Macroscopic quantum coherence of the Neel vector in antiferromagnetic system without Kramers' degeneracy

At low temperatures the Neel vector in a small antiferromagnetic particle can possess quantum coherence between the classically degenerate minima. In some cases, the topological term in the magnetic action can lead to destructive interference between the symmetry-related trajectories for the half-integer excess spin antiferromagnetic particle. By studying a macroscopic quantum coherence problem of the Neel vector with biaxial crystal symmetry and a weak magnetic field applied along the hard axis, we find that the quenching of tunnel splitting could take place in the system without Kramers' degeneracy. Both the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin exponent and the pre-exponential factors are found exactly for the tunnel splitting. Results show that the tunnel splitting oscillates with the weak applied magnetic field for both the integer and half-integer excess spin antiferromagnetic particles, and vanishes at certain values of the field. All the calculations are performed based on the two sublattices model and the instanton method in spin-coherent-state path integral. Received: 24 July 1997 / Accepted: 30 September 1997     

Floating Wigner molecules and possible phase transitions in quantum dots

A floating Wigner crystal differs from the standard one by a spatial averaging over positions of the Wigner-crystal lattice. It has the same internal structure as the fixed crystal, but contrary to it, takes into account rotational and/or translational symmetry of the underlying jellium background. We study properties of a floating Wigner molecule in few-electron spin-polarized quantum dots, and show that the floating solid has the lower energy than the standard Wigner crystal with fixed lattice points. We also argue that internal rotational symmetry of individual dots can be broken in arrays of quantum dots, due to degenerate ground states and inter-dot Coulomb coupling. Received 12 September 2001 / Received in final form 24 April 2002 Published online 9 July 2002     

Theoretical study of resonant tunneling in rectangular double-, triple-, quadruple-, and quintuple-barrier structures

The transmission coefficient and the resonance condition in the one-dimensional rectangular double-, triple-, quadruple-, and quintuple-barrier structures are derived theoretically under the assumption of the constant tunneling effective mass. It is found that the resonance energies are different from the eigenvalues in the quantum well due to coupling between wells in the multiple-barrier (much more than triple-barrier) structures. It is confirmed that the transmission spectrum is a Lorentzian near to energies of resonance.     

Measurement of the G asymmetry for the γp↦Nπ channels in the Δ(1232) resonance region

The G asymmetry of the γp↦Nπ reaction has been measured for the first time for E_γ = 340±14 MeV. This observable, for which very scarce published data exist, plays an important role to disentangle the contributions of the various nucleon resonances. The experiment, performed at the Mainz microtron MAMI, used a 4π-detector system, a linearly polarized, tagged photon beam, and a longitudinally polarized proton target.     

Enhanced magneto-electrical properties and room temperature magnetoresistance in lightly doped manganite thin films

We report the effect of compressive strain on magnetic and magneto-electrical properties of lightly doped manganite La_0.88Sr_0.12MnO₃ thin films. Films, having 5-60 nm thickness, were grown on (001) LaAlO₃ and (001) SrTiO₃ substrate by DC-magnetron sputtering. These films show a magnetoresistance as high as ∼65% at room temperature and insulator-metal transition temperature . Further, we demonstrate that a small variation in strain causes significant changes in their properties. We have discussed the possible origin of these features and compared with the reported literature.     

Beam-helicity asymmetry in photon and pion electroproduction in the Δ(1232)-resonance region at Q2 = 0.35(GeV/c)2

The beam-helicity asymmetry has been measured simultaneously for the reactions p→epγ and p→epπ ⁰ in the Δ(1232)-resonance region at Q ² = 0.35(GeV/c)². The experiment was performed at MAMI with a longitudinally polarized beam and an out-of-plane detection of the proton. The results are compared with calculations based on dispersion relations for virtual Compton scattering and with the MAID model for pion electroproduction. There is an overall good agreement between experiment and theoretical calculations. The remaining discrepancies may be ascribed to an imperfect parametrization of some γ ^(*) N→πN multipoles, mainly contributing to the non-resonant background. The beam-helicity asymmetry in both channels (γ and π ⁰) shows a good sensitivity to these multipoles and should allow future improvement in their parametrization.     

Angular dependence of tunneling magnetoresistance in magnetic semiconductor heterostructures

Theoretical studies on spin-dependent transport in magnetic tunnel heterostructures consisting of two diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) separated by a nonmagnetic semiconductor (NMS) barrier, are carried in the limit of coherent regime by including the effect of angular dependence of the magnetizations in DMS. Based on parabolic valence band effective mass approximation and spontaneous magnetization of DMS electrodes, we obtain an analytical expression of angular dependence of transmission for DMS/NMS/DMS junctions. We also examine the dependence of spin polarization and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) on barrier thickness, temperature, applied voltage and the relative angle between the magnetizations of two DMS layers in GaMnAs/GaAs/GaMnAs heterostructures. We discuss the theoretical interpretation of this variation. Our results show that TMR of more than 65% are obtained at zero temperature, when one GaAs monolayer is used as a tunnel barrier. It is also shown that the TMR decreases rapidly with increasing barrier width and applied voltage; however at high voltages and low thicknesses, the TMR first increases and then decreases. Our calculations explain the main features of the recent experimental observations and the application of the predicted results may prove useful in designing nano spin-valve devices.     

Spin-dependent transport through quantum dot with inelastic interactions

Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function method, we theoretically investigate the electron transport properties of a quantum dot coupled to two ferromagnetic electrodes, with inelastic electron-phonon interaction and spin flip scattering present in the quantum dot. It is found that the electron-phonon interaction reduces the current, induces new satellite polaronic peaks in the differential conductance spectrum, and at the same time leads to oscillatory tunneling magnetoresistance effect. Spin flip scattering suppresses the zero-bias conductance peak and splits it into two, with different behaviors for parallel and anti-parallel magnetic configuration of the two electrodes. Consequently, a negative tunneling magnetoresistance effect may occur in the resonant tunneling region, with increasing spin flip scattering rate.     

Transmission resonances in magnetic-barrier structures

Quantum transport properties of electrons in simple magnetic-barrier (MB) structures and in finite MB superlattices are investigated in detail. It is shown that there exists a transition of transmission resonances, i.e., from incomplete transmission resonances in simple MB structures consisting of unidentical blocks, to complete transmission resonances in comparatively complex MB structures (, n is the number of barriers). In simple unidentical block arrangements in double- and triple-MB structures we can also obtain complete transmission by properly adjusting parameters of the building blocks according to k_y-value (k_y is the wave vector in y direction). Strong suppression of the transmission and of the conductance is found in MB superlattices which are periodic arrangements of two different blocks. The resonance splitting effect in finite MB superlattices is examined. It is confirmed that the rule (i.e., for n-barrier tunneling the splitting would be (n-1)-fold) obtained in periodic electric superlattices can be extended to periodically arranged MB superlattices of identical blocks through which electrons with tunnel, and it is no longer proper for electrons with k _y <0 to tunnel. Received: 18 August 1997 / Revised: 20 September 1997 / Accepted: 13 October 1997     

Effect of trivalent cation substitution for manganese upon ferromagnetism in Ln0.57Ca0.43MnO3 (Ln=Pr, Nd)

The substitution of small contents of trivalent cations for manganese in the oxides Ln_0.57Ca_0.43Mn_1−xM_xO₃ (Ln=Pr, Na) has been explored for M=Al, Ga, Fe, Cr, Sc, In. It is shown that similarly to Ba-doping, the M-doped Pr-manganites exhibit a great predisposition to ferromagnetism in a low magnetic field of 0.25 T, reaching ferromagnetic (FM) fractions of 85% for M=Ga and 100% for m=Cr, whereas in contrast only small FM fractions (∼8%) can be reached for the M-doped Nd-manganites. The great ability of both Pr and Nd manganites to exhibit ultrasharp steps at 2.5 K, at increasing magnetic field is also demonstrated. The different behaviors of the so-doped manganites are interpreted in terms of geometric effects (size of the A-sites cations and of the doping elements) and of electronic configurations and magnetic properties of the dopants.