Quantum RLC circuits: Charge discreteness and resonance

In a recent article [C.A. Utreras-Díaz, Phys. Lett. A 372 (2008) 5059], we have advanced a semiclassical theory of quantum circuits with discrete charge and electrical resistance. In this work, we present a few elementary applications of this theory. For the zero resistance inductive circuit, we obtain the Stark ladder energies in yet another way; for the circuit driven by a combination d.c. plus a.c. electromotive force (emf) we generalize earlier results by Chandía et al. [K. Chandía, J.C. Flores, E. Lazo, Phys. Lett. A 359 (2006) 693]. As a second application, we investigate the effect of electrical resistance and charge discreteness, in the resonance conditions of a series RLC quantum circuit.     

Discrete-charge quantum circuits and electrical resistance

From the theory of quantum LC circuits with discrete charge, and semiclassical considerations, we obtain approximate energy eigenvalues, depending on the parameter . Next, we include electrical resistance for the quantum RLC circuit, obtaining a relation that strongly reminds us of the Landauer formula.     

电荷不连续时电容耦合介观电路的量子回路方程及其能谱

考虑电荷具有不连续性的事实对双LC介观电路进行量子化,给出耦合形式的量子回路方程以及无相互作用Hamilton本征基矢下的电路能谱.结果表明,计及电荷离散性将使回路方程的形式发生明显变化;介观电路的能谱除与电路参数相关外,还明显地依赖于电荷的量子化性质.     

Transient and Stationary Simulations for a Quantum Hydrodynamic Model

The transient and stationary characteristics of a one-dimensional quantum hydrodynamic model are comparatively studied for semiconductor charge transport in a resonant tunnelling diode. When the bias is not small, our numerical results show a deviation of the asymptotic transient solutions from the stationary ones. A dynamic instability accounts for such deviation. The stationary quantum hydrodynamic model is therefore unsuitable in general for simulating quantum devices.     

电荷离散化时相干态下介观金属环中电荷与电流以及能量的量子涨落

基于电荷量子化的事实,运用最小平移算符Q∧的性质等,计算对应的相干态下介观金属环中电荷、电流及能量的量子涨落,研究影响量子涨落的因素.结果表明:计及电荷的离散性,在相干态下介观金属环中电荷、能量的量子涨落不为零,分别与电荷量子、相干态参量等因素有关;此外,能量的量子涨落还决定于金属环的电感、外磁通及其时间变化率的大小.     

Modified SQUID Operator Equation for a Single-Qubit Structure Coupled to a Quantum Resonator

Role of self-inductance in superconducting quantum interference device （SQUID） charge qubit is considered. It is found that when an SQUID charge qubit is coupled to a quantum LC resonator, the SQUID voltage operator equation is modified in accompanying with the modification of operator Faraday equation describing the inductance. It is shown that when the extra energy is applied to the junction, the mean phase will be squeezed according to a damping factor.     

Spin-polarized current through a lateral double quantum dot with spin–orbit interaction

We study the spin-polarized current through a vertical double quantum dot scheme. Both the Rashba spin–orbit (RSO) interaction inside one of the quantum dots and the strong intradot Coulomb interactions on the two dots are taken into account by using the second-quantized form of the Hamiltonian. Due to the existence of the RSO interaction, spin-up and spin-down electrons couple to the external leads with different strengths, and then a spin polarized current can be driven out of the middle lead by controlling a set of structure parameters and the external bias voltage. Moreover, by properly adjusting the dot levels and the external bias voltages, a pure spin current with no accompanying charge current can be generated in the weak coupling regime. We show that the difference between the intradot Coulomb interactions strongly influences the spin-polarized currents flowing through the middle lead and is undesirable in the generation of the net spin current. Based on the RSO interaction, the structure we propose can efficiently polarize the electron spin without the usage of any magnetic field or ferromagnetic material. This device can be used as a spin-battery and is realizable using the present available technologies.     

Derivative of Electron Density in Non-Equilibrium Green's Function Technique and Its Application to Boost Performance of Convergence

The non-equilibrium Green＇s function （NEGF） technique provides a solid foundation for the development of quantum mechanical simulators. However, the convergence is always of great concern. We present a general analytical formalism to acquire the accurate derivative of electron density with respect to electrical potential in the framework of NEGF. This formalism not only provides physical insight on non-local quantum phenomena in device simulation, but also can be used to set up a new scheme in solving the Poisson equation to boost the performance of convergence when the NEGF and Poisson equations are solved self-consistently. This method is illustrated by a simple one-dimensional example of an N＋＋ N＋ N＋＋ resistor. The total simulation time and iteration number are largely reduced.     

Triple Quantum Dot Molecule as a Spin-Splitter

We propose a spin-splitter composed of triple quantum dots that works due to the Coulomb blockade effect and the charge and spin biases applied on external electron source and drains. The spin biases are applied only on the two drains and give their spin-dependent chemical potentials, which act as the driving forces for electron spin-polarized transport. By tuning the biases and the dots＇ levels, spin-up and spin-down electrons can be simultaneously split or separated from the source into two different drains. We show that such a tunneling process is detectable in terms of the spin accumulations on the dots or the currents flowing through the external leads. The present device is quite simple and realizable within currently existing technologies.     

介观电子谐振腔量子能谱与能量的量子涨落

针对介观电子谐振腔模型,在由电荷算符本征态构成的新Fock空间中,假设系统具有变换的对称性,通过求解Hamilton算符的本征值方程,给出系统的量子能谱关系.在电荷算符的Fock态下计算能量的量子涨落,分析和研究电子谐振腔的量子能谱性质.结果表明:类似于电荷的量子性,能谱明显地呈现出离散性,其大小决定于谐振腔的电参量、形状因子及栅极所加偏压等因素;而能量的量子涨落却仅与电荷量子、Planck常数以及系统自感有关.     

介观金属双环系统中的持续电流和量子能谱

基于电荷的不连续性,对处于外磁场中的介观双环系统进行量子化.假设系统在电荷表象中具有变换的对称性,通过求解电流和Hamilton算符的本征值方程,给出介观金属环互感系统中的量子电流和能谱关系;分析和研究了介观金属环中量子电流和能谱的性质.结果表明,持续电流和量子能谱不仅与外磁场、介观双环参数有关,而且还明显地依赖于电荷的量子化性质.     

Effect of scattering in the mesoscopic pure L design electric circuit

The quantum theory for mesoscopic electric circuit with charge discreteness is briefly described. The effect of scattering in mesoscopic ‘pure’ inductance design circuit, just like in the mesoscopic metallic rings has been address. The quantum characteristics of charge diffusion has also been obtained explicitly. The case in finite temperature has been discussed as well.     

A new approach to the quantized electrical conductance

The quanta of electrical conductance is derived for a one-dimensional electron gas both by making use of the quasi-classical motion of a quantum fluid and by using arguments related to the uncertainty principle. The result is extended to a nanowire of finite cross section area and to electrons in magnetic field, and the quantization of the electrical conductance is shown. An additional application is made to the two-dimensional electron gas.     

Helical Shell Structures of Ni-A1 Alloy Nanowires and Their Electronic Transport Properties

Six kinds of Ni-A1 alloy nanowires are optimized by means of simulated annealing. The optimized structures show that the Ni-A1 alloy nanowires are helical shell structures that are wound by three atomic strands, which is very similar to the case with pure metallic nanowires. The densities of states （DOS）, transmission function T（ E）, current-voltage （I - V） curves, and the conductance spectra of these alloy nanowires are also investigated. Our results indicate that the conductance spectra depend on the geometric structure properties and the ingredients of the alloy nanowires. We observe and study the nonlinear contribution to the I-V characteristics that are due to the quantum size effect and the impurity effect. The addition of Ni atoms decreases the conductance of the Ni-A1 alloy nanowire because the doping atom Ni change the electronic band structures and the charge density distribution. The interesting statistical results shed light on the physics of quantum transport at the nano-scale.     

Macroscopic Quantum Coherent Phenomena in the Mesoscopic Electric Circuit

The quantum theory for mesoscopic electric circuit with charge discreteness is briefly described. The Schrödinger equation of the mesoscopic electric circuit with external source which is the time function has been proposed. By using the instanton methods, the macroscopic quantum coherent phenomena and effective capacitance oscillation in the mesoscopic electric circuit have been addressed.     

Equilibrium spin current induced by spin-orbital interaction in a quantum dot system

We report a theoretical study of the equilibrium spin current flowing in a quantum dot system. Two electrodes are the two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba or Dresselhaus spin-orbital interaction. By using the Keldysh Green's function technique, we demonstrated that a nonzero spin current can flow in the system without bias. At the weak coupling between electrodes and the quantum dot, the spin current is approximately proportional to the cross product of two average pseudo-magnetizations in two electrodes, which agrees with the result of the linear response theory; whereas at the opposite case, the strong coupling between the quantum dot and electrodes can lead to a non-sinusoidal behavior of the equilibrium spin current. These behaviors of the equilibrium spin current are similar to the Josephson current.     

Time-Dependent Transport in Nanoscale Devices

A method for simulating ballistic time-dependent device transport, which solves the time-dependent Sehrǒdinger equation using the finite difference time domain （FDTD） method together with Poisson＇s equation, is described in detail. The effective mass Schrǒdinger equation is solved. The continuous energy spectrum of the system is discretized using adaptive mesh, resulting in energy levels that sample the density-of-states. By calculating time evolution of wavefunctions at sampled energies, time-dependent transport characteristics such as current and charge density distributions are obtained. Simulation results in a nanowire and a coaxially gated carbon nanotube field-effect transistor （CNTFET） are presented. Transient effects, e.g., finite rising time, are investigated in these devices.     

Josephson-Like Effects in the Mesoscopic Electric Circuit

Abstract The quantum theory for mesoscopic electric circuit with charge discreteness is briefly described. The Schrodinger equation of the mesoscopic electric circuit with external source which is a time function has been proposed. The Josephson-like effects in the mesoscopic electric circuit have been addressed.     

Metastable phase in the quantum Hall ferromagnet

Time-dependent capacitance measurements reveal an unstable phase of electrons in gallium arsenide quantum well that occurs when two Landau levels with opposite-spin are brought close to degeneracy by applying a gate voltage. This phase emerges below a critical temperature and displays a peculiar non-equilibrium dynamical evolution. The relaxation dynamics is found to follow a stretched-exponential behaviour and correlates with hysteresis loops observed by sweeping the magnetic field. These experiments indicate that metastable randomly distributed magnetic domains with peculiar excitations are involved in the relaxation process in a way that is equivalently tunable by a change in gate voltage or temperature.     

Fano-type spin-flip mesoscopic transport through an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

We have investigated the mesoscopic transport properties of a quantum dot embedded Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer applied with a rotating magnetic field. The spin-flip effect is induced by the rotating magnetic field, and the tunneling current is sensitive to the spin-flip effect. The spin-flipped electrons tunneling from the direct channel and the resonant channel interfere with each other to form spin-polarized tunneling current components. The non-resonant tunneling (direct transmission) strength and the AB phase φ play important roles. When the non-resonant tunneling (background transmission) exists, the spin and charge currents form asymmetric peaks and valleys, which exhibit Fano-type line shapes by varying the source-drain bias voltage, or gate voltage. The AB oscillations of the spin and charge currents exhibit distinct dependence on the magnetic flux and direct tunneling strength.