Bright optical lattices in a longitudinal magnetic field. Experimental study of the oscillating and jumping regimes

All the bright optical lattices studied so far have been designed to obtain a circularly polarized light at the bottom of the optical potential wells. This condition minimizes the departure rate of the atoms from the fundamental adiabatic surface and permits an oscillating regime in a large range of parameters. We present here an experimental study of cesium atoms in a three-dimensional optical lattice, where the light is linearly polarized at the bottom of the potential wells. Temperature measurements and pump-probe spectroscopy give similar results for this lattice and for the conventional lin lin lattice (which have circular polarizations at the bottom of the wells) despite the fact that one lattice operates in the jumping regime and the other in the oscillating regime. We study the behaviour of the two types of lattices in a longitudinal magnetic field, with particular emphasis on the zero field and strong field regimes. The strong field situation is very simple because the eigenstates are then almost pure Zeeman substates and the adiabatic and diabatic potential surfaces are identical. The comparison between the zero-field and the high-field situations shows that the diabatic potentials are more appropriate to account for experimental observations in the novel lattice. Received: 9 October 1997 / Accepted: 6 November 1997     

Closed-orbit theory of spatial density oscillations in finite fermion systems

We investigate the particle and kinetic-energy densities for N noninteracting fermions confined in a local potential. Using Gutzwiller's semiclassical Green function, we describe the oscillating parts of the densities in terms of closed nonperiodic classical orbits. We derive universal relations between the oscillating parts of the densities for potentials with spherical symmetry in arbitrary dimensions and a "local virial theorem" valid also for arbitrary nonintegrable potentials. We give simple analytical formulas for the density oscillations in a one-dimensional potential.     

Charge densities and charge noise in mesoscopic conductors

We introduce a hierarchy of density of states to characterize the charge distribution in a mesoscopic conductor. At the bottom of this hierarchy are the partial density of states which represent the contribution to the local density of states if both the incident and the out-going scattering channel is prescribed. The partial density of states play a prominent role in measurements with a scanning tunneling microscope on multiprobe conductors in the presence of current flow. The partial density of states determine the degree of dephasing generated by a weakly coupled voltage probe. In addition the partial density of states determine the frequency-dependent response of mesoscopic conductors in the presence of slowly oscillating voltages applied to the contacts of the sample. The partial density of states permit the formulation of a Friedel sum rule which can be applied locally. We introduce the off-diagonal elements of the partial density of states matrix to describe charge fluctuation processes. This generalization leads to a local Wigner-Smith life-time matrix.     

Screening and wake potentials of a test charge in quantum plasmas

The screening and wake potentials around a test charge in an electron-ion quantum plasma are studied, by using the linear dielectric response formalism. The short range screening potential in quantum plasmas is found to be significantly different from the Debye-Hückel shielding potential, while the wake potential has a long-range oscillatory behavior. Both short and long range potentials may lead to the trapping of other charges of the same polarity.     

Waveguides induced by steady-state gray solitons in biased photorefractive-photovoltaic crystals

We carry out a theoretical investigation of the properties of waveguides induced by photorefractive one-dimensional steady-state gray spatial solitons (i.e., screening solitons, photovoltaic solitons, and screening-photovoltaic solitons). We demonstrate that waveguides induced by photorefractive steady-state gray spatial solitons are only a single guided mode for both all soliton graynesses and all values of ρ, where ρ is the ratio between the soliton peak intensity and the dark irradiance, and moreover, waveguides induced by gray photovoltaic solitons for closed-circuit condition are also only a single guided mode for all electric current densities. We find that the confined energy near the center of a photorefractive steady-state gray spatial soliton increases with ρ and decreases with an increase in the soliton grayness. We also find that the confined energy near the center of a gray photovoltaic soliton for closed-circuit condition increases with the electric current density. On the other hand, waveguides induced by gray screening-photovoltaic solitons are gray screening soliton-induced waveguides when the bulk photovoltaic effect is neglectable and are gray photovoltaic soliton-induced waveguides when the external bias field is absent.     

Interaction-dependent enhancement of the localisation length for two interacting particles in a one-dimensional random potential

We present calculations of the localisation length, , for two interacting particles (TIP) in a one-dimensional random potential, presenting its dependence on disorder, interaction strength U and system size. is computed by a decimation method from the decay of the Green function along the diagonal of finite samples. Infinite sample size estimates are obtained by finite-size scaling. For U=0 we reproduce approximately the well-known dependence of the one-particle localisation length on disorder while for finite U, we find that with varying between and . We test the validity of various other proposed fit functions and also study the problem of TIP in two different random potentials corresponding to interacting electron-hole pairs. As a check of our method and data, we also reproduce well-known results for the two-dimensional Anderson model without interaction. Received 19 June 1998 and Received in final form 29 October 1998     

Exactly solvable energy-dependent potentials

We introduce a method for constructing exactly-solvable Schrödinger equations with energy-dependent potentials. Our method is based on converting a general linear differential equation of second order into a Schrödinger equation with energy-dependent potential. Particular examples presented here include harmonic oscillator, Coulomb and Morse potentials with various types of energy dependence.     

Effective nonlinear AC response to graded cylindrical composites

The perturbation method is used to study the effective nonlinear response of graded cylindrical composites with power-law gradient inclusions under a sinusoidal alternating current (AC) external field of finite frequency ω. In dilute limit, the local potentials and the formulae of effective nonlinear AC responses are derived at the fundamental frequency and the third harmonics. Furthermore, the general effective nonlinear responses are given and compared with the effective nonlinear AC responses of fundamental frequency and the third harmonics, and the relationships between the nonlinear effective AC response and the general effective nonlinear response are also determined.     

Evidence for direct and indirect gap in FeSi from electron tunneling spectroscopy

We report electron tunneling spectroscopy studies on single crystalline FeSi sample performed for the case of homogeneous tunnel junction (TJ) contacts and for the case of counter electrodes made from Pt-Rh alloy. Our results reveal that while the tunneling spectroscopy in the configuration with Pt-Rh tip is preferably sensitive to the d-partial density of states (DOS) and to the indirect energy gap, the FeSi-FeSi type of TJ yields spectroscopic information on the c-partial DOS and on the direct gap in FeSi.     

Dielectric critical behaviour at a metal-insulator transition under lattice compression

We study dielectric critical behaviour around a continuous metal-insulator transition in crystalline Cesium Iodide induced by changing the lattice parameter. The ab initio calculations of band structure and various quantities related to the dielectric response are performed in the transition region, within the local density approximation of the density functional theory. These calculations allow us to establish the power-law singularities of various quantities on two sides of the transition. The exponents obtained here are mean-field like due to the approximation in which interactions and disorder are treated. The critical behaviour is discussed by applying the scaling principle to the wavevector and frequency dependent dielectric function. We further investigate the effect of dielectric anomalies on optical properties by calculating the reflectance around transition region taking the ionic contribution to the dielectric function also into account. We find that the reflectance as a function of frequency shows very different kind of behaviour on both sides of the metal-insulator transition.     

Negative excess noise in quantum conductors

We predict that in quantum conductors the excess noise can be absent or even negative provided the energy dependence of the electron transmission probability at the Fermi energy is sufficiently sharp. In other words the current (or voltage) fluctuations under transport conditions can be less than in equilibrium. As examples for this surprising behavior we consider resonant tunneling, ballistic point contacts and the integer quantum Hall effect.Work performed within the research program of the Sonderforschungsbereich 341, Köln-Aachen-Jülich     

Soliton dynamics in damped and forced Boussinesq equations

We investigate the dynamics of a lattice soliton on a monatomic chain in the presence of damping and external forces. We consider Stokes and hydrodynamical damping. In the quasi-continuum limit the discrete system leads to a damped and forced Boussinesq equation. By using a multiple-scale perturbation expansion up to second order in the framework of the quasi-continuum approach we derive a general expression for the first-order velocity correction which improves previous results. We compare the soliton position and shape predicted by the theory with simulations carried out on the level of the monatomic chain system as well as on the level of the quasi-continuum limit system. For this purpose we restrict ourselves to specific examples, namely potentials with cubic and quartic anharmonicities as well as the truncated Morse potential, without taking into account external forces. For both types of damping we find a good agreement with the numerical simulations both for the soliton position and for the tail which appears at the rear of the soliton. Moreover we clarify why the quasi-continuum approximation is better in the hydrodynamical damping case than in the Stokes damping case. Received 22 August 2001 and Received in final form 7 December 2001     

Strong vertex corrections from weak disorder in 2D d-wave superconductors

We show that weak static random potentials have pronounced effects on the quasiparticle states of a 2Dd-wave superconductor close to a node. We prove that the vertex correction coming from the simplest crossed diagram is important even for a nonmagnetic potential. The leading frequency and momentum dependent logarithmic singularities in the self-energy are calculated exactly to second order in perturbation theory. The self-energy corrections lead to a modified low energy density of states which depends strongly on the type of random potential and which can be measured in experiments. There is an exceptional case for a potential with extremely local scatterers and opposite nodes separated by (, ) where an exact cancelation takes place eliminating the leading frequency dependent singularity in the simplest crossed diagram. A comparison of the perturbative results with a self-consistent CPA (coherent potential approximation) for the nonmagnetic disorder reveals qualitative differences in the self-energy at the smallest energies which are due to the neglectance of vertex corrections in CPA.     

Influence of surface cleaning effects on properties of Schottky diodes on 4H-SiC

Ir/4H-SiC and IrO₂/4H-SiC Schottky diodes are reported in terms of different methods of surface pretreatment before contact deposition. In order to find the effect of surface preparation processes on Schottky characteristics the SiC wafers were respectively cleaned using the following processes: (1) RCA method followed by buffered HF dip. Next, the surface was oxidized (5.5 nm oxide) using a rapid thermal processing reactor chamber and circular geometry windows were opened in the oxide layer before metallization deposition; (2) the same as sequence (1) but with an additional in situ sputter etching step before metallization deposition; (3) cleaning in organic solvents followed by buffered HF dip. The I-V characteristics of Schottky diodes were analyzed to find a correlation between extracted parameters and surface treatment. The best results were obtained for the sequence (1) taking into account theoretical value of Schottky barrier height. The contacts showed excellent Schottky behavior with ideality factors below 1.08 and barrier heights of 1.46 eV and 1.64 eV for Ir and IrO₂, respectively. Very promising results were obtained for samples prepared using the sequence (2) taking into account the total static power losses because the modified surface preparation results in a decrease in the forward voltage drop and reverse leakage current simultaneously. The contacts with ideality factor below 1.09 and barrier height of 1.02 eV were fabricated for Ir/4H-SiC diodes in sequence (2).     

The Glauber dynamics for a spin-1 metamagnetic Ising system with bilinear and biquadratic interactions

We present a study, within a mean-field approximation, of the dynamics of a spin-1 metamagnetic Ising system with bilinear and biquadratic interactions in the presence of a time-dependent oscillating external magnetic field. First, we employ the Glauber transition rates to construct the set of mean-field dynamic equations. Then, we study the time variation of the average order parameters to find the phases in the system. We also investigate the thermal behavior of dynamic order parameters to characterize the nature (first- or second-order) of the dynamic transitions. The dynamic phase transitions are obtained and the phase diagrams are constructed in two different the planes. The phase diagrams contain a disordered and ordered phases, and four different mixed phases that strongly depend on interaction parameters. Phase diagrams also display one or two dynamic tricritical points, a dynamic double critical end and dynamic quadruple points. A comparison is made with the results of the other metamagnetic Ising systems.     

Contact effects on the magnetoresistance of finite semiconductors

We propose a new theoretical method to study galvanomagnetic effects in bounded semiconductors. The general idea of this method is as follows. We consider the electron temperature distribution and the electric potential as consisting of two terms, one of which represents the regular solution of the energy balance equation obtained from the Boltzmann transport equation at steady-state conditions and the Maxwell equation, while the other is the effect of the specimen size that is significant near the contacts (the boundary layer function). With the distribution of the electric potential at the contacts and the electron temperature distribution at the surface of the sample taken into account, we find that the magnetoresistance is different from the one in the standard theory of galvanomagnetic effects in boundless media. We show that, besides the usual quadratic dependence on the applied magnetic field B, the magnetoresistance can exhibit a linear dependence on B under certain conditions. We obtain new formulas for the linear and quadratic terms of the magnetoresistance in bounded semiconductors. This linear contribution of the magnetic field to the magnetoresistance is essentially due to the spatial dependence of the potential at the electric contacts. We also discuss the possibility of obtaining the distribution of the electric potential at the contacts from standard magnetoresistance experiments. Because the applied magnetic field acts differently on carriers with different mobilities, a redistribution of the electron energy occurs in the sample and thus, the Ettingshausen effect on the magnetoresistance must be considered in bounded semiconductors.     

Analysis of mechanically induced processes in the Langmuir film

The understanding of processes in the monolayer at the air-water interface induced by mechanical compression is important as a part of basic research of the system with reduced dimensionality as well as for the investigation of processes during the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition. The Maxwell displacement current technique provides a substantial contribution for the study of structural and electrical properties. Analysis based on imperfect gas approximation with semi-empirical intermolecular potentials is used. Detail theoretical study of molecular tilt in a continual lateral compression and dielectric relaxation phenomena (step-compression) is presented. Obtained results are confronted with standard surface pressure analysis and surface potential measurement.     

Harmonics generation and chaos in scattering of phonons from anharmonic surfaces

The effective equations of motion for a surface atom in an anharmonic surface potential have been derived for dispersionless one-dimensional substrates. The system is equivalent to a non-linear damped oscillator (Duffing oscillator) with the forcing term depending on the form of the incident wave. Efficiency of harmonics generation, phonon reflection coefficients, effective local density of states, regions of chaotic motion and windows of periodic motion have been comparatively evaluated for the system subject to an oscillating external force and to the irradiation by a monochromatic phonon coming from the bulk. Comparison of the resonant desorption of the surface atom within a given time interval has been made for the same example of anharmonic surface potential in both types of perturbation. Received 9 November 1998     

Giant electroresistance and nonlinear conduction in electron-doped Ca0.9Ce0.1MnO3

We report a large resistance drop induced by Dc electrical currents in charge-ordered Ca_0.9Ce_0.1MnO₃. A giant electroresistance (ER) of ∼90% at 100 mA current below charge ordering (CO) transition temperature (T_CO) is found. Nonlinear conduction, which starts above a threshold current, gives rise to a region of negative differential resistance (NDR). The nonlinear conduction cannot be explained by homogeneous Joule heating of the sample. The origin of these phenomena is discussed in view of current induced collapse of CO state associated with phase-separation mechanism. This work can be useful for the potential applications of ER such as nonvolatile memory elements.     

Quintessence models with an oscillating equation of state and their potentials

In this paper, we investigate the quintessence models with an oscillating equation of state (EOS) and its potentials. From the constructed potentials, which have an EOS of $\omega_{\phi}=\omega_0+\omega_1\sin z$, we find that they are all the oscillating functions of the field $\phi$, and the oscillating amplitudes decrease (or increase) with $\phi$. From the evolutive equation of the field $\phi$, we find that this is caused by the expansion of the universe. This also makes it very difficult to build a model whose EOS oscillates forever. However one can build a model with EOS oscillating for a certain period of time. Then we discuss three quintessence models, which are the combinations of the invert power law functions and the oscillating functions of the field $\phi$. We find that they all follow the oscillating EOS.