Role of inter-site exchange and hybrid interactions in itinerant ferromagnetism

In this work, we study the magnetic properties of itinerant electron systems using the Hubbard-like tight binding Hamiltonian along with inter-site exchange and hybrid interactions. We have used the mean-field approximation to deal with the exchange and hybrid interactions. It is found that hybrid interaction is more effective than exchange interaction for the on-set of ferromagnetic state. We have studied the effect of hybrid interaction on various physical quantities at different temperatures. The effective mass (m*/m) of up spin electrons increases slowly as the temperature decreases but below the critical temperature (T_c), it decreases rapidly. For down spin electrons effective mass increases slowly as the temperature decreases and below T_c, it increases more rapidly. Spectral weight (n/m*) for up spin electrons decreases slowly upto T_c and below T_c, it increases rapidly. For down spin electrons spectral weight decreases slowly upto T_c and below T_c, it decreases rapidly. Our results for both the effective mass and spectral weight are in good agreement with recently observed experimental behaviour in itinerant ferromagnet Ga_1−xMn_xAs [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 (2002) 097203]. We have also studied variation of the spectral weight and optical absorption with temperature in presence of magnetic field. We found that these two quantities for up spin electrons increase as applied magnetic field increases at all temperatures (∼4T_c). For down spin electrons these two quantities decrease as applied magnetic field increases.     

单层正三角锯齿型石墨烯量子点的电子结构和磁性

采用基于密度泛函理论的广义梯度近似(GGA),对不同尺寸(N=2—11)的单层正三角锯齿型石墨烯量子点(Z_N -GNDs)的结构进行优化,得到与实验数据较好符合的晶格常数,进一步计算得到不同尺寸下体系的自旋多重度、磁矩、电子态密度以及自旋电子密度.结果表明:所有体系都呈现金属性,在尺寸较小的体系中量子尺寸效应对电子结构的影响比较明显;与单层石墨烯片一样,sp²杂化作用和非键态电子在量子点中仍起到非常重要的作用;费米能级上有自旋向上的电子分布,体系的 关键词： 石墨烯 量子点 电子结构 磁性     

Reprint of : Heat pump driven by the shot noise of a tunnel contact

We investigate a mechanism for cooling a lead based on a process that replaces hot electrons by cold ones. The central idea is that a double quantum dot with an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting acts as energy filter for the transported electrons. The setup is such that hot electrons with spin up are removed, while cold electrons with spin down are added. The required non-equilibrium condition is provided by the capacitive coupling of one quantum dot to the shot noise of a strongly biased quantum point contact in the tunneling limit. Special attention is paid to the identification of an operating regime in which the net electrical current vanishes.     

Heat pump driven by the shot noise of a tunnel contact

We investigate a mechanism for cooling a lead based on a process that replaces hot electrons by cold ones. The central idea is that a double quantum dot with an inhomogeneous Zeeman splitting acts as energy filter for the transported electrons. The setup is such that hot electrons with spin up are removed, while cold electrons with spin down are added. The required non-equilibrium condition is provided by the capacitive coupling of one quantum dot to the shot noise of a strongly biased quantum point contact in the tunneling limit. Special attention is paid to the identification of an operating regime in which the net electrical current vanishes.     

Effects of Rashba spin–orbit coupling and a magnetic field on a polygonal quantum ring

Using standard quantum network method, we analytically investigate the effect of Rashba spin–orbit coupling (RSOC) and a magnetic field on the spin transport properties of a polygonal quantum ring. Using Landauer–Büttiker formula, we have found that the polarization direction and phase of transmitted electrons can be controlled by both the magnetic field and RSOC. A device to generate a spin-polarized conductance in a polygon with an arbitrary number of sides is discussed. This device would permit precise control of spin and selectively provide spin filtering for either spin up or spin down simply by interchanging the source and drain.     

Optical polarization of nuclei and ODNMR in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Optical orientation of electrons was used to polarize the crystal lattice nuclei in quantum-size heterostructures and to study the effect of the conduction band spin splitting on the spin states of quasi-two-dimensional (2D) electrons drifting in an external electric field. High (～1%) nuclear polarization was registered using polarized luminescence and ODNMR in single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. Measurement was made of the hyperfine interaction fields created by polarized nuclei on electrons and by electrons on nuclei. The spin-lattice relaxation of nuclei on the non-degenerate 2D electron gas was calculated. A comparison of the theoretical and experimental longitudinal relaxation times permitted the conclusion that the localized charge carriers are responsible for nuclear polarization in quantum wells in the temperature range of 2–77 K. A new effect has been studied, i.e. induction of an effective magnetic field acting on 2D electron spins when electrons drift in an external electric field in the quantum well plane. This effective field B_eff is due to the spin splitting of the conduction band of 2D electrons. The paper discusses possible registration of an ODNMR signal when the field B_eff is modulated by an electric current during optical orientation.     

Spin polarization dependent optical transition rates observed in the integer quantum Hall region

We report on a field-dependent photoluminescence (PL) emission rate for the transitions between band states in modulation-doped CdTe/Cd_1−xMg_xTe single quantum wells in the integer quantum Hall region. The recombination time observed for the magneto-PL spectra varies in concomitance with the integer quantum Hall plateaus. Furthermore, different PL decay times were observed for the two circular polarizations, i.e. for the transitions between the Zeeman split subbands of the Landau levels. We analyzed the data in comparison with the experimentally determined spin polarization of the conduction electrons and the Zeeman splitting of the valence band. Furthermore, we discuss the relevance of the spin polarization of the conduction electrons, the electron–hole exchange interaction and the spin-flip processes of the hole states for the PL decay time.     

Spin-dependent electron dynamics and recombination in GaAs<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>N<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> alloys at room temperature

Conduction-electron spin polarization dynamics achieved by pulsed optical pumping at room temperature in GaAs_1−x N _x alloys with a small nitrogen content (x = 2.1, 2.7, and 3.4%) is studied both experimentally and theoretically. It is found that the photoluminescence circular polarization determined by the mean spin of free electrons reaches 40–45% and this giant value persists within 2 ns. Simultaneously, the total free-electron spin decays rapidly with the characteristic time ≈ 150 ps. The results are explained by spin-dependent capture of free conduction electrons on deep paramagnetic centers resulting in the dynamical polarization of bound electrons. A nonlinear theory of spin dynamics in the coupled system of spin-polarized free and localized carriers has been developed which describes the experimental dependencies, in particular, the electron spin quantum beats observed in a transverse magnetic field. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

自旋相关的电子隧穿和自旋极化

研究了电子的自旋相关的隧穿和极化。在外加磁场的作用下，自旋向上的电子与自旋向下的电子具有不同的隧穿系数。当电子的自旋方向与磁场方向相反时，其隧穿概率受到磁场的抑制而变小；反之，当两平行时，电子的了隧穿系数增大。这种差异可以用本中定义的自旋极化率来表示。本对不同磁场下的自旋极化率进行了计算，结果也表明当电子的动能较小，这种自旋极化的效应越显。     

Efficient spin filtering in a disordered semiconductor superlattice in the presence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling

The influence of the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling on spin polarization by tunneling through a disordered semiconductor superlattice was investigated. The Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling causes the spin polarization of the electron due to transmission possibilities difference between spin up and spin down electrons. The electron tunneling through a zinc-blende semiconductor superlattice with InAs and GaAs layers and two variable distance In_xGa_(1−x)As impurity layers was studied. One hundred percent spin polarization was obtained by optimizing the distance between two impurity layers and impurity percent in disordered layers in the presence of Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. In addition, the electron transmission probability through the mentioned superlattice is too much near to one and an efficient spin filtering was recommended.     

Understanding spin configuration in the geometrically frustrated magnet TbB4: A resonant soft X-ray scattering study

The frustrated magnet has been regarded as a system that could be a promising host material for the quantum spin liquid (QSL). However, it is difficult to determine the spin configuration and the corresponding mechanism in this system, because of its geometrical frustration (i.e., crystal structure and symmetry). Herein, we systematically investigate one of the geometrically frustrated magnets, the TbB₄ compound. Using resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSXS), we explored its spin configuration, as well as Tb's quadrupole. Comprehensive evaluations of the temperature and photon energy/polarization dependences of the RSXS signals reveal the mechanism of spin reorientation upon cooling down, which is the sophisticated interplay between the Tb spin and the crystal symmetry rather than its orbit (quadrupole). Our results and their implications would further shed a light on the search for possible realization of QSL.     

Spin treatment-based approach for electronic transport in paramagnetic liquid transition metals

A novel concept is proposed to calculate both the electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power (TEP) of liquid transition metals (Mn, Fe, Co and Ni) characterized by a paramagnetic state in the liquid phase. By contrast to a previous work (PRB64, 094202 (2001)), where the resistivity was calculated by treating separately the interactions between spin up and spin down using the Matthiessen rule, our current approach is based on two types of muffin tin potentials in the t-matrix, namely spin up and spin down. The resistivity is treated as the result of the interference of the two kinds of spin states of electrons including a cross-contribution. The calculated resistivity values agree reasonably well with the available experimental ones for all the metals considered. Moreover, the calculated TEP, as deduced from the slope of resistivity vs. energy, has been found to be positive for Mn and Fe but negative for Co and Ni. Besides that, this formalism for resistivity calculation may be generalized to a system that may exist in different atomic states. It is worth mentioning that this concept is analogous to the one used in the process of neutron scattering on a metal composed of multiple isotopes.     

Pressure and temperature induced high spin–low spin phase transition: Macroscopic and microscopic consideration

The behavior under pressure of the high spin–low spin phase transition in the coordination compounds containing 3d ions is analyzed using thermodynamic and microscopic approaches. For thermodynamic approach the mean field model with interactions between spin-crossover molecules is considered. Microscopic model takes into account the interaction of d electrons of the transition metal ions with full symmetric distortions of the ligands. The relationship of the thermodynamic interaction parameters with microscopic ones is installed and shown how the quantum–mechanical interactions form the cooperativity of the system. Within the microscopic model the temperature and pressure dependences of the high spin fraction in 2-D compounds {Fe(3-Fpy)₂[M(CN)₄]} (M=Pd, Pt) are simulated and microscopic parameters are evaluated. It is concluded that different experimental behaviors of the temperature and pressure induced spin transitions are determined by different variations of the inelastic and elastic energies under pressure, and vibrational component of the free energy drives the ST equally with electronic part.     

Anderson Localization Enhanced Spin Selective Transport of Electrons in DNA

Recent experiments revealed the unusual strong spin effects with high spin selective transmission of electrons in double-stranded DNA. We propose a new mechanism that the strong spin effects could be understood in terms of the combination of the ehiral structure, spin-orbit coupling, and especially spin-dependent Anderson localization. The presence of chiral structure and spin-orbit coupling of DNA induce weak Fermi energy splitting between two spin polarization states. The intrinsic Anderson localization in generic DNA molecules may result in remarkable enhancement of the spin selective transport. In particular, these two spin states with energy splitting have different localization lengths. Spin up/down channel may have shorter/longer localization length so that relatively less/more spin up/down electrons may tunnel through the system. In addition, the strong length dependence of spin selectivity observed in experiments can be naturally understood. Anderson localization enhanced spin selectivity effect may provide a deeper understanding of spin-selective processes in molecular spintronics and biological systems.     

Effective electron-electron interactions and magnetic phase transition in a two-dimensional electron liquid

We investigate the spin-dependent effective electron-electron interactions in a uniform system of two-dimensional electrons to understand the spontaneous magnetization expected to occur at very low density. For this purpose, we adopt the Kukkonen-Overhauser form for the effective interactions which are built by accurately determined local-field factors describing the charge and spin fluctuations. The critical behavior of the effective interaction for parallel spin electrons allows us to quantitatively locate the transition to the ferromagnetic state at r_s≈27. When the finite width effects are approximately taken into account the transition occurs at r_s≈30 in agreement with recent quantum Monte Carlo calculations.     

Signature of the ferromagnetic (T = 0) transition in real space and time

A detailed study of the spatio-temporal dynamics in several Hubbard clusters at zero temperature is performed. Small systems of two and three electrons, which could be considered representative systems of Nagaoka's, Mielke's and Tasaki's ferromagnetism, are investigated using a combination of analytical and numerical exact diagonalization techniques. The results raise the possibility that spin-dependent localization is correlated in real space and real time with the transition to a saturated ferromagnetic state. The long-time average of the expectation value of the center of mass coordinates for electrons with spin up does not coincide with that for electrons with spin down at the transition. The reason for this is that the long-time averages of the probabilities are different for states in which the spins of one system are exchanged with another. The physical origin of itinerant ferromagnetism is discussed.     

Control of spin state in CdSe quantum dots by coupling with magnetic semiconductor quantum dots

We studied spin states of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) coupled with CdMnSe QDs by probing circular polarization of photoluminescence spectrum under external magnetic fields. The bandgap energies of CdSe and CdMnSe QDs are close to each other and photoluminescence mainly originates from CdSe QDs due to relatively low radiation efficiency of CdMnSe QDs. The photoluminescence lifetime as well as its intensity was decreased with increasing magnetic field, which was ascribed to the increase in the ground state wavefunctions in CdMnSe QDs. The decrease was more pronounced for spin down electrons, which was explained by the difference in spin up and down wave functions under magnetic fields. Our results show that the spin state of CdSe QDs can be manipulated by coupling with CdMnSe QDs.     

Conductance of a large point contact with Rashba effect

We study the scattering of an electron of a 2DEG through a large point contact separating a region where the electrons are free and a region where the Rashba spin-orbit coupling is present. The scattering depends dramatically on the electron incidence angle showing double refraction within the Rashba region. For incidence not normal to the interface the electron spin state is not conserved. The calculated conductance exhibits an oscillating behavior as a function of spin state of the incident electrons with different spin down and spin up currents. Our model describes both a ferromagnetic semimetallic source and a simple metallic injection electrode. In the first case the electrons are injected in a pure spin state and in the second one they are unpolarized, that is in a statistical mixture of spin up and down states. In both the cases the passage through the large point contact produces spin polarized currents.Received: 30 July 2003, Published online: 23 December 2003PACS: 85.75.Hh Spin polarized field effect transistors - 72.25.-b Spin polarized transport - 73.23.Ad Ballistic transport