515 research outputs found
The alloy with a memory, 55-Nitinol: Its physical metallurgy, properties, and applications
A series of nickel titanium alloys (55-Nitinol), which are unique in that they possess a shape memory, are described. Components made of these materials that are altered in their shapes by deformation under proper conditions return to predetermined shapes when they are heated to the proper temperature range. The shape memory, together with the force exerted and the ability of the material to do mechanical work as it returns to its predetermined shape, suggest a wide variety of industrial applications for the alloy. Also included are discussions of the physical metallurgy and the mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of 55-Nitinol; procedures for melting and processing the material into useful shapes; and a summary of applications
Quantum phase estimation with lossy interferometers
We give a detailed discussion of optimal quantum states for optical two-mode
interferometry in the presence of photon losses. We derive analytical formulae
for the precision of phase estimation obtainable using quantum states of light
with a definite photon number and prove that maximization of the precision is a
convex optimization problem. The corresponding optimal precision, i.e. the
lowest possible uncertainty, is shown to beat the standard quantum limit thus
outperforming classical interferometry. Furthermore, we discuss more general
inputs: states with indefinite photon number and states with photons
distributed between distinguishable time bins. We prove that neither of these
is helpful in improving phase estimation precision.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Enhanced charge detection of spin qubit readout via an intermediate state
We employ an intermediate excited charge state of a lateral quantum dot
device to increase the charge detection contrast during the qubit state readout
procedure, allowing us to increase the visibility of coherent qubit
oscillations. This approach amplifies the coherent oscillation magnitude but
has no effect on the detector noise resulting in an increase in the signal to
noise ratio. In this letter we apply this scheme to demonstrate a significant
enhancement of the fringe contrast of coherent Landau-Zener-Stuckleberg
oscillations between singlet S and triplet T+ two-spin states.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Composite fermions in periodic and random antidot lattices
The longitudinal and Hall magnetoresistance of random and periodic arrays of artificial scatterers, imposed on a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas, were investigated in the vicinity of Landau level filling factor ν=1/2. In periodic arrays, commensurability effects between the period of the antidot array and the cyclotron radius of composite fermions are observed. In addition, the Hall resistance shows a deviation from the anticipated linear dependence, reminiscent of quenching around zero magnetic field. Both effects are absent for random antidot lattices. The relative amplitude of the geometric resonances for opposite signs of the effective magnetic field and its dependence on illumination illustrate enhanced soft wall effects for composite fermions
Influence of the single-particle Zeeman energy on the quantum Hall ferromagnet at high filling factors
In a recent paper [B. A. Piot et al., Phys. Rev. B 72, 245325 (2005)], we
have shown that the lifting of the electron spin degeneracy in the integer
quantum Hall effect at high filling factors should be interpreted as a
magnetic-field-induced Stoner transition. In this work, we extend the analysis
to investigate the influence of the single-particle Zeeman energy on the
quantum Hall ferromagnet at high filling factors. The single-particle Zeeman
energy is tuned through the application of an additional in-plane magnetic
field. Both the evolution of the spin polarization of the system and the
critical magnetic field for spin splitting are well described as a function of
the tilt angle of the sample in the magnetic field.Comment: Published in Phys. Rev.
Quantum Hall induced currents and the magnetoresistance of a quantum point contact
We report an investigation of quantum Hall induced currents by simultaneous
measurements of their magnetic moment and their effect on the conductance of a
quantum point contact (QPC). Features in the magnetic moment and QPC resistance
are correlated at Landau-level filling factors nu=1, 2 and 4, which
demonstrates the common origin of the effects. Temperature and non-linear sweep
rate dependences are observed to be similar for the two effects. Furthermore,
features in the noise of the induced currents, caused by breakdown of the
quantum Hall effect, are observed to have clear correlations between the two
measurements. In contrast, there is a distinct difference in the way that the
induced currents decay with time when the sweeping field halts at integer
filling factor. We attribute this difference to the fact that, while both
effects are sensitive to the magnitude of the induced current, the QPC
resistance is also sensitive to the proximity of the current to the QPC
split-gate. Although it is clearly demonstrated that induced currents affect
the electrostatics of a QPC, the reverse effect, the QPC influencing the
induced current, was not observed
Noise reduction in 3D noncollinear parametric amplifier
We analytically find an approximate Bloch-Messiah reduction of a noncollinear
parametric amplifier pumped with a focused monochromatic beam. We consider type
I phase matching. The results are obtained using a perturbative expansion and
scaled to a high gain regime. They allow a straightforward maximization of the
signal gain and minimization of the parametric fluorescence noise. We find the
fundamental mode of the amplifier, which is an elliptic Gaussian defining the
optimal seed beam shape. We conclude that the output of the amplifier should be
stripped of higher order modes, which are approximately Hermite-Gaussian beams.
Alternatively, the pump waist can be adjusted such that the amount of noise
produced in the higher order modes is minimized.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, accepted to Applied Physics
The origin of switching noise in GaAs/AlGaAs lateral gated devices
We have studied the origin of switching (telegraph) noise at low temperature
in lateral quantum structures defined electrostatically in GaAs/AlGaAs
heterostructures by surface gates. The noise was measured by monitoring the
conductance fluctuations around on the first step of a quantum point
contact at around 1.2 K. Cooling with a positive bias on the gates dramatically
reduces this noise, while an asymmetric bias exacerbates it. We propose a model
in which the noise originates from a leakage current of electrons that tunnel
through the Schottky barrier under the gate into the doped layer. The key to
reducing noise is to keep this barrier opaque under experimental conditions.
Bias cooling reduces the density of ionized donors, which builds in an
effective negative gate voltage. A smaller negative bias is therefore needed to
reach the desired operating point. This suppresses tunnelling from the gate and
hence the noise. The reduction in the density of ionized donors also
strengthens the barrier to tunneling at a given applied voltage. Support for
the model comes from our direct observation of the leakage current into a
closed quantum dot, around for this device. The current
was detected by a neighboring quantum point contact, which showed monotonic
steps in time associated with the tunneling of single electrons into the dot.
If asymmetric gate voltages are applied, our model suggests that the noise will
increase as a consequence of the more negative gate voltage applied to one of
the gates to maintain the same device conductance. We observe exactly this
behaviour in our experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
Single-photon emission from the natural quantum dots in the InAs/GaAs wetting layer
Time-resolved microphotoluminescence study is presented for quantum dots
which are formed in the InAs/GaAs wetting layer. These dots are due to
fluctuations of In composition in the wetting layer. They show spectrally sharp
luminescence lines with a low spatial density. We identify lines related to
neutral exciton and biexciton as well as trions. Exciton emission antibunching
(second order correlation value of g^2(0)=0.16) and biexciton-exciton emission
cascade prove non-classical emission from the dots and confirm their potential
as single photon sources
Multiband theory of multi-exciton complexes in self-assembled quantum dots
We report on a multiband microscopic theory of many-exciton complexes in
self-assembled quantum dots. The single particle states are obtained by three
methods: single-band effective-mass approximation, the multiband
method, and the tight-binding method. The electronic structure calculations are
coupled with strain calculations via Bir-Pikus Hamiltonian. The many-body wave
functions of electrons and valence holes are expanded in the basis of
Slater determinants. The Coulomb matrix elements are evaluated using statically
screened interaction for the three different sets of single particle states and
the correlated -exciton states are obtained by the configuration interaction
method. The theory is applied to the excitonic recombination spectrum in
InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots. The results of the single-band
effective-mass approximation are successfully compared with those obtained by
using the of and tight-binding methods.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
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