The far-infrared absorption of a periodic 2DEG in the transition regime between weak and strong modulation

We study the optical absorption of arrays of quantum dots and antidots in a perpendicular homogeneous magnetic field. The electronic system is described quantum mechanically using a Hartree approximation for the mutual Coulomb interaction of the electrons. The evolution of the absorption is traced from the homogeneous to the strongly modulated case identifying the ensuing collective modes, the magnetoplasmons, and their correlations with inherent length scales of the system.     

Edge spin accumulation in a ballistic regime

We consider a mesoscopic ballistic structure with Rashba spin-orbit splitting of the electron spectrum. The ballistic region is attached to the leads with a voltage applied between them. We calculate the edge spin density which appears in the presence of a charge current through the structure due to the difference in populations of electrons coming from different leads. Combined effect of the boundary scattering and spin precession leads to oscillations of the edge polarization with the envelope function decaying as a power law of the distance from the boundary. The problem is solved with the use of scattering states. The simplicity of the method allows us gain an insight into the underlying physics. We clarify the role of the unitarity of scattering for the problem of edge spin accumulation. In case of a straight boundary it leads to exact cancellation of all long-wave oscillations of the spin density. As a result, only the Friedel-like spin density oscillations with the momentum 2k _F survive. However, this appears to be rather exceptional case. In general, the smooth spin oscillations with the spin precession length recover, as it happens, e.g., for the wiggly boundary. We demonstrate also, that there is no relation between the spin current in the bulk, which is zero in the considered case, and the edge spin accumulation.     

Nonohmic Coulomb drag in the ballistic electron transport regime

We developed the theory of Coulomb drag current induced in a one-dimensional nanowire by the ballistic nonohmic current in a nearby parallel nanowire under the ballistic transport regime. As in the ohmic case, we predict sharp oscillations of the drag current as a function of gate voltage or chemical potential of electrons. We also study the dependence of drag current on the voltage V across the driving wire. For relatively large values of V, the drag current is proportional to V ².     

Thermoelectric properties of gated graphene ribbons in the ballistic regime

We investigate the thermoelectric properties of gated graphene ribbons in the ballistic transport limit using linear response theory and the Landauer formalism. The dependence of the electronic conductance, thermopower as well as electronic thermal conductance on both Fermi level and temperature are clarified and the validity of Wiedemann-Franz law is examined. The electronic part of thermoelectric figure of merit _ZTel${\mathit{ZT}}_{\mathit{el}}$ which gives an upper bound for the thermoelectric efficiency of the gated ribbons, is also calculated. It is shown that _ZTel${\mathit{ZT}}_{\mathit{el}}$ of wide and short gated ribbons is directly related to geometric aspect ratio of the graphene ribbon and for very short ribbons can exceed unity at room temperature. Our results could be useful in the design of efficient graphene-based thermoelectric devices.     

Temperature and magnetic-field-enhanced hall slope of a dilute 2D hole system in the ballistic regime

We report the temperature (T) and perpendicular magnetic-field (B) dependence of the Hall resistivity rho(xy)(B) of dilute metallic 2D holes in GaAs over a broad range of temperature (0.02-1.25 K). The low B Hall coefficient, R(H), is found to be enhanced when T decreases. Strong magnetic fields further enhance the slope of rho(xy)(B) at all temperatures studied. Coulomb interaction corrections of a Fermi liquid (FL) in the ballistic regime can not explain the enhancement of rho(xy) which occurs in the same regime as the anomalous metallic longitudinal conductivity. In particular, although the metallic conductivity in 2D systems has been attributed to electron interactions in a FL, these same interactions should reduce, not enhance, the slope of rho(xy)(B) as T decreases and/or B increases.     

Interaction-induced magnetoresistance: from the diffusive to the ballistic regime

We study interaction-induced quantum correction deltasigma(alphabeta) to the conductivity tensor of electrons in two dimensions for arbitrary Ttau, where T is the temperature and tau the transport mean free time. A general formula is derived, expressing deltasigma(alphabeta) in terms of classical propagators ("ballistic diffusons"). The formalism is used to calculate the interaction contribution to the magnetoresistance in a classically strong transverse field and smooth disorder in the whole range of temperatures from the diffusive (Ttau<1) to the ballistic (Ttau greater, similar 1) regime.     

3D homogeneity study in PMMA layers using a Fourier domain OCT system

Micro-metallic particles embedded in polymers are now widely used in several industrial applications in order to modify the mechanical properties of the bulk. A uniform distribution of these particles inside the polymers is highly desired for instance, when a biological backscattering is simulated or a bio-framework is designed. A 3D Fourier domain optical coherence tomography system to detect the polymer's internal homogeneity is proposed. This optical system has a 2D camera sensor array that records a fringe pattern used to reconstruct with a single shot the tomographic image of the sample. The system gathers the full 3D tomographic and optical phase information during a controlled deformation by means of a motion linear stage. This stage avoids the use of expensive tilting stages, which in addition are commonly controlled by piezo drivers. As proof of principle, a series of different deformations were proposed to detect the uniform or non-uniform internal deposition of copper micro particles. The results are presented as images coming from the 3D tomographic micro reconstruction of the samples, and the 3D optical phase information that identifies the in-homogeneity regions within the Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) volume.     

Transition from the ballistic to the diffusive regime in a turbid medium

By varying the absorption coefficient and width of an intralipid-India ink solution in a quasi-one-dimensional experiment, we investigate the transition between the ballistic and the diffusive regimes. The medium's attenuation coefficient changes abruptly between two different values within a single mean free path. This problem is analyzed both experimentally and theoretically, and it is demonstrated that the transition location depends on the scattering coefficient as well as on the measuring solid angle.     

Transition to ballistic regime for heat transport in helium II

The size-dependent and flux-dependent effective thermal conductivity of narrow capillaries filled with superfluid helium is analyzed from a thermodynamic continuum perspective. The classical Landau evaluation of the effective thermal conductivity of quiescent superfluid, or the Gorter–Mellinck regime of turbulent superfluids, is extended to describe the transition to ballistic regime in narrow channels wherein the radius R is comparable to (or smaller than) the phonon mean-free path ?   in superfluid helium. To do so, we start from an extended equation for the heat flux incorporating non-local terms, and take into consideration a heat slip flow along the walls of the tube. This leads from an effective thermal conductivity proportional to R²$R^2$ (Landau regime) to another one proportional to R? (ballistic regime). We consider two kinds of flows: along cylindrical pipes and along two infinite parallel plates.     

Theory for electron hopping through nanometer-scale contacts: From tunneling regime to ballistic regime

Using the recursion-transfer-matrix (RTM) method combined with nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method, we study the electronic states and current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of junction systems with atomic-scale nanocontacts as a function of the distance between electrodes. We observe a strong nonlinear behavior in the I–V characteristics and correspondingly a gap structure appears in conductance. We find that such a nonlinear behavior emerges when the transport properties change from tunneling to ballistic regimes.     

Nonlinear hydrodynamic phenomena in Stokes flow regime

We investigate nonlinear phenomena in dispersed two-phase systems under creeping-flow conditions. We consider nonlinear evolution of a single deformed drop and collective dynamics of arrays of hydrodynamically coupled particles. To explore physical mechanisms of system instabilities, chaotic drop evolution, and structural transitions in particle arrays we use simple models, such as small-deformation equations and effective-medium theory. We find numerical and analytical solutions of the simplified governing equations. The small-deformation equations for drop dynamics are analyzed using results of dynamical systems theory. Our investigations shed new light on the dynamics of complex fluids, where the nonlinearity often stems from the evolving boundary conditions in Stokes flow.     

Phase control of probe response in an open ladder type system with spontaneously generated coherence

The control role of the relative phase between the probe and driving fields on the gain and dispersion in an open three-level ladder atomic system with incoherent pumping and spontaneously generated coherence is investigated. It is shown that by adjusting the value of the relative phase, the switching from lasing with inversion to lasing without inversion (LWI) can be realized; high index of the refraction with zero absorption can be achieved. It is also found that when the driving field is on resonance, the dispersion curve versus the probe detuning is very similar to the gain curve if the relative phase corresponding to the dispersion advances π/2 than that corresponding to the gain. LWI gain from the open system is obviously larger than that from corresponding closed system. When the incoherent pumping is absent, the open system can get LWI gain, moreover the gain is larger than that when the incoherent pumping presents for suitable value of the relative phase, but the corresponding closed system exhibits only absorption. In addition, manipulation effects of atomic exit and ratio of the injection rates on phase dependent gain are also analyzed.     

Commensurability effects in magnetic properties of superconducting Nb thin films with periodic submicrometric pores

Pinning properties in 100 nm thick continuous and porous superconducting Nb films are examined by ac susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements. The Nb film was deposited on a smooth Si substrate, while the porous film, Nb_P, was deposited on an anodized Al oxide substrate. Pores or “antidots” 40 nm in diameter, 100 nm apart, form a triangular array. The porous film presents commensurate or matching field effects for applied magnetic fields where the magnetic flux threading each unit cell is an integer number of the flux quantum, where ac shielding capability and dc diamagnetic magnetization show an abrupt increase. The response to ac fields as a function of temperature and dc field provided a way to determine that Nb_P sample has higher pinning than the continuous one, and that T_C suppression due to fluxoid quantization is not relevant for the investigated temperature range.     

An analytical approach for studying the resonant states in mesoscopic devices using the phase coherence of electron waves

Based on the phase coherence of electron waves, an analytical method has been proposed to approach the resonant states in mesoscopic devices. The proposed method has been demonstrated that it is valid in the studies of the resonant states in quantum well structures and the ballistic transport in ultrathin MOS devices. The resonant states in mesoscopic devices calculated from the proposed method agree well with those from the quantum mechanical method. The results show that the proposed method is valid in simplifying some quantum issues in mesoscopic devices.     

Weak localization and universal conductance fluctuations in multi-layer graphene

We have performed magneto transport measurements on a multi-layer graphene device fabricated by conventional mechanical exfoliation. Suppression of weak localization (WL) as evidenced by the negative magnetoresistance (NMR) centered at zero field, and reproducible universal conductance fluctuations (UCFs) are observed. Interestingly, it is found that the phase coherence lengths calculated by fitting the observed NMR to conventional WL theory are longer than those determined from fitting the amplitudes of the UCFs to theory in the low temperature regime (T ≤ 8 K). In the high temperature regime (T > 8 K), the phase coherence lengths calculated by fitting the observed NMR to conventional WL theory are shorter than those determined from fitting the amplitudes of the UCFs to theory. Our new results therefore indicate a difference in the electron phase-breaking process between the two models of WL and UCFs in graphene. We speculate that the presence of the capping and bottom graphene layers, which leads the enhancement of disorder in-between, improves the localization condition for WL effect during carrier transportation in the low temperature regime. With increasing temperature, the localization condition for WL in multi-layer graphene becomes much weaker due to strong thermal damping. Therefore, the phase coherence lengths calculated by fitting the observed NMR to conventional WL theory are shorter than those determined from fitting the amplitudes of the UCFs to theory at high temperatures.     

Two-phase regime in the magnetic field–temperature phase diagram of a type-II superconductor

The magnetic field and temperature dependencies of the magnetic moments of superconducting crystals of V₃Si have been studied. In a constant magnetic field and at temperatures somewhat below the superconducting transition temperature, the moments are hysteretic in temperature. However, the magnetic moment–magnetic field isotherms are reversible and exhibit features that formally resemble the pressure–volume isotherms of the liquid–gas transition. This suggests the existence of a first-order phase transition, a two-phase regime, and a critical point in the superconducting phase diagram. The two phases are disordered vortex configurations with the same magnetization, but with different vortex densities. The entropy change, determined from the data using the Clausius–Clapeyron equation, is consistent with estimates based on the difference in the vortex densities of the two phases.     

Direction coherence in scale-free lattices of chaotic maps

We considered a coupled chaotic logistic map lattice exhibiting the scale-free property: the outreach connectivity of each node obeys a power-law distribution. We analyzed a weak form of coherent spatio-temporal behavior (direction coherence) which presents features common to completely synchronized states, like a transitional behavior with intermittent bursting. We studied such phenomena and their dependence on the parameters of the coupled scale-free lattice. Prospective applications in neuronal networks are emphasized.