Metastable and spin-polarized states in electron systems with localized electron–electron interaction

We study the formation of spontaneous spin polarization in inhomogeneous electron systems with pair interaction localized in a small region that is not separated by a barrier from surrounding gas of non-interacting electrons. Such a system is interesting as a minimal model of a quantum point contact in which the electron–electron interaction is strong in a small constriction coupled to electron reservoirs without barriers. Based on the analysis of the grand potential within the self-consistent field approximation, we find that the formation of the polarized state strongly differs from the Bloch or Stoner transition in homogeneous interacting systems. The main difference is that a metastable state appears in the critical point in addition to the globally stable state, so that when the interaction parameter exceeds a critical value, two states coexist. One state has spin polarization and the other is unpolarized. Another feature is that the spin polarization increases continuously with the interaction parameter and has a square-root singularity in the critical point. We study the critical conditions and the grand potentials of the polarized and unpolarized states for one-dimensional and two-dimensional models in the case of extremely small size of the interaction region.     

Quasiparticle lifetime of electron–electron interactions for two-dimensional electron gases with magnetic field

We theoretically study the electron–electron scattering rate τ_ee⁻¹for electrons in a two-dimensional electron gas with a perpendicular magnetic field, within theGWand plasmon-pole approximations, as functions of temperatureT, impurity scattering rate Γ and magnetic fieldB. The τ_ee⁻¹increases with increasingTand increasing Γ, and shows the structure of the Landau levels asBis changed.     

Renormalization of the contribution of the electron—electron interaction to the conductivity of two-dimensional electron systems

The contribution of the electron—electron interaction to the conductivity of the two-dimensional electron gas in an In_x Ga_1-x As single quantum well with different disorder strengths was experimentally studied. It is shown that the data are described well within the framework of the one-loop approximation of the renormalization group theory so long as the conductivity of the system remains higher than around 15e ²/μh.     

Monte Carlo particle-based simulations of deep-submicron n-MOSFETs with real-space treatment of electron–electron and electron–impurity interactions

In modern deep-submicron devices, for achieving optimum device performance, the doping densities must be quite high. This necessitates a careful treatment of the short- and long-range electron–electron and electron–impurity interactions. We have shown before that by using a corrected Coulomb force, in conjunction with a proper cutoff range, one can properly account for the short-range portion of the force. Our approach naturally incorporates multi-ion contributions, local distortions in the scattering potential due to the movement of the free charges, and carrier-density fluctuations. The doping dependence of the low-field electron mobility obtained from 3D resistor simulations closely followed the experimental results, thus proving the correctness of our approach. Here, we discuss how discrete impurity effects affect the threshold voltage of ultra-small n-channel MOSFETs with gate lengths ranging from 50 to 100 nm. We find that the fluctuations in the threshold voltage increase with increasing the oxide thickness and substrate doping. The averaging effect over the width of the device leads to significantly smaller fluctuations in the threshold voltage for devices with larger gate width. The observed trends are in agreement with the experimental findings.     

High-pressure synthesis of novel organometallic electron donor–electron acceptor polycyclic dyads

Preparation of novel electron-transfer dyads (donor–acceptor molecules) with novel molecular architecture and well-defined donor/acceptor geometrical orientation is presented. High pressure (HP) promoted synthesis of electron donor–acceptor dyads possessing rigid polynorbornene frameworks and organometallic (7-silanorbornadiene) moiety is discussed in detail. Under HP conditions, cyclic organometallic diene, 1-sila-2,3,4,5-tetraphenyl-1,1-dimethyl-cyclopenta-2,4-diene undergoes facile 4π+2π cycloaddition reactions with functionalized 7-oxanorbornene derivatives giving stereospecifically 7-silanorbornene products in good reaction yields.     

New high-resolution electrostatic electron spectrometer for conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy

The construction and performance of a new electron spectrometer using an electrostatic 90°-spherical deflection analyzer (SDA) is described. The spectrometer is suited for depth-selective conversion-electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (DCEMS) on surfaces and thin films in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) at temperatures ranging between 40–1000K using K- and L-conversion electrons of⁵⁷Fe. The spectrometer is designed for 2% electron-energy resolution and about 5% (of 4) transmission for 7.3 keV K-conversion electrons of⁵⁷Fe. The energy resolution has been confirmed experimentally. We demonstrate that DCEMS in general and our instrument in particular are capable of detecting a thin (50 Fe Å) Mössbauer-inert buried oxide layer located at the surface of a stainless steel substrate and covered by an Fe/Cr bilayer.     

Percolation and the electron–electron interaction in an array of antidots

A square lattice of microcontacts with a period of 1 μm in a dense low-mobility two-dimensional electron gas is studied experimentally and numerically. At the variation of the gate voltage V _g , the conductivity of the array varies by five orders of magnitude in the temperature range T from 1.4 to 77 K in good agreement with the formula σ(V _g ) = (V _g ?V _g ^* (T))^β with β = 4. The saturation of σ(T) at low temperatures is absent because of the electron–electron interaction. A random-lattice model with a phenomenological potential in microcontacts reproduces the dependence σ(T, V _g ) and makes it possible to determine the fraction of microcontacts x(V _g , T) with conductances higher than σ. It is found that the dependence x(V _g ) is nonlinear and the critical exponent in the formula σ ∝ ? (x - 1/2) ^t in the range 1.3 < t(T, V _g ) < β.     

Magnetoelectric effect induced by electron–electron interaction in three dimensional topological insulators

We compute the magnetoelectric response of an interacting topological insulator in three space dimensions with a short range interaction between electrons in different orbitals. We show that in the presence of interactions and inverted bands the chiral phase is gauged away and replaced by a topological angle (θ-term) which is determined by saddle point of the interacting action and the Fujikawa integration measure. The magnetoelectric response breaks time reversal symmetry which is restored at strong interactions. The effect is equivalent to the one in four dimensions without interaction; it can be observed by measuring the Faraday rotation under external stress.     

Spin–orbit scattering effect on electron–electron interactions in disordered metals

We have measured the low-temperature resistivities of a series of bulk crystalline disordered Ti_73−xAl₂₇Sn_x alloys (x≲5) as well as the sheet resistances of a number of thin ferromagnetic Ni films (≈120 Å thick) sandwiching an ultrathin Ag or Au (≲5 Å) layer. The level of impurities (concentration of Sn in the former case, and thickness of Ag or Au in the latter case) is progressively increased in order to enhance the spin–orbit scattering in a controllable manner. The influence of the spin–orbit scattering on the electron–electron interaction effects is studied from the temperature dependence of resistivities (sheet resistance) at low temperatures. We find that the electron–electron interaction contribution to the resistivities (sheet resistances) increases slightly with increasing spin–orbit scattering. Our observation is discussed in terms of the current theoretical concept for the electron–electron interactions in disordered metals.     

Dynamic correlation effects on drag resistivity of a symmetric electron–electron bilayer

We have studied the effect of dynamic electron correlations on Coulomb drag in a low density symmetric electron–electron bilayer. The drag resistivity is calculated considering the contribution from direct e–e scattering processes using the semi-classical Boltzmann approach, with the effective inter-layer interaction W₁₂(q, ω; T) determined within the ?wierkowski, Szyman?ki, and Gortel model, generalized to include the dynamics of electron correlations through the frequency-dependent intra- and inter-layer local-field correction (LFC) factors. In turn, the LFCs are obtained by extending the quantum Singwi, Tosi, Land, and Sjölander (qSTLS) approach to finite temperatures. At low temperatures (T ? 2 K), the calculated drag resistivity is found to agree nicely with the measurements by Kellogg et al., while it is somewhat overestimated at higher temperatures. The overestimation is seen to increase with decreasing density of electrons. However, there is found to be a marked improvement over the predictions of the conventional (i.e., static) STLS and random-phase approximation (RPA). It turns out that the inclusion of exchange-correlations in the RPA causes a red-shift in the bilayer plasmons which leads to an enhancement of drag resistivity. Our study demonstrates clearly the importance of including the dynamical nature of correlations to have a reasonable account of measured drag resistivity.     

Enhanced electron tunneling and Γ–X interlayer intervalley electron transfer in a triple-barrier heterostructure

The enhanced electron tunneling effect and the electron Γ–X intervalley interlayer transfer in the AlAs/GaAs (001) triple-barrier heterostructure have been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The effects of the external bias on the electronic structure, Γ–X state mixing and higher lying excited energy states are studied. The experimental observations show good agreement with the theoretical predictions based on the scattering theoretical approach of Green's function theory, which can handle electron interlayer intervalley propagation through the layered aperiodic heterostructure under the external bias.     

Many-body theory of π electron systems

Many-body perturbation theory is developed within the dielectric function method presented in a preceding paper [15]. We have explicitly considered the local field corrections (which are disregarded in the random phase approximation) to the self consistent field. These corrections are of second order in the density-density correlation function x and are evaluated exactly in the framework of the adopted approximation scheme because all the integrals which appear in the expressions can be evaluated analytically. Here the method is applied to π electron systems within the zero differential overlap approximation ; explicit calculations of the excitation energies of the benzene molecule using different parametrizations are presented. Comparison is made with results obtained in the RPA and other schemes.     

Influence of electron correlations on Auger electron —and appearance potential — spectra of solids

Within the framework of the Hubbard-model the influence of electron correlations on AES and APS for a non-degenerate energy band is investigated. Both spectroscopies are determined by the same two-particle Green function which is solved by a diagrammatic vertex-correction method in the Matsubara-formalism. For empty (n=0) and for completely filled (n=2) bands the method turns out to be exact. The spectra are strongly influenced by the Coulomb interactionU/W and by the degreen of band-filling. Already very weakU/W are sufficient for a substantial deviation of APS and AES from the self-fold of the one particle density of states. For intermediate or even strongU/W(>1) the spectra consist of two parts, a relatively broad band-like region and a sharp satellite. As soon as the satellite splits off, it takes practically the whole spectral weight. In all cases the satellite has almost exactly the shape of the free density of states. The two-hole (electron) bound state, which causes the satellite, propagates virtually without scattering through the lattice. For fixedU/W the band occupationn must be below (above) a critical value to push away a satellite in APS (AES). The temperature-dependence of the spectra is non-negligible for partially filled bands (exceptionsn=0,2), being, however, qualitatively not very striking as long as a non-magnetic systems is considered.     

Electrical resistivity of alkali metal doped manganites LaxAyMnwO3 (A = Na,K, Rb): Role of electron–phonon,electron–electron and electron–magnon interactions

The electrical resistivity behaviour of alkali metal (Na, K, Rb) substitutions at La site in La_xA_yMn_wO₃ (A = Na, K, Rb) manganites is studied caused by electron–phonon, electron–electron and electron–magnon scattering. Substitutions affect average mass and ionic radii of A-site and hence resulting lattice and optical phonon softening. Estimated resistivity compared with reported metallic resistivity, accordingly ρ_diff. = [ρ_exp ? {ρ₀ + ρ_e–ph (=ρ_ac + ρ_op)}], infers electron–electron and electron–magnon dependence over most of the temperature range. Electron–phonon contribution indicates that alkali metal K doping provoked larger lattice distortion, while electron–electron interaction is more dominating process for Na and Rb doped compound favouring motion of excess charge carrier. Semiconducting nature is discussed with variable range hopping and small polaron conduction model. The change in activation energies and the density of states at the Fermi-level is consistently explained by cationic disorder and Mn valence.     

Combined exciton–electron excitation in quantum wells with a two-dimensional electron gas of low density

A combined exciton–cyclotron resonance is found in the photoluminescence excitation and reflectivity spectra of semiconductor quantum wells with an electron gas of low density. In external magnetic fields an incident photon creates an exciton in the ground state and simultaneously excites an electron between Landau levels. A theoretical model is developed and suggests the dominating contribution of the exchange exciton–electron interaction.     

Tailoring electron–phonon interaction in nanostructures

Efficient design of optoelectronic devices based on electron intersubband transitions depends critically on the knowledge of the intersubband relaxation times which in turn, depends on electron scattering with LO and acoustic phonons. In this article the intersubband scattering time associated with electron–acoustic-phonon interaction has been discussed in terms of phonon mode quantization and phonon confinement with describing the acoustic phonon dispersion relation in detail by introducing the cut-off frequency for each mode. It has been shown that the quantization of acoustic phonon modes lead to an enhancement in electron–phonon scattering time in AlGaAs quantum well structures. Based on the presented model, a new tailoring method has presented to adjust the electron–phonon scattering time in intersubband-transition-based structures while keeping the electronic properties unaltered. Also, we illustrated that for a quantum well with subband energy separation of ∼30 meV, the intersubband scattering time with acoustic-phonon-assisted transitions could be tailored from ∼120 ps to increased value of ∼400 ps or reduced value of ∼45 ps by inserting a 1 nm-thickacoustically soft or hard layers, respectively, while keeping the same the initial energy separation.     

Parity-violating electron scattering – an experimental overview

We discuss the current status and future plans of world-wide efforts of parity-violating asymmetry measurements in the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons off unpolarized fixed targets. One thrust is the measurements of nucleon neutral weak form factors at intermediate four-momentum transfer (0.1 < Q ² < 1) (GeV/c)² which provides information about the role of virtual strange quarks on the charge and current distributions inside nucleons. A new topic is the elastic neutral weak amplitude at very low Q ² from scattering off a heavy spinless nucleus, which is sensitive to the presence of a neutron skin. Finally, we discuss the neutral current elastic amplitude at very low Q ² off protons and electrons and in the DIS regime off deuterium, which allows precision measurements of the weak mixing angle at low energy and is thus sensitive to new physics at the TeV scale. The physics implications of recent results, potential measurements from experiments under construction as well as new ideas at future facilities are discussed.