Conductance histograms and conducting channels in atomic-scale metallic contacts

Properties of the conductance and transport channels of atomic-scale contacts are discussed within the free electron model. In agreement with recent experiments, we find that, owing to the contribution of evanescent channels, even when the conductance is close to an integer number N of conductance quanta more than N channels may contribute significantly to the current. We show that the observation of peaks at integer multiples of G₀ in conductance histograms is not a signature of conductance quantization of individual contacts. However, the observed peaks can still be associated to the quantum nature of electron transport in metallic contacts.     

Conductance of atomic-scale metallic contacts with controllable interface hopping integrals

We study the conductance of metallic point contacts between two external leads. Landauer conductance has been computed under constraint of atomic charge neutrality. For Cu and Ni the conductance increases nonlinearly with the number of atoms within the contact layer (unlike the Sharvin conductance). Moreover, the current polarization of nickel turns out to be sensitive to interface conditions.     

Conductance of metallic nanoribbons with defects

The conductances of two typical metallic graphene nanoribbons with one and two defects are studied using the tight binding model with the surface Green’s function method. The weak scattering impurities, U ～ 1 eV, induce a dip in the conductance near the Fermi energy for the narrow zigzag graphene nanoribbons. As the impurity scattering strength increases, the conductance behavior at the Fermi energy becomes more complicated and depends on the impurity location, the AA and AB sites. The impurity effect then becomes weak and vanishes with the increase in the width of the zigzag graphene nanoribbons (150 nm). For the narrow armchair graphene nanoribbons, the conductance at the Fermi energy is suppressed by the impurities and becomes zero with the increase in impurity scattering strength, U > 100 eV, for two impurities at the AA sites, but becomes constant for the two impurities at the AB sites. As the width of the graphene nanoribbons increases, the impurity effect on the conductance at the Fermi energy depends sensitively on the vacancy location at the AA or AB sites.     

Photothermal microanalysis of thermal discontinuities in metallic samples

Modeling the behavior of a protective coating during a thermal shock not only requires the knowledge of its own thermophysical characteristics, but also those of the coating–substrate discontinuity. According to its nature, this discontinuity can be modeled as a zero-thickness interface (thermal contact resistance) or a finite thickness layer (thermal third body). This paper presents an experimental device and two associated thermal transfer models developed in view of the microscale characterization of such discontinuities.     

非晶态物质原子局域连接度与弛豫动力学

非晶态物质的本质及形成过程是凝聚态物理领域最困难也是最有趣的问题之一.非晶形成过程在原子结构上不会衍生出人们在传统晶体结构里所熟悉的长程有序性,因此对于此类在自然界中广泛存在的物质形态,至今还没有有效的实验表征手段和理论研究方法.非晶态物质的原子结构及其构效关系的研究是凝聚态物理和材料科学等众多研究领域所关注的热点问题之一.随着对非晶态物质物性研究的深入,人们逐渐意识到非晶态物质中原子中程序对系统性质的重要影响,建立以中程序为基础的结构-动力学关系对于理解玻璃及玻璃转变的本质起着重要的作用.本文简要综述了基于图论提出的原子局域连接度这一新的结构序参量在液体和玻璃的结构及构效关系研究中的应用.新的结构序参量从过去侧重于关注局域原子团簇的种类和分布,转移到更加关注某一类具有特殊对称性的原子的空间连接情况,即更多地尝试从原子中程序的角度来建立非晶态物质中的构效关系.新的研究结果表明,局域连接度可与非晶态物质中原子的短时或长时动力学行为、输运方式、以及振动模态等一系列物理性质建立联系.     

Conductance of metallic single-wall nanotubes with single magnetic impurities

Using a model of conducting cylinder with a few number of impurities on its surface, we investigate the effects of magnetic impurity scattering on the conductance of metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes. The nonlinear part of conductance, which is due to the interaction of conduction electrons with impurities, is obtained. The signature of Kondo anomaly is found in the nonlinear conductance and it is shown that its amplitude strongly depends on the position of impurities and diameter of nanotube.     

Solute-atom segregation at symmetric twist and tilt boundaries in binary metallic alloys on an atomic-scale

Monte Carlo and overlapping distributions Monte Carlo (ODMC) techniques are employed to simulate grain boundary (GB) segregation in a number of single-phase binary metallic alloys—the Au-Pt, Cu-Ni, Ni-Pd, and Ni-Pt systems. For a series of symmetric [001] twist and [001] tilt boundaries, with coincident site lattice (CSL) structures, we demonstrate that the Gibbsian interfacial excess of solute is a systematic function of the misorientation angle. We also explore in detail whether the GB solid solution behavior is ideal or nonideal by comparing the results of Monte Carlo and ODMC simulations. The range of binding free energies of specific atomic sites at GBs for solute atoms is also studied. The simulational results obtained demonstrate that the thermodynamic and statistical thermodynamic models commonly used to explain GB segregation are too simple to account for the microscopic segregation patterns observed, and that it is extremely difficult. If not impossible, to extract the observed microscopic information employing macroscopic models.     

Line width of crystal-field excitations in metallic rare-earth systems

A theory is developed for the line width of crystal-field excitations in metallic rare-earth systems were the damping is due to conduction electron-hole excitations. First the single ion or dilute alloy case is studied. As an example the theory is applied to Ce in LaAl₂ and compared with recent experiments. Then the case of a regular lattice of rare-earth ions is considered. The theory is applied to the ₁ – ₄ system. Special attention is paid to the behaviour of the central peak near an induced-moment phase transition. It is shown that the dynamics of the conduction electrons leads to observable effects in the centralpeak intensity and can not be neglected as it is usually done. The theoretical predictions are in agreement with recent experimental findings on Pr₃Tl.     

Heat capacity of square-well fluids of variable width

We have obtained by Monte Carlo NVT simulations the constant-volume excess heat capacity of square-well fluids for several temperatures, densities and potential widths. Heat capacity is a thermodynamic property much more sensitive to the accuracy of a theory than other thermodynamic quantities, such as the compressibility factor. This is illustrated by comparing the reported simulation data for the heat capacity with the theoretical predictions given by the Barker-Henderson perturbation theory as well as with those given by a non-perturbative theoretical model based on Baxter's solution of the Percus-Yevick integral equation for sticky hard spheres. Both theories give accurate predictions for the equation of state. By contrast, it is found that the Barker-Henderson theory strongly underestimates the excess heat capacity for low to moderate temperatures, whereas a much better agreement between theory and simulation is achieved with the non-perturbative theoretical model, particularly for small well widths, although the accuracy of the latter worsens for high densities and low temperatures, as the well width increases.     

Broad-band band-pass filter with variable center frequency and band width

This paper describes a new type of broad-band band-pass filter in which both the center frequency and band width are variable. The filter is composed of four balanced mixers, two local oscillators, an amplifier, and high-pass and low-pass filters. The center frequency and band width can be varied by changing the frequencies of two local oscillators. The center frequency is variable in the range 2–16 GHz, and the band width in the range 20–800 MHz.     

Optimization of spin-triplet supercurrent in ferromagnetic Josephson junctions

We have observed long-range spin-triplet supercurrents in Josephson junctions containing ferromagnetic (F) materials, which are generated by noncollinear magnetizations between a central Co/Ru/Co synthetic antiferromagnet and two outer thin F layers. Here we show that the spin-triplet supercurrent is enhanced up to 20 times after our samples are subject to a large in-plane field. This occurs because the synthetic antiferromagnet undergoes a "spin-flop" transition, whereby the two Co layer magnetizations end up nearly perpendicular to the magnetizations of the two thin F layers. We report direct experimental evidence for the spin-flop transition from scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis and from spin-polarized neutron reflectometry. These results represent a first step toward experimental control of spin-triplet supercurrents.     

Spin-precession vortex and spin-precession supercurrent stability in 3He-B

The stability of the spin-precession currents in superfluid ³He-B is analyzed for the precession angle very close to 104°. In this limit, a spin-precession vortex has a very large core, and the barrier that blocks motion of these large-core vortices across the current streamlines (phase slip) disappears at precession-phase gradients much smaller than critical gradients estimated from the Landau criterion. Nevertheless, spin-precession currents remain stable up to the Landau-critical gradients, since, in this case, there is a barrier, which blocks the phase slip at a very early stage of the vortex-core nucleation. The second-order phase transition between the parity-symmetric and parity-asymmetric spin-precession vortex cores at the precession angle of 126.5° is also predicted. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Manipulation and generation of supercurrent in out-of-equilibrium Josephson tunnel nanojunctions

We demonstrate experimentally the manipulation of supercurrent in Al-AlOx-Ti Josephson tunnel junctions by injecting quasiparticles in a Ti island from two additional tunnel-coupled Al superconducting reservoirs. Both supercurrent enhancement and quenching with respect to equilibrium are achieved. We demonstrate cooling of the Ti line by quasiparticle injection from the normal state deep into the superconducting phase. A model based on heat transport and the nonmonotonic current-voltage characteristic of a Josephson junction satisfactorily accounts for our findings.     

Quantum decay of supercurrent in thin superconducting wires

Quantum fluctuations cause a decay of the supercurrent in thin superconducting wires making them resistive even at very low temperatures. We derive a microscopic effective action formalism that goes beyond the usual TDGL approach and study quantum fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter at all temperatures belowT _C . We calculate the quantum phase slip rate in thin superconducting wires, demonstrate the importance of dissipation in a quantum phase slip process, and evaluate the resistanceR(T) of the wire. In very thin wires the effect is well observable, even at zero temperature.     

Influence of slit width on the electromagnetic transmission of a periodic metallic grating

The light transmittance of a periodic metallic grating with varied slit widths has been investigated. The transmission peaks move to the shorter wavelength direction with an increase in the width of slits while keeping the other parameters unchanged. It was demonstrated that the slit width affects the spectral transmittance of the metal grating significantly. It was also found that the effective refractive index and cavity modes in slits are responsible for this phenomenon. Cavity modes play an important role in extraordinary transmission of the sub-wavelength aperture grating. When a complete resonant mode forms in the slits, a high transmission will appear. A wider slit results in a smaller efficient refractive index and thus affects the cavity mode in the slits. These two elements cause the transmission peaks to move to the shorter wavelength direction with widening of slits. The results obtained here may provide a useful guide to design metallic slit grating devices.