Electronic states and shapes of silicon quantum dots

A curviform surface breaks the symmetrical shape of silicon quantum dots on which some bonds can produce localized electronic states in the bandgap. The calculation results show that the bonding energy and electronic states of silicon quantum dots are different on various curved surfaces, for example, a Si-O-Si bridge bond on curved surface provides localized levels in bandgap and its bonding energy is shallower than that on the facet. The red-shifting ofthe photoluminescence spectrum on smaller silicon quantum dots can be explained by the curved surface effect. Experiments demonstrate that silicon quantum dots are activated for emission due to the localized levels provided by the curved surface effect.     

硅量子点的形状及其弯曲表面效应

硅量子点的弯曲表面引起系统的对称性破缺, 致使某些表面键合在能带的带隙中形成局域电子态.计算结果表明:硅量子点的表面曲率不同形成的表面键合结合能和电子态分布明显不同. 例如, Si–O–Si桥键在曲率较大的表面键合能够在带隙中形成局域能级, 而在硅量子点曲率较小的近平台表面上键合不会形成任何局域态, 但此时的键合结合能较低. 用弯曲表面效应(CS)可以解释较小硅量子点的光致荧光光谱的红移现象. CS效应揭示了纳米物理中又一奇妙的特性. 实验证实, CS效应在带隙中形成的局域能级可以激活硅量子点发光. 关键词： 硅量子点 弯曲表面效应 表面键合 局域能级     

Depth profile measurement in PMMA-PTFE sandwich structure using dynamic FAB-MS

Fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy (FAB-MS) is used to perform depth profile measurement of an artificial PMMA-PTFE thin film sandwich. It is shown that either the total ion current change or characteristic polymer fragment intensity changes (with respect to time) can be used to locate and study the polymer-polymer interface. Primary and secondary particle beam effects (crater-edge effects, radiation damage accumulation and surface morphology development) are documented and the potential for more advanced FAB-MS polymer-polymer interface studies based on further optimization of experimental conditions is discussed.     

No existence of the geometric potential for a Dirac fermion on a two-dimensional curved surface of revolution

For a free particle that moves non-relativistically on a curved surface, there are curvature-induced quantum potentials that significantly influence the surface quantum states. However, the experimental results in topological insulators, whether curved or not, indicate no evidence of such a potential for the relativistic particles constrained on the curved surface. Within the framework of Dirac quantization scheme, we demonstrate a general result that for a Dirac fermion on a two-dimensional curved surface of revolution, no curvature-induced quantum potential is permissible.     

Geometric Potential and Dirac Quantization

A fundamental problem regarding the Dirac quantization of a free particle on an () curved hypersurface embedded in N flat space is the impossibility to give the same form of the curvature‐induced quantum potential, the geometric potential as commonly called, as that given by the Schrödinger equation method where the particle moves in a region confined by a thin‐layer sandwiching the surface. This problem is resolved by means of a previously proposed scheme that hypothesizes a simultaneous quantization of positions, momenta, and Hamiltonian, among which the operator‐ordering‐free section is identified and is then found sufficient to lead to the expected form of geometric potential.     

Monogamy of Einstein‐Podolsky‐Rosen Steering in the Background of an Asymptotically Flat Black Hole

We study the behavior of monogamy deficit and monogamy asymmetry for Einstein‐Podolsky‐Rosen steering of Gaussian states under the influence of the Hawking effect. We demonstrate that the monogamy of quantum steering shows an extreme scenario in the curved spacetime: the first part of a tripartite system cannot individually steer two other parties, but it can steer the collectivity of the remaining two parties. We also find that the monogamy deficit of Gaussian steering, a quantifier of genuine tripartite steering, are generated due to the influence of the Hawking thermal bath. Our results elucidate the structure of quantum steering in tripartite quantum systems in curved spacetime.     

GaAs/Al1-xAs表面单量子阱原位光调制反射光谱研究

关键词：     

Quantum interfaces using nanoscale surface plasmons

The strong coupling between individual optical emitters and propagating surface plasmons confined to a conducting nanotip make this system act as an ideal interface for quantum networks, through which a stationary qubit and a flying photon (surface plasmon) qubit can be interconverted via a Raman process. This quantum interface paves the way for many essential functions of a quantum network, including sending, receiving, transferring, swapping, and entangling qubits at distributed quantum nodes as well as a deterministic source and an efficient detector of a single-photon. Numerical simulation shows that this scheme is robust against experimental imperfections and has high fidelity. Furthermore, being smaller this interface would significantly facilitate the scalability of quantum computers.     

Confined electron and shallow donor states in graded GaAs/Al Ga As spherical quantum dots

A theoretical study is performed on the confined electron and shallow donor states properties in graded GaAs/Al_xGa_1-xAs spherical quantum dots. The two lowest energy levels of a confined electron are obtained taking into account the dependence of the electron effective mass on the spatial profile of the Al molar fraction. The ground state of a single Si shallow donor, which may be located at an arbitrary position in the structure, is calculated through a variational approach. Depending on the dot interface width and localization, we find that the energy levels of the electron and donor states for the system under study can be blue or red shifted appreciably in comparison to those calculated within the sharp interface picture. We show that it is necessary to have accurate information concerning the interface of semiconductor dots whose samples are used in the experiments, in order to achieve a better understanding of their optical properties. Received 31 May 1999     

Modifying electron-phonon scattering rates in semiconductor quantum wells with thin AlAs layers

We have studied theoretically the electron-phonon scattering rates in GaAs/AlAs quantum wells which have additional thin AlAs layers in them using the dielectric continuum approach for the phonons. The confined and interface phonon modes and the intersubband electron phonon scattering rates of these structures have been calculated. The system with an additional AlAs layer is found to have intersubband electron scattering rates which are increased modestly as compared to those for the corresponding quantum well. These results show that scattering rates in general are expected to depend only weakly on the effects of system structure on the optical phonon spectra.     

限域量子态调控研究

电子、激子和声子等量子态在固体中的行为早已被人们所熟知. 然而,当体系的尺寸只有纳米量级的时候,已有的固体理论常常不能适用,需要新的低维物理理论的建立. 我们系统研究了低维体系限域量子态（包括电子、激子和声子）的行为对环境、应力、压力及光的响应和性质的调控. 较早认识到低维体系之显著的表面-体积比对量子态性质调控之有效性,系统地揭示了低维体系的一系列由表面和应力决定的新颖性质,证明了低维体系的表面和应力效应同量子限域效应同等重要. 本文概况了如下五个方面的结果：（1）一种使用应力效应调控电子能带结构的方法和（2）一种使用表面效应调控电子能带结构的方法（这两个方法都可将低维体系能带从间接能隙调控至直接能隙能带结构）;（3）一种低维体系表面掺杂方法,该方法将在低维体系掺杂中取代传统方法;（4）量子点表面诱导的光致异构现象;（5）基于表面自催化半导体低维结构的形成机理. 希望我们的研究工作有助于促进低维体系在光电子、纳电子、环境、能源、生物和医学等领域的应用.     

Breakup of quasiparticles in thin-film quantum wells

Quantum well states in thin films are commonly described in terms of a quasiparticle confined in a quantum box, but this single-particle picture can fail dramatically near a substrate band edge, as shown by this angle-resolved photoemission study. Atomically uniform Ag films are prepared on Ge(111) to facilitate accurate line shape and dispersion relation measurements. A quantum well peak is observed to split into two peaks near the Ge valence band edge. The unusual line shapes are shown to be due to many-body interactions and are quantitatively explained by a Green's function calculation.     

Electrohydrodynamic controlled assembly and fracturing of thin colloidal particle films confined at drop interfaces

Particles can adsorb strongly at liquid interfaces due to capillary forces, which in practice can confine the particles to the interface. Here we investigate the electrohydrodynamic flow driven packing and deformation of colloidal particle layers confined at the surface of liquid drops. The electrohydrodynamic flow has a stagnation point at the drop equator, leading to assembly of particles in a ribbon shaped film. The flow is entirely controlled by the electric field, and we demonstrate that AC fields can be used to induce hydrodynamic “shaking” of the colloidal particle film. We find that the mechanical properties of the film is highly dependent on the particles: monodisperse polystyrene beads form packed granular monolayers which “liquefies” upon shaking, whereas clay mineral particles form cohesive films that fracture upon shaking. The results are expected to be relevant for understanding the mechanics and rheology of particle stabilized emulsions.     

Particle dynamics and emergent gravity

The emergent gravity proposal is examined within the framework of non-commutative QED/gravity correspondence from particle dynamics point of view. In particular it is demonstrated how a non-commutative U(1) background gauge field can be interpreted as a curved background, as far as the quantum and classical dynamics of a charged particle are concerned.     

Finite-dimensional quantum mechanics of a particle

This paper analyzes the possible implications of interpreting the finitedimensional representations of canonically conjugate quantum mechanical position, and momentum operators of a particle consistent with Weyl's form of Heisenberg's commutation relation as the actual position, and momentum operators of the particle when it is confined to move within a finite spatial domain, and regarding the application of current quantum mechanical formalism based on Heisenberg's relation to such a situation as an asymptotic approximation. In the resulting quantum mechanical formalism the discrete and finite position and momentum spectra of a particle depend on its rest mass and the spatial domain of confinement. Such a finite-dimensional quantum mechanics may be very suitable for describing the physics of particles confined to move within very small regions of space.     

The diffusion of hydrogen monomers on hole-doped graphitic lattices: over-barrier transition and quantum tunneling

The diffusion of hydrogen and deuterium monomers on hole-doped graphene (a planar graphitic lattice), the outside wall and the inside wall of hole-doped (6, 0) single-walled carbon nanotubes (a curved graphitic lattice) was investigated using density functional theory and density functional perturbation theory. The jump frequencies for the over-barrier transition and phonon-assisted quantum tunneling were calculated by transition state theory and small-polaron theory, respectively. The effects of the local curvature of the surface and the hole doping on the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of a hydrogen monomer on these graphitic lattices are discussed. Our results demonstrate that it is sufficient to judge the diffusional mobility of a hydrogen monomer on graphitic lattices from just the over-barrier transition, no matter how much it is curved and hole doped, while the quantum tunneling can be safely neglected because it is significantly suppressed by the covalent bonding of hydrogen with the graphitic lattice.     

Quantum theory in external electromagnetic and gravitational fields: A comparison of some conceptual issues

The quantum theories of a scalar field interacting with external electromagnetic and gravitational fields respectively are compared. It is shown that several peculiar features, like the ambiguity of particle definition, thermal effects etc., which are thought to be special to quantum theory in curved spacetime, have analogues in the case of electromagnetism.     

High-efficient quantum key distribution based on hybrid entanglement

A novel quantum key distribution scheme based on the path-spin hybrid entanglement is proposed and analyzed. In this proposed scheme, the entanglement between the path and the spin degrees of freedom is confined locally with the single particle and transmitted in one-way direction. Two split pulses of a single spin-1/2 particle are not simultaneously transmitted through the public quantum channels for the security goal. The scheme is robust against any individual attack even in noisy environments. Moreover, it also has high-efficiency since one single particle can be used to generate one bit key on average.     

Intersubband relaxation of hot carriers in quantum well systems

We use an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation of coupled electrons, holes and nonequilibrium polar optical phonons in multiple quantum well systems to model the intersubband relaxation of hot carriers measured in ultra-fast optical experiments. We have investigated the effect of various models of confined photon modes on the energy relaxation and intersubband transition rate in single quantum well and coupled well systems. In particular, the symmetry of the atomic displacement with respect to the quantum well has a marked effect on the relative intersubband versus intrasubband scattering rates, depending on whether one considers electrostatic boundary conditions(slab modes) or mechanical boundary conditions(guided modes). In single quantum wells systems, the overall intersubband relaxation time is not found to be strongly dependent on the confined mode model used due to competing effects of hot phonons and the relative intrasubband scattering rates. For coupled well systems, the relaxation rate is much more dependent on the exact nature of the phonon amplitude. Large effects are found associated with localized AlAs interface modes which dominate the intersubband relaxation time.