Atom chips in the real world: the effects of wire corrugation

We present a detailed model describing the effects of wire corrugation on the trapping potential experienced by a cloud of atoms above a current carrying micro wire. We calculate the distortion of the current distribution due to corrugation and then derive the corresponding roughness in the magnetic field above the wire. Scaling laws are derived for the roughness as a function of height above a ribbon shaped wire. We also present experimental data on micro wire traps using cold atoms which complement some previously published measurements [CITE] and which demonstrate that wire corrugation can satisfactorily explain our observations of atom cloud fragmentation above electroplated gold wires. Finally, we present measurements of the corrugation of new wires fabricated by electron beam lithography and evaporation of gold. These wires appear to be substantially smoother than electroplated wires.     

The effect of semi-infinite crystalline electrodes on transmission of gold atomic wires using DFT

First principle calculations of the conductance of gold atomic wires containing chain of 3–8 atoms each with 2.39 Å bond lengths are presented using density functional theory. Three different configurations of wire/electrodes were used. For zigzag wire with semi-infinite crystalline electrodes, even–odd oscillation is observed which is consistent with the previously reported results. A lower conductance is observed for the chain in semi-infinite crystalline electrodes compared to the chains suspended in wire-like electrode. The calculated transmission spectrum for the straight and zig-zag wires suspended between semi-infinite crystalline electrodes showed suppression of transmission channels due to electron scattering occurring at the electrode-wire interface.     

Onset of energy dissipation in ballistic atomic wires

Electronic transport at finite voltages in free-standing gold atomic chains of up to seven atoms in length is studied at low temperatures using a scanning tunneling microscope. The conductance vs voltage curves show that transport in these single-mode ballistic atomic wires is nondissipative up to a finite voltage threshold of the order of several mV. The onset of dissipation and resistance within the wire corresponds to the excitation of the atomic vibrations by the electrons traversing the wire and is very sensitive to strain.     

First-principle studies of I–V properties of a molecular wire

The elastic scattering Green function method has been developed to describe the I–V characteristics of molecular wires. The molecular electronic structure and the interaction between the molecule and the gold surface are two key factors for the charge transport properties of molecular wires in the formulas. Anab initio calculation at the hybrid density functional theory level is carried out to obtain the electronic structure of 4-4′-dimercaptodibenzene molecule. The frontier orbit theory and the perturbation theory are employed to determine the constant of the interaction energy between molecule and surface quantitatively. The numerical results show that the bonding between the sulfur atom and the gold atoms corresponds mainly to the covalent bond. Some molecular orbits are extended over molecule and gold cluster that certainly give channels for the charge transport, other molecular orbits are localized and the charge transport can take place by tunnel mechanism. At zero bias region, there exists a current gap. With the increasing bias, the conductance of the wire takes a shape of plateaus.     

First-principle studies of I-V properties of a molecular wire

The elastic scattering Green function method has been developed to describe the I-V characteristics of molecular wires. The molecular electronic structure and the interaction between the molecule and the gold surface are two key factors for the charge transport properties of molecular wires in the formulas. An ab initio calculation at the hybrid density functional theory level is carried out to obtain the electronic structure of 4-4′-dimercaptodibenzene molecule. The frontier orbit theory and the perturbation theory are employed to determine the constant of the interaction energy between molecule and surface quantitatively. The numerical results show that the bonding between the sulfur atom and the gold atoms corresponds mainly to the covalent bond. Some molecular orbits are extended over molecule and gold cluster that certainly give channels for the charge transport, other molecular orbits are localized and the charge transport can take place by tunnel mechanism. At zero bias region, there exists a current gap. With the increasing bias, the conductance of the wire takes a shape of plateaus.     

How can we make stable linear monoatomic chains? Gold-cesium binary subnanowires as an example of a charge-transfer-driven approach to alloying

On the basis of first-principles calculations of clusters and one dimensional infinitely long subnanowires of the binary systems, we find that alkali-noble metal alloy wires show better linearity and stability than either pure alkali metal or noble metal wires. The enhanced alternating charge buildup on atoms by charge transfer helps the atoms line up straight. The cesium doped gold wires showing significant charge transfer from cesium to gold can be stabilized as linear or circular monoatomic chains.     

Interface-Optical-Phonon Modes in Quasi-one-dimensional Wurtzite Rectangular Quantum Wires

By employing the dielectric continuum model and Loudon's uniaxial crystal model, the interface optical (IO) phonon modes in a freestanding quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) wurtzite rectangular quantum wire are derived and analyzed. Numerical calculation on a freestanding wurtzite GaN quantum wire is performed. The results reveal that the dispersion frequencies of IO modes sensitively depend on the geometric structures of the Q1D wurtzite rectangular quantum wires, the free wave-number k_z in z-direction and the dielectric constant of the nonpolar matrix. The degenerating behavior of the IO modes in Q1D wurtzite rectangular quantum wire has been clearly observed in the case of small wave-number k_z and large ratio of length to width of the rectangular crossing profile. The limited frequency behaviors of IO modes have been analyzed deeply, and detailed comparisons with those in wurtzite planar quantum wells and cylindrical quantum wires are also done. The present theories can be looked on as a generalization of that in isotropic rectangular quantum wires, and it can naturally reduce to the case of Q1D isotropic quantum wires once the anisotropy of the wurtzite material is ignored.     

Band-structure engineering of gold atomic wires on silicon by controlled doping

We report on the systematic tuning of the electronic band structure of atomic wires by controlling the density of impurity atoms. The atomic wires are self-assembled on Si(111) by substitutional gold adsorbates and extra silicon atoms are deposited as the impurity dopants. The one-dimensional electronic band of gold atomic wires, measured by angle-resolved photoemission, changes from a fully metallic to semiconducting one with its band gap increasing above 0.3 eV along with an energy shift as a linear function of the Si dopant density. The gap opening mechanism is suggested to be related to the ordering of the impurities.     

中性原子的表面双磁光阱及其应用

提出了一种新的采用载流导线的表面双磁光阱(MOT)方案(即双U型导线磁光阱方案)。通过改变中间U型导线中的电流大小,即可将一个双磁阱连续地合并为一个单磁阱,反之亦然。详细计算和分析了上述双U型载流导线磁光阱方案的磁场及其梯度的空间分布,研究发现当导线中的电流为600 A,z方向均匀偏置磁感应强度为-4.0×10-3 T时,双U型导线方案产生的两个磁阱中心的磁场梯度约为1.5×10-3~2.5×10-3 T/cm,结合通常制备磁光阱时所用的三维粘胶(Molasses)光束即可在基底表面附近形成一双磁光阱。理论分析表明在弱光近似下,每个磁光阱中所能俘获的85Rb原子数约为106 量级,相应的磁光阱温度约为270μK。由于双磁光阱可以独立制备,所以双U型导线方案特别适用于制备双样品磁光阱,并用于研究双原子样品的冷碰撞性质。     

Four-atom period in the conductance of monatomic Al wires

We present first-principles calculations based on density functional theory for the conductance of monatomic Al wires between Al(111) electrodes. In contrast to the even-odd oscillations observed in other metallic wires, the conductance of the Al wires is found to oscillate with a period of four atoms as the length of the wire is varied. Although local charge neutrality can account for the observed period, it leads to an incorrect phase. We explain the conductance behavior using a resonant transport model based on the electronic structure of the infinite wire.     

Arrays of microscopic magnetic traps for cold atoms and their applications in atom optics

A single microscopic magnetic trap for neutral atoms using planar current-carrying wires was proposed and studied theoretically by Weinstein et al.In this paper,we propose three structures of composite current-carrying wires to provide 1D,2D and 3D arrays of microscopic magnetic traps for cold alkali atoms.The spatial distributions of magnetic fields generated by these structures are calculated and the field gradient and curvature in each single microtrap are analysed.Our study shows that arrays of microscopic magnetic traps can be used to provide 1D,2D or 3D atomic magnetic lattices,and even to realize 1D,2D and 3D arrays of magneto-optical traps,and so on.     

Bonding, conductance, and magnetization of oxygenated Au nanowires

Spin-density-functional calculations of tip-suspended gold chains, with molecular oxygen, or dissociated oxygen atoms, incorporated in them, reveal structural transitions for varying lengths. The nanowires exhibit enhanced strength for both oxygen incorporation modes, and upon stretching tip atoms join the wire. With incorporated molecular oxygen the wire conductance is about 1(2e2/h), transforming to an insulating state beyond a critical length. The nanowire conductance with embedded oxygen atoms is low, 0.2 (2e2/h), and it develops magnetic moments localized on the oxygens and the neighboring Au atoms.     

冷原子的双阱微磁表面囚禁

提出了两种新颖的采用载流导线的双阱微磁表面囚禁方案(即双U形与双Z形导线囚禁)。通过改变囚禁方案中直导线中的电流方向，即可将双U形导线囚禁改变为双Z形导线囚禁；如果逐渐减小直导线中的电流大小，即可将一个双阱微磁囚禁连续地合并为一个单阱微磁囚禁，反之亦然。详细计算和分析了上述两种载流导线囚禁方案的磁场及其梯度的空间分布。研究发现在导线中通以较小的电流，即可在导线表面附近产生很大的磁场梯度及其曲率。例如当电流为O．2A时，其磁场梯度和曲率可分别达到0．2T／cm和10T／cm2以上。由于双U形导线囚禁中存在磁场零点，而双Z形导线囚禁中仅存在磁场最小值，所以双U形导线囚禁仅适用于制备双样品磁光囚禁(MOT)或研究中性原子的冷碰撞，而双Z形导线囚禁除了可用于研究原子的冷碰撞之外，还可以用于制备双样品玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚(BEC)或实验研究双阱玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚的性质等。     

Exciton trapping, binding and diamagnetic shift in T-shaped quantum wires

We determine the exciton states of T-shaped quantum wires. We use anisotropic effective-mass models to describe the electron and hole states. Pair correlation along the wire axis and in the lateral directions is included. We accurately model the measured redshifts between exciton photoluminescence in quantum wells and T-shaped wires. This redshift arises from enhanced exciton binding and the difference between well and wire confinement energy. We predict a large enhancement of binding energy only when lateral correlation is included, indicating that T-shaped wires arequasirather thanquantum1D wires. We calculate exciton shapes and diamagnetic shifts to determine how the exciton is distorted when confined in a T-wire.     

分子线电子输运特性的第一性原理研究

从第一性原理出发 ,利用密度泛函理论研究了SH -C8H16-SH分子和金表面的相互作用 ,并利用分子前线轨道理论和微扰理论定量地确定了该相互作用能常数 ,然后 ,利用弹性散射格林函数方法研究了该分子与金表面形成的分子线的伏 安特性 .研究结果表明 ,当含有硫氢官能团的有机分子化学吸附于金表面时 ,硫原子将与金原子形成以共价键为主的混和键 ,此时 ,扩展的分子轨道使分子线的电导呈现出欧姆特性 ,而对于局域的分子轨道 ,电子的输运只能通过隧道效应来实现 .对分子线伏 安特性的计算结果显示 ,在零偏压附近 ,存在一个电流禁区 ,随着偏压的增加 ,分子线的电导呈现出平台特征 .     

Investigation of the aging of gas-discharge detectors of particles with the use of nuclear reaction analysis

This paper reports on the results of an investigation into the aging of drift tubes with anodes fabricated from gold-plated tungsten wires under continuous irradiation with a ⁹⁰Sr beta source. The accumulated charge is as high as 9 C cm^?1. The process of aging is studied in a gaseous mixture containing Ar, CO₂, and CF₄. It is revealed that the aging brings about a severe damage of the gold coating on a tungsten wire and an increase in the diameter of the wire in the irradiated zone from 35 to 42 μm. The observed swelling of the anode wire under forces applied from the inside is apparently a new mechanism of aging of anode wires. The swelling effect is assumed to be caused by the oxidation of the tungsten wire. It is demonstrated using the nuclear reaction analysis that the deposits containing tungsten, oxygen, carbon, and fluorine are distributed along the anode wire in the direction of the gas flow. The oxygen and fluorine distributions over the depth and along the length of the anode wire are determined.     

Tension–compression asymmetry and size effects in nanocrystalline Ni nanowires

We investigate size effects in nanocrystalline nickel nanowires using molecular dynamics and an EAM potential. Both compressive and tensile deformation tests were performed for nanowires with radii ranging from 5 to 18?nm and a grain size of 10?nm. The wires contained up to four million atoms and were tested using a strain rate of 3.33?×?10⁸?s^?1. The results are compared with similar tests for a periodic system, which models a bulk macroscopic sample size of the same nanocrystalline material. The importance of dislocation-mediated plasticity decreases as the wire diameter is decreased and is more relevant under compression than under tension. A significant tension–compression asymmetry was observed, which is strongly dependent on the wire size. For the bulk nanocrystalline samples and larger wire radii, the flow stresses are higher under compression than under tension. This effect decreases as the wire radius decreases and is reversed for the smallest wires tested. Our results can be explained by the interplay of nano-scale effects in the grain sizes and in the wire radii.     

Intersubband optical transitions in one dimensional quantum wire structures

One dimensional (1D) quantum wire structures are emerging as the new generation of semiconductor nanostructures offering exciting physical properties which have significant potential for novel device applications. These structures have been the subject of intensive investigation recently including extensive theoretical and experimental studies of their interband optical properties. In this work we present the results of our study of the intersubband optical transitions in 1D semiconductor quantum wires. The crescent shaped quantum wire structures used for this research were grown on non-planar GaAs substrates. The intersubband transition energy spectra, the selection rules, and the two dimensional envelope wavefunctions were theoretically investigated by using our new LENS (local envelope states) expansion. We present recent experimental results on modulation doped V-groove quantum wires, including PL, PLE, TEM, CL, and infrared polarization resolved spectroscopy. We have observed a very unusual absorption lineshape at the far-infrared wavelengths that we assigned to phonon assisted Fano resonance in a modulation doped quantum wire structure.     

Even-odd behavior of conductance in monatomic sodium wires

With the aid of the Friedel sum rule, we perform first-principles calculations of conductances through monatomic Na wires, taking into account the sharp tip geometry and discrete atomic structure of electrodes. We find that conductances (G) depend on the number (L) of atoms in the wires; G is G(0)( = 2e(2)/h) for odd L, independent of the wire geometry, while G is generally smaller than G(0) and sensitive to the wire structure for even L. This even-odd behavior is attributed to the charge neutrality and resonant character due to the sharp tip structure. We suggest that similar even-odd behavior may appear in other monovalent atomic wires.     

Stabilization of monoatomic gold wires by carbon impurities

The influence of atomic and molecular carbon on the structural and electronic properties of a monoatomic gold wire has been studied by means of projector augmented-wave method (PAW) within density functional theory (DFT). Our calculations show that carbon is able to enhance the stability of linear gold chains with large interatomic separations. The Au-Au spacing at breakage can be as long as ∼4.5 and 6 Å for the wires incorporating atomic (Au-C) and molecular carbon (Au-C₂), respectively. The calculated band structure for nonmagnetic Au-C reveals the presence of one conduction channel for linear chains, but two channels for zigzag-like ones. A close similarity of this behaviour, to that known for a pure gold wire might indicate little influence of carbon on the conduction properties of gold nanowires.