructures

Coupled semiconductor nanostructures with a high degree of tunability are fabricated using local oxidation with a scanning force microscope. Direct oxidation of the GaAs surface of a Ga[Al]As heterostructure containing a shallow two-dimensional electron gas is combined with the local oxidation of a thin titanium film evaporated on top. A four-terminal quantum dot and a double quantum dot system with integrated charge readout are realized. The structures are tunable via in-plane gates formed by isolated regions in the electron gas and by mutually isolated regions of the Ti film acting as top gates. Coulomb blockade experiments demonstrate the high quality of this fabrication process.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure