The reflection and transmission group delay times in an asymmetric single quantum barrier

The reflection and transmission group delay times are systematically investigated in an asymmetric single quantum barrier. It is reported that the reflection times in both evanescent and propagating cases can be either negative or positive, depending on the relative height of the potential energies on the two sides of the barrier. In the evanescent case where the energy of incident particles is less than the height of the barrier, the reflection and transmission times in the opaque limit are both independent of the barrier’s thickness, showing superluminality. On the other hand, in the propagating case where the energy of incident particles is larger than the height of the barrier, the reflection and transmission times as the periodical function of the barrier’s thickness can be greatly enhanced by the transmission resonance. It is also shown that the transmission time and the reflection times for the two propagation directions in the same asymmetric configuration satisfy the reciprocal relation, as consequence of time reversal invariance in quantum mechanics. These phenomena may lead to novel applications in electronic devices.     

Quasibound states in graphene quantum-dot nanostructures generated by concentric potential barrier rings

We study the quasibound states in a graphene quantum-dot structure generated by the single-, double-, and triple-barrier electrostatic potentials. It is shown that the strongest quasibound states are mainly determined by the innermost barrier. Specifically, the positions of the quasibound states are determined by the barrier height, the number of the quasibound states is determined by the quantum-dot radius and the angular momentum, and the localization degree of the quasibound states is influenced by the width of the innermost barrier, as well as the outside barriers. Furthermore, according to the study on the double- and triple-barrier quantum dots, we find that an effective way to generate more quasibound states with even larger energy level spacings is to design a quantum dot defined by many concentric barriers with larger barrier-height differences. Last, we extend our results into the quantum dot of many barriers, which gives a complete picture about the formation of the quasibound states in the kind of graphene quantum dot created by many concentric potential barrier rings.     

Resonant transport and quantum bound states in Z-shaped graphene nanoribbons

We study the transport properties of a Z-shaped graphene nanoribbon (GNR). It is found that the quasibound states in the Z-shaped junction induce resonant peaks around the Dirac point in the conductance profile. The resonant transmission via the quantum bound state is very sensitive to the size of the junction. The number and also the lifetimes of the quasibound states increase with the size of the Z-shaped junction. Long lifetime bound states which do not induce obvious resonant peaks exist in the junction with a wider or longer zigzag edged GNR. The resonant characteristics of the Z-shaped GNR can be tuned by the variation of the geometrical size.     

Magnetic Manipulation of Massless Dirac Fermions in Graphene Quantum Dot

We have theoretically analyzed the quasibound states in a graphene quantum dot (GQD) with a magnetic flux Φ in the centre. It is shown that the two-fold time reversal degeneracy is broken and the quasibound states of GQD with positive/negative angular momentum shifted upwards /downwards with increasing the magnetic flux. The variation of the quasibound energy depends linearly on the magnetic flux, which is quite different from theparabolic relationship for Schrödinger electrons. The GQD's quasibound states spectrum shows an obvious Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations with the magnetic flux. It is also shown that the quasibound state with energy equal to the barrier height becomes a bound state completely confined in GQD.     

Quasi-bound states, resonance tunnelling, and tunnelling times generated by twin symmetric barriers

In analogy with the definition of resonant or quasi-bound states used in three-dimensional quantal scattering, we define the quasi-bound states that occur in one-dimensional transmission generated by twin symmetric potential barriers and evaluate their energies and widths using two typical examples: (i) twin rectangular barrier and (ii) twin Gaussian-type barrier. The energies at which reflectionless transmission occurs correspond to these states and the widths of the transmission peaks are also the same as those of quasi-bound states. We compare the behaviour of the magnitude of wave functions of quasi-bound states with those for bound states and with the above-barrier state wave function. We deduce a Breit-Wigner-type resonance formula which neatly describes the variation of transmission coefficient as a function of energy at below-barrier energies. Similar formula with additional empirical term explains approximately the peaks of transmission coefficients at above-barrier energies as well. Further, we study the variation of tunnelling time as a function of energy and compare the same with transmission, reflection time and Breit-Wigner delay time around a quasi-bound state energy. We also find that tunnelling time is of the same order of magnitude as lifetime of the quasi-bound state, but somewhat larger.     

Lifetime analysis of quasibound states in coupled quantum wells

A simple time-dependent model is presented to investigate lifetimes of the quasibound states in coupled quantum wells (CQWs). The transfer matrix approach is employed to discretize the conduction-band profile of the heterostructure and form a dispersion equation whose zeros correspond to the complex eigenenergies. Both the bound and quasibound states are extracted numerically in the complex plane by Newton's method. The lower and higher well subbands are found to have negative and positive energy shift, respectively, as following the no level crossing theorem. Besides, the decay rate of the quasibound state is approximately proportional to the absolute energy shift. The quasibound states, which have larger energy shift, have shorter lifetime and decay more quickly. Furthermore, the differences in lifetime between the quasibound states in CQWs can be easily realized as all the wave functions are specially adjusted to form the relative probability density distributions.     

Quantum superarrivals and information transfer through a time-varying boundary

The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved numerically for the case of a Gaussian wave packet incident on a time-varying potential barrier. The time evolving reflection and transmission probabilities of the wave packet are computed for several different time-dependent boundary conditions obtained by reducing or increasing the height of the potential barrier. We show that in the case when the barrier height is reduced to zero, a time interval is found during which the reflection probability is larger (superarrivals) compared to the unperturbed case. We further show that the transmission probability exhibits superarrivals when the barrier is raised from zero to a finite value of its height. Superarrivals could be understood by ascribing the features of a real physical field to the Schrödinger wave function which acts as a carrier through which a disturbance, resulting from the boundary condition being perturbed, prpagates from the barrier to the detectors measuring reflected and transmitted probabilities. The speed of propagation of this effect depends upon the rate of reducing or raising the barrier height, thus suggesting an application for secure information transfer using superarrivals.     

Non-rigid hole band in the extended t-J model

Based on a simple matrix method, we investigate the effects of Fermi vector mismatch and elastic barrier on the dc Josephoson current through a ballistic, normal, one-dimensional quantum channel in contact with two superconducting electrodes. The coexistence of Andreev reflection and normal reflection forms quasibound states with open gaps in the normal conductor. The quantum transmission of individual electrons (or holes) gives new features to this mesoscopic system. The critical current character of a 2DEG coupled superconducting heterostructure with a length of sevral m0 is extensively studied. More importantly, our theoritical results are able to account for the recent anomalous experimental results.     

Level width of a quasibound state in a double-barrier parabolic-well resonant tunneling structure

Taking exact Airy functions and Hermitian functions as envelope functions, we investigate in detail the level width of a quasibound state for electrons coherent resonant tunneling through symmetric and asymmetric double-barrier parabolic-well resonant tunneling structures (DBRT) with the transfer-matrix formalism. It is found that for the symmetric structure and the asymmetric structure with left barrier thicker than the right one, both the level width and the peak value vary monotonously with increasing applied bias, but for the asymmetric DBRT structure with left barrier thinner than the right one, they change nonmonotonously. The nonmonotonous variations of the level width and the peak value reflect the transition of tunneling type (i.e. first from incompletely resonant tunneling to completely resonant tunneling, and then from completely resonant tunneling back to incompletely resonant tunneling). The effects of well width, barrier thickness and barrier height on the level width and the peak value are also inspected.     

Barrier penetration in Kane type semiconductor nanostructures

Particle penetration through a square potential and a step potential barrier are studied with the eight-band Kane Hamiltonians. It has found expressions for transmission probability and reflection coefficients of electrons for both potentials. It is shown in the Kane model that the transmission probability will have a finite value that is different from the one-band model at the state where the barrier height is infinite. The Landauer formula for resistance is applied to the Kane type semiconductor heterostructures.     

Quasibound states in semiconductor quantum well structures

We present a study on quasibound states in multiple quantum well structures using a finite element model (FEM). The FEM is implemented for solving the effective mass Schrödinger equation in arbitrary layered semiconductor nanostructures with an arbitrary applied potential. The model also includes nonparabolicity effects by using an energy dependent effective mass, where the resulting nonlinear eigenvalue problem was solved using an iterative approach. We focus on quasibound/continuum states above the barrier potential and show that such states can be determined using cyclic boundary conditions. This new method enables the determination of both bound and quasibound states simultaneously, making it more efficient than other methods where different boundary conditions have to be used in extracting the relevant states. Furthermore, the new method lifted the problem of quasibound state divergence commonly seen with many other methods of calculation. Hence enabling accurate determination of dipole matrix elements involving both bound and quasibound states. Such calculations are vital in the design of intersubband optoelectronic devices and reveal the interesting properties of quasibound states above the potential barriers.     

Resonant tunneling,eigenvalue and energy band calculation for potential and periodic potential structures

Recursion formulae for the reflection and the transmission probability amplitudes and the eigenvalue equation for multistep potential structures are derived. Using the recursion relations, a dispersion equation for periodic potential structures is presented. Some numerical results for the transmission probability of a double barrier structure with scattering centers, the lifetime of the quasi-bound state in a single quantum well with an applied field, and the miniband of a periodic potential structure are presented.     

Transmission resonance via quantum bound states in confined arrays of antidots

We have studied the transmission resonances for a confined array of antidots, using the lattice Green's function method. Two kinds of resonant peaks via quasibound states are found. One kind of resonant peak corresponds to the split quasibound states. The split states originate from the superposition of quasibound states respectively localized in different (T or crossed) junctions, while the number of quasibound states in each junction is associated with the arm-width of the junction. Electrons in these split states are mainly localized in the junctions. The other kind of resonant peaks correspond to the high quasibound states which exist in (transverse and longitude) multi-period confined arrays of antidots. It is interesting to note that electrons in some of the high quasibound states are mainly localized in the intersection of the junctions rather than in the junctions themselves.     

Penetration of a symmetric light pulse through a wide quantum well

The reflection, transmission, and absorption of a symmetric electromagnetic pulse whose carrier frequency is close to the frequency of the interband transition in a quantum well are calculated. The energy levels in the quantum well are assumed to be discrete, and one excited level is taken into account. Consideration is given to the case of a sufficiently wide quantum well when the pulse wavelength corresponding to the carrier frequency is comparable to the quantum well width and when allowance should be made for the dependence of the matrix element of the interband transition on the photon wave vector. The calculations are performed with due regard for the difference between the refractive indices of the material of the quantum well and the barrier at an arbitrary ratio of the reciprocal radiative to nonradiative lifetimes of the excited level of the electronic system. It is demonstrated that the inclusion of the spatial dispersion and the difference in the refractive indices most strongly affects the reflection of the electromagnetic pulse, because the reflection due to interband transitions in the quantum well is accompanied by an additional reflection from the quantum well boundaries. Compared to the previously considered model, the most radical changes in the reflection are observed in the case when the reciprocal nonradiative lifetime of the excited state is substantially longer than the reciprocal radiative lifetime.     

Velocity fluctuations of a column of water streaming down a wire: the possibility of one-dimensional turbulence

In this paper we study the influence of the magneto-coupling effect between the longitudinal motion component and the transverse Landau orbits of an electron on transmission features in single barrier structures. Within the parabolic conduction-band approach, a modified one-dimensional effective-mass Schr?dinger equation, including the magneto-coupling effect generated from the position-dependent effective mass of the electron, is strictly derived. Numerical calculations for single barrier structures show that the magneto-coupling effect brings about a series of the important changes for the transmission probability, the above-barrier quasi-bound states, and the tunneling time. Through examining the variation of the above-barrier resonant-transmission spectrum with the barrier width and observing the well-defined Lorentzian line-shape of the above-barrier resonant peaks, we convincingly show that the above-barrier resonant transmission in single barrier structures is delivered by the above-barrier quasibound states in the barrier region, just as the below-barrier resonant tunneling in double barrier structures is mediated by the below-barrier quasi-bound states in the well. Furthermore, we come to the conclusion that the magneto-coupling effect brings about not only the splitting of the above-barrier quasi-bound levels but also the striking reduction of the level-width of the quasi-bound states, correspondingly, the substantial increase of the density of the quasi-bound states. We suggest that magneto-coupling effects may be observed by the measurements of the optical absorption spectrum associated with the above-barrier quasi-bound states in the single barrier structures. Received: 26 September 1997 / Revised: 26 November 1997 / Accepted: 15 December 1997     

The role of spatial dispersion of an electromagnetic wave in its penetration through a quantum well

The theory of light penetration through a quantum well in a strong magnetic field perpendicular to the well plane is developed under the conditions where interband transitions occur in the well. The light wavelength is assumed to be comparable to the well width. The relationships for the reflection, absorption, and transmission are derived with due regard for the spatial dispersion of a monochromatic light wave and the difference between the refractive indices of the quantum well and the barrier. The normal incidence of light with respect to the well plane is considered, and one excited level is taken into account. It is demonstrated that the above two factors most strongly affect the reflection, because the reflection from the well boundaries appears in addition to the reflection caused by interband transitions in the quantum well. The most radical changes in the reflection are observed in the case when the reciprocal radiative lifetime of the excited state in the quantum well is short compared to the reciprocal nonradiative lifetime. In the range of large well widths, the applicability of the theory is limited by the existence condition of quantum well levels.     

Transport through cavities with tunnel barriers: a semiclassical analysis

We study the influence of a tunnel barrier on the quantum transport through a circular cavity. Our analysis in terms of classical trajectories shows that the semiclassical approaches developed for ballistic transport can be adapted to deal with the case where tunneling is present. Peaks in the Fourier transform of the energy-dependent transmission and reflection spectra exhibit a nonmonotonic behaviour as a function of the barrier height in the quantum mechanical numerical calculations. Semiclassical analysis provides a simple qualitative explanation of this behaviour, as well as a quantitative agreement with the exact calculations. The experimental relevance of the classical trajectories in mesoscopic and microwave systems is discussed. Received: 23 October 1997 / Received in final form and Accepted: 11 March 1998     

Quantum reflection pole method for determination of quasibound states in semiconductor heterostructures

The quantum reflection pole method (QRPM) is introduced for determining quasibound state eigenenergies and their lifetimes in symmetric, asymmetric, biased, and unbiased quantum heterostructures. In the QRPM the single-band effective-mass Schrödinger equation is solved without using complex arithmetic. Calculations are much simpler to perform than with previous methods. Further, results are found to be in excellent agreement with other rigorous techniques.     

Phase time in Kane type barrier tunneling

The behavior of Wigner phase delay time in the reflection mode is studied taking into account the real band structure of Kane type semiconductor quantum ring. It's calculated the analytical expression for the saturated delay time. It's shown that the saturated delay time is independent of the width of the opaque barrier.     

p-Wave Feshbach molecules

We have produced and detected molecules using a p-wave Feshbach resonance between 40K atoms. We have measured the binding energy and lifetime for these molecules and we find that the binding energy scales approximately linearly with the magnetic field near the resonance. The lifetime of bound p-wave molecules is measured to be 1.0+/-0.1 ms and 2.3+/-0.2 ms for the ml=+/-1 and ml=0 angular momentum projections, respectively. At magnetic fields above the resonance, we detect quasibound molecules whose lifetime is set by the tunneling rate through the centrifugal barrier.