Dynamic spin-polarized resonant tunneling in magnetic tunnel junctions

Precisely engineered tunnel junctions exhibit a long sought effect that occurs when the energy of the electron is comparable to the potential energy of the tunneling barrier. The resistance of metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions oscillates with an applied voltage when electrons that tunnel directly into the barrier's conduction band interfere upon reflection at the classical turning points: the insulator-metal interface and the dynamic point where the incident electron energy equals the potential barrier inside the insulator. A model of tunneling between free electron bands using the exact solution of the Schr?dinger equation for a trapezoidal tunnel barrier qualitatively agrees with experiment.     

DNA sequencing through graphene nanogap: a model of sequential electron transport

Transverse electron transport through DNA nucleobases in graphene nanogap with armchair edges is investigated within the sequential tunneling model using the tight-binding approximation and the master equation technique. The effects of both random positions of nucleotides when DNA repeatedly pulls through graphene nanogap during the decoding process and the Coulomb blockade are studied. We have shown that combined measurements of the tunnel current and its root-mean-square deviation in the regime of sequential electron transport allow to facilitate identification of nucleotides while the effects of Coulomb blockade disturb DNA sequencing.     

Effect of internal energy on the repulsive Coulomb barrier of polyanions

The nature of the repulsive Coulomb barrier in isolated molecular polyanions is studied by means of the photodetachment dynamics of the S(1) excited state of the fluorescein dianion which is bound solely by the repulsive Coulomb barrier. Photoelectron spectra reveal a feature at a constant electron kinetic energy, regardless of the excitation energy. This is explained by using an adiabatic tunneling picture for electron loss through successive repulsive Coulomb barriers correlating to vibrationally excited states. This physical picture is supported by time-resolved photoelectron spectra, showing that the tunneling lifetime is also invariant with excitation energy.     

Resonant tunneling through electronic trapping states in thin MgO magnetic junctions

We report an inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy study on MgO magnetic junctions with thin barriers (0.85-1.35 nm). Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy reveals resonant electronic trapping within the barrier for voltages V>0.15 V. These trapping features are associated with defects in the barrier crystalline structure, as confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Such defects are responsible for resonant tunneling due to energy levels that are formed in the barrier. A model was applied to determine the average location and energy level of the traps, indicating that they are mostly located in the middle of the MgO barrier, in accordance with the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy data and trap-assisted tunneling conductance theory. Evidence of the influence of trapping on the voltage dependence of tunnel magnetoresistance is shown.     

Metallic glass electronic structure peculiarities revealed by UHV STM/STS

We present the results of ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy investigation of metallic glass surface. The topography and electronic structure of Ni_63.5Nb_36.5 have been studied. A great number of clusters with size about 5–10 nm have been found on constant current scanning tunneling microscopy images. The tunneling spectra of normalized tunneling conductivity revealed the energy pseudogap in the vicinity of Fermi energy. For energy values above 0.1 eV the normalized tunneling conductivity changes linearly with increasing of tunneling bias. The obtained results can be understood within suggested theoretical model based on the interplay of elastic electron scattering on random defects and weak intra-cluster Coulomb interaction. The effects of the finite edges of electron spectrum of each cluster have to be taken into account to explain the experimental data. The tunneling conductivity behavior and peculiarities in current images of individual clusters can also be qualitatively analyzed in the framework of suggested model.     

Tunneling as a Classical Escape Rate Induced by the Vacuum Zero-point Radiation

We make a brief review of the Kramers escape rate theory for the probabilistic motion of a particle in a potential well U(x), and under the influence of classical fluctuation forces. The Kramers theory is extended in order to take into account the action of the thermal and zero-point random electromagnetic fields on a charged particle. The result is physically relevant because we get a non-null escape rate over the potential barrier at low temperatures (T → 0). It is found that, even if the mean energy is much smaller than the barrier height, the classical particle can escape from the potential well due to the action of the zero-point fluctuating fields. These stochastic effects can be used to give a classical interpretation to some quantum tunneling phenomena. Relevant experimental data are used to illustrate the theoretical results.     

A theoretical calculation of tunneling spectroscopy of an electron waveguide with or without a scatterer

A theoretical study on the tunneling spectroscopy of an electron waveguide recently observed by Eugster and del Alamo is presented. A narrow electron waveguide coupled with another much wider one by a thin barrier between them is taken as a theoretical model for the leaky electron waveguide implemented by Eugster et al., and the transport properties of electrons are studied comprehensively through the wavefunction of the system. The results demonstrate that the conductance for the current tunneling out the barrier oscillates strongly with the width of the narrow electron waveguide, in line with its conductance steps. The theory is in good agreement with the experiments and confirm that the oscillations of the tunneling current can be considered as a spectroscopy of the 1D DOS (one dimensional electron density of states) in the electron waveguide as proposed by Eugster et al. In order to study the effects of scatterers on the transport properties of the leaky electron waveguide, a δ-function is used to simulate the scattering potential The results show that the presence of even a single scatterer located in the waveguide will lead to obvious distortion of the shape of conductance steps, and will greatly influence the oscillations of the tunneling current observed in clean waveguides. However the effects of scatterers located outside the tunneling barrier on either the conductance steps or the oscillations of the tunneling current are negligible.     

Energy-dependent tunneling in a quantum dot

We present measurements of the rates for an electron to tunnel on and off a quantum dot, obtained using a quantum point contact charge sensor. The tunnel rates show exponential dependence on drain-source bias and plunger gate voltages. The tunneling process is shown to be elastic, and a model describing tunneling in terms of the dot energy relative to the height of the tunnel barrier quantitatively describes the measurements.     

Diffusion and pair interactions of CO molecules on Pd(111)

The diffusion and interactions of CO molecules on Pd(111) were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy. By following the random walk motion of individual molecules as a function of temperature, an activation energy barrier for diffusion of 118 +/- 5 meV was determined. The interaction between CO molecules was found to be repulsive for pairs separated by one or two Pd(111) lattice distances, and weakly attractive at a separation of sqrt[3].     

Tunneling between two-dimensional electron systems in a strong magnetic field

We calculate the tunnel current between two parallel two-dimensional electron systems in a strong perpendicular magnetic field. We model the strongly correlated electron systems by Wigner crystals, and describe their low-energy dynamics in terms of magnetophonons. The effects of the magnetophonons on the tunneling processes can be described by an exactly solvable independent-boson model. A tunneling electron shakes up magnetophonons, which results in a conductance peak that is displaced away from zero voltage and broadened compared with the case of no magnetic field. At low temperatures and low enough voltages the tunneling conductance is strongly suppressed, and the I–V characteristics exhibit a power-law behavior. The zero-voltage conductance is thermally activated with an activation temperature 10 K. The results are in very good agreement with experiment.     

InAs/InP柱型量子线中隧穿时间和逃逸问题的研究

在有效质量近似和绝热近似下,利用转移矩阵法研究了电子通过In As/In P/In As/In P/In As柱形量子线共振隧穿二极管的输运问题,分析和讨论了电子居留时间以及电子的逃逸过程.详细研究了外加电场、结构尺寸效应对居留时间和电子逃逸的影响.居留时间随电子纵向能量的演化呈现出共振现象;同时,结构的非对称性对电子居留时间有很大的影响,随着结构非对称性的增加,居留时间表现出不同的变化.利用有限差分方法研究了非对称耦合量子盘中电子的相干隧穿逃逸过程.     

Trapping-mediated chemisorption of ethylene on Si(001)-c(4 x 2)

Adsorption of ethylene molecules on Si(001)-c(4 x 2) was studied using scanning tunneling microscopy at low temperatures. Ethylene molecules trapped at the surface at 50 K were imaged only after decay to chemisorption, each bonding to a Si dimer. Atomic-scale observations of temperature-dependent kinetics show that the decay exhibited Arrhenius behavior with the reaction barrier of 128 meV in clear evidence of the trapping-mediated chemisorption, however, with an anomalously small preexponential factor of 300 Hz. Such a small prefactor is attributed to the entropic bottleneck at the transition state caused by the free-molecule-like trap state.     

Current-distance-voltage characteristics of electron tunneling through an electrochemical STM junction

We have studied the electron tunneling process through an electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopic (STM) junction formed by a gold tip and a gold electrode immersed in an inert NaClO₄ solution. Current-distance-voltage characteristics of the tunneling process are examined by simultaneous measurement of tunneling current, voltage, and distance. The results indicate that the tunneling voltage across the junction changes with tunneling distance; however, tunneling conductance is an inverse exponential function of distance over the entire investigated range of tunneling current, voltage, and distance. The results provide clear evidence for the validity of a one-dimensional tunneling model for the aqueous tunneling process. Implications of the observation are mentioned with regard to the distance-dependent STM imaging and the origin of a low tunneling barrier height.     

Effects of the quantum inductance on the equivalent circuit model of a resonant tunneling diode

The effects of the quantum inductance, due to the resonance lifetime of an electron in a double barrier potential, are studied in the equivalent circuit model of a resonant tunneling diode. Regions of stable and unstable circuit behavior are obtained through a small signal analysis, and phase diagrams are found using a pseudo-Monte Carlo simulation. A comparison with a previous model is made. In addition the large signal behavior of the circuit model is investigated, and a reduction in the maximum oscillator frequency is demonstrated.     

一维二嵌段高聚物中电荷输运的分子弹性效应

基于扩展SSH(Su-Schrieffer-Heeger)模型并采用动力学方法讨论了一维二嵌段高聚物中分子弹性对电荷输运的影响。我们发现,由于两嵌段高聚物中分子弹性的差异,在其交界处会形成一个载流子跃迁势垒。增大注入电子的动能将有效降低电子隧穿的临界电场,而加大两段高聚物弹性的差别将增大临界电场的强度。     

Low energy dynamics of two-dimensional lateral tunnel junctions

We report on the low temperature tunneling characteristics of two-dimensional lateral tunnel junctions (2DLTJs) consisting of two coplanar two-dimensional electron systems separated by an in-plane tunnel barrier. The tunneling conductance of the 2DLTJ exhibits a characteristic dip at small voltages—consistent with the phenomenon of zero-bias anomaly in low-dimensional tunnel junctions—and a broad conductance peak at the Coulombic energy scale. The conductance peak remains robust under magnetic fields well into the quantum Hall regime. We identify the broad conductance maxima as the signature of the pseudogap in the tunneling density of states below the characteristic Coulomb interaction energy of the 2DLTJ.     

Calculations of hot electron magnetotransport in a spin-valve transistor at finite temperatures

Hot electron magnetotransport in a spin-valve transistor has been theoretically explored at finite temperatures. We have calculated the parallel and anti-parallel collector current by changing the relative spin orientation of the ferromagnetic layers at finite temperatures. In this model, hot electron energy redistribution due to spatial inhomogeneity of Schottky barrier heights and hot electron spin polarization in the ferromagnetic layer at finite temperatures have been considered. The results of these model calculations agree with experimental data in a semi-quantitative manner. We therefore suggest that both these effects should be taken into account when one explores the hot electron magnetotransport in a spin-valve transistor at finite temperatures.     

Tunneling and reflection of an exciton incident upon a quantum heterostructure barrier

We investigate, in one spatial dimension, the quantum mechanical tunneling of an exciton incident upon a heterostructure barrier. We model the relative motion eigenstates of the exciton using a form of the one-dimensional hydrogen atom which avoids difficulties previously associated with 1D hydrogenic states. We obtain probabilities of reflection and transmission using the method of variable transmission and reflection amplitudes. Our calculations may be broadly divided into two sets. In the first set, we consider general qualitative aspects of exciton tunneling, such as the effect of different effective masses for electrons and holes and a relative difference in electron and hole barrier strengths. The second set models the tunneling of an exciton in a GaAs/Al(x)Ga(1-x)As heterostructure. In these calculations we find that, for energies such that the two lowest exciton states are coupled, the probability spectrum for transition from the ground state to the first excited state is identical to that for transition from the first excited state to the ground state. In addition, narrow peaks in the probability spectrum for transition are observed across this energy range for low dopant concentration x. Other interesting phenomena correlated with these peaks in the transition probability are reported.