Doublet resonances of an electron in symmetric three-barrier resonant tunneling structures

The evolution and collapse of electron resonances and their spectral parameters in a symmetric three-barrier resonant tunneling structure (TBRTS) are studied theoretically. The resonance energy and width of the quasi-stationary states of an electron are analyzed. The quasi-stationary states are calculated by the transmission coefficient method, the method of the probability distribution function (the probability of finding an electron in a TBRTS), and the scattering cross section method.     

Quasi-stationary states of electrons and holes in an open composite cylindrical quantum wire

The energies of the quasi-stationary states of electrons and holes in an open composite cylindrical quantum wire are calculated within the effective-mass approximation by means of the S-matrix theory. Specific calculation is carried out for the HgS/CdS/HgS system. The poles of the S matrix in the complex energy plane are studied. The dependences of the lifetimes of quasiparticles in quasi-stationary resonance states on the longitudinal quasi-momentum and geometric parameters of the nanosystem are obtained. It is shown that the quasiparticle lifetimes in the resonance states exponentially diminish as the longitudinal quasi-momentum increases.     

High-frequency response and the possibilities of frequency-tunable narrow-band terahertz amplification in resonant tunneling nanostructures

The characteristics of the high-frequency response of single- and double-well resonant tunneling structures in a dc electric field are investigated on the basis of the numerical solution of a time-dependent Schrödinger equation with open boundary conditions. The frequency dependence of the real part of high frequency conductivity (high-frequency response) in In_0.53Ga_0.47As/AlAs/InP structures is analyzed in detail for various values of the dc voltage V _dc in the negative differential resistance (NDR) region. It is shown that double-well three-barrier structures are promising for the design of terahertz-band oscillators. The presence of two resonant states with close energies in such structures leads to a resonant (in frequency) response whose frequency is determined by the energy difference between these levels and can be controlled by varying the parameters of the structure. It is shown that, in principle, such structures admit narrow-band amplification, tuning of the amplification frequency, and a fine control of the amplification (oscillation) frequency in a wide range of terahertz frequencies by varying a dc electric voltage applied to the structure. Starting from a certain width of the central intermediate barrier in double-well structures, one can observe a collapse of resonances, where the structure behaves like a single-well system. This phenomenon imposes a lower limit on the oscillation frequency in three-barrier resonant tunneling structures.     

Fano resonances and electron localization in heterobarriers

A study is made of electron tunneling in semiconductor heterostructures having a complex dispersion law. A generalized Fabry-Perot approach is used to describe tunneling across the barrier. Mixing of electron states at the heterojunctions is responsible for the asymmetric resonant structure of the transmission which is characterized by a resonance-antiresonance pair. The resonance corresponds to a pole while the antiresonance corresponds to a zero of the scattering amplitude in the complex energy plane, i.e., near the pole and the zero the transmission of the heterobarrier has a Fano resonance structure. It is shown that for certain barrier parameters the resonances may collapse and localized states may appear in the heterobarrier, which is observed on the current-voltage characteristics of the barriers. The two-valley model of a GaAs/Al_xGa_1?x As/GaAs heterostructure is considered as an example. An analysis is made of the resonance structure in the barrier as a function of the type of boundary conditions used for the heterojunctions. The low-temperature current-voltage characteristic of the barrier is calculated.     

Tunneling time correction to the intersubband optical absorption in a THz laser-dressed GaAs/Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ga<Subscript>1-</Subscript><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>As quantum well

Tunneling effect on the intersubband optical absorption in a GaAs/Al _x Ga_{1- x} As quantum well under simultaneous presence of intense non-resonant laser and static electric fields is theoretically investigated. Based on the shooting method the quasi-stationary energy levels and their corresponding linewidths are obtained. By considering the joint action of the two external fields the linear absorption coefficient is calculated by means of Fermi’s golden rule and taking into account the intersubband relaxation. We found that: (i) the linewidth broadening due to the electron tunneling has an appreciable effect on the absorption spectrum; (ii) a constant relaxation time adopted in the previous studies could not be justified even for moderate electric fields, especially in the laser dressed wells. Our model predicts that the number of absorption peaks can be controlled by the external applied fields. While in the high-electric fields the excited states become unbounded due to a significant tunneling of the electrons, for high laser intensities and low/moderate electric fields the absorption spectrum has a richer structure due to the laser-generated resonant states. The possibility of tuning the resonant absorption energies by using the combined effects of the static electric field and the THz coherent radiation field can be useful in designing new optoelectronic devices.     

Relative intensities in X-ray photoelectron spectra: Part XI. Calculation of photoionization cross sections for valence levels of SiF4

Partial photoionization cross sections for valence MOs of SiF₄ have been calculated by the method of multiple scattering with atomic amplitudes (MSAA) for excitation energies ranging from the ionization threshold to 60 eV. The cross section behavior near the ionization thresholds is determined mainly by the shape resonances of t₂ and e symmetries. The resonance structure of photoionization cross sections is treated in terms of deviations from the additive model, and of conceptions of “quasi-stationary” states and “quasi-forbidden” bands. The energy positions of quasi-stationary states in SiF₄ are compared with the data obtained from X-ray absorption spectra. The dependence of theoretical cross sections on the inter-nuclear distances is studied.     

Resonant-tunneling structure of quantum wells in the p-i-n photovoltaic element

The method for efficient separation of photoexcited carriers, based on the resonant tunneling phenomenon in the quantum well structure placed into the i-region of the p-i-n photovoltaic element, is proposed. The parameters of quantum well structures based on the GaAs/Ga_1?x In _x As system, implementing the mode of sequential resonant tunneling in the electric field of the GaAs p-i-n junction, is calculated. A microscopic model of resonant-tunneling transport in such structures is constructed, and the kinetic tunneling times are calculated depending on well and barrier parameters. The possibility of achieving sufficiently short (<～10 ps) tunneling times and, hence, quite efficient removal of photoelectrons and photoholes from quantum wells at a proper choice of barrier powers is shown.     

Quantum box resonant tunneling spectroscopy: Experiments and modelisation

We have calculated the potential profile and the electronic levels in resonant tunneling double barrier structures with nanometric lateral dimensions (≤ 500 nm) for various contact doping. At biases for which the box states (laterally confined quantum well) are resonant with the emitter Fermi level, fine structures are expected in the resonant tunneling current. Comparison with I(V) characteristics measured on nanometric GaAs/GaAlAs and GaAs/GaAlAs/InGaAs resonant tunneling diodes shows that our model accounts for the resonance bias voltage and explains the shape of the current peak. The fine structure observed in the current peak provides a spectroscopy of the confined states in the quantum box.     

Hyperfine switching triggered by resonant tunneling for the detection of a single nuclear spin qubit

A novel detection mechanism and a robust control of a single nuclear spin-flip by hyperfine interactions between the nuclear spin and tunneling electron spin are proposed on the basis of ab initio non-equilibrium Green's function calculations. The calculated relaxation times of the nuclear spin of proton in a nano-contact system, Pd(electrode)-H₂-Pd(electrode), show that ON/OFF switching of hyperfine interactions is effectively triggered by resonant tunneling mediated through the d-orbitals of Pd. The relaxation times at ON-resonance are ∼¹⁰³ times faster than those at OFF-resonance, indicating that ON-resonance is suitable for the detection (read-out) of nuclear spin states. In addition, the effectiveness of bias voltage applications at OFF-resonance for selective operations on the proton qubit is demonstrated in the calculations of the resonant frequencies of proton using the gauge-invariant atomic orbital method.     

Resonant Josephson tunneling through S-I-S junctions of arbitrary size

The Josephson tunneling current in S-I-S structures where the main current transport channel is resonant tunneling through an isolated localized state is calculated using the Bogolyubov-de Gennes equations. It is shown that the efficiency of equilibrium Josephson resonant tunneling is determined only by the ratio of the width of the resonance level to the absolute value of the order parameter for the superconducting electrodes with arbitrary relationships among the system parameters. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 342–352 (July 1997)     

Renormalized quasiparticles in antiferromagnetic states of the Hubbard model

We analyze the properties of the quasiparticle excitations of metallic antiferromagnetic states in a strongly correlated electron system. The study is based on dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) for the infinite dimensional Hubbard model with antiferromagnetic symmetry breaking. Self-consistent solutions of the DMFT equations are calculated using the numerical renormalization group (NRG). The low energy behavior in these results is then analyzed in terms of renormalized quasiparticles. The parameters for these quasiparticles are calculated directly from the NRG derived self-energy, and also from the low energy fixed point of the effective impurity model. From these the quasiparticle weight and the effective mass are deduced. We show that the main low energy features of the k-resolved spectral density can be understood in terms of the quasiparticle picture. We also find that Luttinger's theorem is satisfied for the total electron number in the doped antiferromagnetic state.     

Low temperature sound velocity at 9.3 GHz in quartz crystals irradiated with fast neutrons

Low temperature measurements of the variation of the velocity of sound in quartz crystals after exposure to various neutron doses are reported. The data, analysed in terms of the two-level tunneling model, show that the spectral density of tunneling systems as a function of neutron dose behaves different than the earlier reported density of radiation-induced clusters. To fit the maximum in Δv/v₀ at 7.5 K we used, like in a-SiO₂, a spectral density of tunneling states increasing with energy.     

Magnetotunneling relaxation of electrons in double quantum wells

Electron tunneling relaxation in double quantum wells subject to a transverse magnetic field is studied. The resonant peaks in the tunneling relaxation rate appear when the energy splitting Δ of the tunnel-coupled pair of the left- and right- well electron states is a multiple of the cyclotron energy ℏω_c and two series of the Landau levels coincide. The shape of such resonant oscillations of the relaxation rate is determined by the Landau levels' broadening (which is associated with the intrawell scattering in the case of small tunnel coupling), but it is not expressed through the electron density of states directly. The dependence of the tunneling relaxation rate on ℏω_c and Δ is calculated taking into account elastic scattering of the electrons by the inhomogeneities of the structure in the limit when the scattering potential is slowly changing on the magnetic length scale.     

Boundary conformal field theory and tunneling of edge quasiparticles in non-Abelian topological states

We explain how (perturbed) boundary conformal field theory allows us to understand the tunneling of edge quasiparticles in non-Abelian topological states. The coupling between a bulk non-Abelian quasiparticle and the edge is due to resonant tunneling to a zero mode on the quasiparticle, which causes the zero mode to hybridize with the edge. This can be reformulated as the flow from one conformally invariant boundary condition to another in an associated critical statistical mechanical model. Tunneling from one edge to another at a point contact can split the system in two, either partially or completely. This can be reformulated in the critical statistical mechanical model as the flow from one type of defect line to another. We illustrate these two phenomena in detail in the context of the ν=5/2 quantum Hall state and the critical Ising model. We briefly discuss the case of Fibonacci anyons and conclude by explaining the general formulation and its physical interpretation.     

On resonant tunneling

Localized electron states in oxides adjacent to metals hybridize with conduction electron states forming interface states, which at the localized site have an amplitude resonantly enhanced over the amplitude of the conduction electron states. The interface states mediate a continuous transition between the metal and the semiconducting or insulating oxide. Resonant tunneling via these interface states to an opposing metal surface can dominate over direct and intermediate-state tunneling. Resonant tunneling is obstructed by the correlation (Coulomb) energy which causes voltage, temperature and time dependencies. The obstruction increases with distance of the localized state from the metal and this increased obstruction causes the transition from resonant to intermediate-state tunneling. This corresponds to a space-wise metal-insulator transition. In oxides, like Nb₂O₅, the correlation energy is small and the hybridization is strong and thus resonant tunneling through localized states at the Fermi energy can account for various tunnel anomalies observed in the normal or superconducting state.     

Impurity absorption of light involving resonant states of shallow donors in quantum wells

The energy spectrum of localized and resonant states of shallow donors in heterostructures GaAs/Al_xGa_1?xAs with quantum wells is calculated. The widths of the resonant states belonging to the second size quantization subband are determined. It is shown that the width of a resonance level is mainly determined by the interaction with optical phonons. The spectrum of impurity absorption of light due to electron transitions from the ground state of the donor to the resonant states belonging to the second size quantization subband is calculated.     

Overcoming of the gamow tunneling insufficiencies by maximizing the damp-matching resonant tunneling

The resonant quantum tunneling current through the barrier between two wells may be maximized when the damp (absorption) in one well matches the barrier parameters. The maximum resonant tunneling current is much greater than the conventional expectation by a factor ofθ (1/θ ² is the Gamow tunneling factor). It is shown that with all the established quantum mechanics, very much higher reaction probabilities between nuclei in contrary to the Gamow theory can be explained in agreement with experiments. Particularly, the resonance will select the sub-barrier fusion with a suitable fusion rate which matches the barrier parameters. This selective resonant tunneling model is able to explain both the hot fusion data (e.g. the width of resonance in¹¹B(p,α)2α reaction) and the cold fusion data (e.g. “excess heat” without any commensurate neutron andγ radiation). This work is supported by the State Commission of Science and Technology, the Natural Science Foundation of China (Contract #19645005), and the Fundamental Research Fund of Tsinghua University.     

Electromagnetic tunneling through a three-layer asymmetric medium containing epsilon-negative slabs

With the transfer-matrix method, conditions of extraordinary electromagnetic resonant tunneling through all combinations of three-layer nonmagnetic (µ _r = 1) media containing epsilon-negative (ENG) and doublepositive (DPS) slabs were explored. We show that abnormal phenomena can occur in the ENG-DPS-ENG structure, without any restriction on the permittivity of the DPS layer. Changes of transmittance as a function of frequency and incidence angle for a dispersive, lossy model are also calculated, and the results demonstrate the possibility of exhibition this counterintuitive tunneling phenomenon in the DPS-ENG-DPS structure within a wide range of incidence angles.     

Theory of tunneling conductance of STS around magnetic impurity in superconductors

Local density of states of quasiparticles around the magnetic impurity in superconductors are calculated on the basis of a pair potential the spatial dependence of which is determined self-consistently using negative Hubbard model. The spatial dependence of the tunneling conductance observed by Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) strongly depends on the magnitude of the impurity potentials.