Dynamical tunneling in mushroom billiards

We study the fundamental question of dynamical tunneling in generic two-dimensional Hamiltonian systems by considering regular-to-chaotic tunneling rates. Experimentally, we use microwave spectra to investigate a mushroom billiard with adjustable foot height. Numerically, we obtain tunneling rates from high precision eigenvalues using the improved method of particular solutions. Analytically, a prediction is given by extending an approach using a fictitious integrable system to billiards. In contrast to previous approaches for billiards, we find agreement with experimental and numerical data without any free parameter.     

Importance of electronic state of two-dimensional electron gas for electron injection process in nano-electronic devices

We report the unexpected temperature dependence of electron tunneling from the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) to the Si-dot in a Si-dots floating gate metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. We indicate that this temperature dependence of the electron tunneling cannot be explained by the conventional one-dimensional tunneling model, and show that it is necessary for a new model which includes the geometrical factor of the system. To extract a mechanism of the electron injection process from the 2DEG to the nano-structure, we have employed the numerical simulation, which includes both the geometrical condition of the system and the experimental setup. We suggest in our new tunneling model that the main contribution to the electron tunneling is induced by the wave-packet-like state of the electron below the Si-dots. We successfully show that the temperature dependence of the electron injection voltage in the Si-dots floating gate MOS capacitor fits our model. This indicates that the spatial distribution of electron density in the two-dimensional electron gas would play a crucial role in the electron tunneling.     

Giant magnetoresistance effect in a magnetic barrier nanostructure

The giant magnetoresistance (MR) effect is theoretically studied in a magnetically modulated two-dimensional electron gas. We find that the significant transmission difference for electron tunneling through parallel and antiparallel magnetization configurations results in a considerable MR effect. We also find that the MR ratio strongly depends on the magnetic strength and the distance between the left edges of two ferromagnetic strips as well as the temperature.     

Cooling of nanomechanical resonators by thermally activated single-electron transport

We show that the vibrations of a nanomechanical resonator can be cooled to near its quantum ground state by tunneling injection of electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope tip. The interplay between two mechanisms for coupling the electronic and mechanical degrees of freedom results in a bias-voltage-dependent difference between the probability amplitudes for vibron emission and absorption during tunneling. For a bias voltage just below the Coulomb blockade threshold, we find that absorption dominates, which leads to cooling corresponding to an average vibron population of the fundamental bending mode of 0.2.     

Radiation-Induced Oscillating Gap States of Nonequilibrium Two-Dimensional Superconductors

We study the effects of infrared radiation on a two-dimensional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductor coupled with a normal metal substrate through a tunneling barrier.The phase transition is analyzed by inspecting the stability of the system against perturbations of pairing potentials.We find an oscillating gap phase with a frequency not directly related to the radiation frequency,but instead resulting from the asymmetry of electron density of states of the system as well as the tunneling amplitude.When such a superconductor is in contact with another superconductor,gives rise to an unusual alternating Josephson current.     

The fractional quantum Hall effect: Chern-Simons mapping,duality, Luttinger liquids and the instanton vacuum

We derive, from first principles, the complete Luttinger liquid theory of abelian quantum Hall edge states. This theory includes disorder and Coulomb interactions as well as the coupling to external electromagnetic fields. We introduce a theory of spatially separated edge modes, find an enlarged dual symmetry and obtain a complete classification of quasiparticle operators and tunneling exponents. The chiral anomaly on the edge is used to obtain unambiguously the Hall conductance. In resolving the problem of counter-flowing edge modes, we find that the long range Coulomb interactions play a fundamental role. In order to set up a theory for arbitrary ν we use the idea of a two-dimensional network of percolating edge modes. We derive an effective, single mode Luttinger liquid theory for tunneling processes into the edge which yields a continuous tunneling exponent 1/ν. The network approach is also used to re-derive the instanton vacuum theory for plateau transitions.     

Tunneling time distribution by means of Nelson’s quantum mechanics and wave-particle duality

We construct a tunneling time distribution by means of Nelson’s quantum mechanics and investigate statistical properties of the tunneling time distribution. As a result, we find that the relationship between the average and the variance of the tunneling time shows ‘wave-particle duality’.     

New class of level statistics in correlated disordered chains

We study the properties of the level statistics of 1D disordered systems with long-range spatial correlations. We find a threshold value in the degree of correlations below which in the limit of large system size the level statistics follows a Poisson distribution (as expected for 1D uncorrelated-disordered systems), and above which the level statistics is described by a new class of distribution functions. At the threshold, we find that with increasing system size, the standard deviation of the function describing the level statistics converges to the standard deviation of the Poissonian distribution as a power law. Above the threshold we find that the level statistics is characterized by different functional forms for different degrees of correlations.     

Electron induced ortho-meta isomerization of single molecules

A scanning tunneling microscope operating at 5 K is used to induce the isomerization of single chloronitrobenzene molecules on Cu(111) and verify the reaction. The threshold voltage of (227+/-7) mV for this reaction is explained based on electron-induced vibrational heating. We propose that the isomerization is initiated by simultaneous excitation of two vibrational molecular modes via inelastically tunneling electrons. This excitation results in a shift of the distribution probability of chlorine and hydrogen positions, which facilitates their mutual exchange.     

Concrete quantum tunneling spectrum of Schwarzschild black holes

In this paper,a canonical ensemble model for black hole quantum tunneling radiation is introduced.We find that the probability distribution function is the same as the emission rate of a spherical shell in the Parikh-Wilczek tunneling framework.With this model,the probability distribution function corresponding to the emission shell system is calculated.Therefore,the concrete quantum tunneling spectrum of the Schwarzschild black hole is obtained.     

Strong lateral electron coupling of pb nanowires on stepped si(111): angle-resolved photoemission studies

We employ angle-resolved photoemission to characterize the electronic band structure of the Pb "nanowire" array self-assembled on a stepped Si(111) surface. Despite the highly oriented nanowires observed in scanning tunneling microscopy images, we find essentially two-dimensional Fermi contours modulated one dimensionally perpendicular to the wires. This strong two-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional nature of the band structure explains the stability and anisotropy of the metallic phase down to 4 K as reported recently. A simple tight-binding model with each Si nanoterrace covered by a densely packed Pb overlayer successfully reproduces this modulated band structure and quantifies the electron coupling within the "nanostripes" and the step-edge potential.     

Two-dimensional threshold voltage model of nanoscale silicon-on-insulator tunneling field-effect transistor

The tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET) is a potential candidate for the post-CMOS era. In this paper, a threshold voltage model is developed for this new kind of device. First, two-dimensional (2D) models are used to describe the distributions of potential and electric field in the channel and two depletion regions. Then based on the physical definition of threshold voltage for the nanoscale TFET, the threshold voltage model is developed. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified by comparing the calculated results with the 2D device simulation data. It has been demonstrated that the effects of varying the device parameters can easily be investigated using the model presented in this paper. This threshold voltage model provides a valuable reference to the TFET device design, simulation, and fabrication.     

Two-dimensional threshold voltage model of a nanoscale silicon-on-insulator tunneling field-effect transistor

The tunneling field-effect transistor(TFET) is a potential candidate for the post-CMOS era.In this paper,a threshold voltage model is developed for this new kind of device.First,two-dimensional(2D) models are used to describe the distributions of potential and electric field in the channel and two depletion regions.Then based on the physical definition of threshold voltage for the nanoscale TFET,the threshold voltage model is developed.The accuracy of the proposed model is verified by comparing the calculated results with the 2D device simulation data.It has been demonstrated that the effects of varying the device parameters can easily be investigated using the model presented in this paper.This threshold voltage model provides a valuable reference to TFET device design,simulation,and fabrication.     

Observation of a complex nanoscale magnetic structure in a hexagonal Fe monolayer

We have observed a novel magnetic structure in the pseudomorphic Fe monolayer on Ir(111). Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy we find a nanometer-sized two-dimensional magnetic unit cell. A collinear magnetic structure is proposed consisting of 15 Fe atoms per unit cell with 7 magnetic moments pointing in one and 8 moments in the opposite direction. First-principles calculations verify that such an unusual magnetic state is indeed lower in energy than all solutions of the classical Heisenberg model. We demonstrate that the complex magnetic structure is induced by the strong Fe-Ir hybridization.     

Electron interactions and transport between coupled quantum Hall edge states

We examine the effects of electron-electron interactions on transport between edge states in a multilayer integer quantum Hall system. The edge states of such a system, coupled by interlayer tunneling, form a two-dimensional, chiral metal at the sample surface. We calculate the temperature-dependent conductivity and the amplitude of conductance fluctuations in this chiral metal, treating Coulomb interactions and disorder exactly in the weak-tunneling limit. We find that the conductivity increases with increasing temperature, as observed in recent experiments, and we show that the correlation length characterizing conductance fluctuations varies inversely with temperature.     

Low energy dynamics of two-dimensional lateral tunnel junctions

We report on the low temperature tunneling characteristics of two-dimensional lateral tunnel junctions (2DLTJs) consisting of two coplanar two-dimensional electron systems separated by an in-plane tunnel barrier. The tunneling conductance of the 2DLTJ exhibits a characteristic dip at small voltages—consistent with the phenomenon of zero-bias anomaly in low-dimensional tunnel junctions—and a broad conductance peak at the Coulombic energy scale. The conductance peak remains robust under magnetic fields well into the quantum Hall regime. We identify the broad conductance maxima as the signature of the pseudogap in the tunneling density of states below the characteristic Coulomb interaction energy of the 2DLTJ.     

Spiral growth without dislocations: molecular beam epitaxy of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 on epitaxial graphene/SiC(0001)

We report a new mechanism that does not require the formation of interfacial dislocations to mediate spiral growth during molecular beam epitaxy of Bi2Se3. Based on in situ scanning tunneling microscopy observations, we find that Bi2Se3 growth on epitaxial graphene/SiC(0001) initiates with two-dimensional (2D) nucleation, and that the spiral growth ensues with the pinning of the 2D growth fronts at jagged steps of the substrate or at domain boundaries created during the coalescence of the 2D islands. Winding of the as-created growth fronts around these pinning centers leads to spirals. The mechanism can be broadly applied to the growth of other van der Waals materials on weakly interacting substrates. We further confirm, using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, that the one-dimensional helical mode of a line defect is not supported in strong topological insulators such as Bi2Se3.     

Levy distribution of single molecule line shape cumulants in glasses

We investigate the distribution of single molecule line shape cumulants, kappa(1),kappa(2),ellipsis, in low temperature glasses based on the sudden jump, standard tunneling model. We find that the cumulants are described by Levy stable laws, thus the generalized central limit theorem is applicable for this problem.     

Definition of percolation thresholds on self-affine surfaces

We study the percolation transition on a two-dimensional substrate with long-range self-affine correlations. We find that the position of the percolation threshold on a correlated lattice is no longer unique and depends on the spanning rule employed. Numerical results are provided for spanning across the lattice in specified (horizontal or vertical), either or both directions.