3,830 research outputs found
Saturation of dephasing time in mesoscopic devices produced by a ferromagnetic state
We consider an exchange model of itinerant electrons in a Heisenberg
ferromagnet and we assume that the ferromagnet is in a fully polarized state.
Using the Holstein-Primakoff transformation we are able to obtain a
boson-fermion Hamiltonian that is well-known in the interaction between light
and matter. This model describes the spontaneous emission in two-level atoms
that is the proper decoherence mechanism when the number of modes of the
radiation field is taken increasingly large, the vacuum acting as a reservoir.
In the same way one can see that the interaction between the bosonic modes of
spin waves and an itinerant electron produces decoherence by spin flipping with
a rate proportional to the size of the system. In this way we are able to show
that the experiments on quantum dots, described in D. K. Ferry et al. [Phys.
Rev. Lett. {\bf 82}, 4687 (1999)], and nanowires, described in D. Natelson et
al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 86}, 1821 (2001)], can be understood as the
interaction of itinerant electrons and an electron gas in a fully polarized
state.Comment: 10 pages, no figure. Changed title. Revised version accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Effect of microstructures on the electron-phonon interaction in the disordered metals PdAg
Using the weak-localization method, we have measured the electron-phonon
scattering times in PdAg thick films prepared by DC-
and RF-sputtering deposition techniques. In both series of samples, we find an
anomalous temperature and disorder dependence,
where is the electron elastic mean free path. This anomalous behavior
cannot be explained in terms of the current concepts for the electron-phonon
interaction in impure conductors. Our result also reveals that the strength of
the electron-phonon coupling is much stronger in the DC than RF sputtered
films, suggesting that the electron-phonon interaction not only is sensitive to
the total level of disorder but also is sensitive to the microscopic quality of
the disorder.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Orbital Kondo behavior from dynamical structural defects
The interaction between an atom moving in a model double-well potential and
the conduction electrons is treated using renormalization group methods in
next-to-leading logarithmic order. A large number of excited states is taken
into account and the Kondo temperature is computed as a function of
barrier parameters. We find that for special parameters can be close to
and it can be of the same order of magnitude as the renormalized
splitting . However, in the perturbative regime we always find that
T_K \alt \Delta with a T_K \alt 1 {\rm K} [Aleiner {\em et al.}, Phys.
Rev. Lett. {\bf 86}, 2629 (2001)]. We also find that remains
unrenormalized at energies above the Debye frequency, .Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, RevTe
Low-temperature electron dephasing time in AuPd revisited
Ever since the first discoveries of the quantum-interference transport in
mesoscopic systems, the electron dephasing times, , in the
concentrated AuPd alloys have been extensively measured. The samples were made
from different sources with different compositions, prepared by different
deposition methods, and various geometries (1D narrow wires, 2D thin films, and
3D thickfilms) were studied. Surprisingly, the low-temperature behavior of
inferred by different groups over two decades reveals a systematic
correlation with the level of disorder of the sample. At low temperatures,
where is (nearly) independent of temperature, a scaling
is found, where
is the maximum value of measured in the experiment, is the
electron diffusion constant, and the exponent is close to or slightly
larger than 1. We address this nontrivial scaling behavior and suggest that the
most possible origin for this unusual dephasing is due to dynamical structure
defects, while other theoretical explanations may not be totally ruled out.Comment: to appear in Physica E, Proceedings for the International Seminar and
Workshop "Quantum Coherence, Noise, and Decoherence in Nanostructures", 15-26
May 2006, Dresde
Electron Dephasing in Mesoscopic Metal Wires
The low-temperature behavior of the electron phase coherence time,
, in mesoscopic metal wires has been a subject of controversy
recently. Whereas theory predicts that in narrow wires should
increase as as the temperature is lowered, many samples exhibit
a saturation of below about 1 K. We review here the experiments
we have performed recently to address this issue. In particular we emphasize
that in sufficiently pure Ag and Au samples we observe no saturation of
down to our base temperature of 40 mK. In addition, the measured
magnitude of is in excellent quantitative agreement with the
prediction of the perturbative theory of Altshuler, Aronov and Khmelnitskii. We
discuss possible explanations why saturation of is observed in
many other samples measured in our laboratory and elsewhere, and answer the
criticisms raised recently by Mohanty and Webb regarding our work.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures; to appear in proceedings of conference
"Fundamental Problems of Mesoscopic Physics", Granada, Spain, 6-11 September,
200
Soft x-ray spectroscopy measurements of the p-like density of states of B in MgB2 and evidence for surface boron oxides on exposed surfaces
Soft X-ray absorption and fluorescence measurements are reported for the
K-edge of B in MgB2. The measurements confirm a high density of B
pxy(sigma)-states at the Fermi edge and extending to approximately 0.9 eV above
the edge. A strong resonance is observed in elastic scattering through a
core-exciton derived from out-of-plane pz(pi*)-states. Another strong
resonance, observed in both elastic and inelastic spectra, is identified as a
product of surface boron oxides.Comment: 7 pages total, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Theory of Melting and the Optical Properties of Gold/DNA Nanocomposites
We describe a simple model for the melting and optical properties of a
DNA/gold nanoparticle aggregate. The optical properties at fixed wavelength
change dramatically at the melting transition, which is found to be higher and
narrower in temperature for larger particles, and much sharper than that of an
isolated DNA link. All these features are in agreement with available
experiments. The aggregate is modeled as a cluster of gold nanoparticles on a
periodic lattice connected by DNA bonds, and the extinction coefficient is
computed using the discrete dipole approximation. Melting takes place as an
increasing number of these bonds break with increasing temperature. The melting
temperature corresponds approximately to the bond percolation threshold.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Generalized Quantum Theory of Recollapsing Homogeneous Cosmologies
A sum-over-histories generalized quantum theory is developed for homogeneous
minisuperspace type A Bianchi cosmological models, focussing on the particular
example of the classically recollapsing Bianchi IX universe. The decoherence
functional for such universes is exhibited. We show how the probabilities of
decoherent sets of alternative, coarse-grained histories of these model
universes can be calculated. We consider in particular the probabilities for
classical evolution defined by a suitable coarse-graining. For a restricted
class of initial conditions and coarse grainings we exhibit the approximate
decoherence of alternative histories in which the universe behaves classically
and those in which it does not. For these situations we show that the
probability is near unity for the universe to recontract classically if it
expands classically. We also determine the relative probabilities of
quasi-classical trajectories for initial states of WKB form, recovering for
such states a precise form of the familiar heuristic "J d\Sigma" rule of
quantum cosmology, as well as a generalization of this rule to generic initial
states.Comment: 41 pages, 4 eps figures, revtex 4. Modest revisions throughout.
Physics unchanged. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Fine Structure Discussion of Parity-Nonconserving Neutron Scattering at Epithermal Energies
The large magnitude and the sign correlation effect in the parity
non-conserving resonant scattering of epithermal neutrons from Th is
discussed in terms of a non-collective local doorway model. General
conclusions are drawn as to the probability of finding large parity violation
effects in other regions of the periodic table.Comment: 6 pages, Tex. CTP# 2296, to appear in Z. Phys.
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