Domain evolution of BaTiO3 ultrathin films under electric field: a first-principles study

A first-principles-derived method is used to study the morphology and electric-field-induced evolution of stripe nanodomains in (001) BaTiO3 (BTO) ultrathin films, and to compare them with those in (001) Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) ultrathin films. The BaTiO3 systems exhibit 180o periodic stripe domains at null electric field, as in PZT ultrathin films. However, the stripes alternate along [1-10] in BTO systems versus [010] in PZT systems, and no in-plane surface dipoles occur in BTO ultrathin films (unlike in PZT materials). Moreover, the evolution of the 180o stripe domains in the BaTiO3 systems, when applying and increasing an electric field along [001], involves four regions: Region I for which the magnitude of the down dipoles (i.e., those that are antiparallel to the electric field) is reduced, while the domain walls do not move; Region II in which some local down dipoles adjacent to domain walls switch their direction, resulting in zigzagged domain walls - with the overall stripe periodicity being unchanged; Region III in which nanobubbles are created, then contract along [110] and finally collapse; and Region IV which is associated with a single monodomain. Such evolution differs from that of PZT ultrathin films for which neither Region I nor zigzagged domain walls exist, and for which the bubbles contract along [100]. Discussion about such differences is provided.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, 27 references, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Magnetically controlled exciton transfer in hybrid quantum dot-quantum well nanostructures

A magnetophotoluminescence study of the carrier transfer with hybrid InAs/GaAs quantum dot(QD)-InGaAs quantum well (QW) structures is carried out where we observe an unsual dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) on the GaAs barrier thickness at strong magnetic field and excitation density. For the case of a thin barrier the QW PL intensity is observed to increase at the expense of a decrease in the QD PL intensity. This is attributed to changes in the interplane carrier dynamics in the QW and the wetting layer (WL) resulting from increasing the magnetic field along with changes in the coupling between QD excited states and exciton states in the QW and the WL

Aharonov-Bohm interference in quantum ring exciton: effects of built-in electric fields

We report a comprehensive discussion of quantum interference effects due to the finite structure of excitons in quantum rings and their first experimental corroboration observed in the optical recombinations. Anomalous features that appear in the experiments are analyzed according to theoretical models that describe the modulation of the interference pattern by temperature and built-in electric fields.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Extraction of emerging contaminants from environmental waters and urine by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction with solidification of the floating organic droplet using fenchol:acetic acid deep eutectic mixtures

In this work, several eutectic mixtures formed by fenchol and acetic acid at seven molar ratios (between 4:1 and 1:4) were characterized and studied for the first time for their possible application as extraction solvents in dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on the solidification of the floating organic droplet (DLLME-SFO). A group of 13 emerging contaminants (gemfibrozil, bisphenol F, bisphenol A, 17β-estradiol, testosterone, estrone, levonorgestrel, 4-tert-octylphenol, butyl benzyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, 4-octylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, and dihexyl phthalate) was selected and determined by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and tandem mass spectrometry detection. Among the studied mixtures, only those of 2:1 and 1:1 provided the suitable features from an operational and repeatability point of view, suggesting that several eutectic mixtures of the same components may also provide similar results. Once the extraction conditions of both mixtures were optimized, the method was applied to the extraction of sea water, urine, and wastewater at different concentration levels, allowing the achievement of absolute recovery values between 49 and 100% for most analytes with relative standard deviation values below 19%. In addition, several samples of each type were analyzed, finding bisphenol A and gemfibrozil in some of them. The greenness of the method was also evaluated using the AGREEprep metric. The DLLME-SFO procedure was found to be very simple, quick, and effective and with a good sample throughput

Coherently Controlled Quantum Emitters In Cavities

Semiconductor nanostructures such as quantum dots (QDs) have offered unique opportunities to investigate quantum optical effects in solid-state systems. These include quantum interference, Rabi oscillations, as well as photon antibunching, and were previously observable only in isolated atoms or ions. In addition, QDs can be integrated into optical microcavities, making them attractive for applications in quantum information processing and high efficiency quantum light sources. Despite much progress towards these goals, one area that was little explored is coherent control of such solid-state quantum emitters in cavities. The main technical hurdle lies in overcoming the laser background scattering. By using a sample structure in which QDs are embedded in a planar Fabry-Perot cavity and by using an orthogonal excitation geometry, we have achieved a nearly complete elimination of laser background scattering. This in turn allows us to show resonantly controlled light emission of quantum dots in the cavity including (a) Rabi flopping using pulse control, (b) direct observation of Mollow triplets in the frequency domain, and (c) simultaneously measured first-order and second order photon-photon correlations.Physic

In situ photoluminescence study of uncapped in As/GaAs quantum dots

We present a study of photoluminescence (PL) from uncapped non-oxidized and oxidized InAs quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs substrate as a function of the thickness of a GaAs capping layer. A photoluminescence system in ultra-high vacuum that was coupled onto a molecular beam epitaxy chamber was used in order to avoid the oxidation of the quantum dot surface. We report for the first time a PL emission obtained from uncapped as-grown (non-oxidized) InAs QDs. We also report a dramatic change in the energy position and intensity of the PL as the quantum dots get closer to the top surface of the structure and make a direct comparison between the PL from non-oxidized and oxidized uncapped InAs/GaAs QDs. On the basis of these observations, we offer a physical explanation, based on oxidized versus non-oxidized uncapped QDs, for the discrepancies between previously reported results

Electron transport in quantum dot chains: Dimensionality effects and hopping conductance

Detailed experimental and theoretical studies of lateral electron transport in a system of quantum dot chains demonstrate the complicated character of the conductance within the chain structure due to the interaction of conduction channels with different dimensionalities. The one-dimensional character of states in the wetting layer results in an anisotropic mobility, while the presence of the zero-dimensional states of the quantum dots leads to enhanced hopping conductance, which affects the low-temperature mobility and demonstrates an anisotropy in the conductance. These phenomena were probed by considering a one-dimensional model of hopping along with band filling effects. Differences between the model and the experimental results indicate that this system does not obey the simple one-dimensional Mott\u27s law of hopping and deserves further experimental and theoretical considerations

Near-infrared wavelength intersubband transitions in GaN∕AlN short period superlattices

Intersubband transitions in GaN∕AlN short period superlattices prepared by molecular beam epitaxy were investigated using the optical absorption technique. The peak position wavelengths of these transitions are found to span the spectral range of 1.35–2.90μm for samples cut into 45° waveguides with GaNquantum well thicknesses ranging between 1.70 and2.41nm. The Fermi energy levels are estimated from the carrier concentrations, which were measured using an electrochemical capacitance-voltage profiler. The well widths were inferred from comparing the measured peak position energy of the intersubband transitions and the bound state energy levels calculated using the transfer matrix method