Single-photon detection mechanism in a quantum dot transistor

We study the transport mechanisms in a quantum dot MODFET by tuning the localization induced by charge stored on the quantum dots with light. The temperature dependence of the resistivity of a macroscopic sample reveals a hopping transport when the dots contain an excess of electrons. The resistance of a mesoscopic sample however, which is capable of detecting single photons, exhibits a much weaker dependence upon temperature. This points towards source-drain tunnelling as a transport mechanism and is confirmed by a statistical analysis of the single-photon-induced conductance steps. The complexity of the conducting paths increases as the average hopping length reduces.     

Asymmetry of nonlinear transport and electron interactions in quantum dots

The symmetry properties of transport beyond the linear regime in chaotic quantum dots are investigated experimentally. A component of differential conductance that is antisymmetric in both applied source-drain bias V and magnetic field B, absent in linear transport, is found to exhibit mesoscopic fluctuations around a zero average. Typical values of this component allow a measurement of the electron interaction strength.     

基于格林函数的多终端量子链状体系电子输运性质的研究

利用递推格林函数技术计算了多终端量子体系的电子输运特性，首先运用递归方法给出介观 或量子体系的格林函数. 然后利用散射矩阵和输运方程给出体系的电导方程，可以将多终端 的输运简化为双终端的输运方程，以便得到体系电子输运的谱结构. 计算结果表明，由于中 间节点的存在，使器件的传输谱偏离一维链的对称性，在低能量端出现一个新的电导峰值. 此外，本方法可以被应用到各种复杂的带有吸附结构量子体系输运的研究中. 关键词： 格林函数 散射矩阵 量子体系     

Contact effect in the dynamic electron transport of a two-probe mesoscopic conductor

Based on the self-consistent electron dynamic transport theory for multi-probe mesoscopic systems, we calculate the distribution of internal potential, charge density, and ac conductance of a two-probe mesoscopic conductor with wide trapezoid reservoirs, and study the contact effect. The results show that including the contact effect can make a significant difference to the frequency-dependent electron transport properties. In the nonzero frequency case, the internal potential and the charge density are complex with extremely small imaginary parts. Importantly, the imaginary part of the charge density gives rise to a real ac conductance (admittance), which corresponds to the charge-relaxation resistance.     

基于自洽输运理论的介观体系动态电导的研究

基于介观体系电子动态输运的自洽理论,讨论了介观结构的动态电导.作为该理论的应用,采用一介观相干平行板电容器模型来进行研究. 结果表明:体系的动态电导与外场频率和体系费米能有关,为一复数且有有限虚部. 当外场频率较小时,动态电导随费米能的变化所呈现的特性和直流情形非常相似,但是随着外场频率的增加,两者差异就变得非常明显,体系动态电导随外场频率的变化呈现一些峰值结构. 在给定体系费米能时,动态电导随着外场频率的变化而产生振荡,并且出现了负的电导虚部,电导虚部的正负表明了体系的电容特性和电感特性. 关键词： 自洽输运理论 相干平行板电容器 电导 介观体系     

Transport between multiple users in complex networks

We study the transport properties of model networks such as scale-free and Erd?s-Rényi networks as well as a real network. We consider few possibilities for the trnasport problem. We start by studying the conductance G between two arbitrarily chosen nodes where each link has the same unit resistance. Our theoretical analysis for scale-free networks predicts a broad range of values of G, with a power-law tail distribution $\Phi_{\rm SF}(G)\sim G^{-g_G}$ , where g_G=2λ-1, and λ is the decay exponent for the scale-free network degree distribution. The power-law tail in Φ_SF(G) leads to large values of G, thereby significantly improving the transport in scale-free networks, compared to Erd?s-Rényi networks where the tail of the conductivity distribution decays exponentially. We develop a simple physical picture of the transport to account for the results. The other model for transport is the max-flow model, where conductance is defined as the number of link-independent paths between the two nodes, and find that a similar picture holds. The effects of distance on the value of conductance are considered for both models, and some differences emerge. We then extend our study to the case of multiple sources ans sinks, where the transport is defined between two groups of nodes. We find a fundamental difference between the two forms of flow when considering the quality of the transport with respect to the number of sources, and find an optimal number of sources, or users, for the max-flow case. A qualitative (and partially quantitative) explanation is also given.     

相干输运中的接点问题

为了研究介观体系的相干输运中接点的重要作用,采用一简单的纳米单势垒“二维-一维-二维”(2D-1D-2D)模型,应用散射矩阵方法和托马斯-费米近似,计算了体系透射率和在直流电压下电势分布. 结果表明： 1)接点对其透射率有显著的影响; 2)电势降落表现的电导性质违背了与经典串联电路中等价的基尔霍夫定律. 因此介观体系中各器件与接点间是量子相干的,考虑接点问题有利于对介观体系相干输运更为深入的研究. 关键词： 相干输运 接点 介观体系     

Magnetic field symmetry and phase rigidity of the nonlinear conductance in a ring

We have performed nonlinear transport measurements as a function of a perpendicular magnetic field in a semiconductor Aharonov-Bohm ring connected to two leads. While the voltage-symmetric part of the conductance is symmetric in the magnetic field, the voltage-antisymmetric part of the conductance is not symmetric. These symmetry relations are compatible with the scattering theory for nonlinear mesoscopic transport. The observed asymmetry can be tuned continuously by changing the gate voltages near the arms of the ring, showing that the phase of the nonlinear conductance in a two-terminal interferometer is not rigid, in contrast with the case for the linear conductance.     

Anomalous transport in scale-free networks

To study transport properties of scale-free and Erdos-Rényi networks, we analyze the conductance G between two arbitrarily chosen nodes of random scale-free networks with degree distribution P(k)-k(-lambda) in which all links have unit resistance. We predict a broad range of values of G, with a power-law tail distribution phi(SF)(G)-G(-g(G)), where g(G)=2lambda-1, and confirm our predictions by simulations. The power-law tail in phi(SF)(G) leads to large values of G, signaling better transport in scale-free networks compared to Erdos-Rényi networks where the tail of the conductivity distribution decays exponentially. Based on a simple physical "transport backbone" picture we show that the conductances of scale-free and Erdos-Rényi networks are well approximated by ck(A)k(B)/(k(A)+k(B)) for any pair of nodes A and B with degrees k(A) and k(B), where c emerges as the main parameter characterizing network transport.     

Public transport networks: empirical analysis and modeling

Public transport networks of fourteen cities of so far unexplored network size are analyzed in standardized graph representations: the simple graph of the network map, the bipartite graph of routes and stations, and both one mode projections of the latter. Special attention is paid to the inter-relations and spatial embedding of transport routes. This systematic approach reveals rich behavior beyond that of the ubiquitous scale-free complex network. We find strong evidence for structures in PTNs that are counter-intuitive and need to be explained, among these a pronounced diversity in the expression of typical network characteristics within the present sample of cities, a surprising geometrical behavior with respect to the two-dimensional geographical embedding and an unexpected attraction between transport routes. A simple model based on these observations reproduces many of the identified PTN properties by growing networks of attractive self-avoiding walks.     

Surviving conduction symmetries in non-linear response

In linear response, the electric conductance of mesoscopic, two-terminal devices is symmetric with respect to the direction of an external magnetic field. The conductance symmetry, in general, breaks down in the non-linear regime of transport. Here we consider semiconductor quantum dots and show certain symmetries survive in the non-linear conductance with respect to the bias voltage and magnetic field that can be measured.     

Joint Detection of Community and Structural Hole Spanner of Networks in Hyperbolic Space

Community detection and structural hole spanner (the node bridging different communities) identification, revealing the mesoscopic and microscopic structural properties of complex networks, have drawn much attention in recent years. As the determinant of mesoscopic structure, communities and structural hole spanners discover the clustering and hierarchy of networks, which has a key impact on transmission phenomena such as epidemic transmission, information diffusion, etc. However, most existing studies address the two tasks independently, which ignores the structural correlation between mesoscale and microscale and suffers from high computational costs. In this article, we propose an algorithm for simultaneously detecting communities and structural hole spanners via hyperbolic embedding (SDHE). Specifically, we first embed networks into a hyperbolic plane, in which, the angular distribution of the nodes reveals community structures of the embedded network. Then, we analyze the critical gap to detect communities and the angular region where structural hole spanners may exist. Finally, we identify structural hole spanners via two-step connectivity. Experimental results on synthetic networks and real networks demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm compared with several state-of-the-art methods.     

Ballistic Quantum Transport: Effect of Geometrical Phases

We study the influence of nonuniform magnetic fields on the magneto conductance of mesoscopic microstructures. We show that the coupling of the electron spin to the inhomogenous field gives rise to effects of the Berry phase on ballistic quantum transport and discuss adiabaticity conditions required to observe such effects. We present numerical results for different ring geometries showing a splitting of Aharonov–Bohm conductance peaks for single rings and corresponding signatures of the geometrical phase in weak localization. The latter features can be qualitatively explained in a semiclassical approach to quantum transport.     

Charge density wave transport in submicron antidot arrays in NbSe3

We demonstrate for the first time that a periodic array of submicrometer holes (antidots) can be patterned into thin single NbSe₃ crystals. We report on the study of Charge Density Wave (CDW) transport of the network of mesoscopic units between antidots. Size of the elementary unit can be as small as 0.5 μm along the chain axis and in cross-section. We observe size effects for Ohmic residual resistance and in CDW transport current-voltage characteristics in submicronic networks. Received: 25 November 1997 / Received in final form: 30 March 1998 / Accepted: 6 April 1998     

Measuring overlaps in mesoscopic spin glasses via conductance fluctuations

We consider the electronic transport in a mesoscopic metallic spin glass. We show that the distribution of overlaps between spin configurations can be inferred from the reduction of the conductance fluctuations by the magnetic impurities. Using this property, we propose new experimental protocols to probe spin glasses directly through their overlaps.     

Observation of transport in mesoscopic honeycomb-shaped networks

An electronic transport was observed in honeycomb-shaped mesoscopic (submicron) networks at liquid helium temperature. These networks were manufactured by the reactive ion etching of highly (nearly degenerated) and moderately doped n-GaAs epilayers through the initially structured, by self-organised patterning, polymer masks. The free electron transport was observed in the networks of thin, highly doped, n-GaAs epilayer. The detected multiple switching on theI–Vcharacteristics was explained in the framework of the model of a dynamic random resistor network. The existence of the patterned part of the thick, moderately doped, n-GaAs epilayer was the reason for the increase of the compensation ratio, the ionization energy and, as a result, the threshold voltage of the impact ionization of the shallow donor impurity level in the bulk of the epilayer.     

Geometric correlations and breakdown of mesoscopic universality in spin transport

We construct a unified semiclassical theory of charge and spin transport in chaotic ballistic and disordered diffusive mesoscopic systems with spin-orbit interaction. Neglecting dynamic effects of spin-orbit interaction, we reproduce the random matrix theory results that the spin conductance fluctuates universally around zero average. Incorporating these effects into the theory, we show that geometric correlations generate finite average spin conductances, but that they do not affect the charge conductance to leading order. The theory, which is confirmed by numerical transport calculations, allows us to investigate the entire range from the weak to the previously unexplored strong spin-orbit regime, where the spin rotation time is shorter than the momentum relaxation time.     

Conductance switching of a phthalocyanine molecule on an insulating surface

We study the electron transport through the double-barrier junction consisted of the phthalocyanine molecule adsorbed on a NaCl bilayer on a metal substrate and the STM tip from first principles. The hydrogen tautomerization reaction happened in the molecule changes the spatial extensions of the molecular π orbitals under the tip, leading to junction conductance switching. Shifting the molecule to locate on different ions also varies the conductance. The transport channels of the tautomers on different adsorbed sites are identified.