Electron transport in double-walled carbon nanotubes

The transport properties of finite length double-walled carbon nanotubes subject to the influences of a transverse electric field and a magnetic field with varying polar angles are investigated theoretically. The electrical conductance, thermal conductance and Peltier coefficient dependences on the external fields and symmetric configuration are studied in linear response regime. Prominent peak structures of the electrical conductance are predicted when varying the electric field strength. The features of the conductance peaks are found to be strongly dependent on the external fields and the intertube interactions. The heights of the electrical and thermal conductance peaks display the quantized behavior, while those of the Peltier coefficient do not. The conductance peaks are found to be broadened by the finite temperature.     

Characteristics of quantum conductance in a quasi-one-dimension quantum wire containing cavity structures

Quantum-mechanical calculations of the conductance for model devices, consisting of dual semi-infinite quantum wires connected in series by a cavity, are carried out with use of the coupled-mode transfer method and mode matching technique. The effects of the mode-mode coupling and geometry-induced scattering on the quantum conductance are in detail studied by varying the geometric structure of the cavity. There are no traces of quantization conductance. The pattern of the conductance displays many peaks and dips. The threshold energy of the first onset of the conductance is lower than the normal value for opening the propagation channel of the lowest subband in the quantum wire. The overall character of the conductance exhibits heavy fluctuations around the classical conductance for the relevant point contact. The fluctuation amplitude is of order of 2e ²/h, similar to universal conductance fluctuations. The oscillatory structure becomes rich and dense as the scale of the cavity increases. There is a global trend for the conductance to rise as the cavity is compressed. The structures of resonant peaks and antiresonance dips in the conductance are originated from the mode coupling among the subbands in the cavity and quantum wires. The heavy conductance fluctuation may be caused by the quantum interference of the electron waves due to the multiple scattering (reflections) of electrons by the cavity boundaries.     

Al196团簇结构及熔化行为的分子动力学模拟

运用分子动力学方法结合退火及淬火技术,采用半经验的Gupta原子间多体势,系统研究了Al₁₉₆团簇的熔化特性.模拟结果表明:从不同的初始结构出发得到的熔化行为明显不同.从较低能量稳定结构出发,会出现明显的比热呈现双峰的熔化行为;而从基态或接近于基态的低能稳定结构出发.则呈现出比热显示单峰的熔化现象.通过分析不同温度点上团簇淬火结构的势能分布图给出了Al₁₉₆团簇的不同（比热出现双峰或单峰）熔化行为的成因.     

Tunneling through narrow-gap semiconductor Sb2Te3 barrier

Tunnel experiments have been performed on Au/Sb₂Te₃/Al tunnel junctions to study elastic interelectrode tunneling through the small energy gap of a narrow-gap semiconductor. Tunnel conductance exhibited narrow width conductance peak at zero bias voltage. This behaviour is in accordance with the result of the theoretically calculated tunnel conductance, in which the nonparabolic dispersion relation within the energy gap of the narrow-gap semiconductor used as a tunnel barrier in a metal/narrow-gap semiconductor/metal tunnel structure is included. And some interesting structures are also observed in the conductance curves.     

Anomalous behavior of superconducting-normal mesoscopic structures near T(c)

We observe a maximum in the conductance of Al/n-GaAs junctions at temperatures 20 mK lower than the superconducting transition temperature (T(c)). This is the first observation of a peak in the conductance near the superconducting transition in superconducting-normal (S/N) junctions. To accommodate this effect we calculate the full temperature dependence of the conductance of these structures, invoking quasiclassical Green's functions in the diffusive limit. In addition to the well-known low-temperature peak at temperatures on the order of the Thouless energy, we find a maximum near T(c). This peak has the same origin as the subgap conductance observed in S/N junctions at low temperatures.     

Anomalies and proximity effect in high-T C tunnel junctions

Summary Some of the main anomalies in conductance characteristics of high-T _C tunnel junctions are considered. Mainly, the extreme, depression of gap structures, the presence of conductance peaks in corrispondence to the counterelectrode gap, and ?zero-bias anomalies? will be examined. The possibility of application of the proximity McMillan model to describe the behaviour in conductance of high-T _C junctions is considered. Discussion and preliminary comparison with experimental data on YBCO junctions are also reported.     

Ab initio calculations of transport properties of atomic bridges by the recursion-transfer-matrix method

We present an efficient self-consistent method for approaching quantum transport through atomic-scale structures. Using the recursion-transfer-matrix (RTM) method with a separable form of nonlocal pseudopotentials, scattering waves propagating between metallic electrodes through nano-bridged structures are efficiently calculated on the basis of the density-functional formalism. We performed calculations with this method of the conductance of Al atomic wires with various kinds of single atoms mixed at the contact to one electrode. We found that the transport properties are considerably affected by the bonding nature of the atom at the contact. The conductance is largely determined by the atomic species at the contact and does not change much as the length of the atomic wire increases.     

Kondo transport through a quantum dot coupled with side quantum-dot structures

This paper investigates Kondo transport properties in a quadruple quantum dot (QD) based on the slave-boson mean field theory and the non-equilibrium Green’s function.In the quadruple QD structure one Kondo-type QD sandwiched between two leads is side coupled to two separate QD structures:a single-QD atom and a double-QD molecule.It shows that the conductance valleys and peaks always appear in pairs and by tuning the energy levels in three side QDs,the one-,two-,or three-valley conductance pattern can be obtained.Furthermore,it finds that whether the valley and the peak can appear is closely dependent on the specific values of the interdot couplings and the energy level difference between the two QDs in the molecule.More interestingly,an extra novel conductance peak can be produced by the coexistence of the two different kinds of side QD structures.     

Theory of charge sensing in quantum-dot structures

Charge sensing in quantum-dot structures is studied by an exactly solvable reduced model and numerical density-matrix renormalization-group methods. Charge sensing is characterized by repeated cycling of the occupation of current-carrying states due to the capacitive coupling to trap states. In agreement with recent experiments, it results in characteristic asymmetric Coulomb-blockade peaks as well as sawtooth and domelike structures. Temperature introduces asymmetric smearing of these features and correlations in the conductance provide a fingerprint of charge sensing.     

含stubs量子波导系统的电子自旋极化输运性质

理论上研究了含stubs的Rashba自旋轨道耦合（spin-orbit coupling, SOC）量子波导系统的自旋极化输运性质. 利用晶格格林函数方法,发现由于stubs和SOC产生的势阱使系统中出现束缚态,这些束缚态与传播态之间相互干涉导致电导中出现Fano共振结构,同时在对应的自旋极化率中也出现Fano共振或反共振结构. 此外,由于系统结构的突变使电子被反向散射和量子干涉效应,电导中出现一系列的共振峰. 但是,当系统加上外磁场后,所有这些效应都被抑制, 系统重新出现量子化电导, 同时自旋电导也出 关键词： 量子波导 自旋极化输运 自旋轨道耦合     

Electron transport in nanotube-ribbon hybrids

The electronic and transport properties of nanotube-ribbon hybrids subject to the influences of a transverse electric field are investigated theoretically. The energy dispersion relations are found to exhibit rich dependence on the nanotube-ribbon interactions, the field strength, and the geometry of the hybrids. The nanotube-ribbon coupling will modify the subband curvature, create additional band-edge states, and change the subband spacing or energy gap. The bandstructures are asymmetric and symmetric about the Fermi energy when the interactions are turned on and off, respectively. The inclusion of a transverse electric field will further alter the bandstructures and lift the degeneracy of the partial flat bands in hybrid (IV). The chemical-potential-dependent electrical and thermal conductance exhibit a stepwise increase behavior. Variations in the electronic structures with field strength will be reflected in the electrical and thermal conductance. Prominent peaks, as well as single-shoulder and multi-shoulder structures in the electrical and thermal conductance are predicted when varying the electric field strength and the nanotube location. The features of the conductance are found to be strongly dependent on the field strength, the geometry and the temperature.     

Kondo universal scaling for a quantum dot coupled to superconducting leads

We study competition between the Kondo effect and superconductivity in a single self-assembled InAs quantum dot contacted with Al lateral electrodes. Because of Kondo enhancement of Andreev reflections, the zero-bias anomaly develops side peaks, separated by the superconducting gap energy Delta. For ten valleys of different Kondo temperature T(K) we tune the gap Delta with an external magnetic field. We find that the zero-bias conductance in each case collapses onto a single curve with Delta/k(B)T(K) as the only relevant energy scale, providing experimental evidence for universal scaling in this system.     

Transport properties of AB-stacked bilayer graphene nanoribbons in an electric field

The electronic and thermal properties of AB-stacked bilayer graphene nanoribbons subject to the influences of a transverse electric field are investigated theoretically, including their transport properties. The dispersion relations are found to exhibit a rich dependence on the interlayer interactions, the field strength, and the geometry of the layers. The interlayer coupling will modify the subband curvature, create additional band-edge states, change the subband spacing or energy gap, and separate the partial flat bands. The bandstructures will be symmetric or asymmetric about the Fermi energy for monolayer or bilayer nanoribbons, respectively. The inclusion of a transverse electric field will further alter the bandstructures and lift the degeneracy of the partial flat bands. The chemical-potential-dependent electrical and thermal conductance exhibit a stepwise increase behavior. Variations in the electronic structures with field strength will be reflected in the electrical and thermal conductance. Prominent peaks, as well as single-shoulder and multi-shoulder structures in the electrical and thermal conductance are predicted when varying the electric field strength. The features of the conductance are found to be strongly dependent on the field strength, the geometry, interlayer interactions and temperature.     

Fano effect of a parallel-coupled triple Rashba quantum dot system

Using the nonequilibrium Keldysh Green's function technique, the Fano effect of a parallel-coupled triple Rashba quantum dot system is investigated. The conductance as a function of electron energy is numerically calculated. Compared with the case of a parallel-coupled double quantum dot system, two additional Fano resonance peaks occur in the conductance spectrum. By adjusting the structural parameters, the two Fano resonance peaks may change into the resonance peaks. In addition, the influence of Rashba spin-orbit interaction on the conductance is studied.     

Conductance properties in spin field-effect transistors

Conductance properties in spin field-effect transistors (SFET) are studied by taking into account the Rashba spin-orbit coupling strength, the presence of external magnetic field, the angle between the direction of magnetization and the conductance band mismatch between the ferromagnetic contacts and the channel. It is shown that the conductance of the SFET has high peaks while the value of external magnetic field varies. These peaks become more and more pronounced with the potential barriers strength increasing. The conductance peaks also appear by increasing the strength of the spin-orbit coupling. It is found that the conductance exhibits quantum oscillating behavior when varying the angle between the direction of magnetization in the two contacts. The influence of conductance band mismatch between the contacts and channel is also discussed.     

Shot Noise in Ferromagnetic Superconductor Tunnel Junctions

In this paper, the superconducting order parameter and the energy spectrum of the Bogoliubov excitations are obtained from the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) equation for a ferromagnetic superconductor (FS). Taking into account the rough interface scattering effect, we calculate the shot noise and the differential conductance of the normal-metal insulator ferromagnetic superconductor junction. It is shown that the exchange energy E_h in FS can lead to splitting of the differential shot noise peaks and the conductance peaks. The energy difference between the two splitting peaks is equal to 2E_h. The rough interface scattering strength results in descent of conductance peaks and the shot noise-to-current ratio but increases the shot noise.     

Four-atom period in the conductance of monatomic Al wires

We present first-principles calculations based on density functional theory for the conductance of monatomic Al wires between Al(111) electrodes. In contrast to the even-odd oscillations observed in other metallic wires, the conductance of the Al wires is found to oscillate with a period of four atoms as the length of the wire is varied. Although local charge neutrality can account for the observed period, it leads to an incorrect phase. We explain the conductance behavior using a resonant transport model based on the electronic structure of the infinite wire.     

Internal field emission nature of the fine structure of tunnel spectra in icosahedral quasicrystals

Calorimetric and tunnel data for the icosahedral phases of the Al–Cu–Fe system have been jointly analyzed. It has been found that the field-dependent part of the tunnel conductance can be represented as the sum of elementary terms similar in nature to thermal Schottky anomalies. As a result, the features of the fine structure of tunnel spectra in the form of zero-bias anomalies, peaks, and humps can be due to the internal field emission and can indicate a wide distribution of two-level electron traps in the electronic structure of quasicrystals. It was previously assumed that these features constitute a direct image of the density of single-electron states of the conduction band.     

Electron transport through a quantum dot in the presence of electron-photon and electron-phonon coupling

In this study, electron transport through a mesoscopic quantum dot system (QD-system) in the presence of electron-photon (el-pt) and electron-phonon (el-ph) interactions is discussed. The role of both of these interactions is to induce additional steps in the current, and sideband peaks in the differential conductance. By calculating the current and differential conductance of a QD-system in the presence of el-pt or el-ph coupling, we have shown that photon or phonon steps and sideband peaks are induced in the current and differential conductance whenever the applied voltage resonates with their frequency. Furthermore, additional side band peaks are induced in the differential conductance when el-pt and el-ph interactions are simultaneously included in the QD. These extra sideband peaks (ESBPs) are induced when the applied voltage and the photon frequency are in close proximity with the phonon frequency. To investigate the relationship that exists between the photon and phonon frequency in inducing ESBPs in the differential conduction, we have discussed zero applied voltage differential conductance. Under such conditions, ESBP is induced only when the photon frequency resonates with the phonon frequency. With increasing el-ph coupling amplitude, more ESBPs are induced in the differential conductance.     

Distortions of the coulomb blockade conductance line in scanning gate measurements of inas nanowire based quantum dots

We performed measurements at helium temperatures of the electronic transport in the linear regime in an InAs quantum wire in the presence of a charged tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) at low electron concentration. We show that at certain concentration of electrons, only two closely placed quantum dots, both in the Coulomb blockade regime, govern conductance of the whole wire. Under this condition, two types of peculiarities—wobbling and splitting—arise in the behavior of the lines of the conductance peaks of Coulomb blockade. These peculiarities are measured in quantum-wire-based structures for the first time. We explain both peculiarities as an interplay of the conductance of two quantum dots present in the wire. Detailed modeling of wobbling behavior made in the framework of the orthodox theory of Coulomb blockade demonstrates good agreement with the obtained experimental data.