Search results for "CONDUCTIVITY"
showing 10 items of 1988 documents
Measuring charge based quantum bits by a superconducting single-electron transistor
2002
Single-electron transistors have been proposed to be used as a read-out device for Cooper pair charge qubits. Here we show that a coupled superconducting transistor at a threshold voltage is much more effective in measuring the state of a qubit than a normal-metal transistor at the same voltage range. The effect of the superconducting gap is to completely block the current through the transistor when the qubit is in the logical state 1, compared to the mere diminishment of the current in the normal-metal case. The time evolution of the system is solved when the measuring device is driven out of equilibrium and the setting is analysed numerically for parameters accessible by lithographic alu…
From kinetic to collective behavior in thermal transport on semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures
2013
We present a model which deepens into the role that normal scattering has on the thermal conductivity in semiconductor bulk, micro and nanoscale samples. Thermal conductivity as a function of the temperature undergoes a smooth transition from a kinetic to a collective regime that depends on the importance of normal scattering events. We demonstrate that in this transition, the key point to fit experimental data is changing the way to perform the average on the scattering rates. We apply the model to bulk Si with different isotopic compositions obtaining an accurate fit. Then we calculate the thermal conductivity of Si thin films and nanowires by only introducing the effective size as additi…
Incoherent midinfrared charge excitation and the high-energy anomaly in the photoemission spectra of cuprates
2007
On the basis of a semi-phenomenological model, it is argued that the high energy anomaly observed in recent photoemission experiments on cuprates is caused by interaction with an overdamped bosonic mode in the mid-infrared region of the spectrum. Analysis of optical conductivity allows to connect this excitation to the incoherent charge response reported for the majority of high Tc materials and some other perovskites. We show that its large damping is an essential feature responsible for the "waterfall" dispersion and linewidth of the spectral weight.
Topological insulators in filled skutterudites
2011
We propose new topological insulators in cerium filled skutterudite (FS) compounds based on ab initio calculations. We find that two compounds CeOs4As12 and CeOs4Sb12 are zero gap materials with band inversion between Os-d and Ce-f orbitals, which are thus parent compounds of two and three-dimensional topological insulators just like bulk HgTe. At low temperature, both compounds become topological Kondo insulators, which are Kondo insulators in the bulk, but have robust Dirac surface states on the boundary. This new family of topological insulators has two advantages compared to previous ones. First, they can have good proximity effect with other superconducting FS compounds to realize Maja…
Berry-curvatures and anomalous Hall effect in Heusler compounds
2011
Berry curvatures are computed for a set of Heusler compounds using density functional calculations and the wave functions that they provide. The anomalous Hall conductivity is obtained from the Berry curvatures. It is compared with experimental values in the case of Co${}_{2}$CrAl and Co${}_{2}$MnAl. A notable trend cannot be seen but the range of values is quite enormous. The results for the anomalous Hall conductivities and their large variations as well as the degree of the spin polarization of the Hall current can be qualitatively understood by means of the band structure and the Fermi-surface topology.
Quantum Creep and Quantum-Creep Transitions in 1D Sine-Gordon Chains
2003
Discrete sine-Gordon (SG) chains are studied with path-integral molecular dynamics. Chains commensurate with the substrate show the transition from collective quantum creep to pinning at bead masses slightly larger than those predicted from the continuous SG model. Within the creep regime, a field-driven transition from creep to complete depinning is identified. The effects of disorder in the external potential on the chain's dynamics depend on the potential's roughness exponent $H$, i.e., quantum and classical fluctuations affect the current self-correlation functions differently for $H = 1/2$.
Observation of disorder-induced weakening of electron-phonon interaction in thin noble-metal films
2003
We have used symmetric normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junction pairs, known as SINIS structures, for ultrasensitive thermometry in the temperature range 50 - 700 mK. By Joule heating the electron gas and measuring the electron temperature, we show that the electron-phonon (e-p) scattering rate in the simplest noble metal disordered thin films (Cu,Au) follows a $T^4$ temperature dependence, leading to a stronger decoupling of the electron gas from the lattice at the lowest temperatures. This power law is indicative e-p coupling mediated by vibrating disorder, in contrast to the previously observed $T^3$ and $T^2$ laws.
Direct measurement of the electron‐phonon relaxation rate in thin copper films
2004
We have used normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junction pairs, known as SINIS structures, for ultrasensitive thermometry at sub-Kelvin temperatures. With the help of these thermometers, we have developed an ac-technique to measure the electron-phonon (e-p) scattering rate directly, without any other material or geometry dependent parameters, based on overheating the electron gas. The technique is based on Joule heating the electrons in the frequency range DC-10 MHz, and measuring the electron temperature in DC. Because of the nonlinearity of the electron-phonon coupling with respect to temperature, even the DC response will be affected, when the heating frequency reaches th…
Coulomb blockade in one-dimensional arrays of high-conductance tunnel junctions
2000
Properties of one-dimensional (1D) arrays of low Ohmic tunnel junctions (i.e. junctions with resistances comparable to, or less than, the quantum resistance $R_{\rm q}\equiv h/e^2\approx 25.8$ k$\Omega$) have been studied experimentally and theoretically. Our experimental data demonstrate that -- in agreement with previous results on single- and double-junction systems -- Coulomb blockade effects survive even in the strong tunneling regime and are still clearly visible for junction resistances as low as 1 k$\Omega$. We have developed a quasiclassical theory of electron transport in junction arrays in the strong tunneling regime. Good agreement between the predictions of this theory and the …
Heat diffusion in the disordered electron gas
2015
We study the thermal conductivity of the disordered two-dimensional electron gas. To this end we analyze the heat density-heat density correlation function concentrating on the scattering processes induced by the Coulomb interaction in the sub-temperature energy range. These scattering processes are at the origin of logarithmic corrections violating the Wiedemann-Franz law. Special care is devoted to the definition of the heat density in the presence of the long-range Coulomb interaction. To clarify the structure of the correlation function, we present details of a perturbative calculation. While the conservation of energy strongly constrains the general form of the heat density-heat densit…