477 research outputs found
Twisted-light-induced optical transitions in semiconductors: Free-carrier quantum kinetics
We theoretically investigate the interband transitions and quantum kinetics
induced by light carrying orbital angular momentum, or twisted light, in bulk
semiconductors. We pose the problem in terms of the Heisenberg equations of
motion of the electron populations, and inter- and intra-band coherences. Our
theory extends the free-carrier Semiconductor Bloch Equations to the case of
photo-excitation by twisted light. The theory is formulated using cylindrical
coordinates, which are better suited to describe the interaction with twisted
light than the usual cartesian coordinates used to study regular optical
excitation. We solve the equations of motion in the low excitation regime, and
obtain analytical expressions for the coherences and populations; with these,
we calculate the orbital angular momentum transferred from the light to the
electrons and the paramagnetic and diamagnetic electric current densities.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Sub-monolayer nucleation and growth of complex oxide heterostructures at high supersaturation and rapid flux modulation
We report on the non-trivial nanoscale kinetics of the deposition of novel
complex oxide heterostructures composed of a unit-cell thick correlated metal
LaNiO3 and dielectric LaAlO3. The multilayers demonstrate exceptionally good
crystallinity and surface morphology maintained over the large number of
layers, as confirmed by AFM, RHEED, and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. To
elucidate the physics behind the growth, the temperature of the substrate and
the deposition rate were varied over a wide range and the results were treated
in the framework of a two-layer model. These results are of fundamental
importance for synthesis of new phases of complex oxide heterostructures.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
Low-Temperature Orientation Dependence of Step Stiffness on {111} Surfaces
For hexagonal nets, descriptive of {111} fcc surfaces, we derive from
combinatoric arguments a simple, low-temperature formula for the orientation
dependence of the surface step line tension and stiffness, as well as the
leading correction, based on the Ising model with nearest-neighbor (NN)
interactions. Our formula agrees well with experimental data for both Ag and
Cu{111} surfaces, indicating that NN-interactions alone can account for the
data in these cases (in contrast to results for Cu{001}). Experimentally
significant corollaries of the low-temperature derivation show that the step
line tension cannot be extracted from the stiffness and that with plausible
assumptions the low-temperature stiffness should have 6-fold symmetry, in
contrast to the 3-fold symmetry of the crystal shape. We examine Zia's exact
implicit solution in detail, using numerical methods for general orientations
and deriving many analytic results including explicit solutions in the two
high-symmetry directions. From these exact results we rederive our simple
result and explore subtle behavior near close-packed directions. To account for
the 3-fold symmetry in a lattice gas model, we invoke a novel
orientation-dependent trio interaction and examine its consequences.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Graphite and graphene as perfect spin filters
Based upon the observations (i) that their in-plane lattice constants match
almost perfectly and (ii) that their electronic structures overlap in
reciprocal space for one spin direction only, we predict perfect spin filtering
for interfaces between graphite and (111) fcc or (0001) hcp Ni or Co. The spin
filtering is quite insensitive to roughness and disorder. The formation of a
chemical bond between graphite and the open -shell transition metals that
might complicate or even prevent spin injection into a single graphene sheet
can be simply prevented by dusting Ni or Co with one or a few monolayers of Cu
while still preserving the ideal spin injection property
The Effects of Next-Nearest-Neighbor Interactions on the Orientation Dependence of Step Stiffness: Reconciling Theory with Experiment for Cu(001)
Within the solid-on-solid (SOS) approximation, we carry out a calculation of
the orientational dependence of the step stiffness on a square lattice with
nearest and next-nearest neighbor interactions. At low temperature our result
reduces to a simple, transparent expression. The effect of the strongest trio
(three-site, non pairwise) interaction can easily be incorporated by modifying
the interpretation of the two pairwise energies. The work is motivated by a
calculation based on nearest neighbors that underestimates the stiffness by a
factor of 4 in directions away from close-packed directions, and a subsequent
estimate of the stiffness in the two high-symmetry directions alone that
suggested that inclusion of next-nearest-neighbor attractions could fully
explain the discrepancy. As in these earlier papers, the discussion focuses on
Cu(001).Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Electroresistance effects in ferroelectric tunnel barriers
Electron transport through fully depleted ferroelectric tunnel barriers
sandwiched between two metal electrodes and its dependence on ferroelectric
polarization direction are investigated. The model assumes a polarization
direction dependent ferroelectric barrier. The transport mechanisms, including
direct tunneling, Fowler-Nordheim tunneling and thermionic injection, are
considered in the calculation of the electroresistance as a function of
ferroelectric barrier properties, given by the properties of the ferroelectric,
the barrier thickness, and the metal properties, and in turn of the
polarization direction. Large electroresistance is favored in thicker films for
all three transport mechanisms but on the expense of current density. However,
switching between two transport mechanisms, i.e., direct tunneling and
Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, by polarization switching yields a large
electroresistance. Furthermore, the most versatile playground in optimizing the
device performance was found to be the electrode properties, especially
screening length and band offset with the ferroelectric.Comment: 24pages, 7 figures, revised, one figure adde
Variable Curvature Slab Molecular Dynamics as a Method to Determine Surface Stress
A thin plate or slab, prepared so that opposite faces have different surface
stresses, will bend as a result of the stress difference. We have developed a
classical molecular dynamics (MD) formulation where (similar in spirit to
constant-pressure MD) the curvature of the slab enters as an additional
dynamical degree of freedom. The equations of motion of the atoms have been
modified according to a variable metric, and an additional equation of motion
for the curvature is introduced. We demonstrate the method to Au surfaces, both
clean and covered with Pb adsorbates, using many-body glue potentials.
Applications to stepped surfaces, deconstruction and other surface phenomena
are under study.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, REVTeX, submitted to Physical Review
Dissipative dynamics of superconducting hybrid qubit systems
We perform a theoretical study of composite superconducting qubit systems for
the case of a coupled qubit configuration based on a hybrid qubit circuit made
of both charge and phase qubits, which are coupled via a sigma(x)xsigma(z)
interaction. We compute the system's eigen-energies in terms of the qubit
transition frequencies and the strength of the inter-qubit coupling, and
describe the sensitivity of the energy crossing/anti-crossing features to such
coupling. We compute the hybrid system's dissipative dynamics for the cases of
i) collective and ii) independent decoherence, whereby the system interacts
with one common and two different baths of harmonic oscillators, respectively.
The calculations have been performed within the Bloch-Redfield formalism and we
report the solutions for the populations and the coherences of the system's
reduced density matrix. The dephasing and relaxation rates are explicitly
calculated as a function of the heat bath temperature.Comment: To appear in J. Phys.: Conf. Series (2009
Stability and enzymatic studies with omeprazole: hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin
The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. A publicação original está disponível em www.springerlink.comOmeprazole (OME) exhibits low stability to light, heat and humidity. In stress conditions OME stability should improve under inclusion complex form with hydroxypropyl-b-cyclodextrin (HPbCD). Stability of OME, its physical mixture (PM) with HPbCD and OME:HPbCD inclusion complex was assessed during 60 days. The inclusion complexes were prepared by kneading and freezedrying techniques and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A molecular modelling was also held to predict the most probable tridimensional conformation of inclusion complex OME:HPbCD. The inhibitory activity of free and complexed OME on selected enzymes, namely, papain (protease model of the proton pump) and acetylcholinesterase (enzyme present in cholinergic neurons and also involved in Alzheimer’s disease) was compared. The results obtained show that HPbCD do not protect against OME degradation, in any prepared powder, in the presence of light, heat and humidity. This may indicate that the reactive group of OME is not included in the HPbCD cavity.
This fact is supported by molecular modelling data, which demonstrated that 2-pyridylmethyl group of OME is not included into the cyclodextrin cavity. In relation to enzymatic assays it was observed that free OME and OME in the binary systems showed identical inhibitory activity on papain and acethylcolinesterase, concluding that HPbCD do not affect OME activity on these two enzymes
Geometry and quantum delocalization of interstitial oxygen in silicon
The problem of the geometry of interstitial oxygen in silicon is settled by
proper consideration of the quantum delocalization of the oxygen atom around
the bond-center position. The calculated infrared absorption spectrum accounts
for the 517 and 1136 cm bands in their position, character, and isotope
shifts. The asymmetric lineshape of the 517 cm peak is also well
reproduced. A new, non-infrared-active, symmetric-stretching mode is found at
596 cm. First-principles calculations are presented supporting the
nontrivial quantum delocalization of the oxygen atom.Comment: uuencoded, compressed postscript file for the whole. 4 pages (figures
included), accepted in PR
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