Self-organized GaN/AlN hexagonal quantum-dots:strain distribution and electronic structure

This paper presents a finite element method of calculating strain distributions in and around the self-organized GaN/AlN hexagonal quantum dots. The model is based on the continuum elastic theory, which is capable of treating a quantum dot with an arbitrary shape. A truncated hexagonal pyramid shaped quantum dot is adopted in this paper. The electronic energy levels of the GaN/AlN system are calculated by solving a three-dimension effective mass Shrodinger equation including a strain modified confinement potential and polarization effects. The calculations support the previous results published in the literature.     

Direct spin–phonon coupling of spin-flip relaxation in quantum dots

Within the frame of the Pavlov–Firsov spin–phonon coupling model, we study the spin-flip assisted by the acoustical phonon scattering between the first-excited state and the ground state in quantum dots. We analyze the behaviors of the spin relaxation rates as a function of an external magnetic field and lateral radius of quantum dot. The different trends of the relaxation rates depending on the magnetic field and lateral radius are obtained, which may serve as a channel to distinguish the relaxation processes and thus control the spin state effectively.     

Carrier transport in III–V quantum-dot structures for solar cells or photodetectors

According to the well-established light-to-electricity conversion theory,resonant excited carriers in the quantum dots will relax to the ground states and cannot escape from the quantum dots to form photocurrent,which have been observed in quantum dots without a p–n junction at an external bias.Here,we experimentally observed more than 88% of the resonantly excited photo carriers escaping from In As quantum dots embedded in a short-circuited p–n junction to form photocurrent.The phenomenon cannot be explained by thermionic emission,tunneling process,and intermediate-band theories.A new mechanism is suggested that the photo carriers escape directly from the quantum dots to form photocurrent rather than relax to the ground state of quantum dots induced by a p–n junction.The finding is important for understanding the low-dimensional semiconductor physics and applications in solar cells and photodiode detectors.     

Geometric phase of an open double-quantum-dot system detected by a quantum point contact

We study theoretically the geometric phase of a double-quantum-dot(DQD) system measured by a quantum point contact(QPC) in the pure dephasing and dissipative environments, respectively. The results show that in these two environments, the coupling strength between the quantum dots has an enhanced impact on the geometric phase during a quasiperiod. This is due to the fact that the expansion of the width of the tunneling channel connecting the two quantum dots accelerates the oscillations of the electron between the quantum dots and makes the length of the evolution path longer.In addition, there is a notable near-zero region in the geometric phase because the stronger coupling between the system and the QPC freezes the electron in one quantum dot and the solid angle enclosed by the evolution path is approximately zero,which is associated with the quantum Zeno effect. For the pure dephasing environment, the geometric phase is suppressed as the dephasing rate increases which is caused only by the phase damping of the system. In the dissipative environment,the geometric phase is reduced with the increase of the relaxation rate which results from both the energy dissipation and phase damping of the system. Our results are helpful for using the geometric phase to construct the fault-tolerant quantum devices based on quantum dot systems in quantum information.     

The influence of strain-reducing layer on strain distribution and ground state energy levels of GaN/AlN quantum dot

This article deals with the strain distributions around GaN/AlN quantum dots by using the finite element method. Special attention is paid to the influence of Al_0.2Ga_0.8N strain-reducing layer on strain distribution and electronic structure. The numerical results show that the horizontal and the vertical strain components are reinforced in the GaN quantum dot due to the presence of the strain-reducing layer, but the hydrostatic strain in the quantum dot is not influenced. According to the deformation potential theory, we study the band edge modifications and the piezoelectric effects. The result demonstrates that with the increase of the strain reducing layer, the transition energy between the ground state electron and the heavy hole increases. This result is consistent with the emission wavelength blue shift phenomenon observed in the experiment and confirms that the wavelength shifts toward the short wavelength range is realizable by adjusting the structure-dependent parameters of GaN/AlN quantum dot.     

Fano Effect and Anti-Resonance Band in a Parallel-Coupled Double Quantum Dot System with Two Multi-Quantum Dot Chains

A parallel-coupled double quantum dot(PCDQD) system with two multi-quantum dot chains is designed. Conductance versus Fermi energy level is investigated utilizing the non-equilibrium Green's function approach. If two quantum dots are added on each side of the PCDQD system, additional Breit–Wigner and Fano resonances occur in the conductance spectra. If quantum dots are added on one side of the system, small Fano resonances can be observed in the conductance spectra. Adjusting the number of side-coupled quantum dots, the anti-resonance bands emerge at different positions, which makes the system applicable as a quantum switching device. Moreover,the I–V characteristic curve presents the step characteristic and the width of the step decreases with increasing the number of side-coupled quantum dots.     

Non-Equilibrium Quantum Transport of Bosons through a Quantum Dot

The quantum dot coupled to reservoirs is known as a typical mesoscopic setup to manifest the quantum characteristics of particles in transport. In analogue to many efforts made on the study of electronic quantum dots in the past decades, we study the transport of bosons through such a device. We first generalize the formula which relates the current to the local properties of dot in the bosonic situation. Then, as an illustrative example, we calculate the local density of state and lesser Green function of the localized boson with a bosonic Fano-Anderson model. The current-voltage （I - V） behaviour at zero temperature is presented, and in the bosonic dot it is the I - V curve, in contrast to the differential conductance in the electronic dot, which is found to be proportional to the spectral function.     

Direct growth of graphene on gallium nitride by using chemical vapor deposition without extra catalyst

Graphene on gallium nitride(GaN) will be quite useful when the graphene is used as transparent electrodes to improve the performance of gallium nitride devices. In this work, we report the direct synthesis of graphene on GaN without an extra catalyst by chemical vapor deposition. Raman spectra indicate that the graphene films are uniform and about 5–6 layers in thickness. Meanwhile, the effects of growth temperatures on the growth of graphene films are systematically studied, of which 950℃ is found to be the optimum growth temperature. The sheet resistance of the grown graphene is 41.1Ω/square,which is close to the lowest sheet resistance of transferred graphene reported. The mechanism of graphene growth on GaN is proposed and discussed in detail. XRD spectra and photoluminescence spectra indicate that the quality of GaN epi-layers will not be affected after the growth of graphene.     

Magneto-optical properties of self-assembled InAs quantum dots for quantum information processing

Semiconductor quantum dots have been intensively investigated because of their fundamental role in solid-state quantum information processing. The energy levels of quantum dots are quantized and can be tuned by external field such as optical, electric, and magnetic field. In this review, we focus on the development of magneto–optical properties of single In As quantum dots embedded in Ga As matrix, including charge injection, relaxation, tunneling, wavefunction distribution,and coupling between different dimensional materials. Finally, the perspective of coherent manipulation of quantum state of single self-assembled quantum dots by photocurrent spectroscopy with an applied magnetic field is discussed.     

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of high quality InAs/GaAs quantum dots for 1.3-μm quantum dot lasers

Systematic investigation of InAs quantum dot(QD) growth using molecular beam epitaxy has been carried out, focusing mainly on the InAs growth rate and its effects on the quality of the InAs/GaAs quantum dots.By optimizing the growth rate, high quality InAs/GaAs quantum dots have been achieved.The areal quantum dot density is 5.9× 10~(10) cm~(-2), almost double the conventional density(3.0 × 1010 cm~(-2)).Meanwhile, the linewidth is reduced to 29 meV at room temperature without changing the areal dot density.These improved QDs are of great significance for fabricating high performance quantum dot lasers on various substrates.     

Roles of V/III ratio and mixture degree in GaN growth: CFD and MD simulation study

To understand the mechanism of Gallium nitride (GaN) film growth is of great importance for their potential applica- tions. In this paper, we investigate the growth behavior of the GaN film by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Both of the simulations show that V/III mixture degree can have important impacts on the deposition behavior, and it is found that the more uniform the mixture is, the better the growth is. Besides, by using MD simulations, we illustrate the whole process of the GaN growth. Furthermore, we also find that the V/III ratio can affect the final roughness of the GaN film. When the V/III ratio is high, the surface of final GaN film is smooth. The present study provides insights into GaN growth from the macroscopic and microscopic views, which may provide some suggestions on better experimental GaN preparation.     

Phonon-dependent transport through a serially coupled double quantum dot system

Using Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function formalism and mapping a many-body electron–phonon interaction onto a one body problem, the electron transport through a serially coupled double quantum dot system is analyzed. The influence of the electron–phonon interaction, temperature, detuning, and interdot tunneling on the transmission coefficient and current is studied. Our results show that the electron–phonon interaction results in the appearance of the side peaks in the transmission coefficient, whose height is strongly dependent on the phonon temperature. We have also found that the inequality of the electron–phonon interaction strength in two dots gives rise to an asymmetry in the current–voltage characteristic. In addition, the temperature difference between the phonon and electron subsystems results in the reduction of the saturated current and the destruction of the step-like behavior of the current. It is also observed that the detuning can improve the magnitude of the current by compensating the mismatch of the quantum dots energy levels induced by the electron–phonon interaction.     

Probing Energy Spectrum of Quadruple Quantum Dots with Microwave Field

A double quantum dot defines a qubit by a two-level system. The coupling between two qubits induces a double two-level system into a four-level system. We study experimentally the coupling between two capacitive coupled GaAs/AlGaAs double quantum dots while tuning the energy detuning of each double quantum dot simultaneously. Applying microwave photons （at a frequency of 20 GHz） on this system and observing the resonance tunneling with a quantum point contact detector, we obtain an excitation spectrum which is consistent with the numerical simuIation result of a coupled two-qubit Hamiltonian. This study demonstrates that a double quantum dot can be exploited as an extraordinary platform for controlled quantum gates.     

Monolithic semi-polar(1■01) InGaN/GaN near white light-emitting diodes on micro-striped Si(100) substrate

The epitaxial growth of novel GaN-based light-emitting diode(LED) on Si(100) substrate has proved challenging.Here in this work, we investigate a monolithic phosphor-free semi-polar InGaN/GaN near white light-emitting diode, which is formed on a micro-striped Si(100) substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. By controlling the size of micro-stripe, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells(MQWs) with different well widths are grown on semi-polar(1■01)planes. Besides, indium-rich quantum dots are observed in InGaN wells by transmission electron microscopy, which is caused by indium phase separation. Due to the different widths of MQWs and indium phase separation, the indium content changes from the center to the side of the micro-stripe. Various indium content provides the wideband emission. This unique property allows the semipolar InGaN/GaN MQWs to emit wideband light, leading to the near white light emission.     

Quantum dots-templated growth of strain-relaxed GaN on a c-plane sapphire by radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy

We investigated the quantum dots-templated growth of a(0001) GaN film on a c-plane sapphire substrate.The growth was carried out in a radio-frequency molecular beam epitaxy system.The enlargement and coalescence of grains on the GaN quantum dots template was observed in the atom force microscopy images,as well as the more ideal surface morphology of the GaN epitaxial film on the quantum dots template compared with the one on the AlN buffer.The Ga polarity was confirmed by the reflected high energy electron diffraction patterns and the Raman spectra.The significant strain relaxation in the quantum dots-templated GaN film was calculated based on the Raman spectra and the X-ray rocking curves.Meanwhile,the threading dislocation density in the quantum dots-templated film was estimated to be 7.1×107cm-2,which was significantly suppressed compared with that of the AlN-buffered GaN film.The roomtemperature Hall measurement showed an electron mobility of up to 1860cm2 /V·s in the two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of the Al 0.25Ga0.75 N/GaN heterojunction.     

Thermodynamic behaviour of Rashba quantum dot in the presence of magnetic field

The thermodynamic properties of an In Sb quantum dot have been investigated in the presence of Rashba spin–orbit interaction and a static magnetic field. The energy spectrum and wave-functions for the system are obtained by solving the Schrodinger wave-equation analytically. These energy levels are employed to calculate the specific heat, entropy,magnetization and susceptibility of the quantum dot system using canonical formalism. It is observed that the system is susceptible to maximum heat absorption at a particular value of magnetic field which depends on the Rashba coupling parameter as well as the temperature. The variation of specific heat shows a Schottky-like anomaly in the low temperature limit and rapidly converges to the value of 2kB with the further increase in temperature. The entropy of the quantum dot is found to be inversely proportional to the magnetic field but has a direct variation with temperature. The substantial effect of Rashba spin–orbit interaction on the magnetic properties of quantum dot is observed at low values of magnetic field and temperature.     

Off—Center D—Centers in a Quantum Dot in the Presence of a Perpendicular Magnetic Fields

We investigate the effect of the position of the donor in quantum dots on the energy spectrum in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field by using the method of few-body physics,As a function of the magnetic field,we find,when D^- centers are placed sufficiently off-center,discontinuous ground-state transitions which are similar to those found in many-electron parabolic quantum dots.Series of magic numbers of angular momentum which minimize the ground-state electron-electron interaction energy have been discovered.The dependence of the binding energy of the gound-state of the D^- center on the dot radius for a few values of the magnetic field strength is obtained and compared with other results.     

Effect of hydrostatic pressure and polaronic mass of the binding energy in a spherical quantum dot

Simultaneous effect of hydrostatic pressure and polaronic mass on the binding energies of the ground and excited states of an on-center hydrogenic impurity confined in a Ga As/Ga Al As spherical quantum dot are theoretically investigated by the variational method within the effective mass approximation. The binding energy is calculated as a function of dot radius and pressure. Our findings proved that the hydrostatic pressure led to the decrease of confined energy and the increase of donor binding energy. Conduction band non-parabolicity and the polaron masses are effective in the donor binding energy which is significant for narrow dots not in the confined energy. The maximum donor binding energy achieved by the polaronic mass in the ground and excited states are 2%–19% for the narrow dots. The confined and donor binding energies approach zero as the dot size approaches infinity.     

Testing the validity of the Ehrenfest theorem beyond simple static systems: Caldirola–Kanai oscillator driven by a time-dependent force

The relationship between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics is investigated by taking a Gaussian-type wave packet as a solution of the Schr o¨dinger equation for the Caldirola–Kanai oscillator driven by a sinusoidal force. For this time-dependent system, quantum properties are studied by using the invariant theory of Lewis and Riesenfeld. In particular,we analyze time behaviors of quantum expectation values of position and momentum variables and compare them to those of the counterpart classical ones. Based on this, we check whether the Ehrenfest theorem which was originally developed in static quantum systems can be extended to such time-varying systems without problems.     

Detection of Majorana fermions in an Aharonov–Bohm interferometer

By using the non-equilibrium Green's function technique, we investigate the electronic transport properties in an Aharonov–Bohm interferometer coupling with Majorana fermions. We find a fixed unit conductance peak which is independent of the other factors when the topological superconductor is grounded. Especially, an additional phase appears when the topological superconductor is in the strong Coulomb regime, which induces a new conductance resonant peak compared with the structure of replacing the topological superconductor by a quantum dot, and the conductance oscillation with the magnetic flux reveals a 2π phase shift by raising(lowering) a charge on the capacitor.