Search results for "mesoscale and nanoscale physics"
showing 10 items of 720 documents
Quantum rings for beginners: Energy spectra and persistent currents
2003
Theoretical approaches to one-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional quantum rings with a few electrons are reviewed. Discrete Hubbard-type models and continuum models are shown to give similar results governed by the special features of the one-dimensionality. The energy spectrum of the many-body states can be described by a rotation-vibration spectrum of a 'Wigner molecule' of 'localized' electrons, combined with the spin-state determined from an effective antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Hamiltonian. The persistent current as a function of the magnetic flux through the ring shows periodic oscillations arising from the 'rigid rotation' of the electron ring. For polarized electrons the periodic…
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…
Ballistic transport through quantum point contacts of multi-orbital oxides
2020
Linear and non-linear transport properties through an atomic-size point contact based on oxides two-dimensional electron gas is examined using the tight-binding method and the $\mathbf{k\cdot p}$ approach. The ballistic transport is analyzed in contacts realized at the (001) interface between band insulators $LaAlO_3$ and $SrTiO_3$ by using the Landauer-B\"uttiker method for many sub-bands derived from three Ti 3d orbitals ($d_{yz}$, $d_{zx}$ and $d_{xy}$) in the presence of an out-of-plane magnetic field. We focus especially on the role played by the atomic spin-orbit coupling and the inversion symmetry breaking term pointing out three transport regimes: the first, at low energies, involvi…
Transport properties of quantum dots in the Wigner molecule regime
2009
The transport properties of quantum dots with up to N=7 electrons ranging from the weak to the strong interacting regime are investigated via the projected Hartree-Fock technique. As interactions increase radial order develops in the dot, with the formation of ring and centered-ring structures. Subsequently, angular correlations appear, signalling the formation of a Wigner molecule state. We show striking signatures of the emergence of Wigner molecules, detected in transport. In the linear regime, conductance is exponentially suppressed as the interaction strength grows. A further suppression is observed when centered-ring structures develop, or peculiar spin textures appear. In the nonline…
Experimental investigation of the breakdown of the Onsager-Casimir relations
2006
We use magnetoconductance fluctuation measurements of phase-coherent semiconductor billiards to quantify the contributions to the nonlinear electric conductance that are asymmetric under reversal of magnetic field. We experimentally determine that the average asymmetric contribution is linear in magnetic field (for magnetic flux much larger than one flux quantum) and that its magnitude depends on billiard geometry. In addition, we find an unexpected asymmetry in the power spectrum characteristics of the magnetoconductance with respect to reversal of magnetic field and bias voltage.
Parameter-free density functional for the correlation energy in two dimensions
2010
Accurate treatment of the electronic correlation in inhomogeneous electronic systems, combined with the ability to capture the correlation energy of the homogeneous electron gas, allows to reach high predictive power in the application of density-functional theory. For two-dimensional systems we can achieve this goal by generalizing our previous approximation [Phys. Rev. B 79, 085316 (2009)] to a parameter-free form, which reproduces the correlation energy of the homogeneous gas while preserving the ability to deal with inhomogeneous systems. The resulting functional is shown to be very accurate for finite systems with an arbitrary number of electrons with respect to numerically exact refer…
Non-adiabatic quantized charge pumping with tunable-barrier quantum dots: a review of current progress.
2014
Precise manipulation of individual charge carriers in nanoelectronic circuits underpins practical applications of their most basic quantum property --- the universality and invariance of the elementary charge. A charge pump generates a net current from periodic external modulation of parameters controlling a nanostructure connected to source and drain leads; in the regime of quantized pumping the current varies in steps of $q_e f$ as function of control parameters, where $q_e$ is the electron charge and $f$ is the frequency of modulation. In recent years, robust and accurate quantized charge pumps have been developed based on semiconductor quantum dots with tunable tunnel barriers. These de…
Chaotic Cyclotron and Hall Trajectories Due to Spin-Orbit Coupling
2020
We demonstrate that the synergistic effect of a gauge field, Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and Zeeman splitting can generate chaotic cyclotron and Hall trajectories of particles. The physical origin of the chaotic behavior is that the SOC produces a spin-dependent (so-called anomalous) contribution to the particle velocity and the presence of Zeeman field reduces the number of integrals of motion. By using analytical and numerical arguments, we study the conditions of chaos emergence and report the dynamics both in the regular and chaotic regimes. {We observe the critical dependence of the dynamic patterns (such as the chaotic regime onset) on small variations in the initial conditions …
Nexus and Dirac lines in topological materials
2015
We consider the $Z_2$ topology of the Dirac lines, i.e., lines of band contacts, on an example of graphite. Four lines --- three with topological charge $N_1=1$ each and one with $N_1=-1$ --- merge together near the H-point and annihilate due to summation law $1+1+1-1=0$. The merging point is similar to the real-space nexus, an analog of the Dirac monopole at which the $Z_2$ strings terminate.
Spin and rotational symmetries in unrestricted Hartree–Fock states of quantum dots
2007
Ground state energies are obtained using the unrestricted Hartree Fock method for up to four interacting electrons parabolically confined in a quantum dot subject to a magnetic field. Restoring spin and rotational symmetries we recover Hund first rule. With increasing magnetic field, crossovers between ground states with different quantum numbers are found for fixed electron number that are not reproduced by the unrestricted Hartree Fock approximation. These are consistent with the ones obtained with more refined techniques. We confirm the presence of a spin blockade due to a spin mismatch in the ground states of three and four electrons.