21 research outputs found
Finite-size effects in tunneling between parallel quantum wires
We present theoretical calculations and experimental measurements which
reveal finite-size effects in the tunneling between two parallel quantum wires,
fabricated at the cleaved edge of a GaAs/AlGaAs bilayer heterostructure.
Observed oscillations in the differential conductance, as a function of bias
voltage and applied magnetic field, provide direct information on the shape of
the confining potential. Superimposed modulations indicate the existence of two
distinct excitation velocities, as expected from spin-charge separation.Comment: Accepted to Phys. Rev. Lett. 7/200
Magnetic-force-microscope study of interlayer "kinks" in individual vortices in underdoped cuprate YBaCuO superconductor
We use magnetic force microscopy to both image and manipulate individual
vortex lines threading single crystalline YBaCuO, a layered
superconductor. We find that when we pull the top of a pinned vortex, it may
not tilt smoothly. Sometimes, we observe a vortex to break into discrete
segments that can be described as short stacks of pancake vortices, similar to
the "kinked" structure proposed by Benkraouda and Clem. Quantitative analysis
gives an estimate of the pinning force and the coupling between the stacks. Our
measurements highlight the discrete nature of stacks of pancake vortices in
layered superconductors
Interference and zero-bias anomaly in tunneling between Luttinger-liquid wires
We present theoretical calculations and experimental measurements which
reveal the Luttinger-liquid (LL) nature of elementary excitations in a system
consisting of two quantum wires connected by a long narrow tunnel junction at
the edge of a GaAs/AlGaAs bilayer heterostructure. The boundaries of the wires
are important and lead to a characteristic interference pattern in measurements
on short junctions. We show that the experimentally observed modulation of the
conductance oscillation amplitude as a function of the voltage bias can be
accounted for by spin-charge separation of the elementary excitations in the
interacting wires. Furthermore, boundaries affect the LL exponents of the
voltage and temperature dependence of the tunneling conductance at low
energies. We show that the measured temperature dependence of the conductance
zero-bias dip as well as the voltage modulation of the conductance oscillation
pattern can be used to extract the electron interaction parameters in the
wires.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure
Many-body dispersions in interacting ballistic quantum wires
We have measured the collective excitation spectrum of interacting electrons
in one-dimension. The experiment consists of controlling the energy and
momentum of electrons tunneling between two clean and closely situated,
parallel quantum wires in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure while measuring the
resulting conductance. We measure excitation spectra that clearly deviate from
the non-interacting spectrum, attesting to the importance of Coulomb
interactions. Notable is an observed 30% enhancement of the velocity of the
main excitation branch relative to non-interacting electrons with the same
density. In short wires, finite size effects resulting from broken
translational invariance are observed. Spin - charge separation is manifested
through moire patterns, reflecting different spin and charge excitation
velocities.Comment: 14 pages, 6 eps figures. To be published in NANOWIRE, a special issue
of Solid State Communication
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Mechanics of Individual, Isolated Vortices in a Cuprate Superconductor
Superconductors often contain quantized microscopic whirlpools of electrons, called vortices, that can be modelled as one-dimensional elastic objects1. Vortices are a diverse area of study for condensed matter because of the interplay between thermal fluctuations, vortex–vortex interactions and the interaction of the vortex core with the three-dimensional disorder landscape. Although vortex matter has been studied extensively, the static and dynamic properties of an individual vortex have not. Here, we use magnetic force microscopy (MFM) to image and manipulate individual vortices in a detwinned YBa2Cu3O6.991 single crystal, directly measuring the interaction of a moving vortex with the local disorder potential. We find an unexpected and marked enhancement of the response of a vortex to pulling when we wiggle it transversely. In addition, we find enhanced vortex pinning anisotropy that suggests clustering of oxygen vacancies in our sample and demonstrates the power of MFM to probe vortex structure and microscopic defects that cause pinning.Physic