First-principles study of fundamental properties and electronic structure of alloys

We have performed first-principles calculations using full-potential augmented-plane-wave method to investigate the fundamental properties of the Cd_1–xZn_xTe alloys. The composition dependence of the lattice constant and the bulk modulus have been estimated from total energy calculations. By means of the analytical fitting the band structures in the vicinity of the Brillouin center a complete set of effective electron- and hole-masses have also been derived. In order to further understand the effects of the chemical bonding on the above macroscopic properties we then studied the relaxation behaviors and the changes of the electronic states upon alloying for x=0.25 system. The results presented here yield a general understanding of the fundamental properties for the Cd_1–xZn_xTe crystals studies.     

Fabrication of polyaniline/ heterojunction structure using plasma enhanced polymerization technique

The work reports on the fabrication of a p–n heterojunction structure comprised of polyaniline (PANI) and TiO₂ nanoparticles. PANI was deposited by plasma enhanced polymerization on TiO₂ thin film substrates. The structural and the crystalline properties demonstrated the coherence and the substantive interaction of the plasma polymerized PANI molecules with the TiO₂ nanoparticle thin film. The UV–Vis studies of PANI/TiO₂ thin film supported the internalization of PANI with TiO₂ nanoparticles due to π–π^* transition of the phenyl rings with the lone pair electrons () of the nitrogen atom present in the PANI molecules. The I–V characteristics of the PANI/TiO₂ heterojunction structure were obtained in the forward and the reverse biased at applied voltage ranging from −1 V to +1 V with a scan rate of 2 mV/s. The proficient current in the PANI/TiO₂ heterojunction structure was attributed to the well penetration of PANI molecules into the pores of the TiO₂ nanoparticle thin film. The I–V characteristics ensured an efficient charge movement at the junction of PANI/TiO₂ interface and thus, behaved as a typical ohmic system.     

Effect of the -function potential on the electron transport in a magnetic nanostructure

In this paper, the spin-dependent electron transport is studied in detail in a magnetic nanostructure with a δ-function potential. It is shown that the large spin-polarization can be achieved in such a device, and the degree of the spin-polarization strongly depends on the height of the δ-function potential. It is also shown that the conductance-polarization apparently has the bigger oscillatory magnitudes with the height of δ-function potential increasing. These interesting features will be more helpful for developing new types of devices.     

On the calculation of group characters

It is known that characters of irreducible representations of finite Lie algebras can be obtained using the Weyl character formula including Weyl group summations which make actual calculations almost impossible except for a few Lie algebras of lower rank. By starting from the Weyl character formula, we show that these characters can be re-expressed without referring to Weyl group summations. Some useful technical points are given in detail for the instructive example of G₂ Lie algebra.     

Effect of the -doping on the electron transport in a structure modulated by the magnetic barriers

The effect of the δ-doping on the electron transport has been theoretically studied in a structure modulated by the magnetic barriers. The results show that the transmission probability and the electron conductance can be dramatically suppressed by the weight of the δ-doping. However, the spin-injection efficiencies are obviously enhanced. In addition, the transmission probability and the spin-polarization both show a periodic profile with the increase of L₂. These interesting features will be more helpful for developing new types of devices.     

Hypernuclear physics legacy and heritage of Dick Dalitz

The major contributions of Richard H. Dalitz to hypernuclear physics, since his first paper in 1955 to his last one in 2005 covering a span of 50 years during which he founded and led the theoretical study of hypernuclei, are reviewed from a personal perspective. Topical remarks on the search for quasi-bound -nuclear states and on kaon condensation are made.     

Valence bands spin splitting in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

A quantitative comparison between different model calculations of valence band states in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures is presented. We demonstrate that a 14-band k.p Hamiltonian using a completely new parameterization based on fits of the tight-binding band structure leads to energy dispersion relations in excellent agreement with experiment, whereas previous parameterizations result in significant deviations. The relevance of the present results to the calculation of spin-related phenomena is discussed.     

Structural and optical properties of thermally evaporated thin films

Chalcogenide glass Se₅₅Ge₃₀As₁₅ have amorphous structure in both as-deposited and annealed conditions. The optical properties of the as-deposited and annealed films were studied using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance, T(λ), and reflectance, R(λ), at normal incidence of light in the wavelength range 200–2500 nm. Neither annealing temperature nor film thickness can influence spectral response on refractive index and absorption index of films. The type of electronic transition responsible for optical properties is indirectly allowed transition with energy gap of 1.94 eV and phonon energy of 40 meV. The dispersion of the refractive index is discussed in terms of the single oscillator Wemple–Didomenico (WD) model. The width of band tails of localized states into the gap (ΔE), the single oscillator energy (E_o), the dispersion energy (E_d), the optical dielectric constant (ε_∞), the lattice dielectric constant (ε_L), the plasma frequency (ω_p) and the free charge carrier concentration (N) were estimated.     

Phase transitions in the quantum Hall liquid in a quantum wire

Two scenarios for the collapse of the ν=1 quantum Hall liquid (QHL) state, with the effective quantum wire (QW) width defined by the Fermi vector k_F, are studied. Here, ν for the QW is defined as the filling factor of Landau levels (LL) at the center of the QW. In the first one there is no electron redistribution at critical magnetic field , where the Fermi energy, E_F, coincides with the bottom of the empty upper spin-split LL. For the ν=1 state is unstable due to exchange-correlation effects and lateral confinement. In the second scenario, a transition to the ν=2 state occurs, with much smaller width, at . The latter scenario is analyzed in the Hartree–Fock approximation (HFA). Here the Hartree contribution to the total energy affects drastically due to strong electron redistribution in the QW. In both scenarios, the exchange-enhanced g-factor is suppressed at B_cr. The critical fields, activation energy, and optical g-factor obtained in the first scenario are very close to the measured ones.     

Spin chirality and electric polarization in multiferroic compounds (, Er)

Polarized neutron diffraction experiments have been performed on multiferroic materials RMn₂O₅ (R=Ho, Er) under electric fields in the ferroelectric commensurate (CM) and the low-temperature incommensurate (LT-ICM) phases, where the former has the highest electric polarization and the latter has reduced polarization. It is found that, after cooling in electric fields down to the CM phase, the magnetic chirality is proportional to the electric polarization. Also we confirmed that the magnetic chirality can be switched by the polarity of the electric polarization in both the CM and LT-ICM phases. These facts suggest an intimate coupling between the magnetic chirality and the electric polarization. However, upon the transition from the CM to LT-ICM phase, the reduction of the electric polarization is not accompanied by any reduction of the magnetic chirality, implying that the CM and LT-ICM phases contain different mechanisms of the magnetoelectric coupling.     

Spectral flow invariants and twisted cyclic theory for the Haar state on

In [A.L. Carey, J. Phillips, A. Rennie, Twisted cyclic theory and an index theory for the gauge invariant KMS state on Cuntz algebras. arXiv:0801.4605], we presented a K-theoretic approach to finding invariants of algebras with no non-trivial traces. This paper presents a new example that is more typical of the generic situation. This is the case of an algebra that admits only non-faithful traces, namely SU_q(2) and also KMS states. Our main results are index theorems (which calculate spectral flow), one using ordinary cyclic cohomology and the other using twisted cyclic cohomology, where the twisting comes from the generator of the modular group of the Haar state. In contrast to the Cuntz algebras studied in [A.L. Carey, J. Phillips, A. Rennie, Twisted cyclic theory and an index theory for the gauge invariant KMS state on Cuntz algebras. arXiv:0801.4605], the computations are considerably more complex and interesting, because there are non-trivial ‘eta’ contributions to this index.     

Effective Hamiltonian for the Fermi resonance between the and , states of molecules of symmetry

The effective correlation-free Hamiltonian and corresponding matrix elements for interacting degenerate fundamental v_t(E) and combination v_n(A₁)+v_t^′(E) states in C_3v molecules are derived. The Hamiltonian terms H₃₀, H₃₁, H₃₂ and the recommended set of parameters following from the appropriate reduction are presented.     

Magneto optics of single photons emitted from single InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots in a planar microcavity

We fully characterize the fine spectral structure of neutral and negatively charged single microcavity quantum dot excitons, using polarization-sensitive magneto-photoluminescence spectroscopy. We show that the microcavity allows the simultaneous detection of both the bright and dark excitons using Faraday configuration. Thus, we were able to fully determine the fine structure and the g-factors of the neutral and negatively charged single exciton states within the same single quantum dot. Our measurements are in excellent agreement with novel, many carrier model calculations, which take into account Coulomb and exchange interactions among all the confined e–h pair states.     

Optical properties and g factors of GaAs quantum rods

The Hamiltonian of the zinc-blende quantum rods in the framework of eight-band effective-mass approximation in the presence of external homogeneous magnetic field is given. The electronic structure, optical properties and electron g factors of GaAs quantum rods are investigated. We found that the electron g factors are very sensitively dependent on the dimensions of the quantum rods. As some of the three dimensions increase, the electron g factors decrease. The more the dimensions increase, the more the electron g factors decrease. The dimensions perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field affect the electron g factors more than the other dimension.