Coherent nonlinear transport in quantum rings

While equilibrium properties of mesoscopic systems are well understood, many questions are still debated concerning the non-equilibrium properties, which govern nonlinear transport. Nonlinear transport measurements have been performed on two-terminal semiconductor quantum rings in the open regime, where the rings are used as electron interferometers and show the Aharonov–Bohm effect. We observe a magnetic field asymmetry of the nonlinear conductance, compatible with the non-validity of the Onsager–Casimir relations out-of-equilibrium. In particular, the voltage-antisymmetric part of the nonlinear conductance of these two-terminal devices is not phase rigid, as it is the case for the linear conductance. We show that this asymmetry is directly related to the electronic phase accumulated by the electrons along the arms of the ring and can be tuned using an electrostatic gate.     

Investigation of the mesoscopic Aharonov–Bohm effect in low magnetic fields

We have investigated the Aharonov–Bohm effect in mesoscopic semiconductor GaAs/GaA1As rings in low magnetic fields. The oscillatory magnetoconductance of these systems is systematically studied as a function of electron density. We observe phase shifts of π in the magnetoconductance oscillations, and halving of the fundamental h/e period, as the density is varied. Theoretically, we find agreement with the experiment, by introducing an asymmetry between the two arms of the ring.     

Coherence properties of submicron GaAs/AlGaAs rings with a ferromagnetic gate

In the present work, the Aharonov–Bohm effect in submicron GaAs/AlGaAs ring with an in-plane ferromagnetic gate is investigated. The experiment is based on the study of the derivatives of magnetoresistance and microwave EMF to gate voltage. The experimental results are explained by electron wave interference in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field in the ring.     

on submicron rings and their application for coherent nanoelectronic devices

Electron-phase modulation in magnetic and electric fields will be presented in In_0.75Ga_0.25As Aharonov–Bohm (AB) rings. The zero Schottky barrier of this material made it possible to nanofabricate devices with radii down to below 200 nm without carrier depletion. We shall present a fabrication scheme based on wet and dry etching that yielded excellent reproducibility, very high contrast of the oscillations and good electrical gating. The operation of these structures is compatible with closed-cycle refrigeration and suggests that this process can yield coherent electronic circuits that do not require cryogenic liquids. The InGaAs/AlInAs heterostructure was grown by MBE on a GaAs substrate [F. Capotondi, G. Biasiol, D. Ercolani, V. Grillo, E. Carlino, F. Romanato, L. Sorba, Thin Solid Films 484 (2005) 400], and in light of the large effective g-factor and the absence of the Schottky barrier is a material system of interest for the investigation of spin-related effects [W. Desrat, F. Giazotto, V. Pellegrini, F. Beltram, F. Capotondi, G. Biasiol, L. Sorba, D.K. Maude, Phys. Rev. B 69 (2004) 245324; W. Desrat, F. Giazotto, V. Pellegrini, M. Governale, F. Beltram, F. Capotondi, G. Biasiol, L. Sorba, Phys. Rev. B 71 (2005) 153314; J. Nitta, T. Akazaki, H. Takayanagi, T. Enoki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 (1997) 1335] and the realization of hybrid superconductor/semiconductor devices [Th. Schäpers, A. Kaluza, K. Neurohr, J. Malindretos, G. Crecelius, A. van der Hart, H. Hardtdegen, H. Lüth, Appl. Phys. Lett. 71 (1997) 3575].     

Period doubling effects in the oscillations of persistent currents in discretized Aharonov–Bohm rings

One shows that the oscillations with respect to the magnetic flux in the one-dimensional discretized Aharonov–Bohm rings are sensitive with respect to the parity of the number of electrons N_e. Resorting to basic flux intervals of unit length indicates that the period of such oscillations is given by the flux quantum Φ₀=hc/e and by 2Φ₀ if N_e is odd and even, respectively. Accordingly, one deals with a period doubling effect when passing from odd N_e-values to even ones, which may be useful in the design of further nanodevices. Interaction free limits of the Drude weight are also discussed.     

Magnetic response of an electron gas in a quantum ring of non-zero width

An investigation of the magnetic moment of an electron gas in a quantum ring of non-zero width is made. Analytic expressions are obtained for the magnetic moment. For the magnetic moment of the system, the dependence on temperature and parameters of the ring are found and investigated in detail. De Haas–van Alphen and Aharonov–Bohm oscillations are investigated.     

Perfect spin polarization in symmetric two-terminal mesoscopic rings

Spin-polarized transport through an Aharonov–Bohm (AB) semiconductor mesoscopic ring is investigated in the presence of both the Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI) and the Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction (DSOI). The ring symmetrically bridges two input and output electrodes. Based on tight-binding model and Green?s function formalism, we find that for AB fluxes other than integer or half-integer multiples of the flux quanta the ring acts as a spin selective device with unit efficiency only when the difference between strengths of RSOI and DSOI is nonzero and small. Results of this study can be used to design a nonmagnetic-material-based perfect spin filter.     

Impurity effects in the optical absorption of quantum rings

We study the interplay between impurity scattering and Coulomb interaction effects in the absorption spectrum of neutral bound magnetoexcitons confined in quantum-ring structures. Impurity scattering breaks the rotational symmetry of the ring system, introducing characteristic features in the optical emission. Signatures of the optical Aharonov–Bohm effect are still present for weak scattering and strong Coulomb screening. Furthermore, an impurity-induced modulation of the absorption strength is present even for a strong impurity potential and low screening. This behavior is likely responsible of recent experimental observations in quantum-ring structures.     

Phase slips in Aharonov–Bohm oscillations

We give a possible mechanism for periodically occurring phaseslips in Aharonov–Bohm oscillations of mesoscopic rings.     

Angular magnetoresistance oscillations in bilayers in tilted magnetic fields

Angular magnetoresistance oscillations (AMRO) were originally discovered in organic conductors and then found in many other layered metals. It should be possible to observe AMRO to semiconducting bilayers as well. Here we present an intuitive geometrical interpretation of AMRO as the Aharonov–Bohm interference effect, both in real and momentum spaces, for balanced and imbalanced bilayers. Applications to the experiments with bilayers in tilted magnetic fields in the metallic state are discussed. We speculate that AMRO may be also observed when each layer of the bilayer is in the composite-fermion state.     

Aharonov–Bohm effect in Kane-type semiconductor quantum wire

In the present study, the Aharonov–Bohm effect for bound states in Kane-type quantum wire is analysed. It is demonstrated that the wave function and the energy spectra of carriers depend on the magnetic flux. The energy and the g factor of electrons are of a periodic function of the magnetic flux. The statistical property of the orbital magnetism of electrons at low temperatures and strong magnetic fields is presented. It is shown that the magnetisation of electron oscillations depends on the magnetic flux.     

Control of Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in a AlGaAs/GaAs ring by asymmetric and symmetric gate biasing

The control of the Aharonov–Bohm effect on a AlGaAs/GaAs ring structure is studied by employing two in-plane-gates. By applying a gate voltage to one of the gates, a change of the oscillation pattern due to the additional potential induced in one branch of the ring is observed. The change of the oscillation frequency as well as the phase is attributed to the multi-channel transport. In case of a symmetric biasing, where both gates are biased simultaneously, a larger voltage is required to change the oscillation pattern than for the case when only one gate is used. This effect is explained by a partial compensation of the phase difference between both branches of the ring.     

Quantum coherence in quantum dot—Aharonov–Bohm ring hybrid systems

We investigate coherent transport through hybrid systems of quantum dots and Aharonov–Bohm (AB) rings. Strong coherence over the entire system leads to the Fano effect, which originates from the interference and the phase shift caused by the discrete states in the dots. The high controllability of the system parameters reveals that the Fano effect in mesoscopic transport can be a powerful tool for detecting the phase shift of electrons. We apply it to detect electrostatic phase modulation and the phase shift in a quantum wire with a side-coupled dot. Finally, we provide an experimental answer to the problem of “neighboring in-phase Coulomb peaks”.     

Modifications of Electron States,Magnetization, and Persistent Current in a Quantum Dot by Controlled Curvature

The thin‐layer quantization procedure is used to study the physical implications due to curvature effects on a quantum dot in the presence of an external magnetic field. Among the various physical implications due to the curvature of the system, the absence of the $m=0$ state is the most relevant one. This absence affects the Fermi energy and consequently the thermodynamic properties of the system. In the absence of magnetic fields, it is verified that the rotational symmetry in the lateral confinement is preserved in the electronic states of the system and its degeneracy concerning the harmonicity of the confining potential is broken. In the presence of a magnetic field, however, the energies of the electronic states in a quantum dot with curvature are greater than those obtained for a quantum dot in a flat space, and the profile of degeneracy changes when the field is varied. It is shown that the curvature of the surface modifies the number of subbands occupied in the Fermi energy. In the study of both magnetization and persistent currents, it is observed that Aharonov–Bohm‐type oscillations are present, whereas de Haas–van Alphen‐type oscillations are not well defined.     

Aharonov–Bohm oscillations observed in nanoscale open-dot structures fabricated in an InAs surface inversion layer

We fabricated nanoscale open-dot structures in an InAs surface inversion layer using an atomic-force-microscope oxidation process. Due to its superior nanofabrication capability, small open-dot structures with the feature size ranging between 100 and 300 nm were successfully fabricated. The magnetoresistance signal measured at 4.2 K showed reproducible fluctuations and a periodic oscillation component that varies in both amplitude and periodicity depending on the dot size. We show that the period of the oscillations corresponds to that of the Aharonov–Bohm effect and propose that the possible mechanism for the oscillations is due to the formation of a one-dimensional electron channel enclosing the open-dot structure as a result of the electron transfer from the InAs oxide to InAs.     

Spectral properties of two electrons vertically coupled in toroidal quantum rings

The energy spectrum of two electrons spatially separated in two toroidal and vertically stacked narrow nanorings with different radii has been analyzed by using a very simple model based on the adiabatic approximation. The low-lying energy levels are found to be a function of the ratio between the ring centreline radii and the magnetic field. Our results coincide with the exact solution previously obtained for the limiting case in which two electrons are constrained to move in a one-dimensional quantum ring.     

On the Aharonov–Bohm Hamiltonian

Using the theory of self-adjoint extensions, we construct all the possible Hamiltonians describing the nonrelativistic Aharonov–Bohm effect. In general, the resulting Hamiltonians are not rotationally invariant so that the angular momentum is not a constant of motion. Using an explicit formula for the resolvent, we describe the spectrum and compute the generalized eigenfunctions and the scattering amplitude.     

Oscillatory persistent currents in quantum rings: Semiconductors versus superconductors

Persistent currents are a hallmark of superconductivity in metals. To observe those dissipationless currents in a non-superconducting ring, the circumference of the ring must be short enough so that the phase coherence of the electronic wave functions is preserved around the loop. Recent progress in the fabrication of self-assembled semiconductor quantum rings (SAQRs), which can be filled with only a few (1–2) electrons, has offered the unique possibility to study the magnetic-field-induced oscillations in the persistent current carried by a single electron. In this paper, we discuss similarities and distinctions between the behavior of persistent currents in semiconductor and superconductor samples and give an overview of the recent results for oscillatory persistent currents in SAQRs. Although the real SAQR shape differs strongly from an idealized circular-symmetric open ring structure, the Aharonov–Bohm oscillations of the magnetization survive, as observed in low temperature magnetization measurements on In_xGa_1−xAs/GaAs SAQRs.     

Coulomb blockade double-dot Aharonov–Bohm interferometer: Giant fluctuations

Electron transport through two parallel quantum dots is a kind of solid-state realization of double path interference. We demonstrate that the inter-dot Coulomb correlation and quantum coherence would result in strong current fluctuations with a divergent Fano factor at zero frequency. We also provide physical interpretation for this surprising result, which displays its generic feature and allows us to recover this phenomenon in more complicated systems.