‘Hot phonon’ contribution to Urbach's tails in semiconductors

We consider electron-hole recombination in semiconductors under high injection levels of electrons and holes interacting with ‘hot LO-phonons’. It is shown that the increasing value of E₀, an energy parameter which characterizes the exponential low energy edge in the luminescence spectra, with laser light intensity is the result of the increasing concentration of phonons in excess of equilibrium. Dependence of E₀ with the effective temperature T¹ of the phonons is given. Furthermore, it is shown that the electron-phonon interaction also contributes to the shift of the spectra towards lower energies.     

Photoinduced Local Nonequilibrium States in Superconductors: Hot Spot Model

The so-called hot spot model is often used to study problems concerning the local heating of electrons and phonons and local suppression of superconductivity by electromagnetic radiation. This model implies that the dynamics of a system in a certain time interval can be described by a locally equilibrium electron distribution function, but the electron temperature T_e differs from the equilibrium value. Such an assumption makes it possible to use the heat equation to study the temporal and spatial dynamics of T_e and significantly simplifies the study of the dynamic response of a superconductor. Examples of the use of this model to describe nonequilibrium effects occurring in systems with different types of superconducting pairing under electromagnetic irradiation have been presented in this work.     

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.     

Temperature dependent energy relaxation time in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures

The two-dimensional (2D) electron energy relaxation in Al_0.25Ga_0.75N/AlN/GaN heterostructures was investigated experimentally by using two experimental techniques; Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect and classical Hall Effect. The electron temperature (T_e) of hot electrons was obtained from the lattice temperature (T_L) and the applied electric field dependencies of the amplitude of SdH oscillations and Hall mobility. The experimental results for the electron temperature dependence of power loss are also compared with the current theoretical models for power loss in 2D semiconductors. The power loss that was determined from the SdH measurements indicates that the energy relaxation of electrons is due to acoustic phonon emission via unscreened piezoelectric interaction. In addition, the power loss from the electrons obtained from Hall mobility for electron temperatures in the range T_e > 100 K is associated with optical phonon emission. The temperature dependent energy relaxation time in Al_0.25Ga_0.75N/AlN/GaN heterostructures that was determined from the power loss data indicates that hot electrons relax spontaneously with MHz to THz emission with increasing temperatures.     

Energy relaxation of warm electrons in (100)-Si-MOSFETs under substrate bias

We have studied the energy loss of warm electrons in a two- dimensional electron gas at the SiSiO₂ interface of (100)-Si- MOSFETs. The application of a negative substrate bias decreases the inelastic electron-phonon interaction considerably at T₁ = 1.8 K. The temperature dependence of the energy loss suggests that at zero substrate bias and low temperatures deformation potential scattering by Si-bulk phonons cannot entirely account for the experimental findings.     

Electron interaction effects on the thermoelectric power of a quantum dot at T &gt; T<Subscript>K</Subscript>

In the absence of phonon thermal conductivity, we theoretically investigate the output power of an interacting quantum dot thermoelectric setup that is moderately coupled to two electronic reservoirs in the regime T ? T _K . In the noninteracting case, the output power is maximized when the energy level of the dot is around a critical value ε _c . We find that when the energy level of the dot is lower than ε _c , Coulomb interaction can enhance the maximum thermoelectric power that can be achieved by tuning the bias and a wider operating region is also observed. However, when the energy level of the dot is higher than ε _c , Coulomb interaction suppresses the maximum power. Finally when the dot level is around ε _c , Coulomb interaction has minimal effects on the maximum power.     

Transport across an Anderson quantum dot in the intermediate coupling regime

We describe linear and nonlinear transport across a strongly interacting single impurity Anderson model quantum dot with intermediate coupling to the leads, i.e. with tunnel coupling Γ of the order of the thermal energy k _B T. The coupling is large enough that sequential tunneling processes (second order in the tunneling Hamiltonian) alone do not suffice to properly describe the transport characteristics. Upon applying a density matrix approach, the current is expressed in terms of rates obtained by considering a very small class of diagrams which dress the sequential tunneling processes by charge fluctuations. We call this the “dressed second order” (DSO) approximation. One advantage of the DSO is that, still in the Coulomb blockade regime, it can describe the crossover from thermally broadened to tunneling broadened conductance peaks. When the temperature is decreased even further (k _B T < Γ), the DSO captures Kondesque behaviours of the Anderson quantum dot qualitatively: we find a zero bias anomaly of the differential conductance versus applied bias, an enhancement of the conductance with decreasing temperature as well as universality of the shape of the conductance as function of the temperature. We can without complications address the case of a spin degenerate level split energetically by a magnetic field. In case spin dependent chemical potentials are assumed and only one of the four chemical potentials is varied, the DSO yields in principle only one resonance. This seems to be in agreement with experiments with pseudo spin [U. Wilhelm, J. Schmid, J. Weis, K.V. Klitzing, Physica E 14, 385 (2002)]. Furthermore, we get qualitative agreement with experimental data showing a cross-over from the Kondo to the empty orbital regime.     

Disorder and interaction-induced pairing in the addition spectra of quantum dots

We have numerically investigated the electron addition spectra in quantum dots containing a small number (N相似文献   

Power output and efficiency of quantum dot attached to ferromagnetic electrodes with non-collinear magnetic moments

Non-linear charge and heat transport through a single-level quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime is investigated within the framework of non-equilibrium Green function formalism and power output and efficiency of the device are studied. It is found that maximum power as well as efficiency depends on the relative orientation of magnetic moments in electrodes and can vary with polarization factor p. In general, power output is suppressed in magnetic systems and decreases with polarization. The highest efficiency can be attained in antiparallel configuration, and moreover, it does not depend on p. Spin power as well as spin efficiency of the system is introduced and discussed. It is also shown that in the Coulomb blockade regime the (spin) efficiency of the device operating under maximum power conditions varies with temperature bias in a non-monotonic way and shows a flat maximum for low ΔT.     

Blockade of tunneling in a suspended single-electron transistor

The tunneling of electrons that is limited by the Coulomb blockade effect in a single-electron transistor with a quantum dot based on a narrow GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wire suspended over a substrate is investigated. By means of a direct comparison experiment, the tunneling features associated with the separation of the quantum dot from the substrate are revealed. In addition to an increase in the charge energy (Coulomb gap), which reaches 170 K in temperature units, the dependence of this energy on the number of electrons in the quantum dot, which varies from zero to four, is observed. This dependence is explained by a change in the effective size of the dot due to the effect of the depleting gate voltage. Moreover, the additional blockade of tunneling that is different from the Coulomb blockade and is specific for suspended structures is observed. It is shown that this blockade is not associated with the dynamical effect of exciting local phonon modes and can be attributed to the change in the static elastic strains in the quantum wire that accompany the tunneling of an electron to/from the quantum dot.     

Thermally assisted hopping transport in disordered systems

The response to an external field of localized electrons coupled to phonons is investigated. The low frequency (ω<T) linear response function is shown to obey a kinetic equation. The transition probabilities (including multiphonon contributions) can be expressed in terms of the dynamical correlation functions(k, ?) of the phonons. The low temperature d.c. conductivity in three dimensions obeys a law σ(0)=σ₀ · exp(? (T ₀/T)^1/4). By a combined variational and “nearest neighbor” approximation upper limits for the exponential as well as the pre-exponential factor are obtained. In two dimensions the 1/4 in the exponent has to be replaced by 1/3. The one-dimensional case requires separate considerations which do not simply lead to an exponent 1/2. An expression for the thermopower in the hopping regime is derived and evaluated.     

Kinematic spin-fluctuation mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity

We study d-wave superconductivity in the extended Hubbard model in the strong correlation limit for a large intersite Coulomb repulsion V. We argue that in the Mott-Hubbard regime with two Hubbard subbands, there emerges a new energy scale for the spin-fluctuation coupling of electrons of the order of the electron kinetic energy W much larger than the exchange energy J. This coupling is induced by the kinematic interaction for the Hubbard operators, which results in the kinematic spin-fluctuation pairing mechanism for V ? W. The theory is based on the Mori projection technique in the equation of motion method for the Green’s functions in terms of the Hubbard operators. The doping dependence of the superconductivity temperature T _c is calculated for various values of U and V.     

Thermoelectric properties of correlated double quantum dot system in Coulomb blockade regime

We theoretically study thermoelectric properties of a coupled double quantum dot (DQD) system coupled to normal leads using two impurity Anderson model with intra- as well as interdot Coulomb interactions. A generic formulation, which was earlier developed to study electronic properties (zero bias maximum of differential conductance and interesting partial swapping in Fano phenomena) of DQD system within Coulomb blockade regime for a non-magnetic case, is extended to investigate thermoelectric properties i.e. electrical conductance, thermoelectric power and thermal conductance of the same system, as a function of temperature by varying interdot Coulomb interaction and interdot tunneling. Interdot Coulomb interaction is found to trigger some novel features like crossover in thermoelectric power with temperature in all the configurations (series, parallel and T-shape) and a small peak in thermal conductance toward low temperatures, T≈Γ/10, in series and T-shape configurations, which is found to be missing in case of symmetric parallel configuration. The origin of these novel features is attributed to the interplay of renormalization of energy levels caused by the interdot Coulomb interaction which is interpreted in terms of local density of states and the asymmetry effects related to dot-lead couplings/interference effects.     

Interpretation of temperature dependence of the in-plane electrical resistivity in YBa2Cu4O8: Electron–phonon approach

In this paper, we undertake a quantitative analysis of observed temperature-dependent in-plane normal state electrical resistivity of single crystal YBa₂Cu₄O₈. The analysis is within the framework of classical electron–phonon i.e., Bloch-Gruneisen model of resistivity. It is based on the inherent acoustic (low frequency) phonons (ω_ac) as well as high frequency optical phonons (ω_op), the contributions to the phonon resistivity were first estimated. The optical phonons of the oxygen breathing mode yields a relatively larger contribution to the resistivity compared to the contribution of acoustic phonons. Estimated contribution to in-plane electrical resistivity by considering both phonons i.e., ω_ac and ω_op, along with the zero-limited resistivity, when subtracted from single crystal data infers a quadratic temperature dependence over most of the temperature range [80 ? T ? 300]. Quadratic temperature dependence of ρ_diff. = [ρ_exp − {ρ₀ + ρ_e−ph (=ρ_ac + ρ_op)}] is understood in terms of electron–electron inelastic scattering. The relevant energy gap expressions within the Nambu-Eliashberg approach are solved imposing experimental constraints on their solution (critical temperature T_c). It is found that the indirect-exchange formalism provides a unique set of electronic parameters [electron–phonon (λ_ph), electron-charge fluctuations (λ_pl), electron–electron (μ) and Coulomb screening parameter (μ^*)] which, in particular, reproduce the reported value of T_c.     

Resonant tunneling single electron transistors

We use a modulation-doped double barrier heterostructure to fabricate a resonant tunneling single electron transistor. Irregular Coulomb blockade oscillations are observed when the gate voltage is swept to vary one-by-one the number of electrons in the dot close to 'pinch-off'. The oscillation period is not regular, and generally becomes longer as the electron number is decreased down to zero, reflecting the growing importance of electron-electron interactions and size quantization. Negative differential resistance associated with resonant tunneling through zero-dimensional states is pronounced for a dot holding just a few electrons. The temperature dependence of the Coulomb blockade oscillations and that for the negative differential resistance are not the same. This highlights the different effects of charging and resonant tunneling on the transport characteristics.     

Coulomb blockade and the thermopower of a suspended quantum dot

On the basis of the 2D electron gas in an AlGaAs/GaAs membrane separated from a wafer, a one-electron transistor is created that operates on the Coulomb blockade effect—a two-barrier structure with a quantum dot. The separation of the sample from the wafer, which has a large dielectric constant, leads to a sharp decrease in the total capacity C of the quantum dot and, as a result, to high charge energy E _C = e ²/C and critical temperature T _C = E _C/k _B ≈ 40 K. The dependence of the conductance of the quantum dot on the driving and gate voltages includes a rhombic structure characteristic of the Coulomb blockade effect. The phonon-drag thermopower is found in this system. This thermopower exhibits an anomalous alternating dependence on the gate voltage and intensity of the phonon flux. Possible mechanisms are proposed for explaining the indicated anomalies in the thermopower.     

Dynamics of a wave packet in a system with a quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime

The nonstationary problem of electron tunneling through a quantum dot in the Coulomb block-ade regime is studied. The temporal Schrödinger equation is solved and the dynamics of the wave packet in a system consisting of a quantum dot connected to two one-dimensional contacts is investigated. The transmission coefficient is calculated. Dependences of the transmission on the tunneling electron energy are constructed.     

Coulomb explosion of the hot spot of micropinches

It has been shown that the generation of hard X-ray radiation, electron beam, and high energy ions that have been detected in experiments on compressing pinches can be related to the Coulomb explosion of a micropinch hot spot, which is formed due to the outflow of the material. In the outflow process, the plasma temperature in the hot spot increases and conditions appear for the transition of electrons to the regime of continuous acceleration. The exit of runaway electrons from the hot spot region leads to the creation of a positive bulk charge, then to a Coulomb explosion. Conditions under which electrons pass to the continuous acceleration regime have been determined and estimates of the ion kinetic energy upon a Coulomb explosion have been obtained.     

A criticism of the standard treatment of phonon drag

By the study of a simple example, namely the evolution in timet of an electron-phonon system with fixed, total momentum, it is shown that the “standard” treatment of “phonon drag”, which involves solving the (linearized and spatially homogeneous) coupled electron and phonon Boltzmann equations by an iteration procedure, is not always correct. In the asymptotic limit (t→∞), the iteration or “standard” procedure does not give the “correct” (i.e. the equilibrium statistical mechanical) result for the distribution of momentum between electrons and phonons. However, a proper treatment of the Boltzmann equations does lead to the “correct” sharing of momentum between electrons and phonons fort→∞. All the calculations in this paper are performed for metals at high temperatures (i.e.,T>Θ_D, the Debye temperature).     

Coherence destruction of tunneling in a quantum-dot molecule with bias

This paper studies the constraint conditions for coherence destruction in tunneling by using perturbation theory and numerical simulation for an AC-field with bias and Coulomb interaction between electrons in a quantum dot molecule. Such conditions can be described by using the roots of a Bessel function Jn(x), where n is determined by both the bias and the Coulomb interactions, and x is the ratio of the amplitude to the frequency of the AC-field. Under such conditions, a coherent suppression of tunneling occurs between localized electronic states, which results from the dynamical localization phenomenon. All the conditions are verified with numerical simulations.