Photoluminescence of patterned arrays of vertically stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We report on photoluminescence measurements of vertically stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy on focused ion beam patterned hole arrays with varying array spacing. Quantum dot emission at 1.24 eV was observed only on patterned regions, demonstrating preferential nucleation of optically active dots at desired locations and below the critical thickness for dot formation at these growth conditions. Photoluminescence measurements as a function of varying focused ion beam irradiated hole spacing showed that the quantum dot emission intensity increased with decreasing array periodicity, consistent with increasing dot density.     

Feasibility of self-correcting quantum memory and thermal stability of topological order

Recently, it has become apparent that the thermal stability of topologically ordered systems at finite temperature, as discussed in condensed matter physics, can be studied by addressing the feasibility of self-correcting quantum memory, as discussed in quantum information science. Here, with this correspondence in mind, we propose a model of quantum codes that may cover a large class of physically realizable quantum memory. The model is supported by a certain class of gapped spin Hamiltonians, called stabilizer Hamiltonians, with translation symmetries and a small number of ground states that does not grow with the system size. We show that the model does not work as self-correcting quantum memory due to a certain topological constraint on geometric shapes of its logical operators. This quantum coding theoretical result implies that systems covered or approximated by the model cannot have thermally stable topological order, meaning that systems cannot be stable against both thermal fluctuations and local perturbations simultaneously in two and three spatial dimensions.     

Effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of InAs/(In)GaAs quantum dots with different areal density

The effects of rapid thermal annealing on the optical properties of InAs/(In)GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with different areal density were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The annealing results in PL peak energy blue-shift which strongly depends on QD areal density and capping layer. It is noticeable that low-density QDs and/or InGaAs-capped QDs are more sensitive to the annealing. We attribute the larger energy blue-shift from these samples to enhanced strain-driven diffusion and/or defect-assisted diffusion.     

Integral quantizations with two basic examples

The paper concerns integral quantization, a procedure based on operator-valued measure and resolution of the identity. We insist on covariance properties in the important case where group representation theory is involved. We also insist on the inherent probabilistic aspects of this classical–quantum map. The approach includes and generalizes coherent state quantization. Two applications based on group representation are carried out. The first one concerns the Weyl–Heisenberg group and the euclidean plane viewed as the corresponding phase space. We show that a world of quantizations exist, which yield the canonical commutation rule and the usual quantum spectrum of the harmonic oscillator. The second one concerns the affine group of the real line and gives rise to an interesting regularization of the dilation origin in the half-plane viewed as the corresponding phase space.     

Study of Inx(O,OH,S)y buffer layer effect on CIGSe thin film solar cells

In_x(O,OH,S)_y buffer layer has been applied to Cu(In,Ga)Se₂(CIGSe) solar cell by chemical bath deposition (CBD). The cell efficiency was observed to be dependant on film growth mode of In_x(O,OH,S)_y buffer layer, which was affected by the CBD conditions such as sulfur chemical concentration and deposition time. The fabricated solar cell showing higher conversion efficiency was observed to have non-porous and uniform texture of buffer, whereas the lower conversion efficiency cells were found to have fibrous texture or detached texture of buffer. The fibrous texture and the detached texture induced high series resistance and lower shunt resistance, respectively, which all resulted in lower cell efficiency with reduced fill factor. External quantum efficiency and temperature dependence of open circuit voltage measurements revealed that the lower efficiency cells suffered from higher interface recombination loss due to the related defects.     

Letter: Statefinder Parameters for Interacting Dark Energy

We argue that the recently introduced statefinder parameters (Sahni et al., JETP Lett. 77, 201 (2003)), that include the third derivative of the cosmic scale factor, are useful tools to characterize interacting quintessence models. We specify the statefinder parameters for two classes of models that solve, or at least alleviate, the coincidence problem.     

A compact free space quantum key distribution system capable of daylight operation

A free space quantum key distribution system has been demonstrated. Consideration has been given to factors such as field of view and spectral width, to cut down the deleterious effect from background light levels. Suitable optical sources such as lasers and RCLEDs have been investigated as well as optimal wavelength choices, always with a view to building a compact and robust system. The implementation of background reduction measures resulted in a system capable of operating in daylight conditions. An autonomous system was left running and generating shared key material continuously for over 7 days.     

Effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling on electron transport in asymmetrically coupled regular polygonal quantum ring

The effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on electron transport in asymmetrically coupled regular polygonal quantum ring is investigated. In absence of SOC, two kinds of conductance zeros appear periodically. In presence of SOC, one kind of conductance zero can be lifted by the Rashba SOC, the others persist.