Manifestation of the shape and edge effects in spin-resolved transport through graphene quantum dots

We report on theoretical studies of transport through graphene quantum dots weakly coupled to external ferromagnetic leads. The calculations are performed by exact diagonalization of a tight-binding Hamiltonian with finite Coulomb correlations for graphene sheet and by using the real-time diagrammatic technique in the sequential and cotunneling regimes. The emphasis is put on the role of graphene flake shape and spontaneous edge magnetization in transport characteristics, such as the differential conductance, tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and the shot noise. It is shown that for certain shapes of the graphene dots a negative differential conductance and nontrivial behavior of the TMR effect can occur

A re-analysis of the spectrum of 2206-199

Recently Pettini, Hunstead, Smith and Mar, (PHSM 1991) performed an analysis of the Ly-alpha forest of QSO 2206-199N at very high resolution. On the basis of their observations they concluded that most Doppler parameters b = (square root of 2)(sigma) of Ly-alpha forest lines are below 22 km/s, with a range down to a few km/s and a median of 17 km/s. They also found a strong intrinsic correlation between Doppler parameter b and column density N. These results are in contrast to those of a similar study by Carswell, Lanzetta, Parnell, and Webb (CLPW 1991) at comparable resolution with the same instruments, who find that most of the Ly-alpha lines towards QSO 1100-264 have Doppler parameters above 15 km/s (median b = 34 km/s), and that there is no significant correlation between b and N. Whilst an intrinsic difference between the lines of sight to 2206-199 and to other QSO's can not be excluded a priori, previous disagreement between Doppler parameter estimates obtained by both groups pointed to a potential difference in estimation techniques and in the interpretation of the results. To investigate this possibility, the AAT/UCLES spectrum of 2206-199 obtained by PHSM were reanalyzed. The spectrum was extracted from the raw data and determined the line parameters using the method described by CLPW

Effects of different geometries on the conductance, shot noise and tunnel magnetoresistance of double quantum dots

The spin-polarized transport through a coherent strongly coupled double quantum dot (DQD) system is analyzed theoretically in the sequential and cotunneling regimes. Using the real-time diagrammatic technique, we analyze the current, differential conductance, shot noise and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) as a function of both the bias and gate voltages for double quantum dots coupled in series, in parallel as well as for T-shaped systems. For DQDs coupled in series, we find a strong dependence of the TMR on the number of electrons occupying the double dot, and super-Poissonian shot noise in the Coulomb blockade regime. In addition, for asymmetric DQDs, we analyze transport in the Pauli spin blockade regime and explain the existence of the leakage current in terms of cotunneling and spin-flip cotunneling-assisted sequential tunneling. For DQDs coupled in parallel, we show that the transport characteristics in the weak coupling regime are qualitatively similar to those of DQDs coupled in series. On the other hand, in the case of T-shaped quantum dots we predict a large super-Poissonian shot noise and TMR enhanced above the Julliere value due to increased occupation of the decoupled quantum dot. We also discuss the possibility of determining the geometry of the double dot from transport characteristics. Furthermore, where possible, we compare our results with existing experimental data on nonmagnetic systems and find qualitative agreement.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

The Local Lyman-Alpha Forest: Absorbers in Galaxy Voids

We have conducted pointed redshift surveys for galaxies in the direction of bright AGN whose HST far-UV spectra contain nearby (cz <~ 30,000 kms), low column density (12.5 <= log N_{HI} (cm s^{-2}) <= 14.5) Ly-alpha forest absorption systems. Here we present results for four lines-of-sight which contain nearby (cz <~ 3000 kms) Ly-alpha absorbers in galaxy voids. Although our data go quite deep (-13 <= M_{B}(limit) <= -14) out to impact parameters of 100-250 h_{70}^{-1} kpc, these absorbers remain isolated and thus appear to be truly intergalactic, rather than part of galaxies or their halos. Since we and others have discovered no galaxies in voids, the only baryons detected in the voids are in the Ly-alpha ``clouds''. Using a photoionization model for these clouds, the total baryonic content of the voids is 4.5% +/- 1.5% of the mean baryon density.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter

Spin-polarized transport through weakly coupled double quantum dots in the Coulomb-blockade regime

We analyze cotunneling transport through two quantum dots in series weakly coupled to external ferromagnetic leads. In the Coulomb blockade regime the electric current flows due to third-order tunneling, while the second-order single-barrier processes have indirect impact on the current by changing the occupation probabilities of the double dot system. We predict a zero-bias maximum in the differential conductance, whose magnitude is conditioned by the value of the inter-dot Coulomb interaction. This maximum is present in both magnetic configurations of the system and results from asymmetry in cotunneling through different virtual states. Furthermore, we show that tunnel magnetoresistance exhibits a distinctively different behavior depending on temperature, being rather independent of the value of inter-dot correlation. Moreover, we find negative TMR in some range of the bias voltage.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.