Quantum Tunneling in Testosterone 6β-Hydroxylation by Cytochrome P450: Reaction Dynamics Calculations Employing Multiconfiguration Molecular-Mechanical Potential Energy Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yan; Lin, Hai

2009-05-01

Testosterone hydroxylation is a prototypical reaction of human cytochrome P450 3A4, which metabolizes about 50% of oral drugs on the market. Reaction dynamics calculations were carried out for the testosterone 6β-hydrogen abstraction and the 6β-d1-testosterone 6β-duterium abstraction employing a model that consists of the substrate and the active oxidant compound I. The calculations were performed at the level of canonical variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling and were based on a semiglobal full-dimensional potential energy surface generated by the multiconfiguration molecular mechanics technique. The tunneling coefficients were found to be around 3, indicating substantial contributions by quantum tunneling. However, the tunneling made only modest contributions to the kinetic isotope effects. The kinetic isotope effects were computed to be about 2 in the doublet spin state and about 5 in the quartet spin state.

Quantum temporal probabilities in tunneling systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anastopoulos, Charis, E-mail: anastop@physics.upatras.gr; Savvidou, Ntina, E-mail: ksavvidou@physics.upatras.gr

We study the temporal aspects of quantum tunneling as manifested in time-of-arrival experiments in which the detected particle tunnels through a potential barrier. In particular, we present a general method for constructing temporal probabilities in tunneling systems that (i) defines ‘classical’ time observables for quantum systems and (ii) applies to relativistic particles interacting through quantum fields. We show that the relevant probabilities are defined in terms of specific correlation functions of the quantum field associated with tunneling particles. We construct a probability distribution with respect to the time of particle detection that contains all information about the temporal aspects ofmore » the tunneling process. In specific cases, this probability distribution leads to the definition of a delay time that, for parity-symmetric potentials, reduces to the phase time of Bohm and Wigner. We apply our results to piecewise constant potentials, by deriving the appropriate junction conditions on the points of discontinuity. For the double square potential, in particular, we demonstrate the existence of (at least) two physically relevant time parameters, the delay time and a decay rate that describes the escape of particles trapped in the inter-barrier region. Finally, we propose a resolution to the paradox of apparent superluminal velocities for tunneling particles. We demonstrate that the idea of faster-than-light speeds in tunneling follows from an inadmissible use of classical reasoning in the description of quantum systems. -- Highlights: •Present a general methodology for deriving temporal probabilities in tunneling systems. •Treatment applies to relativistic particles interacting through quantum fields. •Derive a new expression for tunneling time. •Identify new time parameters relevant to tunneling. •Propose a resolution of the superluminality paradox in tunneling.« less

Size dependence in tunneling spectra of PbSe quantum-dot arrays.

PubMed

Ou, Y C; Cheng, S F; Jian, W B

2009-07-15

Interdot Coulomb interactions and collective Coulomb blockade were theoretically argued to be a newly important topic, and experimentally identified in semiconductor quantum dots, formed in the gate confined two-dimensional electron gas system. Developments of cluster science and colloidal synthesis accelerated the studies of electron transport in colloidal nanocrystal or quantum-dot solids. To study the interdot coupling, various sizes of two-dimensional arrays of colloidal PbSe quantum dots are self-assembled on flat gold surfaces for scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements at both room and liquid-nitrogen temperatures. The tip-to-array, array-to-substrate, and interdot capacitances are evaluated and the tunneling spectra of quantum-dot arrays are analyzed by the theory of collective Coulomb blockade. The current-voltage of PbSe quantum-dot arrays conforms properly to a scaling power law function. In this study, the dependence of tunneling spectra on the sizes (numbers of quantum dots) of arrays is reported and the capacitive coupling between quantum dots in the arrays is explored.

Quantum gases. Observation of many-body dynamics in long-range tunneling after a quantum quench.

PubMed

Meinert, Florian; Mark, Manfred J; Kirilov, Emil; Lauber, Katharina; Weinmann, Philipp; Gröbner, Michael; Daley, Andrew J; Nägerl, Hanns-Christoph

2014-06-13

Quantum tunneling is at the heart of many low-temperature phenomena. In strongly correlated lattice systems, tunneling is responsible for inducing effective interactions, and long-range tunneling substantially alters many-body properties in and out of equilibrium. We observe resonantly enhanced long-range quantum tunneling in one-dimensional Mott-insulating Hubbard chains that are suddenly quenched into a tilted configuration. Higher-order tunneling processes over up to five lattice sites are observed as resonances in the number of doubly occupied sites when the tilt per site is tuned to integer fractions of the Mott gap. This forms a basis for a controlled study of many-body dynamics driven by higher-order tunneling and demonstrates that when some degrees of freedom are frozen out, phenomena that are driven by small-amplitude tunneling terms can still be observed. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Topological view of quantum tunneling coherent destruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardini, Alex E.; Chinaglia, Mariana

2017-08-01

Quantum tunneling of the ground and first excited states in a quantum superposition driven by a novel analytical configuration of a double-well (DW) potential is investigated. Symmetric and asymmetric potentials are considered as to support quantum mechanical zero mode and first excited state analytical solutions. Reporting about a symmetry breaking that supports the quantum conversion of a zero-mode stable vacuum into an unstable tachyonic quantum state, two inequivalent topological scenarios are supposed to drive stable tunneling and coherent tunneling destruction respectively. A complete prospect of the Wigner function dynamics, vector field fluxes and the time dependence of stagnation points is obtained for the analytical potentials that support stable and tachyonic modes.

Exchange-biased quantum tunnelling in a supramolecular dimer of single-molecule magnets.

PubMed

Wernsdorfer, Wolfgang; Aliaga-Alcalde, Núria; Hendrickson, David N; Christou, George

2002-03-28

Various present and future specialized applications of magnets require monodisperse, small magnetic particles, and the discovery of molecules that can function as nanoscale magnets was an important development in this regard. These molecules act as single-domain magnetic particles that, below their blocking temperature, exhibit magnetization hysteresis, a classical property of macroscopic magnets. Such 'single-molecule magnets' (SMMs) straddle the interface between classical and quantum mechanical behaviour because they also display quantum tunnelling of magnetization and quantum phase interference. Quantum tunnelling of magnetization can be advantageous for some potential applications of SMMs, for example, in providing the quantum superposition of states required for quantum computing. However, it is a disadvantage in other applications, such as information storage, where it would lead to information loss. Thus it is important to both understand and control the quantum properties of SMMs. Here we report a supramolecular SMM dimer in which antiferromagnetic coupling between the two components results in quantum behaviour different from that of the individual SMMs. Our experimental observations and theoretical analysis suggest a means of tuning the quantum tunnelling of magnetization in SMMs. This system may also prove useful for studying quantum tunnelling of relevance to mesoscopic antiferromagnets.

Computational Role of Tunneling in a Programmable Quantum Annealer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boixo, Sergio; Smelyanskiy, Vadim; Shabani, Alireza; Isakov, Sergei V.; Dykman, Mark; Amin, Mohammad; Mohseni, Masoud; Denchev, Vasil S.; Neven, Hartmut

2016-01-01

Quantum tunneling is a phenomenon in which a quantum state tunnels through energy barriers above the energy of the state itself. Tunneling has been hypothesized as an advantageous physical resource for optimization. Here we present the first experimental evidence of a computational role of multiqubit quantum tunneling in the evolution of a programmable quantum annealer. We developed a theoretical model based on a NIBA Quantum Master Equation to describe the multi-qubit dissipative cotunneling effects under the complex noise characteristics of such quantum devices.We start by considering a computational primitive, the simplest non-convex optimization problem consisting of just one global and one local minimum. The quantum evolutions enable tunneling to the global minimum while the corresponding classical paths are trapped in a false minimum. In our study the non-convex potentials are realized by frustrated networks of qubit clusters with strong intra-cluster coupling. We show that the collective effect of the quantum environment is suppressed in the critical phase during the evolution where quantum tunneling decides the right path to solution. In a later stage dissipation facilitates the multiqubit cotunneling leading to the solution state. The predictions of the model accurately describe the experimental data from the D-WaveII quantum annealer at NASA Ames. In our computational primitive the temperature dependence of the probability of success in the quantum model is opposite to that of the classical paths with thermal hopping. Specially, we provide an analysis of an optimization problem with sixteen qubits,demonstrating eight qubit cotunneling that increases success probabilities. Furthermore, we report results for larger problems with up to 200 qubits that contain the primitive as subproblems.

Quantum Tunnelling to the Origin and Evolution of Life

PubMed Central

Trixler, Frank

2013-01-01

Quantum tunnelling is a phenomenon which becomes relevant at the nanoscale and below. It is a paradox from the classical point of view as it enables elementary particles and atoms to permeate an energetic barrier without the need for sufficient energy to overcome it. Tunnelling might seem to be an exotic process only important for special physical effects and applications such as the Tunnel Diode, Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (electron tunnelling) or Near-field Optical Microscopy operating in photon tunnelling mode. However, this review demonstrates that tunnelling can do far more, being of vital importance for life: physical and chemical processes which are crucial in theories about the origin and evolution of life can be traced directly back to the effects of quantum tunnelling. These processes include the chemical evolution in stellar interiors and within the cold interstellar medium, prebiotic chemistry in the atmosphere and subsurface of planetary bodies, planetary habitability via insolation and geothermal heat as well as the function of biomolecular nanomachines. This review shows that quantum tunnelling has many highly important implications to the field of molecular and biological evolution, prebiotic chemistry and astrobiology. PMID:24039543

Instantons in Quantum Annealing: Thermally Assisted Tunneling Vs Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jiang, Zhang; Smelyanskiy, Vadim N.; Boixo, Sergio; Isakov, Sergei V.; Neven, Hartmut; Mazzola, Guglielmo; Troyer, Matthias

2015-01-01

Recent numerical result (arXiv:1512.02206) from Google suggested that the D-Wave quantum annealer may have an asymptotic speed-up than simulated annealing, however, the asymptotic advantage disappears when it is compared to quantum Monte Carlo (a classical algorithm despite its name). We show analytically that the asymptotic scaling of quantum tunneling is exactly the same as the escape rate in quantum Monte Carlo for a class of problems. Thus, the Google result might be explained in our framework. We also found that the transition state in quantum Monte Carlo corresponds to the instanton solution in quantum tunneling problems, which is observed in numerical simulations.

Electron Tunneling, a Quantum Probe for the Quantum World of Nanotechnology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hipps, K. W.; Scudiero, L.

2005-01-01

A quantum-mechanical probe is essential to study the quantum world, which is provided by electron tunneling. A spectroscopic mapping to image the electron-transport pathways on a sub-molecular scale is used.

Relativistic Quantum Transport in Graphene Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-09

which is desirable in the development of nanoscale devices such as graphene-based resonant- tunneling diodes . Details of this work can be found in • L... tunneling , etc. The AFOSR support helped create a new field of interdisciplinary research: Relativistic Quantum Chaos, which studies the relativistic quantum...Objectives 2 2 List of Publications 2 3 Accomplishments and New Findings 3 3.1 Solutions of Dirac equation, relativistic quantum tunneling and

Virtual Processes and Quantum Tunnelling as Fictions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arthur, Richard T. W.

2012-01-01

In this paper it is argued that virtual processes are dispensable fictions. The argument proceeds by a comparison with the phenomenon of quantum tunnelling. Building on an analysis of Levy-Leblond and Balibar, it is argued that, although the phenomenon known as quantum tunnelling certainly occurs and is at the basis of many paradigmatic quantum…

Exchange interaction and the tunneling induced transparency in coupled quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borges, Halyne; Alcalde, Augusto; Ulloa, Sergio

2014-03-01

Stacked semiconductor quantum dots coupled by tunneling are unique ``quantum molecule'' where it is possible to create a multilevel structure of excitonic states. This structure allows the investigation of quantum interference processes and their control via electric external fields. In this work, we investigate the optical response of a quantum molecule coherently driven by a polarized laser, considering the splitting in excitonic levels caused by isotropic and anisotropic exchange interactions. In our model we consider interdot transitions mediated by the the hole tunneling between states with the same total spin and, between bright and dark exciton states. Using realistic experimental parameters, we demonstrate that the excitonic states coupled by tunneling exhibit an enriched and controllable optical response. Our results show that through the appropriate control of the external electric field and light polarization, the tunneling coupling establishes an efficient destructive quantum interference path that creates a transparency window in the absorption spectra, whenever states of appropriate symmetry are mixed by the hole tunneling. We explore the relevant parameters space that would allows with the experiments. CAPES, INCT-IQ and MWN/CIAM-NSF.

Tunneling current spectroscopy of a nanostructure junction involving multiple energy levels.

PubMed

Kuo, David M-T; Chang, Yia-Chung

2007-08-24

A multilevel Anderson model is employed to simulate the system of a nanostructure tunnel junction with any number of one-particle energy levels. The tunneling current, including both shell-tunneling and shell-filling cases, is theoretically investigated via the nonequilibrium Green's function method. We obtain a closed form for the spectral function, which is used to analyze the complicated tunneling current spectra of a quantum dot or molecule embedded in a double-barrier junction. We also show that negative differential conductance can be observed in a quantum dot tunnel junction when the Coulomb interactions with neighboring quantum dots are taken into account.

Optical investigation of carrier tunneling in semiconductor nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emiliani, V.; Ceccherini, S.; Bogani, F.; Colocci, M.; Frova, A.; Shi, Song Stone

1997-08-01

The tunneling dynamics of excitons and free carriers in AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs asymmetric double quantum well and near-surface quantum well structures has been investigated by means of time-resolved optical techniques. The competing processes of carrier tunneling out of the quantum well and exciton formation and recombination inside the quantum well have been thoroughly studied in the range of the excitation densities relevant to device applications. A consistent picture capable of fully describing the carrier and exciton-tunneling mechanisms in both types of structures has been obtained and apparently contrasting results in the recent literature are clarified.

A Bowtie Antenna Coupled Tunable Photon-Assisted Tunneling Double Quantum Well (DQW) THz Detector

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-01-01

Proc. Vol. 692 © 2002 Materials Research Society H4.2 A Bowtie Antenna Coupled Tunable Photon-Assisted Tunneling Double Quantum Well (DQW) THz Detector ...on photon-assisted tunneling (PAT) between the two electron layers in a double quantum well (DQW) heterostructure, will be explained. The detector is...the frequency and strength of that radiation. The THz detector discussed in this paper makes use of photon- assisted tunnelling (PAT) between multiple

Electrically tunable spin filtering for electron tunneling between spin-resolved quantum Hall edge states and a quantum dot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kiyama, H., E-mail: kiyama@meso.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Fujita, T.; Teraoka, S.

2014-06-30

Spin filtering with electrically tunable efficiency is achieved for electron tunneling between a quantum dot and spin-resolved quantum Hall edge states by locally gating the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) leads near the tunnel junction to the dot. The local gating can change the potential gradient in the 2DEG and consequently the edge state separation. We use this technique to electrically control the ratio of the dot–edge state tunnel coupling between opposite spins and finally increase spin filtering efficiency up to 91%, the highest ever reported, by optimizing the local gating.

Fabrication and characterization of tunnel barriers in a multi-walled carbon nanotube formed by argon atom beam irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tomizawa, H.; Department of Applied Physics, Tokyo University of Science, 6-3-1 Niijuku, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 125-8585; Yamaguchi, T., E-mail: tyamag@riken.jp

We have evaluated tunnel barriers formed in multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by an Ar atom beam irradiation method and applied the technique to fabricate coupled double quantum dots. The two-terminal resistance of the individual MWNTs was increased owing to local damage caused by the Ar beam irradiation. The temperature dependence of the current through a single barrier suggested two different contributions to its Arrhenius plot, i.e., formed by direct tunneling through the barrier and by thermal activation over the barrier. The height of the formed barriers was estimated. The fabrication technique was used to produce coupled double quantum dots withmore » serially formed triple barriers on a MWNT. The current measured at 1.5 K as a function of two side-gate voltages resulted in a honeycomb-like charge stability diagram, which confirmed the formation of the double dots. The characteristic parameters of the double quantum dots were calculated, and the feasibility of the technique is discussed.« less

Quantum tunneling with friction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tokieda, M.; Hagino, K.

2017-05-01

Using the phenomenological quantum friction models introduced by P. Caldirola [Nuovo Cimento 18, 393 (1941), 10.1007/BF02960144] and E. Kanai [Prog. Theor. Phys. 3, 440 (1948), 10.1143/ptp/3.4.440], M. D. Kostin [J. Chem. Phys. 57, 3589 (1972), 10.1063/1.1678812], and K. Albrecht [Phys. Lett. B 56, 127 (1975), 10.1016/0370-2693(75)90283-X], we study quantum tunneling of a one-dimensional potential in the presence of energy dissipation. To this end, we calculate the tunneling probability using a time-dependent wave-packet method. The friction reduces the tunneling probability. We show that the three models provide similar penetrabilities to each other, among which the Caldirola-Kanai model requires the least numerical effort. We also discuss the effect of energy dissipation on quantum tunneling in terms of barrier distributions.

Quantum tunneling resonant electron transfer process in Lorentzian plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hong, Woo-Pyo; Jung, Young-Dae, E-mail: ydjung@hanyang.ac.kr; Department of Applied Physics and Department of Bionanotechnology, Hanyang University, Ansan, Kyunggi-Do 426-791

The quantum tunneling resonant electron transfer process between a positive ion and a neutral atom collision is investigated in nonthermal generalized Lorentzian plasmas. The result shows that the nonthermal effect enhances the resonant electron transfer cross section in Lorentzian plasmas. It is found that the nonthermal effect on the classical resonant electron transfer cross section is more significant than that on the quantum tunneling resonant charge transfer cross section. It is shown that the nonthermal effect on the resonant electron transfer cross section decreases with an increase of the Debye length. In addition, the nonthermal effect on the quantum tunnelingmore » resonant electron transfer cross section decreases with increasing collision energy. The variation of nonthermal and plasma shielding effects on the quantum tunneling resonant electron transfer process is also discussed.« less

Simulation of wave packet tunneling of interacting identical particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lozovik, Yu. E.; Filinov, A. V.; Arkhipov, A. S.

2003-02-01

We demonstrate a different method of simulation of nonstationary quantum processes, considering the tunneling of two interacting identical particles, represented by wave packets. The used method of quantum molecular dynamics (WMD) is based on the Wigner representation of quantum mechanics. In the context of this method ensembles of classical trajectories are used to solve quantum Wigner-Liouville equation. These classical trajectories obey Hamiltonian-like equations, where the effective potential consists of the usual classical term and the quantum term, which depends on the Wigner function and its derivatives. The quantum term is calculated using local distribution of trajectories in phase space, therefore, classical trajectories are not independent, contrary to classical molecular dynamics. The developed WMD method takes into account the influence of exchange and interaction between particles. The role of direct and exchange interactions in tunneling is analyzed. The tunneling times for interacting particles are calculated.

Growth and optical characteristics of InAs quantum dot structures with tunnel injection quantum wells for 1.55 μ m high-speed lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Sven; Sichkovskyi, Vitalii; Reithmaier, Johann Peter

2018-06-01

InP based lattice matched tunnel injection structures consisting of a InGaAs quantum well, InAlGaAs barrier and InAs quantum dots designed to emit at 1.55 μ m were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. The strong influence of quantum well and barrier thicknesses on the samples emission properties at low and room temperatures was investigated. The phenomenon of a decreased photoluminescence linewidth of tunnel injection structures compared to a reference InAs quantum dots sample could be explained by the selection of the emitting dots through the tunneling process. Morphological investigations have not revealed any effect of the injector well on the dot formation and their size distribution. The optimum TI structure design could be defined.

Tunneling Flight Time, Chemistry, and Special Relativity.

PubMed

Petersen, Jakob; Pollak, Eli

2017-09-07

Attosecond ionization experiments have not resolved the question "What is the tunneling time?". Different definitions of tunneling time lead to different results. Second, a zero tunneling time for a material particle suggests that the nonrelativistic theory includes speeds greater than the speed of light. Chemical reactions, occurring via tunneling, should then not be considered in terms of a nonrelativistic quantum theory calling into question quantum dynamics computations on tunneling reactions. To answer these questions, we define a new experimentally measurable paradigm, the tunneling flight time, and show that it vanishes for scattering through an Eckart or a square barrier, irrespective of barrier length or height, generalizing the Hartman effect. We explain why this result does not lead to experimental measurement of speeds greater than the speed of light. We show that this tunneling is an incoherent process by comparing a classical Wigner theory with exact quantum mechanical computations.

Quantum Tunneling from Apparent Horizon of Rainbow-FRW Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Kai; Yang, Shuzheng

2009-07-01

The quantum tunneling from the apparent horizon of rainbow-FRW universe is studied in this paper. We apply the semi-classical approximation, which is put forward by Parikh and Wilczek et al., to research on the scalar field particles tunneling from the apparent horizon of the rainbow-FRW universe, and then use the spin 1/2 Fermions tunneling theory, which brought forward by Kerner and Mann firstly, to research on the Fermions Hawking radiation via semi-classical approximation. Finally, we discuss the meanings of the quantum effect via Finsler geometry.

Wide bandgap, strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions on InP substrates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lumb, M. P.; US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375; Yakes, M. K.

In this work, the electrical performance of strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions with varying designs is presented. Strain-balanced quantum well tunnel junctions comprising compressively strained InAlAs wells and tensile-strained InAlAs barriers were grown on InP substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy. The use of InAlAs enables InP-based tunnel junction devices to be produced using wide bandgap layers, enabling high electrical performance with low absorption. The impact of well and barrier thickness on the electrical performance was investigated, in addition to the impact of Si and Be doping concentration. Finally, the impact of an InGaAs quantum well at the junction interfacemore » is presented, enabling a peak tunnel current density of 47.6 A/cm{sup 2} to be realized.« less

Real-time Feynman path integral with Picard–Lefschetz theory and its applications to quantum tunneling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tanizaki, Yuya, E-mail: yuya.tanizaki@riken.jp; Theoretical Research Division, Nishina Center, RIKEN, Wako 351-0198; Koike, Takayuki, E-mail: tkoike@ms.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Picard–Lefschetz theory is applied to path integrals of quantum mechanics, in order to compute real-time dynamics directly. After discussing basic properties of real-time path integrals on Lefschetz thimbles, we demonstrate its computational method in a concrete way by solving three simple examples of quantum mechanics. It is applied to quantum mechanics of a double-well potential, and quantum tunneling is discussed. We identify all of the complex saddle points of the classical action, and their properties are discussed in detail. However a big theoretical difficulty turns out to appear in rewriting the original path integral into a sum of path integralsmore » on Lefschetz thimbles. We discuss generality of that problem and mention its importance. Real-time tunneling processes are shown to be described by those complex saddle points, and thus semi-classical description of real-time quantum tunneling becomes possible on solid ground if we could solve that problem. - Highlights: • Real-time path integral is studied based on Picard–Lefschetz theory. • Lucid demonstration is given through simple examples of quantum mechanics. • This technique is applied to quantum mechanics of the double-well potential. • Difficulty for practical applications is revealed, and we discuss its generality. • Quantum tunneling is shown to be closely related to complex classical solutions.« less

Double Tunneling Injection Quantum Dot Lasers for High Speed Operation

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-23

Double Tunneling-Injection Quantum Dot Lasers for High -Speed Operation The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILIBILITY STATEMENT 6...State University Title: Double Tunneling-Injection Quantum Dot Lasers for High -Speed Operation Report Term: 0-Other Email: asryan@vt.edu Distribution

Quantum tunneling recombination in a system of randomly distributed trapped electrons and positive ions.

PubMed

Pagonis, Vasilis; Kulp, Christopher; Chaney, Charity-Grace; Tachiya, M

2017-09-13

During the past 10 years, quantum tunneling has been established as one of the dominant mechanisms for recombination in random distributions of electrons and positive ions, and in many dosimetric materials. Specifically quantum tunneling has been shown to be closely associated with two important effects in luminescence materials, namely long term afterglow luminescence and anomalous fading. Two of the common assumptions of quantum tunneling models based on random distributions of electrons and positive ions are: (a) An electron tunnels from a donor to the nearest acceptor, and (b) the concentration of electrons is much lower than that of positive ions at all times during the tunneling process. This paper presents theoretical studies for arbitrary relative concentrations of electrons and positive ions in the solid. Two new differential equations are derived which describe the loss of charge in the solid by tunneling, and they are solved analytically. The analytical solution compares well with the results of Monte Carlo simulations carried out in a random distribution of electrons and positive ions. Possible experimental implications of the model are discussed for tunneling phenomena in long term afterglow signals, and also for anomalous fading studies in feldspars and apatite samples.

On the radiative recombination and tunneling of charge carriers in SiGe/Si heterostructures with double quantum wells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yablonsky, A. N., E-mail: yablonsk@ipmras.ru; Zhukavin, R. Kh.; Bekin, N. A.

For SiGe/Si(001) epitaxial structures with two nonequivalent SiGe quantum wells separated by a thin Si barrier, the spectral and time characteristics of interband photoluminescence corresponding to the radiative recombination of excitons in quantum wells are studied. For a series of structures with two SiGe quantum wells different in width, the characteristic time of tunneling of charge carriers (holes) from the narrow quantum well, distinguished by a higher exciton recombination energy, to the wide quantum well is determined as a function of the Si barrier thickness. It is shown that the time of tunneling of holes between the Si{sub 0.8}5Ge{sub 0.15}more » layers with thicknesses of 3 and 9 nm steadily decreases from ~500 to <5 ns, as the Si barrier thickness is reduced from 16 to 8 nm. At intermediate Si barrier thicknesses, an increase in the photoluminescence signal from the wide quantum well is observed, with a characteristic time of the same order of magnitude as the luminescence decay time of the narrow quantum well. This supports the observation of the effect of the tunneling of holes from the narrow to the wide quantum well. A strong dependence of the tunneling time of holes on the Ge content in the SiGe layers at the same thickness of the Si barrier between quantum wells is observed, which is attributed to an increase in the effective Si barrier height.« less

Quantum mechanical hydrogen tunneling in bacterial copper amine oxidase reaction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murakawa, Takeshi; Okajima, Toshihide; Kuroda, Shun'ichi

A key step decisively affecting the catalytic efficiency of copper amine oxidase is stereospecific abstraction of substrate {alpha}-proton by a conserved Asp residue. We analyzed this step by pre-steady-state kinetics using a bacterial enzyme and stereospecifically deuterium-labeled substrates, 2-phenylethylamine and tyramine. A small and temperature-dependent kinetic isotope effect (KIE) was observed with 2-phenylethylamine, whereas a large and temperature-independent KIE was observed with tyramine in the {alpha}-proton abstraction step, showing that this step is driven by quantum mechanical hydrogen tunneling rather than the classical transition-state mechanism. Furthermore, an Arrhenius-type preexponential factor ratio approaching a transition-state value was obtained in the reactionmore » of a mutant enzyme lacking the critical Asp. These results provide strong evidence for enzyme-enhanced hydrogen tunneling. X-ray crystallographic structures of the reaction intermediates revealed a small difference in the binding mode of distal parts of substrates, which would modulate hydrogen tunneling proceeding through either active or passive dynamics.« less

Semiconductor Lasers Containing Quantum Wells in Junctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, Rui Q.; Qiu, Yueming

2004-01-01

In a recent improvement upon In(x)Ga(1-x)As/InP semiconductor lasers of the bipolar cascade type, quantum wells are added to Esaki tunnel junctions, which are standard parts of such lasers. The energy depths and the geometric locations and thicknesses of the wells are tailored to exploit quantum tunneling such that, as described below, electrical resistances of junctions and concentrations of dopants can be reduced while laser performances can be improved. In(x)Ga(1-x)As/InP bipolar cascade lasers have been investigated as sources of near-infrared radiation (specifically, at wavelengths of about 980 and 1,550 nm) for photonic communication systems. The Esaki tunnel junctions in these lasers have been used to connect adjacent cascade stages and to enable transport of charge carriers between them. Typically, large concentrations of both n (electron-donor) and p (electron-acceptor) dopants have been necessary to impart low electrical resistances to Esaki tunnel junctions. Unfortunately, high doping contributes free-carrier absorption, thereby contributing to optical loss and thereby, further, degrading laser performance. In accordance with the present innovation, quantum wells are incorporated into the Esaki tunnel junctions so that the effective heights of barriers to quantum tunneling are reduced (see figure).

Quantum dot single-photon switches of resonant tunneling current for discriminating-photon-number detection

PubMed Central

Weng, Qianchun; An, Zhenghua; Zhang, Bo; Chen, Pingping; Chen, Xiaoshuang; Zhu, Ziqiang; Lu, Wei

2015-01-01

Low-noise single-photon detectors that can resolve photon numbers are used to monitor the operation of quantum gates in linear-optical quantum computation. Exactly 0, 1 or 2 photons registered in a detector should be distinguished especially in long-distance quantum communication and quantum computation. Here we demonstrate a photon-number-resolving detector based on quantum dot coupled resonant tunneling diodes (QD-cRTD). Individual quantum-dots (QDs) coupled closely with adjacent quantum well (QW) of resonant tunneling diode operate as photon-gated switches- which turn on (off) the RTD tunneling current when they trap photon-generated holes (recombine with injected electrons). Proposed electron-injecting operation fills electrons into coupled QDs which turn “photon-switches” to “OFF” state and make the detector ready for multiple-photons detection. With proper decision regions defined, 1-photon and 2-photon states are resolved in 4.2 K with excellent propabilities of accuracy of 90% and 98% respectively. Further, by identifying step-like photon responses, the photon-number-resolving capability is sustained to 77 K, making the detector a promising candidate for advanced quantum information applications where photon-number-states should be accurately distinguished. PMID:25797442

Quantum dot single-photon switches of resonant tunneling current for discriminating-photon-number detection.

PubMed

Weng, Qianchun; An, Zhenghua; Zhang, Bo; Chen, Pingping; Chen, Xiaoshuang; Zhu, Ziqiang; Lu, Wei

2015-03-23

Low-noise single-photon detectors that can resolve photon numbers are used to monitor the operation of quantum gates in linear-optical quantum computation. Exactly 0, 1 or 2 photons registered in a detector should be distinguished especially in long-distance quantum communication and quantum computation. Here we demonstrate a photon-number-resolving detector based on quantum dot coupled resonant tunneling diodes (QD-cRTD). Individual quantum-dots (QDs) coupled closely with adjacent quantum well (QW) of resonant tunneling diode operate as photon-gated switches- which turn on (off) the RTD tunneling current when they trap photon-generated holes (recombine with injected electrons). Proposed electron-injecting operation fills electrons into coupled QDs which turn "photon-switches" to "OFF" state and make the detector ready for multiple-photons detection. With proper decision regions defined, 1-photon and 2-photon states are resolved in 4.2 K with excellent propabilities of accuracy of 90% and 98% respectively. Further, by identifying step-like photon responses, the photon-number-resolving capability is sustained to 77 K, making the detector a promising candidate for advanced quantum information applications where photon-number-states should be accurately distinguished.

Quantum-Sequencing: Biophysics of quantum tunneling through nucleic acids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casamada Ribot, Josep; Chatterjee, Anushree; Nagpal, Prashant

2014-03-01

Tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy has extensively been used in physical surface sciences to study quantum tunneling to measure electronic local density of states of nanomaterials and to characterize adsorbed species. Quantum-Sequencing (Q-Seq) is a new method based on tunneling microscopy for electronic sequencing of single molecule of nucleic acids. A major goal of third-generation sequencing technologies is to develop a fast, reliable, enzyme-free single-molecule sequencing method. Here, we present the unique ``electronic fingerprints'' for all nucleotides on DNA and RNA using Q-Seq along their intrinsic biophysical parameters. We have analyzed tunneling spectra for the nucleotides at different pH conditions and analyzed the HOMO, LUMO and energy gap for all of them. In addition we show a number of biophysical parameters to further characterize all nucleobases (electron and hole transition voltage and energy barriers). These results highlight the robustness of Q-Seq as a technique for next-generation sequencing.

Observation of Resonant Quantum Magnetoelectric Effect in a Multiferroic Metal-Organic Framework.

PubMed

Tian, Ying; Shen, Shipeng; Cong, Junzhuang; Yan, Liqin; Wang, Shouguo; Sun, Young

2016-01-27

A resonant quantum magnetoelectric coupling effect has been demonstrated in the multiferroic metal-organic framework of [(CH3)2NH2]Fe(HCOO)3. This material shows a coexistence of a spin-canted antiferromagnetic order and ferroelectricity as well as clear magnetoelectric coupling below TN ≈ 19 K. In addition, a component of single-ion quantum magnets develops below ∼ 8 K because of an intrinsic magnetic phase separation. The stair-shaped magnetic hysteresis loop at 2 K signals resonant quantum tunneling of magnetization. Meanwhile, the magnetic field dependence of dielectric permittivity exhibits sharp peaks just at the critical tunneling fields, evidencing the occurrence of resonant quantum magnetoelectric coupling effect. This resonant effect enables a simple electrical detection of quantum tunneling of magnetization.

Photon-assisted tunneling in an asymmetrically coupled triple quantum dot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Bao-Chuan; Cao, Gang, E-mail: gcao@ustc.edu.cn; Chen, Bao-Bao

The gate-defined quantum dot is regarded as one of the basic structures required for scalable semiconductor quantum processors. Here, we demonstrate a structure that contains three quantum dots scaled in series. The electron number of each dot and the tunnel coupling between them can be tuned conveniently using splitting gates. We tune the quantum dot array asymmetrically such that the tunnel coupling between the right dot and the central dot is much larger than that between the left dot and the central dot. When driven by microwaves, the sidebands of the photon-assisted tunneling process appear not only in the left-to-centralmore » dot transition region but also in the left-to-right dot transition region. These sidebands are both attributed to the left-to-central transition for asymmetric coupling. Our result shows that there is a region of a triple quantum dot structure that remains indistinct when studied with a normal two-dimensional charge stability diagram; this will be helpful in future studies of the scalability of quantum dot systems.« less

Room-temperature resonant quantum tunneling transport of macroscopic systems.

PubMed

Xiong, Zhengwei; Wang, Xuemin; Yan, Dawei; Wu, Weidong; Peng, Liping; Li, Weihua; Zhao, Yan; Wang, Xinmin; An, Xinyou; Xiao, Tingting; Zhan, Zhiqiang; Wang, Zhuo; Chen, Xiangrong

2014-11-21

A self-assembled quantum dots array (QDA) is a low dimensional electron system applied to various quantum devices. This QDA, if embedded in a single crystal matrix, could be advantageous for quantum information science and technology. However, the quantum tunneling effect has been difficult to observe around room temperature thus far, because it occurs in a microcosmic and low temperature condition. Herein, we show a designed a quasi-periodic Ni QDA embedded in a single crystal BaTiO3 matrix and demonstrate novel quantum resonant tunneling transport properties around room-temperature according to theoretical calculation and experiments. The quantum tunneling process could be effectively modulated by changing the Ni QDA concentration. The major reason was that an applied weak electric field (∼10(2) V cm(-1)) could be enhanced by three orders of magnitude (∼10(5) V cm(-1)) between the Ni QDA because of the higher permittivity of BaTiO3 and the 'hot spots' of the Ni QDA. Compared with the pure BaTiO3 films, the samples with embedded Ni QDA displayed a stepped conductivity and temperature (σ-T curves) construction.

Efficient single photon detection by quantum dot resonant tunneling diodes.

PubMed

Blakesley, J C; See, P; Shields, A J; Kardynał, B E; Atkinson, P; Farrer, I; Ritchie, D A

2005-02-18

We demonstrate that the resonant tunnel current through a double-barrier structure is sensitive to the capture of single photoexcited holes by an adjacent layer of quantum dots. This phenomenon could allow the detection of single photons with low dark count rates and high quantum efficiencies. The magnitude of the sensing current may be controlled via the thickness of the tunnel barriers. Larger currents give improved signal to noise and allow sub-mus photon time resolution.

Suppression of quantum phase interference in the molecular magnet Fe8 with dipolar-dipolar interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhi-De; Liang, J.-Q.; Shen, Shun-Qing

2002-09-01

Renormalized tunnel splitting with a finite distribution in the biaxial spin model for molecular magnets is obtained by taking into account the dipolar interaction of enviromental spins. Oscillation of the resonant tunnel splitting with a transverse magnetic field along the hard axis is smeared by the finite distribution, which subsequently affects the quantum steps of the hysteresis curve evaluated in terms of the modified Landau-Zener model of spin flipping induced by the sweeping field. We conclude that the dipolar-dipolar interaction drives decoherence of quantum tunneling in the molecular magnet Fe8, which explains why the quenching points of tunnel splitting between odd and even resonant tunneling predicted theoretically were not observed experimentally.

Development of III-Nitride Based THz Inter-Subband Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-30

tested both resonant tunneling diodes and quantum well infrared photodetectors in order to investigate quantum transport in III-Nitrides. Based on the...and tested both resonant tunneling diodes and quantum well infrared photodetectors in order to investigate quantum transport in III- Nitrides. Based...strain on bandstructure and piezo-as well as spontaneous- electric fields. Interband photoluminescence and intersubband absorption measurements were

Modelling of nanoscale quantum tunnelling structures using algebraic topology method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sankaran, Krishnaswamy; Sairam, B.

2018-05-01

We have modelled nanoscale quantum tunnelling structures using Algebraic Topology Method (ATM). The accuracy of ATM is compared to the analytical solution derived based on the wave nature of tunnelling electrons. ATM provides a versatile, fast, and simple model to simulate complex structures. We are currently expanding the method for modelling electrodynamic systems.

Spectral features of the tunneling-induced transparency and the Autler-Townes doublet and triplet in a triple quantum dot.

PubMed

Luo, Xiao-Qing; Li, Zeng-Zhao; Jing, Jun; Xiong, Wei; Li, Tie-Fu; Yu, Ting

2018-02-15

We theoretically investigate the spectral features of tunneling-induced transparency (TIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) doublet and triplet in a triple-quantum-dot system. By analyzing the eigenenergy spectrum of the system Hamiltonian, we can discriminate TIT and double TIT from AT doublet and triplet, respectively. For the resonant case, the presence of the TIT does not exhibit distinguishable anticrossing in the eigenenergy spectrum in the weak-tunneling regime, while the occurrence of double anticrossings in the strong-tunneling regime shows that the TIT evolves to the AT doublet. For the off-resonance case, the appearance of a new detuning-dependent dip in the absorption spectrum leads to double TIT behavior in the weak-tunneling regime due to no distinguished anticrossing occurring in the eigenenergy spectrum. However, in the strong-tunneling regime, a new detuning-dependent dip in the absorption spectrum results in AT triplet owing to the presence of triple anticrossings in the eigenenergy spectrum. Our results can be applied to quantum measurement and quantum-optics devices in solid systems.

Optically Driven Spin Based Quantum Dots for Quantum Computing - Research Area 6 Physics 6.3.2

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-15

quantum dots (SAQD) in Schottky diodes . Based on spins in these dots, a scalable architecture has been proposed [Adv. in Physics, 59, 703 (2010)] by us...housed in two coupled quantum dots with tunneling between them, as described above, may not be scalable but can serve as a node in a quantum network. The... tunneling -coupled two-electron spin ground states in the vertically coupled quantum dots for “universal computation” two spin qubits within the universe of

Common-path interference and oscillatory Zener tunneling in bilayer graphene p-n junctions

PubMed Central

Nandkishore, Rahul; Levitov, Leonid

2011-01-01

Interference and tunneling are two signature quantum effects that are often perceived as the yin and yang of quantum mechanics: a particle simultaneously propagating along several distinct classical paths versus a particle penetrating through a classically inaccessible region via a single least-action path. Here we demonstrate that the Dirac quasiparticles in graphene provide a dramatic departure from this paradigm. We show that Zener tunneling in gapped bilayer graphene, which governs transport through p-n heterojunctions, exhibits common-path interference that takes place under the tunnel barrier. Due to a symmetry peculiar to the gapped bilayer graphene bandstructure, interfering tunneling paths form conjugate pairs, giving rise to high-contrast oscillations in transmission as a function of the gate-tunable bandgap and other control parameters of the junction. The common-path interference is solely due to forward-propagating waves; in contrast to Fabry–Pérot-type interference in resonant-tunneling structures, it does not rely on multiple backscattering. The oscillations manifest themselves in the junction I–V characteristic as N-shaped branches with negative differential conductivity. The negative dI/dV, which arises solely due to under-barrier interference, can enable new high-speed active-circuit devices with architectures that are not available in electronic semiconductor devices. PMID:21825159

Regular-to-Chaotic Tunneling Rates: From the Quantum to the Semiclassical Regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löck, Steffen; Bäcker, Arnd; Ketzmerick, Roland; Schlagheck, Peter

2010-03-01

We derive a prediction of dynamical tunneling rates from regular to chaotic phase-space regions combining the direct regular-to-chaotic tunneling mechanism in the quantum regime with an improved resonance-assisted tunneling theory in the semiclassical regime. We give a qualitative recipe for identifying the relevance of nonlinear resonances in a given ℏ regime. For systems with one or multiple dominant resonances we find excellent agreement to numerics.

Band-to-band tunneling distance analysis in the heterogate electron–hole bilayer tunnel field-effect transistor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Padilla, J. L., E-mail: jose.padilladelatorre@epfl.ch; Departamento de Electrónica y Tecnología de los Computadores, Universidad de Granada, Avda. Fuentenueva s/n, 18071 Granada; Palomares, A.

In this work, we analyze the behavior of the band-to-band tunneling distance between electron and hole subbands resulting from field-induced quantum confinement in the heterogate electron–hole bilayer tunnel field-effect transistor. We show that, analogously to the explicit formula for the tunneling distance that can be easily obtained in the semiclassical framework where the conduction and valence band edges are allowed states, an equivalent analytical expression can be derived in the presence of field-induced quantum confinement for describing the dependence of the tunneling distance on the body thickness and material properties of the channel. This explicit expression accounting for quantum confinementmore » holds valid provided that the potential wells for electrons and holes at the top and bottom of the channel can be approximated by triangular profiles. Analytical predictions are compared to simulation results showing very accurate agreement.« less

Many-body Tunneling and Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Doublons in Strongly Correlated Quantum Dots.

PubMed

Hou, WenJie; Wang, YuanDong; Wei, JianHua; Zhu, ZhenGang; Yan, YiJing

2017-05-30

Quantum tunneling dominates coherent transport at low temperatures in many systems of great interest. In this work we report a many-body tunneling (MBT), by nonperturbatively solving the Anderson multi-impurity model, and identify it a fundamental tunneling process on top of the well-acknowledged sequential tunneling and cotunneling. We show that the MBT involves the dynamics of doublons in strongly correlated systems. Proportional to the numbers of dynamical doublons, the MBT can dominate the off-resonant transport in the strongly correlated regime. A T 3/2 -dependence of the MBT current on temperature is uncovered and can be identified as a fingerprint of the MBT in experiments. We also prove that the MBT can support the coherent long-range tunneling of doublons, which is well consistent with recent experiments on ultracold atoms. As a fundamental physical process, the MBT is expected to play important roles in general quantum systems.

Effect of pumping delay on the modulation bandwidth in double tunneling-injection quantum dot lasers.

PubMed

Asryan, Levon V

2017-01-01

The modulation bandwidth of double tunneling-injection (DTI) quantum dot (QD) lasers is studied, taking into account noninstantaneous pumping of QDs. In this advanced type of semiconductor lasers, carriers are first captured from the bulk waveguide region into two-dimensional regions (quantum wells [QWs]); then they tunnel from the QWs into zero-dimensional regions (QDs). The two processes are noninstantaneous and, thus, could delay the delivery of the carriers to the QDs. Here, the modulation bandwidth of DTI QD lasers is calculated as a function of two characteristic times (the capture time from the waveguide region into the QW and the tunneling time from the QW into the QD ensemble) and is shown to increase as either of these times is reduced. The capture and tunneling times of 1 and 0.1 ps, respectively, are shown to characterize fast capture and tunneling processes; as the capture and tunneling times are brought below 1 and 0.1 ps, the bandwidth remains almost unchanged and close to its upper limit.

Size-dependent energy levels of InSb quantum dots measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

PubMed

Wang, Tuo; Vaxenburg, Roman; Liu, Wenyong; Rupich, Sara M; Lifshitz, Efrat; Efros, Alexander L; Talapin, Dmitri V; Sibener, S J

2015-01-27

The electronic structure of single InSb quantum dots (QDs) with diameters between 3 and 7 nm was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). In this size regime, InSb QDs show strong quantum confinement effects which lead to discrete energy levels on both valence and conduction band states. Decrease of the QD size increases the measured band gap and the spacing between energy levels. Multiplets of equally spaced resonance peaks are observed in the tunneling spectra. There, multiplets originate from degeneracy lifting induced by QD charging. The tunneling spectra of InSb QDs are qualitatively different from those observed in the STS of other III-V materials, for example, InAs QDs, with similar band gap energy. Theoretical calculations suggest the electron tunneling occurs through the states connected with L-valley of InSb QDs rather than through states of the Γ-valley. This observation calls for better understanding of the role of indirect valleys in strongly quantum-confined III-V nanomaterials.

Quantum beats from the coherent interaction of hole states with surface state in near-surface quantum well

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Khan, Salahuddin; Jayabalan, J., E-mail: jjaya@rrcat.gov.in; Chari, Rama

2014-08-18

We report tunneling assisted beating of carriers in a near-surface single GaAsP/AlGaAs quantum well using transient reflectivity measurement. The observed damped oscillating signal has a period of 120 ± 6 fs which corresponds to the energy difference between lh1 and hh2 hole states in the quantum well. Comparing the transient reflectivity signal at different photon energies and with a buried quantum well sample, we show that the beating is caused by the coherent coupling between surface state and the hole states (lh1 and hh2) in the near-surface quantum well. The dependence of decay of coherence of these tunneling carriers on the excitationmore » fluence is also reported. This observation on the coherent tunneling of carrier is important for future quantum device applications.« less

Tunneling induced absorption with competing Nonlinearities.

PubMed

Peng, Yandong; Yang, Aihong; Xu, Yan; Wang, Peng; Yu, Yang; Guo, Hongju; Ren, Tingqi

2016-12-13

We investigate tunneling induced nonlinear absorption phenomena in a coupled quantum-dot system. Resonant tunneling causes constructive interference in the nonlinear absorption that leads to an increase of more than an order of magnitude over the maximum absorption in a coupled quantum dot system without tunneling. Resonant tunneling also leads to a narrowing of the linewidth of the absorption peak to a sublinewidth level. Analytical expressions show that the enhanced nonlinear absorption is largely due to the fifth-order nonlinear term. Competition between third- and fifth-order nonlinearities leads to an anomalous dispersion of the total susceptibility.

Laser location and manipulation of a single quantum tunneling channel in an InAs quantum dot.

PubMed

Makarovsky, O; Vdovin, E E; Patané, A; Eaves, L; Makhonin, M N; Tartakovskii, A I; Hopkinson, M

2012-03-16

We use a femtowatt focused laser beam to locate and manipulate a single quantum tunneling channel associated with an individual InAs quantum dot within an ensemble of dots. The intensity of the directed laser beam tunes the tunneling current through the targeted dot with an effective optical gain of 10(7) and modifies the curvature of the dot's confining potential and the spatial extent of its ground state electron eigenfunction. These observations are explained by the effect of photocreated hole charges which become bound close to the targeted dot, thus acting as an optically induced gate electrode.

Transport and Quantum Coherence in Graphene Rings: Aharonov-Bohm Oscillations, Klein Tunneling, and Particle Localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filusch, Alexander; Wurl, Christian; Pieper, Andreas; Fehske, Holger

2018-06-01

Simulating quantum transport through mesoscopic, ring-shaped graphene structures, we address various quantum coherence and interference phenomena. First, a perpendicular magnetic field, penetrating the graphene ring, gives rise to Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the conductance as a function of the magnetic flux, on top of the universal conductance fluctuations. At very high fluxes, the interference gets suppressed and quantum Hall edge channels develop. Second, applying an electrostatic potential to one of the ring arms, nn'n- or npn-junctions can be realized with particle transmission due to normal tunneling or Klein tunneling. In the latter case, the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations weaken for smooth barriers. Third, if potential disorder comes in to play, both Aharonov-Bohm and Klein tunneling effects rate down, up to the point where particle localization sets in.

Shot-noise evidence of fractional quasiparticle creation in a local fractional quantum Hall state.

PubMed

Hashisaka, Masayuki; Ota, Tomoaki; Muraki, Koji; Fujisawa, Toshimasa

2015-02-06

We experimentally identify fractional quasiparticle creation in a tunneling process through a local fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state. The local FQH state is prepared in a low-density region near a quantum point contact in an integer quantum Hall (IQH) system. Shot-noise measurements reveal a clear transition from elementary-charge tunneling at low bias to fractional-charge tunneling at high bias. The fractional shot noise is proportional to T(1)(1-T(1)) over a wide range of T(1), where T(1) is the transmission probability of the IQH edge channel. This binomial distribution indicates that fractional quasiparticles emerge from the IQH state to be transmitted through the local FQH state. The study of this tunneling process enables us to elucidate the dynamics of Laughlin quasiparticles in FQH systems.

Influence of InGaN sub-quantum-well on performance of InAlN/GaN/InAlN resonant tunneling diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Haoran; Yang, Lin'an, E-mail: layang@xidian.edu.cn; Hao, Yue

The resonant tunneling mechanism of the GaN based resonant tunneling diode (RTD) with an InGaN sub-quantum-well has been investigated by means of numerical simulation. At resonant-state, Electrons in the InGaN/InAlN/GaN/InAlN RTD tunnel from the emitter region through the aligned discrete energy levels in the InGaN sub-quantum-well and GaN main-quantum-well into the collector region. The implantation of the InGaN sub-quantum-well alters the dominant transport mechanism, increase the transmission coefficient and give rise to the peak current and peak-to-valley current ratio. We also demonstrate that the most pronounced negative-differential-resistance characteristic can be achieved by choosing appropriately the In composition of In{sub x}Ga{submore » 1−x}N at around x = 0.06.« less

Tunneling explains efficient electron transport via protein junctions.

PubMed

Fereiro, Jerry A; Yu, Xi; Pecht, Israel; Sheves, Mordechai; Cuevas, Juan Carlos; Cahen, David

2018-05-15

Metalloproteins, proteins containing a transition metal ion cofactor, are electron transfer agents that perform key functions in cells. Inspired by this fact, electron transport across these proteins has been widely studied in solid-state settings, triggering the interest in examining potential use of proteins as building blocks in bioelectronic devices. Here, we report results of low-temperature (10 K) electron transport measurements via monolayer junctions based on the blue copper protein azurin (Az), which strongly suggest quantum tunneling of electrons as the dominant charge transport mechanism. Specifically, we show that, weakening the protein-electrode coupling by introducing a spacer, one can switch the electron transport from off-resonant to resonant tunneling. This is a consequence of reducing the electrode's perturbation of the Cu(II)-localized electronic state, a pattern that has not been observed before in protein-based junctions. Moreover, we identify vibronic features of the Cu(II) coordination sphere in transport characteristics that show directly the active role of the metal ion in resonance tunneling. Our results illustrate how quantum mechanical effects may dominate electron transport via protein-based junctions.

Confined states of individual type-II GaSb/GaAs quantum rings studied by cross-sectional scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

PubMed

Timm, Rainer; Eisele, Holger; Lenz, Andrea; Ivanova, Lena; Vossebürger, Vivien; Warming, Till; Bimberg, Dieter; Farrer, Ian; Ritchie, David A; Dähne, Mario

2010-10-13

Combined cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy results reveal the interplay between the atomic structure of ring-shaped GaSb quantum dots in GaAs and the corresponding electronic properties. Hole confinement energies between 0.2 and 0.3 eV and a type-II conduction band offset of 0.1 eV are directly obtained from the data. Additionally, the hole occupancy of quantum dot states and spatially separated Coulomb-bound electron states are observed in the tunneling spectra.

Quantum Tunneling of Water in Beryl. A New State of the Water Molecule

DOE PAGES

Kolesnikov, Alexander I.; Reiter, George F.; Choudhury, Narayani; ...

2016-04-22

When using neutron scattering and ab initio simulations, we document the discovery of a new “quantum tunneling state” of the water molecule confined in 5 Å channels in the mineral beryl, characterized by extended proton and electron delocalization. We observed a number of peaks in the inelastic neutron scattering spectra that were uniquely assigned to water quantum tunneling. Additionally, the water proton momentum distribution was measured with deep inelastic neutron scattering, which directly revealed coherent delocalization of the protons in the ground state.

Quantum Tunneling of Water in Beryl. A New State of the Water Molecule

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kolesnikov, Alexander I.; Reiter, George F.; Choudhury, Narayani

When using neutron scattering and ab initio simulations, we document the discovery of a new “quantum tunneling state” of the water molecule confined in 5 Å channels in the mineral beryl, characterized by extended proton and electron delocalization. We observed a number of peaks in the inelastic neutron scattering spectra that were uniquely assigned to water quantum tunneling. Additionally, the water proton momentum distribution was measured with deep inelastic neutron scattering, which directly revealed coherent delocalization of the protons in the ground state.

Dark channels in resonant tunneling transport through artificial atoms.

PubMed

Vaz, Eduardo; Kyriakidis, Jordan

2008-07-14

We investigate sequential tunneling through a multilevel quantum dot confining multiple electrons in the regime where several channels are available for transport within the bias window. By analyzing solutions to the master equations of the reduced density matrix, we give general conditions on when the presence of a second transport channel in the bias window quenches transport through the quantum dot. These conditions are in terms of distinct tunneling anisotropies which may aid in explaining the occurrence of negative differential conductance in quantum dots in the nonlinear regime.

Quantum tunneling of thermal protons through pristine graphene.

PubMed

Poltavsky, Igor; Zheng, Limin; Mortazavi, Majid; Tkatchenko, Alexandre

2018-05-28

Engineering of atomically thin membranes for hydrogen isotope separation is an actual challenge which has a broad range of applications. Recent experiments [M. Lozada-Hidalgo et al., Science 351, 68 (2016)] unambiguously demonstrate an order-of-magnitude difference in permeabilities of graphene-based membranes to protons and deuterons at ambient conditions, making such materials promising for novel separation technologies. Here we demonstrate that the permeability mechanism in such systems changes from quantum tunneling for protons to quasi-classical transport for heavier isotopes. Quantum nuclear effects exhibit large temperature and mass dependence, modifying the Arrhenius activation energy and Arrhenius prefactor for protons by more than 0.5 eV and by seven orders of magnitude correspondingly. Our findings not only shed light on the separation process for hydrogen isotope ions passing through pristine graphene but also offer new insights for controlling ion transport mechanisms in nanostructured separation membranes by manipulating the shape of the barrier and transport process conditions.

Sub-terahertz and terahertz microstrip resonant-tunneling-diode oscillators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feiginov, Michael, E-mail: feiginov.michael@canon.co.jp

We present a theoretical analysis of traveling-wave microstrip resonant-tunneling-diode (RTD) oscillators. Such oscillators are similar to terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) with a metal-metal waveguide and with just the active part of a single QCL period (an RTD) as their active core. Assuming realistic parameters of RTDs, we show that the microstrip RTD oscillators should be working at sub-THz and THz frequencies. Contrary to the contemporary THz QCLs, RTD microstrips are room-temperature oscillators. The major loss- and gain-enhancement mechanisms in RTD microstrips are identified.

Impact of geometric, thermal and tunneling effects on nano-transistors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Langhua; Chen, Duan, E-mail: dchen10@uncc.edu; Wei, Guo-Wei

Electronic transistors are fundamental building blocks of large scale integrated circuits in modern advanced electronic equipments, and their sizes have been down-scaled to nanometers. Modeling and simulations in the framework of quantum dynamics have emerged as important tools to study functional characteristics of these nano-devices. This work explores the effects of geometric shapes of semiconductor–insulator interfaces, phonon–electron interactions, and quantum tunneling of three-dimensional (3D) nano-transistors. First, we propose a two-scale energy functional to describe the electron dynamics in a dielectric continuum of device material. Coupled governing equations, i.e., Poisson–Kohn–Sham (PKS) equations, are derived by the variational principle. Additionally, it ismore » found that at a given channel cross section area and gate voltage, the geometry that has the smallest perimeter of the channel cross section offers the largest channel current, which indicates that ultra-thin nanotransistors may not be very efficient in practical applications. Moreover, we introduce a new method to evaluate quantum tunneling effects in nanotransistors without invoking the comparison of classical and quantum predictions. It is found that at a given channel cross section area and gate voltage, the geometry that has the smallest perimeter of the channel cross section has the smallest quantum tunneling ratio, which indicates that geometric defects can lead to higher geometric confinement and larger quantum tunneling effect. Furthermore, although an increase in the phonon–electron interaction strength reduces channel current, it does not have much impact to the quantum tunneling ratio. Finally, advanced numerical techniques, including second order elliptic interface methods, have been applied to ensure computational accuracy and reliability of the present PKS simulation.« less

Relativistic quantum Darwinism in Dirac fermion and graphene systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Xuan; Huang, Liang; Lai, Ying-Cheng; Pecora, Louis

2012-02-01

We solve the Dirac equation in two spatial dimensions in the setting of resonant tunneling, where the system consists of two symmetric cavities connected by a finite potential barrier. The shape of the cavities can be chosen to yield both regular and chaotic dynamics in the classical limit. We find that certain pointer states about classical periodic orbits can exist, which are signatures of relativistic quantum Darwinism (RQD). These localized states suppress quantum tunneling, and the effect becomes less severe as the underlying classical dynamics in the cavity is chaotic, leading to regularization of quantum tunneling. Qualitatively similar phenomena have been observed in graphene. A physical theory is developed to explain relativistic quantum Darwinism and its effects based on the spectrum of complex eigenenergies of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian describing the open cavity system.

Quantum Electron Tunneling in Respiratory Complex I1

PubMed Central

Hayashi, Tomoyuki; Stuchebrukhov, Alexei A.

2014-01-01

We have simulated the atomistic details of electronic wiring of all Fe/S clusters in complex I, a key enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain. The tunneling current theory of many-electron systems is applied to the broken-symmetry (BS) states of the protein at the ZINDO level. One-electron tunneling approximation is found to hold in electron tunneling between the anti-ferromagnetic binuclear and tetranuclear Fe/S clusters with moderate induced polarization of the core electrons. Calculated tunneling energy is about 3 eV higher than Fermi level in the band gap of the protein, which supports that the mechanism of electron transfer is quantum mechanical tunneling, as in the rest of electron transport chain. Resulting electron tunneling pathways consist of up to three key contributing protein residues between neighboring Fe/S clusters. A distinct signature of the wave properties of electrons is observed as quantum interferences when multiple tunneling pathways exist. In N6a-N6b, electron tunnels along different pathways depending on the involved BS states, suggesting possible fluctuations of the tunneling pathways driven by the local protein environment. The calculated distance dependence of the electron transfer rates with internal water molecules included are in good agreement with a reported phenomenological relation. PMID:21495666

Experimental determination of quantum-well lifetime effect on large-signal resonant tunneling diode switching time

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Growden, Tyler A.; Berger, Paul R., E-mail: pberger@ieee.org; Brown, E. R.

An experimental determination is presented of the effect the quantum-well lifetime has on a large-signal resonant tunneling diode (RTD) switching time. Traditional vertical In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As/AlAs RTDs were grown, fabricated, and characterized. The switching time was measured with a high-speed oscilloscope and found to be close to the sum of the calculated RC-limited 10%–90% switching time and the quantum-well quasibound-state lifetime. This method displays experimental evidence that the two intrinsic resonant-tunneling characteristic times act independently, and that the quasibound-state lifetime then serves as a quantum-limit on the large-signal speed of RTDs.

Tunneling induced absorption with competing Nonlinearities

PubMed Central

Peng, Yandong; Yang, Aihong; Xu, Yan; Wang, Peng; Yu, Yang; Guo, Hongju; Ren, Tingqi

2016-01-01

We investigate tunneling induced nonlinear absorption phenomena in a coupled quantum-dot system. Resonant tunneling causes constructive interference in the nonlinear absorption that leads to an increase of more than an order of magnitude over the maximum absorption in a coupled quantum dot system without tunneling. Resonant tunneling also leads to a narrowing of the linewidth of the absorption peak to a sublinewidth level. Analytical expressions show that the enhanced nonlinear absorption is largely due to the fifth-order nonlinear term. Competition between third- and fifth-order nonlinearities leads to an anomalous dispersion of the total susceptibility. PMID:27958303

Intermediate-band photosensitive device with quantum dots embedded in energy fence barrier

DOEpatents

Forrest, Stephen R.; Wei, Guodan

2010-07-06

A plurality of layers of a first semiconductor material and a plurality of dots-in-a-fence barriers disposed in a stack between a first electrode and a second electrode. Each dots-in-a-fence barrier consists essentially of a plurality of quantum dots of a second semiconductor material embedded between and in direct contact with two layers of a third semiconductor material. Wave functions of the quantum dots overlap as at least one intermediate band. The layers of the third semiconductor material are arranged as tunneling barriers to require a first electron and/or a first hole in a layer of the first material to perform quantum mechanical tunneling to reach the second material within a respective quantum dot, and to require a second electron and/or a second hole in a layer of the first semiconductor material to perform quantum mechanical tunneling to reach another layer of the first semiconductor material.

Boundary conditions in tunneling via quantum hydrodynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nassar, Antonio B.

1993-01-01

Via the hydrodynamical formulation of quantum mechanics, an approach to the problem of tunneling through sharp-edged potential barriers is developed. Above all, it is shown how more general boundary conditions follow from the continuity of mass, momentum, and energy.

Negative tunnel magnetoresistance and differential conductance in transport through double quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trocha, Piotr; Weymann, Ireneusz; Barnaś, Józef

2009-10-01

Spin-dependent transport through two coupled single-level quantum dots weakly connected to ferromagnetic leads with collinear magnetizations is considered theoretically. Transport characteristics, including the current, linear and nonlinear conductances, and tunnel magnetoresistance are calculated using the real-time diagrammatic technique in the parallel, serial, and intermediate geometries. The effects due to virtual tunneling processes between the two dots via the leads, associated with off-diagonal coupling matrix elements, are also considered. Negative differential conductance and negative tunnel magnetoresistance have been found in the case of serial and intermediate geometries, while no such behavior has been observed for double quantum dots coupled in parallel. It is also shown that transport characteristics strongly depend on the magnitude of the off-diagonal coupling matrix elements.

Photon-assisted quantum transport in quantum point contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Qing

1993-02-01

We have studied the feasibility of photon-assisted quantum transport in semiconductor quantum point contacts or electron waveguides. Due to photon-induced intersubband transitions, it is expected that the drain/source conductance of the quantum point contacts can be modulated by far-infrared (f not less than 300 GHz) radiation, which is similar to the photon-assisted tunneling in superconducting tunnel junctions. An antenna/gate electrodes structure will be used to couple far-infrared photons into quantum point contacts of submicron dimensions. A calculation of the photon-induced drain/source current as a function of the far-infrared radiation power is also presented.

Strain-enhanced tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

PubMed Central

Loong, Li Ming; Qiu, Xuepeng; Neo, Zhi Peng; Deorani, Praveen; Wu, Yang; Bhatia, Charanjit S.; Saeys, Mark; Yang, Hyunsoo

2014-01-01

While the effects of lattice mismatch-induced strain, mechanical strain, as well as the intrinsic strain of thin films are sometimes detrimental, resulting in mechanical deformation and failure, strain can also be usefully harnessed for applications such as data storage, transistors, solar cells, and strain gauges, among other things. Here, we demonstrate that quantum transport across magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) can be significantly affected by the introduction of controllable mechanical strain, achieving an enhancement factor of ~2 in the experimental tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio. We further correlate this strain-enhanced TMR with coherent spin tunneling through the MgO barrier. Moreover, the strain-enhanced TMR is analyzed using non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) quantum transport calculations. Our results help elucidate the TMR mechanism at the atomic level and can provide a new way to enhance, as well as tune, the quantum properties in nanoscale materials and devices. PMID:25266219

Modeling and optimization of a double-well double-barrier GaN/AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN resonant tunneling diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yang; Gao, Bo; Gong, Min; Shi, Ruiying

2017-06-01

The influence of a GaN layer as a sub-quantum well for an AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) on device performance has been investigated by means of numerical simulation. The introduction of the GaN layer as the sub-quantum well turns the dominant transport mechanism of RTD from the 3D-2D model to the 2D-2D model and increases the energy difference between tunneling energy levels. It can also lower the effective height of the emitter barrier. Consequently, the peak current and peak-to-valley current difference of RTD have been increased. The optimal GaN sub-quantum well parameters are found through analyzing the electrical performance, energy band, and transmission coefficient of RTD with different widths and depths of the GaN sub-quantum well. The most pronounced electrical parameters, a peak current density of 5800 KA/cm2, a peak-to-valley current difference of 1.466 A, and a peak-to-valley current ratio of 6.35, could be achieved by designing RTD with the active region structure of GaN/Al0.2Ga0.8 N/GaN/Al0.2Ga0.8 N (3 nm/1.5 nm/1.5 nm/1.5 nm).

Decoding DNA, RNA and peptides with quantum tunnelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Ventra, Massimiliano; Taniguchi, Masateru

2016-02-01

Drugs and treatments could be precisely tailored to an individual patient by extracting their cellular- and molecular-level information. For this approach to be feasible on a global scale, however, information on complete genomes (DNA), transcriptomes (RNA) and proteomes (all proteins) needs to be obtained quickly and at low cost. Quantum mechanical phenomena could potentially be of value here, because the biological information needs to be decoded at an atomic level and quantum tunnelling has recently been shown to be able to differentiate single nucleobases and amino acids in short sequences. Here, we review the different approaches to using quantum tunnelling for sequencing, highlighting the theoretical background to the method and the experimental capabilities demonstrated to date. We also explore the potential advantages of the approach and the technical challenges that must be addressed to deliver practical quantum sequencing devices.

Resonant tunneling in graphene pseudomagnetic quantum dots.

PubMed

Qi, Zenan; Bahamon, D A; Pereira, Vitor M; Park, Harold S; Campbell, D K; Neto, A H Castro

2013-06-12

Realistic relaxed configurations of triaxially strained graphene quantum dots are obtained from unbiased atomistic mechanical simulations. The local electronic structure and quantum transport characteristics of y-junctions based on such dots are studied, revealing that the quasi-uniform pseudomagnetic field induced by strain restricts transport to Landau level- and edge state-assisted resonant tunneling. Valley degeneracy is broken in the presence of an external field, allowing the selective filtering of the valley and chirality of the states assisting in the resonant tunneling. Asymmetric strain conditions can be explored to select the exit channel of the y-junction.

Gate-controlled tunneling of quantum Hall edge states in bilayer graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jun; Li, Jing; Wen, Hua

Controlled tunneling of integer and fractional quantum Hall edge states provides a powerful tool to probe the physics of 1D systems and exotic particle statistics. Experiments in GaAs 2DEGs employ either a quantum point contact or a line junction tunnel barrier. It is generally difficult to independently control the filling factors νL and νR on the two sides of the barrier. Here we show that in bilayer graphene both νL and νR as well as their Landau level structures can be independently controlled using a dual-split-gate structure. In addition, the height of the line-junction tunnel barrier implemented in our experiments is tunable via a 5th gate. By measuring the tunneling resistance across the junction RT we examine the equilibration of the edge states in a variety of νL/νR scenarios and under different barrier heights. Edge states from both sides are fully mixed in the case of a low barrier. As the barrier height increases, we observe plateaus in RT that correspond to sequential complete backscattering of edge states. Gate-controlled manipulation of edge states offers a new angle to the exploration of quantum Hall magnetism and fractional quantum Hall effect in bilayer graphene.

The impact of disorder on charge transport in three dimensional quantum dot resonant tunneling structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Puthen-Veettil, B., E-mail: b.puthen-veettil@unsw.edu.au; Patterson, R.; König, D.

Efficient iso-entropic energy filtering of electronic waves can be realized through nanostructures with three dimensional confinement, such as quantum dot resonant tunneling structures. Large-area deployment of such structures is useful for energy selective contacts but such configuration is susceptible to structural disorders. In this work, the transport properties of quantum-dot-based wide-area resonant tunneling structures, subject to realistic disorder mechanisms, are studied. Positional variations of the quantum dots are shown to reduce the resonant transmission peaks while size variations in the device are shown to reduce as well as broaden the peaks. Increased quantum dot size distribution also results in amore » peak shift to lower energy which is attributed to large dots dominating transmission. A decrease in barrier thickness reduces the relative peak height while the overall transmission increases dramatically due to lower “series resistance.” While any shift away from ideality can be intuitively expected to reduce the resonance peak, quantification allows better understanding of the tolerances required for fabricating structures based on resonant tunneling phenomena/.« less

Fast Heavy-Atom Tunneling in Trifluoroacetyl Nitrene.

PubMed

Wu, Zhuang; Feng, Ruijuan; Li, Hongmin; Xu, Jian; Deng, Guohai; Abe, Manabu; Bégué, Didier; Liu, Kun; Zeng, Xiaoqing

2017-12-04

Chemical reactions involving quantum mechanical tunneling (QMT) increasingly attract the attention of scientists. In contrast to the hydrogen-tunneling as frequently observed in chemistry and biology, tunneling solely by heavy atoms is rare. Herein, we report heavy-atom tunneling in trifluoroacetyl nitrene, CF 3 C(O)N. The carbonyl nitrene CF 3 C(O)N in the triplet ground state was generated in cryogenic matrices by laser (193 or 266 nm) photolysis of CF 3 C(O)N 3 and characterized by IR and EPR spectroscopy. In contrast to the theoretically predicted activation barriers (>10 kcal mol -1 ), CF 3 C(O)N undergoes rapid rearrangement into CF 3 NCO with half-life times of less than 10 min and unprecedentedly large 14 N/ 15 N kinetic isotope effects (1.18-1.33) in solid Ar, Ne, and N 2 matrices even at 2.8 K. The tunneling disappearance of CF 3 C(O)N becomes much slower in the chemically active toluene and in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran at 5 K. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Quantum tunneling of oxygen atoms on very cold surfaces.

PubMed

Minissale, M; Congiu, E; Baouche, S; Chaabouni, H; Moudens, A; Dulieu, F; Accolla, M; Cazaux, S; Manicó, G; Pirronello, V

2013-08-02

Any evolving system can change state via thermal mechanisms (hopping a barrier) or via quantum tunneling. Most of the time, efficient classical mechanisms dominate at high temperatures. This is why an increase of the temperature can initiate the chemistry. We present here an experimental investigation of O-atom diffusion and reactivity on water ice. We explore the 6-25 K temperature range at submonolayer surface coverages. We derive the diffusion temperature law and observe the transition from quantum to classical diffusion. Despite the high mass of O, quantum tunneling is efficient even at 6 K. As a consequence, the solid-state astrochemistry of cold regions should be reconsidered and should include the possibility of forming larger organic molecules than previously expected.

Control of optical bistability and third-order nonlinearity via tunneling induced quantum interference in triangular quantum dot molecules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tian, Si-Cong, E-mail: tiansicong@ciomp.ac.cn; Tong, Cun-Zhu, E-mail: tongcz@ciomp.ac.cn; Zhang, Jin-Long

The optical bistability of a triangular quantum dot molecules embedded inside a unidirectional ring cavity is studied. The type, the threshold and the hysteresis loop of the optical bistability curves can be modified by the tunneling parameters, as well as the probe laser field. The linear and nonlinear susceptibilities of the medium are also studied to interpret the corresponding results. The physical interpretation is that the tunneling can induce the quantum interference, which modifies the linear and the nonlinear response of the medium. As a consequence, the characteristics of the optical bistability are changed. The scheme proposed here can bemore » utilized for optimizing and controlling the optical switching process.« less

Correlated sequential tunneling in Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thorwart, M.; Egger, R.; Grifoni, M.

2005-02-01

We investigate tunneling through a quantum dot formed by two strong impurites in a spinless Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid. Upon employing a Markovian master equation approach, we compute the linear conductance due to sequential tunneling processes. Besides the previously used lowest-order Golden Rule rates describing uncorrelated sequential tunneling (UST) processes, we systematically include higher-order correlated sequential tunneling (CST) diagrams within the standard Weisskopf-Wigner approximation. We provide estimates for the parameter regions where CST effects are shown to dominate over UST. Focusing mainly on the temperature dependence of the conductance maximum, we discuss the relation of our results to previous theoretical and experimental results.

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions with multi-quantum well structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ma, Zhijun; Zhang, Tianjin, E-mail: zhangtj@hubu.edu.cn; Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) with multi-quantum well structures are proposed and the tunneling electroresistance (TER) effect is investigated theoretically. Compared with conventional FTJs with monolayer ferroelectric barriers, FTJs with single-well structures provide TER ratio improvements of one order of magnitude, while FTJs with optimized multi-well structures can enhance this improvement by another order of magnitude. It is believed that the increased resonant tunneling strength combined with appropriate asymmetry in these FTJs contributes to the improvement. These studies may help to fabricate FTJs with large TER ratio experimentally and put them into practice.

Photon-assisted tunneling through a quantum dot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kouwenhoven, L.P.; Jauhar, S.; McCormick, K.

1994-07-15

We study single-electron tunneling in a two-junction device in the presence of microwave radiation. We introduce a model for numerical simulations that extends the Tien-Gordon theory for photon-assisted tunneling to encompass correlated single-electron tunneling. We predict sharp current jumps which reflect the discrete photon energy [ital hf], and a zero-bias current whose sign changes when an electron is added to the central island of the device. Measurements on split-gate quantum dots show microwave-induced features that are in good agreement with the model.

Quantum electron tunneling in respiratory complex I.

PubMed

Hayashi, Tomoyuki; Stuchebrukhov, Alexei A

2011-05-12

We have simulated the atomistic details of electronic wiring of all Fe/S clusters in complex I, a key enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain. The tunneling current theory of many-electron systems is applied to the broken-symmetry (BS) states of the protein at the ZINDO level. While the one-electron tunneling approximation is found to hold in electron tunneling between the antiferromagnetic binuclear and tetranuclear Fe/S clusters without major orbital or spin rearrangement of the core electrons, induced polarization of the core electrons contributes significantly to decrease the electron transfer rates to 19-56 %. Calculated tunneling energy is about 3 eV higher than Fermi level in the band gap of the protein, which supports that the mechanism of electron transfer is quantum mechanical tunneling, as in the rest of the electron transport chain. Resulting electron tunneling pathways consist of up to three key contributing protein residues between neighboring Fe/S clusters. A signature of the wave properties of electrons is observed as distinct quantum interferences when multiple tunneling pathways exist. In N6a-N6b, electron tunnels along different pathways depending on the involved BS states, suggesting possible fluctuations of the tunneling pathways driven by the local protein environment. The calculated distance dependence of the electron transfer rates with internal water molecules included is in good agreement with a reported phenomenological relation.

Spin fine structure of optically excited quantum dot molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheibner, M.; Doty, M. F.; Ponomarev, I. V.; Bracker, A. S.; Stinaff, E. A.; Korenev, V. L.; Reinecke, T. L.; Gammon, D.

2007-06-01

The interaction between spins in coupled quantum dots is revealed in distinct fine structure patterns in the measured optical spectra of InAs/GaAs double quantum dot molecules containing zero, one, or two excess holes. The fine structure is explained well in terms of a uniquely molecular interplay of spin-exchange interactions, Pauli exclusion, and orbital tunneling. This knowledge is critical for converting quantum dot molecule tunneling into a means of optically coupling not just orbitals but also spins.

Quantum Tunneling and Chaos in Classical Scale Walkers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Jenny; Dijksman, Joshua; Ward, Jeremy; Behringer, Robert

2014-03-01

We study the behavior of `walkers' small droplets bouncing on a fluid layer vibrated at amplitudes just below the onset of Faraday instability. It was shown recently that despite their macroscopic size, the droplet dynamics are stochastic in nature and reminiscent of the dual particle-wave dynamics in the realm of quantum mechanics (Couder PRL 2006). We use these walkers to study how chaos, which is macroscopically unpredictable, will manifest in a quantum setting. Pecora showed in 2011 that tunneling for particles that have a chaotic ground state is different from tunneling for particles with a regular ground state (PRE 2011). In the experiment we gather data that illustrates the particle trajectory and tunneling behavior as particles transition across the barrier in the double well system with both integrable and chaotic shapes.

Quantum ratchet in two-dimensional semiconductors with Rashba spin-orbit interaction

PubMed Central

Ang, Yee Sin; Ma, Zhongshui; Zhang, Chao

2015-01-01

Ratchet is a device that produces direct current of particles when driven by an unbiased force. We demonstrate a simple scattering quantum ratchet based on an asymmetrical quantum tunneling effect in two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit interaction (R2DEG). We consider the tunneling of electrons across a square potential barrier sandwiched by interface scattering potentials of unequal strengths on its either sides. It is found that while the intra-spin tunneling probabilities remain unchanged, the inter-spin-subband tunneling probabilities of electrons crossing the barrier in one direction is unequal to that of the opposite direction. Hence, when the system is driven by an unbiased periodic force, a directional flow of electron current is generated. The scattering quantum ratchet in R2DEG is conceptually simple and is capable of converting a.c. driving force into a rectified current without the need of additional symmetry breaking mechanism or external magnetic field. PMID:25598490

Vertical resonant tunneling transistors with molecular quantum dots for large-scale integration.

PubMed

Hayakawa, Ryoma; Chikyow, Toyohiro; Wakayama, Yutaka

2017-08-10

Quantum molecular devices have a potential for the construction of new data processing architectures that cannot be achieved using current complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The relevant basic quantum transport properties have been examined by specific methods such as scanning probe and break-junction techniques. However, these methodologies are not compatible with current CMOS applications, and the development of practical molecular devices remains a persistent challenge. Here, we demonstrate a new vertical resonant tunneling transistor for large-scale integration. The transistor channel is comprised of a MOS structure with C 60 molecules as quantum dots, and the structure behaves like a double tunnel junction. Notably, the transistors enabled the observation of stepwise drain currents, which originated from resonant tunneling via the discrete molecular orbitals. Applying side-gate voltages produced depletion layers in Si substrates, to achieve effective modulation of the drain currents and obvious peak shifts in the differential conductance curves. Our device configuration thus provides a promising means of integrating molecular functions into future CMOS applications.

The quantum Zeno effect in double well tunnelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lerner, L.

2018-05-01

Measurement lies at the heart of quantum theory, and introductory textbooks in quantum mechanics cover the measurement problem in topics such as the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment, the EPR problem, and the quantum Zeno effect (QZE). In this article we present a new treatment of the QZE suitable for undergraduate students, for the case of a particle tunnelling between two wells while being observed in one of the wells. The analysis shows that as the observation rate increases, the tunnelling rate tends towards zero, in accordance with Zeno’s maxim ‘a watched pot never boils’. The method relies on decoherence theory, which replaces aspects of quantum collapse by the Schrödinger evolution of an open system, and its recently simplified treatment for undergraduates. Our presentation uses concepts familiar to undergraduate students, so that calculations involving many-body theory and the formal properties of the density matrix are avoided.

Extremely elevated room-temperature kinetic isotope effects quantify the critical role of barrier width in enzymatic C-H activation.

PubMed

Hu, Shenshen; Sharma, Sudhir C; Scouras, Alexander D; Soudackov, Alexander V; Carr, Cody A Marcus; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon; Alber, Tom; Klinman, Judith P

2014-06-11

The enzyme soybean lipoxygenase (SLO) has served as a prototype for hydrogen-tunneling reactions, as a result of its unusual kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) and their temperature dependencies. Using a synergy of kinetic, structural, and theoretical studies, we show how the interplay between donor-acceptor distance and active-site flexibility leads to catalytic behavior previously predicted by quantum tunneling theory. Modification of the size of two hydrophobic residues by site-specific mutagenesis in SLO reduces the reaction rate 10(4)-fold and is accompanied by an enormous and unprecedented room-temperature KIE. Fitting of the kinetic data to a non-adiabatic model implicates an expansion of the active site that cannot be compensated by donor-acceptor distance sampling. A 1.7 Å resolution X-ray structure of the double mutant further indicates an unaltered backbone conformation, almost identical side-chain conformations, and a significantly enlarged active-site cavity. These findings show the compelling property of room-temperature hydrogen tunneling within a biological context and demonstrate the very high sensitivity of such tunneling to barrier width.

On-Chip Timing of Solid State QUBITS

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-11-13

NDC is well pronounced – with the increase of some 100 mT the gap is considerably quenched and single electron tunneling re-emerges. Apparently we...quantum dots contain roughly 10 - 100 electrons and are attached to metallic leads by tunneling barriers. The main advantage of heterostructures is the...blockade of transport at the peak marked B. The resonances left and right indicate single electron tunneling (A) and a quantum dot state with a

Exchange interaction and tunneling-induced transparency in coupled quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borges, H. S.; Alcalde, A. M.; Ulloa, Sergio E.

2014-11-01

We investigate the optical response of quantum dot molecules coherently driven by polarized laser light. Our description includes the splitting in excitonic levels caused by isotropic and anisotropic exchange interactions. We consider interdot transitions mediated by hole tunneling between states with the same total angular momentum and between bright and dark exciton states as allowed by spin-flip hopping between the dots in the molecule. Using realistic experimental parameters we demonstrate that the excitonic states coupled by tunneling exhibit a rich and controllable optical response. We show that through the appropriate control of an external electric field and light polarization, the tunneling coupling establishes an efficient destructive quantum interference path that creates a transparency window in the absorption spectra whenever states of appropriate symmetry are mixed by the carrier tunneling. We explore the relevant parameter space that allows probing this phenomenon in experiments. Controlled variation in applied field and laser detuning would allow the optical characterization of spin-preserving and spin-flip hopping amplitudes in such systems by measuring the width of the tunneling-induced transparency windows.

Charge carrier dynamics of GaAs/AlGaAs asymmetric double quantum wells at room temperature studied by optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afalla, Jessica; Ohta, Kaoru; Tokonami, Shunrou; Prieto, Elizabeth Ann; Catindig, Gerald Angelo; Cedric Gonzales, Karl; Jaculbia, Rafael; Vasquez, John Daniel; Somintac, Armando; Salvador, Arnel; Estacio, Elmer; Tani, Masahiko; Tominaga, Keisuke

2017-11-01

Two asymmetric double quantum wells of different coupling strengths (barrier widths) were grown via molecular beam epitaxy, both samples allowing tunneling. Photoluminescence was measured at 10 and 300 K to provide evidence of tunneling, barrier dependence, and structural uniformity. Carrier dynamics at room temperature was investigated by optical pump terahertz probe (OPTP) spectroscopy. Carrier population decay rates were obtained and photoconductivity spectra were analyzed using the Drude model. This work demonstrates that carrier, and possibly tunneling dynamics in asymmetric double quantum well structures may be studied at room temperature through OPTP spectroscopy.

OSA Proceedings on Picosecond Electronics and Optoelectronics. Volume 4

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-01-01

Weisbuch, and G. A. Mourou vi Optical Phonon-Assisted Tunneling in Double Quantum - Well Structures ........ 111 Y Oberli, Jagdeep Shah, T. C. Damen, R. F...GaAs Quantum Wells During Photoexcitation .......................................... 158 Stephen M. Goodnick and Paolo Lugli Phonons and Phonon...246 R. A. Buhnnan Optical Detection of Resonant Tunneling of Electrons in Quantum Wells ........ 247 G. Livescu, A. M, Fox, T. Sizer, W. H. Knox, and

Impurity-induced tuning of quantum-well States in spin-dependent resonant tunneling.

PubMed

Kalitsov, Alan; Coho, A; Kioussis, Nicholas; Vedyayev, Anatoly; Chshiev, M; Granovsky, A

2004-07-23

We report exact model calculations of the spin-dependent tunneling in double magnetic tunnel junctions in the presence of impurities in the well. We show that the impurity can tune selectively the spin channels giving rise to a wide variety of interesting and novel transport phenomena. The tunneling magnetoresistance, the spin polarization, and the local current can be dramatically enhanced or suppressed by impurities. The underlying mechanism is the impurity-induced shift of the quantum well states (QWSs), which depends on the impurity potential, impurity position, and the symmetry of the QWS. Copyright 2004 The American Physical Society

Proposal to probe quantum nonlocality of Majorana fermions in tunneling experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sau, Jay D.; Swingle, Brian; Tewari, Sumanta

2015-07-01

Topological Majorana fermion (MF) quasiparticles have been recently suggested to exist in semiconductor quantum wires with proximity induced superconductivity and a Zeeman field. Although the experimentally observed zero bias tunneling peak and a fractional ac-Josephson effect can be taken as necessary signatures of MFs, neither of them constitutes a sufficient "smoking gun" experiment. Since one pair of Majorana fermions share a single conventional fermionic degree of freedom, MFs are in a sense fractionalized excitations. Based on this fractionalization we propose a tunneling experiment that furnishes a nearly unique signature of end state MFs in semiconductor quantum wires. In particular, we show that a "teleportation"-like experiment is not enough to distinguish MFs from pairs of MFs, which are equivalent to conventional zero energy states, but our proposed tunneling experiment, in principle, can make this distinction.

Charge transport model in nanodielectric composites based on quantum tunneling mechanism and dual-level traps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Guochang; Chen, George, E-mail: gc@ecs.soton.ac.uk, E-mail: sli@mail.xjtu.edu.cn; School of Electronic and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ

Charge transport properties in nanodielectrics present different tendencies for different loading concentrations. The exact mechanisms that are responsible for charge transport in nanodielectrics are not detailed, especially for high loading concentration. A charge transport model in nanodielectrics has been proposed based on quantum tunneling mechanism and dual-level traps. In the model, the thermally assisted hopping (TAH) process for the shallow traps and the tunnelling process for the deep traps are considered. For different loading concentrations, the dominant charge transport mechanisms are different. The quantum tunneling mechanism plays a major role in determining the charge conduction in nanodielectrics with high loadingmore » concentrations. While for low loading concentrations, the thermal hopping mechanism will dominate the charge conduction process. The model can explain the observed conductivity property in nanodielectrics with different loading concentrations.« less

Quantum simulation of thermally-driven phase transition and oxygen K-edge x-ray absorption of high-pressure ice

PubMed Central

Kang, Dongdong; Dai, Jiayu; Sun, Huayang; Hou, Yong; Yuan, Jianmin

2013-01-01

The structure and phase transition of high-pressure ice are of long-standing interest and challenge, and there is still a huge gap between theoretical and experimental understanding. The quantum nature of protons such as delocalization, quantum tunneling and zero-point motion is crucial to the comprehension of the properties of high-pressure ice. Here we investigated the temperature-induced phase transition and oxygen K-edge x-ray absorption spectra of ice VII, VIII and X using ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics simulations. The tremendous difference between experiments and the previous theoretical predictions is closed for the phase diagram of ice below 300 K at pressures up to 110 GPa. Proton tunneling assists the proton-ordered ice VIII to transform into proton-disordered ice VII where only thermal activated proton-transfer cannot occur. The oxygen K edge with its shift is sensitive to the order-disorder transition, and therefore can be applied to diagnose the dynamics of ice structures. PMID:24253589

Experimental Studies of Quasi-Adiabatic Quantum-dot Cellular Automata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlov, Alexei; Amlani, Islamshah; Kummamuru, Ravi; Toth, Geza; Bernstein, Gary; Lent, Craig; Snider, Gregory

2000-03-01

The computational approach known as Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) uses interacting quantum dots to encode and process binary information. The first realization of a functioning QCA cell has already been reported. Recently, quasi-adiabatic switching of QCA in a metal dot system near the instantaneous ground state was proposed [1]. The advantage if this approach is that it allows both logic and addressable memory to be implemented within the QCA framework. We report on the fabrication and measurement of such a device in the Al-AlOx tunnel junction system. This basic building block consists of three metal islands connected in series by tunnel junctions, where an electron can be moved between islands by means of electrostatic perturbation on either control electrodes or adjacent cells. The cell can have three operational modes, i.e. active, locked and null, which provide a solution for ground state computing that is not susceptible to metastable states. [1] G. Toth and C. S. Lent, J. appl. Phys. 85 5, 2977-2984, 1999.

Trap-assisted tunneling in InGaN/GaN single-quantum-well light-emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Auf der Maur, M., E-mail: auf.der.maur@ing.uniroma2.it; Di Carlo, A.; Galler, B.

Based on numerical simulation and comparison with measured current characteristics, we show that the current in InGaN/GaN single-quantum-well light-emitting diodes at low forward bias can be accurately described by a standard trap-assisted tunneling model. The qualitative and quantitative differences in the current characteristics of devices with different emission wavelengths are demonstrated to be correlated in a physically consistent way with the tunneling model parameters.

IETS and quantum interference: Propensity rules in the presence of an interference feature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lykkebo, Jacob; Solomon, Gemma C., E-mail: gsolomon@nano.ku.dk; Gagliardi, Alessio

2014-09-28

Destructive quantum interference in single molecule electronics is an intriguing phenomenon; however, distinguishing quantum interference effects from generically low transmission is not trivial. In this paper, we discuss how quantum interference effects in the transmission lead to either low current or a particular line shape in current-voltage curves, depending on the position of the interference feature. Second, we consider how inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy can be used to probe the presence of an interference feature by identifying vibrational modes that are selectively suppressed when quantum interference effects dominate. That is, we expand the understanding of propensity rules in inelastic electronmore » tunneling spectroscopy to molecules with destructive quantum interference.« less

Tunneling time in attosecond experiments, intrinsic-type of time. Keldysh, and Mandelstam-Tamm time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kullie, Ossama

2016-05-01

Tunneling time in attosecond and strong-field experiments is one of the most controversial issues in current research, because of its importance to the theory of time, the time operator and the time-energy uncertainty relation in quantum mechanics. In Kullie (2015 Phys. Rev. A 92 052118) we derived an estimation of the (real) tunneling time, which shows an excellent agreement with the time measured in attosecond experiments, our derivation is found by utilizing the time-energy uncertainty relation, and it represents a quantum clock. In this work, we show different aspects of the tunneling time in attosecond experiments, we discuss and compare the different views and approaches, which are used to calculate the tunneling time, i.e. Keldysh time (as a real or imaginary quantity), Mandelstam-Tamm time, the classical view of the time measurement and our tunneling time relation(s). We draw some conclusions concerning the validity and the relation between the different types of the tunneling time with the hope that they will help to answer the question put forward by Orlando et al (2014 J. Phys. B 47 204002, 2014 Phys. Rev. A 89 014102): tunneling time, what does it mean? However, as we will see, the important question is a more general one: how to understand the time and the measurement of the time of a quantum system? In respect to our result, the time in quantum mechanics can be, in more general fashion, classified in two types, intrinsic dynamically connected, and external dynamically not connected to the system, and consequently (perhaps only) classical Newtonian time remains as a parametric type of time.

Ex post manipulation of barriers in InGaAs tunnel injection devices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Talalaev, Vadim G.; Fock Institute of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 198504; Cirlin, George E.

Ex post manipulation of ∼1.1 μm emitting InGaAs/GaAs-based quantum dot–quantum well tunnel injection light emitting devices is demonstrated experimentally. The devices were operated at elevated forward currents until irreversible alterations were observed. As a result, changes in the steady-state optical spectra (electroluminescence, photoluminescence, and photocurrent), in carrier kinetics, in transport properties, and real structure are found. Except for degradation effects, e.g., of larger quantum dots, also restoration/annealing effects such as increased tunnel barriers are observed. The results furnish evidence for a generic degradation mode of nanostructures. We qualitatively interpret the mechanisms involved on both the nanoscopic and the device scales.

Modulating emission intensity of GaN-based green light emitting diodes on c-plane sapphire

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Du, Chunhua; Ma, Ziguang; Zhou, Junming

2014-04-14

The asymmetric dual-wavelength (green/blue) coupled InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells were proposed to modulate the green emission intensity. Electroluminescent measurements demonstrate the conspicuous increment of the green light intensity by decreasing the coupled barrier thickness. This was partly attributed to capture of more carriers when holes tunnel across the thinner barrier from the blue quantum wells, as a hole reservoir, to the green quantum wells. While lower effective barrier height of the blue quantum wells benefits improved hole transportation from p-GaN to the active region. Efficiency droop of the green quantum wells was partially alleviated due to the enhanced injection efficiencymore » of holes.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Z. D.; Wang, J.; Department of Chemistry, SUNY Stony Brook, New York 11794

We established a theoretical framework in terms of the curl flux, population landscape, and coherence for non-equilibrium quantum systems at steady state, through exploring the energy and charge transport in molecular processes. The curl quantum flux plays the key role in determining transport properties and the system reaches equilibrium when flux vanishes. The novel curl quantum flux reflects the degree of non-equilibriumness and the time-irreversibility. We found an analytical expression for the quantum flux and its relationship to the environmental pumping (non-equilibriumness quantified by the voltage away from the equilibrium) and the quantum tunneling. Furthermore, we investigated another quantum signature,more » the coherence, quantitatively measured by the non-zero off diagonal element of the density matrix. Populations of states give the probabilities of individual states and therefore quantify the population landscape. Both curl flux and coherence depend on steady state population landscape. Besides the environment-assistance which can give dramatic enhancement of coherence and quantum flux with high voltage at a fixed tunneling strength, the quantum flux is promoted by the coherence in the regime of small tunneling while reduced by the coherence in the regime of large tunneling, due to the non-monotonic relationship between the coherence and tunneling. This is in contrast to the previously found linear relationship. For the systems coupled to bosonic (photonic and phononic) reservoirs the flux is significantly promoted at large voltage while for fermionic (electronic) reservoirs the flux reaches a saturation after a significant enhancement at large voltage due to the Pauli exclusion principle. In view of the system as a quantum heat engine, we studied the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and established the analytical connections of curl quantum flux to the transport quantities such as energy (charge) transfer efficiency, chemical reaction efficiency, energy dissipation, heat and electric currents observed in the experiments. We observed a perfect transfer efficiency in chemical reactions at high voltage (chemical potential difference). Our theoretical predicted behavior of the electric current with respect to the voltage is in good agreements with the recent experiments on electron transfer in single molecules.« less

Fractional charge revealed in computer simulations of resonant tunneling in the fractional quantum Hall regime.

PubMed

Tsiper, E V

2006-08-18

The concept of fractional charge is central to the theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Here I use exact diagonalization as well as configuration space renormalization to study finite clusters which are large enough to contain two independent edges. I analyze the conditions of resonant tunneling between the two edges. The "computer experiment" reveals a periodic sequence of resonant tunneling events consistent with the experimentally observed fractional quantization of electric charge in units of e/3 and e/5.

Electron-phonon interaction in three-barrier nanosystems as active elements of quantum cascade detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tkach, N. V., E-mail: ktf@chnu.edu.ua; Seti, Ju. A.; Grynyshyn, Yu. B.

2015-04-15

The theory of electron tunneling through an open nanostructure as an active element of a quantum cascade detector is developed, which takes into account the interaction of electrons with confined and interface phonons. Using the method of finite-temperature Green’s functions and the electron-phonon Hamiltonian in the representation of second quantization over all system variables, the temperature shifts and electron-level widths are calculated and the contributions of different electron-phonon-interaction mechanisms to renormalization of the spectral parameters are analyzed depending on the geometrical configuration of the nanosystem. Due to weak electron-phonon coupling in a GaAs/Al{sub 0.34}Ga{sub 0.66}As-based resonant tunneling nanostructure, the temperaturemore » shift and rf field absorption peak width are not very sensitive to the electron-phonon interaction and result from a decrease in potential barrier heights caused by a difference in the temperature dependences of the well and barrier band gaps.« less

Quantum-limited detection of millimeter waves using superconducting tunnel junctions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mears, Carl Atherton

1991-09-01

The quasiparticle tunneling current in a superconductor-insulator- superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction is highly nonlinear. Such a nonlinearity can be used to mix two millimeter wave signals to produce a signal at a much lower intermediate frequency. We have constructed several millimeter and sub-millimeter wave SIS mixers in order to study high frequency response of the quasiparticle tunneling current and the physics of high frequency mixing. We have made the first measurement of the out-of-phase tunneling currents in an SIS tunnel junction. We have developed a method that allows us to determine the parameters of the high frequency embedding circuit bymore » studying the details of the pumped I-V curve. We have constructed a 80--110 GHz waveguide-based mixer test apparatus that allows us to accurately measure the gain and added noise of the SIS mixer under test. Using extremely high quality tunnel junctions, we have measured an added mixer noise of 0.61 ± 0.36 quanta, which is within 25 percent of the quantum limit imposed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This measured performance is in excellent agreement with that predicted by Tucker`s theory of quantum mixing. We have also studied quasioptically coupled millimeter- and submillimeter-wave mixers using several types of integrated tuning elements. 83 refs.« less

Quantum-limited detection of millimeter waves using superconducting tunnel junctions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mears, C.A.

1991-09-01

The quasiparticle tunneling current in a superconductor-insulator- superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction is highly nonlinear. Such a nonlinearity can be used to mix two millimeter wave signals to produce a signal at a much lower intermediate frequency. We have constructed several millimeter and sub-millimeter wave SIS mixers in order to study high frequency response of the quasiparticle tunneling current and the physics of high frequency mixing. We have made the first measurement of the out-of-phase tunneling currents in an SIS tunnel junction. We have developed a method that allows us to determine the parameters of the high frequency embedding circuit bymore » studying the details of the pumped I-V curve. We have constructed a 80--110 GHz waveguide-based mixer test apparatus that allows us to accurately measure the gain and added noise of the SIS mixer under test. Using extremely high quality tunnel junctions, we have measured an added mixer noise of 0.61 {plus minus} 0.36 quanta, which is within 25 percent of the quantum limit imposed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This measured performance is in excellent agreement with that predicted by Tucker's theory of quantum mixing. We have also studied quasioptically coupled millimeter- and submillimeter-wave mixers using several types of integrated tuning elements. 83 refs.« less

Scaling for quantum tunneling current in nano- and subnano-scale plasmonic junctions.

PubMed

Zhang, Peng

2015-05-19

When two conductors are separated by a sufficiently thin insulator, electrical current can flow between them by quantum tunneling. This paper presents a self-consistent model of tunneling current in a nano- and subnano-meter metal-insulator-metal plasmonic junction, by including the effects of space charge and exchange correlation potential. It is found that the J-V curve of the junction may be divided into three regimes: direct tunneling, field emission, and space-charge-limited regime. In general, the space charge inside the insulator reduces current transfer across the junction, whereas the exchange-correlation potential promotes current transfer. It is shown that these effects may modify the current density by orders of magnitude from the widely used Simmons' formula, which is only accurate for a limited parameter space (insulator thickness > 1 nm and barrier height > 3 eV) in the direct tunneling regime. The proposed self-consistent model may provide a more accurate evaluation of the tunneling current in the other regimes. The effects of anode emission and material properties (i.e. work function of the electrodes, electron affinity and permittivity of the insulator) are examined in detail in various regimes. Our simple model and the general scaling for tunneling current may provide insights to new regimes of quantum plasmonics.

Scaling for quantum tunneling current in nano- and subnano-scale plasmonic junctions

PubMed Central

Zhang, Peng

2015-01-01

When two conductors are separated by a sufficiently thin insulator, electrical current can flow between them by quantum tunneling. This paper presents a self-consistent model of tunneling current in a nano- and subnano-meter metal-insulator-metal plasmonic junction, by including the effects of space charge and exchange correlation potential. It is found that the J-V curve of the junction may be divided into three regimes: direct tunneling, field emission, and space-charge-limited regime. In general, the space charge inside the insulator reduces current transfer across the junction, whereas the exchange-correlation potential promotes current transfer. It is shown that these effects may modify the current density by orders of magnitude from the widely used Simmons’ formula, which is only accurate for a limited parameter space (insulator thickness > 1 nm and barrier height > 3 eV) in the direct tunneling regime. The proposed self-consistent model may provide a more accurate evaluation of the tunneling current in the other regimes. The effects of anode emission and material properties (i.e. work function of the electrodes, electron affinity and permittivity of the insulator) are examined in detail in various regimes. Our simple model and the general scaling for tunneling current may provide insights to new regimes of quantum plasmonics. PMID:25988951

Perspective: Ring-polymer instanton theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richardson, Jeremy O.

2018-05-01

Since the earliest explorations of quantum mechanics, it has been a topic of great interest that quantum tunneling allows particles to penetrate classically insurmountable barriers. Instanton theory provides a simple description of these processes in terms of dominant tunneling pathways. Using a ring-polymer discretization, an efficient computational method is obtained for applying this theory to compute reaction rates and tunneling splittings in molecular systems. Unlike other quantum-dynamics approaches, the method scales well with the number of degrees of freedom, and for many polyatomic systems, the method may provide the most accurate predictions which can be practically computed. Instanton theory thus has the capability to produce useful data for many fields of low-temperature chemistry including spectroscopy, atmospheric and astrochemistry, as well as surface science. There is however still room for improvement in the efficiency of the numerical algorithms, and new theories are under development for describing tunneling in nonadiabatic transitions.

Temperature quenching of spontaneous emission in tunnel-injection nanostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Talalaev, V. G., E-mail: vadimtalalaev@yandex.com; Novikov, B. V.; Cirlin, G. E.

2015-11-15

The spontaneous-emission spectra in the near-IR range (0.8–1.3 μm) from inverted tunnel-injection nanostructures are measured. These structures contain an InAs quantum-dot layer and an InGaAs quantum-well layer, separated by GaAs barrier spacer whose thickness varies in the range 3–9 nm. The temperature dependence of this emission in the range 5–295 K is investigated, both for optical excitation (photoluminescence) and for current injection in p–n junction (electroluminescence). At room temperature, current pumping proves more effective for inverted tunnel-injection nanostructures with a thin barrier (<6 nm), when the apexes of the quantum dots connect with the quantum well by narrow InGaAs strapsmore » (nanobridges). In that case, the quenching of the electroluminescence by heating from 5 to 295 K is slight. The quenching factor S{sub T} of the integrated intensity I is S{sub T} = I{sub 5}/I{sub 295} ≈ 3. The temperature stability of the emission from inverted tunnel-injection nanostructures is discussed on the basis of extended Arrhenius analysis.« less

Insights and possible resolution to the information loss paradox via the tunneling picture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singleton, Douglas; Vagenas, Elias C.; Zhu, Tao; Ren, Ji-Rong

2010-08-01

This paper investigates the information loss paradox in the WKB/tunneling picture of Hawking radiation. In the tunneling picture one can obtain the tunneling amplitude to all orders in ℏ. However all terms beyond the lowest, semi-classical term involve unknown constants. Despite this we find that one can still arrive at interesting restrictions on Hawking radiation to all orders in ℏ: (i) Taking into account only quantum corrections the spectrum remains thermal to all orders. Thus quantum corrections by themselves will not resolve the information loss paradox. (ii) The quantum corrections do imply that the temperature of the radiation goes to zero as the mass of the black hole goes to zero. This is in contrast to the lowest order result where the radiation temperature diverges as the mass of the black hole goes to zero. (iii) Finally we show that by taking both quantum corrections and back reaction into account it is possible under specific conditions to solve the information paradox by having the black hole evaporate completely with the information carried away by the correlations of the outgoing radiation.

Electron tunneling characteristics of a cubic quantum dot, (PbS){sub 32}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gupta, Sanjeev K., E-mail: sanjeevg@mtu.edu, E-mail: haiying.he@valpo.edu; Banyai, Douglas; Pandey, Ravindra

The electron transport properties of the cubic quantum dot, (PbS){sub 32}, are investigated. The stability of the quantum dot has been established by recent scanning tunneling microscope experiments [B. Kiran, A. K. Kandalam, R. Rallabandi, P. Koirala, X. Li, X. Tang, Y. Wang, H. Fairbrother, G. Gantefoer, and K. Bowen, J. Chem. Phys. 136(2), 024317 (2012)]. In spite of the noticeable energy band gap (∼2 eV), a relatively high tunneling current for (PbS){sub 32} is predicted affirming the observed bright images for (PbS){sub 32}. The calculated I-V characteristics of (PbS){sub 32} are predicted to be substrate-dependent; (PbS){sub 32} on themore » Au (001) exhibits the molecular diode-like behavior and the unusual negative differential resistance effect, though this is not the case with (PbS){sub 32} on the Au (110). Appearance of the conduction channels associated with the hybridized states of quantum dot and substrate together with their asymmetric distribution at the Fermi level seem to determine the tunneling characteristics of the system.« less

Arrhenius' law in turbulent media and an equivalent tunnel effect. [in binary exchange chemical reactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsuge, S.; Sagara, K.

1978-01-01

The indeterminacy inherent to the formal extension of Arrhenius' law to reactions in turbulent flows is shown to be surmountable in the case of a binary exchange reaction with a sufficiently high activation energy. A preliminary calculation predicts that the turbulent reaction rate is invariant in the Arrhenius form except for an equivalently lowered activation energy. This is a reflection of turbulence-augmented molecular vigor, and causes an appreciable increase in the reaction rate. A similarity to the tunnel effect in quantum mechanics is indicated. The anomaly associated with the mild ignition of oxy-hydrogen mixtures is discussed in this light.

Imaging the He2 quantum halo state using a free electron laser

PubMed Central

Zeller, Stefan; Kunitski, Maksim; Voigtsberger, Jörg; Kalinin, Anton; Schottelius, Alexander; Schober, Carl; Waitz, Markus; Sann, Hendrik; Hartung, Alexander; Bauer, Tobias; Pitzer, Martin; Trinter, Florian; Goihl, Christoph; Janke, Christian; Richter, Martin; Kastirke, Gregor; Weller, Miriam; Czasch, Achim; Kitzler, Markus; Braune, Markus; Grisenti, Robert E.; Schmidt, Lothar Ph. H.; Schöffler, Markus S.; Williams, Joshua B.; Jahnke, Till; Dörner, Reinhard

2016-01-01

Quantum tunneling is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and crucial for many technological applications. It allows quantum particles to reach regions in space which are energetically not accessible according to classical mechanics. In this “tunneling region,” the particle density is known to decay exponentially. This behavior is universal across all energy scales from nuclear physics to chemistry and solid state systems. Although typically only a small fraction of a particle wavefunction extends into the tunneling region, we present here an extreme quantum system: a gigantic molecule consisting of two helium atoms, with an 80% probability that its two nuclei will be found in this classical forbidden region. This circumstance allows us to directly image the exponentially decaying density of a tunneling particle, which we achieved for over two orders of magnitude. Imaging a tunneling particle shows one of the few features of our world that is truly universal: the probability to find one of the constituents of bound matter far away is never zero but decreases exponentially. The results were obtained by Coulomb explosion imaging using a free electron laser and furthermore yielded He2’s binding energy of 151.9±13.3 neV, which is in agreement with most recent calculations. PMID:27930299

A Critical Test of the “Tunneling and Coupled Motion” Concept in Enzymatic Alcohol Oxidation

PubMed Central

Roston, Daniel; Kohen, Amnon

2013-01-01

The physical mechanism of C-H bond activation by enzymes is the subject of intense study and we have tested the predictions of two competing models for C-H activation in the context of alcohol dehydrogenase. The kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) in this enzyme have previously suggested a model of quantum mechanical tunneling and coupled motion of primary (1°) and secondary (2°) hydrogens. Here we measure the 2° H/T KIEs with both and H and D at the 1° position and find that the 2° KIE is significantly deflated with D-transfer, consistent with the predictions of recent Marcus-like models of H-transfer. The results suggest that the fast dynamics of H-tunneling result in a 1° isotope effect on the structure of the tunneling ready state: the trajectory of D-transfer goes through a shorter donor-acceptor distance than that of H-transfer. PMID:24020836

Quantum nature of protons in water probed by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jing; Lü, Jing-Tao; Feng, Yexin; Chen, Ji; Peng, Jinbo; Lin, Zeren; Meng, Xiangzhi; Wang, Zhichang; Li, Xin-Zheng; Wang, En-Ge; Jiang, Ying; Jing-Tao Lü Team; Xin-Zheng Li Team

The complexity of hydrogen-bonding interaction largely arises from the quantum nature of light hydrogen nuclei, which has remained elusive for decades. Here we report the direct assessment of nuclear quantum effects on the strength of a single hydrogen bond formed at a water-salt interface, using tip-enhanced inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) based on a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The IETS signals are resonantly enhanced by gating the frontier orbitals of water via a chlorine-terminated STM tip, such that the hydrogen-bonding strength can be determined with unprecedentedly high accuracy from the redshift in the O-H stretching frequency of water. Isotopic substitution experiments combined with quantum simulations reveal that the anharmonic quantum fluctuations of hydrogen nuclei weaken the weak hydrogen bonds and strengthen the relatively strong ones. However, this trend can be completely reversed when the hydrogen bond is strongly coupled to the polar atomic sites of the surface.

Radio frequency measurements of tunnel couplings and singlet–triplet spin states in Si:P quantum dots

PubMed Central

House, M. G.; Kobayashi, T.; Weber, B.; Hile, S. J.; Watson, T. F.; van der Heijden, J.; Rogge, S.; Simmons, M. Y.

2015-01-01

Spin states of the electrons and nuclei of phosphorus donors in silicon are strong candidates for quantum information processing applications given their excellent coherence times. Designing a scalable donor-based quantum computer will require both knowledge of the relationship between device geometry and electron tunnel couplings, and a spin readout strategy that uses minimal physical space in the device. Here we use radio frequency reflectometry to measure singlet–triplet states of a few-donor Si:P double quantum dot and demonstrate that the exchange energy can be tuned by at least two orders of magnitude, from 20 μeV to 8 meV. We measure dot–lead tunnel rates by analysis of the reflected signal and show that they change from 100 MHz to 22 GHz as the number of electrons on a quantum dot is increased from 1 to 4. These techniques present an approach for characterizing, operating and engineering scalable qubit devices based on donors in silicon. PMID:26548556

Quantum Simulation of Tunneling in Small Systems

PubMed Central

Sornborger, Andrew T.

2012-01-01

A number of quantum algorithms have been performed on small quantum computers; these include Shor's prime factorization algorithm, error correction, Grover's search algorithm and a number of analog and digital quantum simulations. Because of the number of gates and qubits necessary, however, digital quantum particle simulations remain untested. A contributing factor to the system size required is the number of ancillary qubits needed to implement matrix exponentials of the potential operator. Here, we show that a set of tunneling problems may be investigated with no ancillary qubits and a cost of one single-qubit operator per time step for the potential evolution, eliminating at least half of the quantum gates required for the algorithm and more than that in the general case. Such simulations are within reach of current quantum computer architectures. PMID:22916333

13C ENDOR Spectroscopy of Lipoxygenase-Substrate Complexes Reveals the Structural Basis for C-H Activation by Tunneling.

PubMed

Horitani, Masaki; Offenbacher, Adam R; Carr, Cody A Marcus; Yu, Tao; Hoeke, Veronika; Cutsail, George E; Hammes-Schiffer, Sharon; Klinman, Judith P; Hoffman, Brian M

2017-02-08

In enzymatic C-H activation by hydrogen tunneling, reduced barrier width is important for efficient hydrogen wave function overlap during catalysis. For native enzymes displaying nonadiabatic tunneling, the dominant reactive hydrogen donor-acceptor distance (DAD) is typically ca. 2.7 Å, considerably shorter than normal van der Waals distances. Without a ground state substrate-bound structure for the prototypical nonadiabatic tunneling system, soybean lipoxygenase (SLO), it has remained unclear whether the requisite close tunneling distance occurs through an unusual ground state active site arrangement or by thermally sampling conformational substates. Herein, we introduce Mn 2+ as a spin-probe surrogate for the SLO Fe ion; X-ray diffraction shows Mn-SLO is structurally faithful to the native enzyme. 13 C ENDOR then reveals the locations of 13 C10 and reactive 13 C11 of linoleic acid relative to the metal; 1 H ENDOR and molecular dynamics simulations of the fully solvated SLO model using ENDOR-derived restraints give additional metrical information. The resulting three-dimensional representation of the SLO active site ground state contains a reactive (a) conformer with hydrogen DAD of ∼3.1 Å, approximately van der Waals contact, plus an inactive (b) conformer with even longer DAD, establishing that stochastic conformational sampling is required to achieve reactive tunneling geometries. Tunneling-impaired SLO variants show increased DADs and variations in substrate positioning and rigidity, confirming previous kinetic and theoretical predictions of such behavior. Overall, this investigation highlights the (i) predictive power of nonadiabatic quantum treatments of proton-coupled electron transfer in SLO and (ii) sensitivity of ENDOR probes to test, detect, and corroborate kinetically predicted trends in active site reactivity and to reveal unexpected features of active site architecture.

Resonant tunneling spectroscopy of valley eigenstates on a donor-quantum dot coupled system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kobayashi, T., E-mail: t.kobayashi@unsw.edu.au; Heijden, J. van der; House, M. G.

We report on electronic transport measurements through a silicon double quantum dot consisting of a donor and a quantum dot. Transport spectra show resonant tunneling peaks involving different valley states, which illustrate the valley splitting in a quantum dot on a Si/SiO{sub 2} interface. The detailed gate bias dependence of double dot transport allows a first direct observation of the valley splitting in the quantum dot, which is controllable between 160 and 240 μeV with an electric field dependence 1.2 ± 0.2 meV/(MV/m). A large valley splitting is an essential requirement for implementing a physical electron spin qubit in a silicon quantum dot.

Tunneling and speedup in quantum optimization for permutation-symmetric problems

DOE PAGES

Muthukrishnan, Siddharth; Albash, Tameem; Lidar, Daniel A.

2016-07-21

Tunneling is often claimed to be the key mechanism underlying possible speedups in quantum optimization via quantum annealing (QA), especially for problems featuring a cost function with tall and thin barriers. We present and analyze several counterexamples from the class of perturbed Hamming weight optimization problems with qubit permutation symmetry. We first show that, for these problems, the adiabatic dynamics that make tunneling possible should be understood not in terms of the cost function but rather the semiclassical potential arising from the spin-coherent path-integral formalism. We then provide an example where the shape of the barrier in the final costmore » function is short and wide, which might suggest no quantum advantage for QA, yet where tunneling renders QA superior to simulated annealing in the adiabatic regime. However, the adiabatic dynamics turn out not be optimal. Instead, an evolution involving a sequence of diabatic transitions through many avoided-level crossings, involving no tunneling, is optimal and outperforms adiabatic QA. We show that this phenomenon of speedup by diabatic transitions is not unique to this example, and we provide an example where it provides an exponential speedup over adiabatic QA. In yet another twist, we show that a classical algorithm, spin-vector dynamics, is at least as efficient as diabatic QA. Lastly, in a different example with a convex cost function, the diabatic transitions result in a speedup relative to both adiabatic QA with tunneling and classical spin-vector dynamics.« less

Tunneling and speedup in quantum optimization for permutation-symmetric problems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muthukrishnan, Siddharth; Albash, Tameem; Lidar, Daniel A.

Tunneling is often claimed to be the key mechanism underlying possible speedups in quantum optimization via quantum annealing (QA), especially for problems featuring a cost function with tall and thin barriers. We present and analyze several counterexamples from the class of perturbed Hamming weight optimization problems with qubit permutation symmetry. We first show that, for these problems, the adiabatic dynamics that make tunneling possible should be understood not in terms of the cost function but rather the semiclassical potential arising from the spin-coherent path-integral formalism. We then provide an example where the shape of the barrier in the final costmore » function is short and wide, which might suggest no quantum advantage for QA, yet where tunneling renders QA superior to simulated annealing in the adiabatic regime. However, the adiabatic dynamics turn out not be optimal. Instead, an evolution involving a sequence of diabatic transitions through many avoided-level crossings, involving no tunneling, is optimal and outperforms adiabatic QA. We show that this phenomenon of speedup by diabatic transitions is not unique to this example, and we provide an example where it provides an exponential speedup over adiabatic QA. In yet another twist, we show that a classical algorithm, spin-vector dynamics, is at least as efficient as diabatic QA. Lastly, in a different example with a convex cost function, the diabatic transitions result in a speedup relative to both adiabatic QA with tunneling and classical spin-vector dynamics.« less

Tunneling Kinetics and Nonadiabatic Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer in Proteins: The Effect of Electric Fields and Anharmonic Donor-Acceptor Interactions.

PubMed

Salna, Bridget; Benabbas, Abdelkrim; Russo, Douglas; Champion, Paul M

2017-07-20

A proper description of proton donor-acceptor (D-A) distance fluctuations is crucial for understanding tunneling in proton-coupled electron transport (PCET). The typical harmonic approximation for the D-A potential results in a Gaussian probability distribution, which does not appropriately reflect the electronic repulsion forces that increase the energetic cost of sampling shorter D-A distances. Because these shorter distances are the primary channel for thermally activated tunneling, the analysis of tunneling kinetics depends sensitively on the inherently anharmonic nature of the D-A interaction. Thus, we have used quantum chemical calculations to account for the D-A interaction and developed an improved model for the analysis of experimental tunneling kinetics. Strong internal electric fields are also considered and found to contribute significantly to the compressive forces when the D-A distance distribution is positioned below the van der Waals contact distance. This model is applied to recent experiments on the wild type (WT) and a double mutant (DM) of soybean lipoxygenase-1 (SLO). The compressive force necessary to prepare the tunneling-active distribution in WT SLO is found to fall in the ∼ nN range, which greatly exceeds the measured values of molecular motor and protein unfolding forces. This indicates that ∼60-100 MV/cm electric fields, aligned along the D-A bond axis, must be generated by an enzyme conformational interconversion that facilitates the PCET tunneling reaction. Based on the absolute value of the measured tunneling rate, and using previously calculated values of the electronic matrix element, the population of this tunneling-active conformation is found to lie in the range 10 -5 -10 -7 , indicating this is a rare structural fluctuation that falls well below the detection threshold of recent ENDOR experiments. Additional analysis of the DM tunneling kinetics leads to a proposal that a disordered (high entropy) conformation could be tunneling-active due to its broad range of sampled D-A distances.

Spectral response, dark current, and noise analyses in resonant tunneling quantum dot infrared photodetectors.

PubMed

Jahromi, Hamed Dehdashti; Mahmoodi, Ali; Sheikhi, Mohammad Hossein; Zarifkar, Abbas

2016-10-20

Reduction of dark current at high-temperature operation is a great challenge in conventional quantum dot infrared photodetectors, as the rate of thermal excitations resulting in the dark current increases exponentially with temperature. A resonant tunneling barrier is the best candidate for suppression of dark current, enhancement in signal-to-noise ratio, and selective extraction of different wavelength response. In this paper, we use a physical model developed by the authors recently to design a proper resonant tunneling barrier for quantum infrared photodetectors and to study and analyze the spectral response of these devices. The calculated transmission coefficient of electrons by this model and its dependency on bias voltage are in agreement with experimental results. Furthermore, based on the calculated transmission coefficient, the dark current of a quantum dot infrared photodetector with a resonant tunneling barrier is calculated and compared with the experimental data. The validity of our model is proven through this comparison. Theoretical dark current by our model shows better agreement with the experimental data and is more accurate than the previously developed model. Moreover, noise in the device is calculated. Finally, the effect of different parameters, such as temperature, size of quantum dots, and bias voltage, on the performance of the device is simulated and studied.

Field electron emission based on resonant tunneling in diamond/CoSi2/Si quantum well nanostructures

PubMed Central

Gu, Changzhi; Jiang, Xin; Lu, Wengang; Li, Junjie; Mantl, Siegfried

2012-01-01

Excellent field electron emission properties of a diamond/CoSi2/Si quantum well nanostructure are observed. The novel quantum well structure consists of high quality diamond emitters grown on bulk Si substrate with a nanosized epitaxial CoSi2 conducting interlayer. The results show that the main emission properties were modified by varying the CoSi2 thickness and that stable, low-field, high emission current and controlled electron emission can be obtained by using a high quality diamond film and a thicker CoSi2 interlayer. An electron resonant tunneling mechanism in this quantum well structure is suggested, and the tunneling is due to the long electron mean free path in the nanosized CoSi2 layer. This structure meets most of the requirements for development of vacuum micro/nanoelectronic devices and large-area cold cathodes for flat-panel displays. PMID:23082241

Effect of quantum tunneling on spin Hall magnetoresistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ok, Seulgi; Chen, Wei; Sigrist, Manfred; Manske, Dirk

2017-02-01

We present a formalism that simultaneously incorporates the effect of quantum tunneling and spin diffusion on the spin Hall magnetoresistance observed in normal metal/ferromagnetic insulator bilayers (such as Pt/Y3Fe5O12) and normal metal/ferromagnetic metal bilayers (such as Pt/Co), in which the angle of magnetization influences the magnetoresistance of the normal metal. In the normal metal side the spin diffusion is known to affect the landscape of the spin accumulation caused by spin Hall effect and subsequently the magnetoresistance, while on the ferromagnet side the quantum tunneling effect is detrimental to the interface spin current which also affects the spin accumulation. The influence of generic material properties such as spin diffusion length, layer thickness, interface coupling, and insulating gap can be quantified in a unified manner, and experiments that reveal the quantum feature of the magnetoresistance are suggested.

Quantum interference effect in electron tunneling through a quantum-dot-ring spin valve

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Spin-dependent transport through a quantum-dot (QD) ring coupled to ferromagnetic leads with noncollinear magnetizations is studied theoretically. Tunneling current, current spin polarization and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) as functions of the bias voltage and the direct coupling strength between the two leads are analyzed by the nonequilibrium Green's function technique. It is shown that the magnitudes of these quantities are sensitive to the relative angle between the leads' magnetic moments and the quantum interference effect originated from the inter-lead coupling. We pay particular attention on the Coulomb blockade regime and find the relative current magnitudes of different magnetization angles can be reversed by tuning the inter-lead coupling strength, resulting in sign change of the TMR. For large enough inter-lead coupling strength, the current spin polarizations for parallel and antiparallel magnetic configurations will approach to unit and zero, respectively. PACS numbers: PMID:21711779

Field electron emission based on resonant tunneling in diamond/CoSi2/Si quantum well nanostructures.

PubMed

Gu, Changzhi; Jiang, Xin; Lu, Wengang; Li, Junjie; Mantl, Siegfried

2012-01-01

Excellent field electron emission properties of a diamond/CoSi(2)/Si quantum well nanostructure are observed. The novel quantum well structure consists of high quality diamond emitters grown on bulk Si substrate with a nanosized epitaxial CoSi(2) conducting interlayer. The results show that the main emission properties were modified by varying the CoSi(2) thickness and that stable, low-field, high emission current and controlled electron emission can be obtained by using a high quality diamond film and a thicker CoSi(2) interlayer. An electron resonant tunneling mechanism in this quantum well structure is suggested, and the tunneling is due to the long electron mean free path in the nanosized CoSi(2) layer. This structure meets most of the requirements for development of vacuum micro/nanoelectronic devices and large-area cold cathodes for flat-panel displays.

Evolution of Plasmonic Metamolecule Modes in the Quantum Tunneling Regime.

PubMed

Scholl, Jonathan A; Garcia-Etxarri, Aitzol; Aguirregabiria, Garikoitz; Esteban, Ruben; Narayan, Tarun C; Koh, Ai Leen; Aizpurua, Javier; Dionne, Jennifer A

2016-01-26

Plasmonic multinanoparticle systems exhibit collective electric and magnetic resonances that are fundamental for the development of state-of-the-art optical nanoantennas, metamaterials, and surface-enhanced spectroscopy substrates. While electric dipolar modes have been investigated in both the classical and quantum realm, little attention has been given to magnetic and other "dark" modes at the smallest dimensions. Here, we study the collective electric, magnetic, and dark modes of colloidally synthesized silver nanosphere trimers with varying interparticle separation using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). This technique enables direct visualization and spatially selective excitation of individual trimers, as well as manipulation of the interparticle distance into the subnanometer regime with the electron beam. Our experiments reveal that bonding electric and magnetic modes are significantly impacted by quantum effects, exhibiting a relative blueshift and reduced EELS amplitude compared to classical predictions. In contrast, the trimer's electric dark mode is not affected by quantum tunneling for even Ångström-scale interparticle separations. We employ a quantum-corrected model to simulate the effect of electron tunneling in the trimer which shows excellent agreement with experimental results. This understanding of classical and quantum-influenced hybridized modes may impact the development of future quantum plasmonic materials and devices, including Fano-like molecular sensors and quantum metamaterials.

Planar Tunneling Spectroscopy of Graphene Nanodevices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Joel I.-Jan; Bretheau, Landry; Pisoni, Riccardo; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Jarillo-Herrero, Pablo

2-D Van-der-Waals mesoscopic physics have seen a rapid development in the last 10 years, with new materials each year added to the toolbox. Stacking them like Lego enables the combination of their individual electronic properties. In particular, hexagonal boron nitride, which is an insulator, gives the possibility to perform planar (2-D to 2-D) tunneling spectroscopy within this type of heterostructures. Unlike standard transport measurements, tunneling spectroscopy enables to probe the electronic properties in the energy domain. Moreover, since planar tunneling probes a large area of the system, global quantum features such as quantum Hall effect, superconducting proximity effect or quantum confinement can be investigated. In this talk, we will present implementation of heterostructures consisting of graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and graphite, fabricated for planar tunneling spectroscopy. In order to reveal the intrinsic properties of materials, the fabrication scheme aims at preserving the pristine nature of the 2-DEGS as well as minimizing the doping introduced by external probes. As a demonstration, measurements of these devices in normal states, high magnetic field environment, and induced superconducting state will be presented.

InGaAs tunnel diodes for the calibration of semi-classical and quantum mechanical band-to-band tunneling models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smets, Quentin; Verreck, Devin; Verhulst, Anne S.; Rooyackers, Rita; Merckling, Clément; Van De Put, Maarten; Simoen, Eddy; Vandervorst, Wilfried; Collaert, Nadine; Thean, Voon Y.; Sorée, Bart; Groeseneken, Guido; Heyns, Marc M.

2014-05-01

Promising predictions are made for III-V tunnel-field-effect transistor (FET), but there is still uncertainty on the parameters used in the band-to-band tunneling models. Therefore, two simulators are calibrated in this paper; the first one uses a semi-classical tunneling model based on Kane's formalism, and the second one is a quantum mechanical simulator implemented with an envelope function formalism. The calibration is done for In0.53Ga0.47As using several p+/intrinsic/n+ diodes with different intrinsic region thicknesses. The dopant profile is determined by SIMS and capacitance-voltage measurements. Error bars are used based on statistical and systematic uncertainties in the measurement techniques. The obtained parameters are in close agreement with theoretically predicted values and validate the semi-classical and quantum mechanical models. Finally, the models are applied to predict the input characteristics of In0.53Ga0.47As n- and p-lineTFET, with the n-lineTFET showing competitive performance compared to MOSFET.

Techniques For Mass Production Of Tunneling Electrodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kenny, Thomas W.; Podosek, Judith A.; Reynolds, Joseph K.; Rockstad, Howard K.; Vote, Erika C.; Kaiser, William J.

1993-01-01

Techniques for mass production of tunneling electrodes developed from silicon-micromachining, lithographic patterning, and related microfabrication processes. Tunneling electrodes named because electrons travel between them by quantum-mechanical tunneling; tunneling electrodes integral parts of tunneling transducer/sensors, which act in conjunction with feedback circuitry to stabilize tunneling currents by maintaining electrode separations of order of 10 Angstrom. Essential parts of scanning tunneling microscopes and related instruments, and used as force and position transducers in novel microscopic accelerometers and infrared detectors.

Realization of a quantum Hamiltonian Boolean logic gate on the Si(001):H surface.

PubMed

Kolmer, Marek; Zuzak, Rafal; Dridi, Ghassen; Godlewski, Szymon; Joachim, Christian; Szymonski, Marek

2015-08-07

The design and construction of the first prototypical QHC (Quantum Hamiltonian Computing) atomic scale Boolean logic gate is reported using scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) tip-induced atom manipulation on an Si(001):H surface. The NOR/OR gate truth table was confirmed by dI/dU STS (Scanning Tunnelling Spectroscopy) tracking how the surface states of the QHC quantum circuit on the Si(001):H surface are shifted according to the input logical status.

Deeper Look at Student Learning of Quantum Mechanics: The Case of Tunneling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKagan, S. B.; Perkins, K. K.; Wieman, C. E.

2008-01-01

We report on a large-scale study of student learning of quantum tunneling in four traditional and four transformed modern physics courses. In the transformed courses, which were designed to address student difficulties found in previous research, students still struggle with many of the same issues found in other courses. However, the reasons for…

Negative Differential Conductivity in an Interacting Quantum Gas.

PubMed

Labouvie, Ralf; Santra, Bodhaditya; Heun, Simon; Wimberger, Sandro; Ott, Herwig

2015-07-31

We report on the observation of negative differential conductivity (NDC) in a quantum transport device for neutral atoms employing a multimode tunneling junction. The system is realized with a Bose-Einstein condensate loaded in a one-dimensional optical lattice with high site occupancy. We induce an initial difference in chemical potential at one site by local atom removal. The ensuing transport dynamics are governed by the interplay between the tunneling coupling, the interaction energy, and intrinsic collisions, which turn the coherent coupling into a hopping process. The resulting current-voltage characteristics exhibit NDC, for which we identify atom number-dependent tunneling as a new microscopic mechanism. Our study opens new ways for the future implementation and control of complex neutral atom quantum circuits.

Macroscopic quantum tunneling escape of Bose-Einstein condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xinxin; Alcala, Diego A.; McLain, Marie A.; Maeda, Kenji; Potnis, Shreyas; Ramos, Ramon; Steinberg, Aephraim M.; Carr, Lincoln D.

2017-12-01

Recent experiments on macroscopic quantum tunneling reveal a nonexponential decay of the number of atoms trapped in a quasibound state behind a potential barrier. Through both experiment and theory, we demonstrate this nonexponential decay results from interactions between atoms. Quantum tunneling of tens of thousands of 87Rb atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate is modeled by a modified Jeffreys-Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin model, taking into account the effective time-dependent barrier induced by the mean field. Three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii simulations corroborate a mean-field result when compared with experiments. However, with one-dimensional modeling using time-evolving block decimation, we present an effective renormalized mean-field theory that suggests many-body dynamics for which a bare mean-field theory may not apply.

Nonvolatile Memories Using Quantum Dot (QD) Floating Gates Assembled on II-VI Tunnel Insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez, E.; Gogna, M.; Al-Amoody, F.; Karmakar, S.; Ayers, J.; Heller, E.; Jain, F.

2010-07-01

This paper presents preliminary data on quantum dot gate nonvolatile memories using nearly lattice-matched ZnS/Zn0.95Mg0.05S/ZnS tunnel insulators. The GeO x -cladded Ge and SiO x -cladded Si quantum dots (QDs) are self-assembled site-specifically on the II-VI insulator grown epitaxially over the Si channel (formed between the source and drain region). The pseudomorphic II-VI stack serves both as a tunnel insulator and a high- κ dielectric. The effect of Mg incorporation in ZnMgS is also investigated. For the control gate insulator, we have used Si3N4 and SiO2 layers grown by plasma- enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

Real Time Imaging Analysis Using a Terahertz Quantum Cascade Laser and a Microbolometer Focal Plane Array

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

evident from Figure 7 that, if the applied bias is not correct, it is very likely that electrons will not tunnel into their intended energy state...the theoretical laser contrasts sharply to that of semiconductor lasers. Semiconductor lasers rely on electron hole recombination or interband ...the active layer of a forward- biased pn junction [26]. In contrast to this, the QCL is a unipolar device that uses a quantum well (QW) structure

Resonant tunneling in frustrated total internal reflection.

PubMed

Longhi, Stefano

2005-10-15

Anomalous light transmission and resonant tunneling in frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) are theoretically predicted to occur at periodically curved interfaces. For a low-contrast index and for grazing incidence, it is shown that FTIR resonant tunneling provides an optical realization of field-induced barrier transparency in quantum tunneling.

Generation of high-power terahertz radiation by nonlinear photon-assisted tunneling transport in plasmonic metamaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Pai-Yen; Salas, Rodolfo; Farhat, Mohamed

2017-12-01

We propose an optoelectronic terahertz oscillator based on the quantum tunneling effect in a plasmonic metamaterial, utilizing a nanostructured metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunneling junction. The collective resonant response of meta-atoms can achieve >90% optical absorption and strongly localized optical fields within the MIM plasmonic nanojunction. By properly tailoring the radiation aperture, the nonlinear quantum conductance induced by the metamaterial-enhanced, photon-assisted tunneling may produce miliwatt-level terahertz radiation through the optical beating (or heterodyne down conversion) of two lasers with a slight frequency offset. We envisage that the interplay between photon-assisted tunneling and plasmon coupling within the MIM metamaterial/diode may substantially enhance the modulated terahertz photocurrent, and may therefore realize a practical high-power, room-temperature source in applications of terahertz electronics.

Ivar Giaever, Tunneling, and Superconductors

Science.gov Websites

... Interview with Ivar Giaever (video) Ivar Giaever - Science Video Interview: Tunneling in Semiconductors and Superconductors (video) How Quantum Tunneling Works (video) Top Some links on this page may take you to non

Extreme Field Sensitivity of Magnetic Tunneling in Fe-Doped Li3 N

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fix, M.; Atkinson, J. H.; Canfield, P. C.; del Barco, E.; Jesche, A.

2018-04-01

The magnetic properties of dilute Li2 (Li1 -xFex )N with x ˜0.001 are dominated by the spin of single, isolated Fe atoms. Below T =10 K the spin-relaxation times become temperature independent indicating a crossover from thermal excitations to the quantum tunneling regime. We report on a strong increase of the spin-flip probability in transverse magnetic fields that proves the resonant character of this tunneling process. Longitudinal fields, on the other hand, lift the ground-state degeneracy and destroy the tunneling condition. An increase of the relaxation time by 4 orders of magnitude in applied fields of only a few milliTesla reveals exceptionally sharp tunneling resonances. Li2 (Li1 -xFex )N represents a comparatively simple and clean model system that opens the possibility to study quantum tunneling of the magnetization at liquid helium temperatures.

Extreme Field Sensitivity of Magnetic Tunneling in Fe-Doped Li 3 N

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fix, M.; Atkinson, J. H.; Canfield, P. C.

Here, the magnetic properties of dilute Li 2(Li 1–xFe x)N with x~0.001 are dominated by the spin of single, isolated Fe atoms. Below T=10 K the spin-relaxation times become temperature independent indicating a crossover from thermal excitations to the quantum tunneling regime. We report on a strong increase of the spin-flip probability in transverse magnetic fields that proves the resonant character of this tunneling process. Longitudinal fields, on the other hand, lift the ground-state degeneracy and destroy the tunneling condition. An increase of the relaxation time by 4 orders of magnitude in applied fields of only a few milliTesla revealsmore » exceptionally sharp tunneling resonances. Li 2(Li 1–xFe x)N represents a comparatively simple and clean model system that opens the possibility to study quantum tunneling of the magnetization at liquid helium temperatures.« less

Extreme Field Sensitivity of Magnetic Tunneling in Fe-Doped Li 3 N

DOE PAGES

Fix, M.; Atkinson, J. H.; Canfield, P. C.; ...

2018-04-04

Here, the magnetic properties of dilute Li 2(Li 1–xFe x)N with x~0.001 are dominated by the spin of single, isolated Fe atoms. Below T=10 K the spin-relaxation times become temperature independent indicating a crossover from thermal excitations to the quantum tunneling regime. We report on a strong increase of the spin-flip probability in transverse magnetic fields that proves the resonant character of this tunneling process. Longitudinal fields, on the other hand, lift the ground-state degeneracy and destroy the tunneling condition. An increase of the relaxation time by 4 orders of magnitude in applied fields of only a few milliTesla revealsmore » exceptionally sharp tunneling resonances. Li 2(Li 1–xFe x)N represents a comparatively simple and clean model system that opens the possibility to study quantum tunneling of the magnetization at liquid helium temperatures.« less

Extreme Field Sensitivity of Magnetic Tunneling in Fe-Doped Li_{3}N.

PubMed

Fix, M; Atkinson, J H; Canfield, P C; Del Barco, E; Jesche, A

2018-04-06

The magnetic properties of dilute Li_{2}(Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})N with x∼0.001 are dominated by the spin of single, isolated Fe atoms. Below T=10  K the spin-relaxation times become temperature independent indicating a crossover from thermal excitations to the quantum tunneling regime. We report on a strong increase of the spin-flip probability in transverse magnetic fields that proves the resonant character of this tunneling process. Longitudinal fields, on the other hand, lift the ground-state degeneracy and destroy the tunneling condition. An increase of the relaxation time by 4 orders of magnitude in applied fields of only a few milliTesla reveals exceptionally sharp tunneling resonances. Li_{2}(Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})N represents a comparatively simple and clean model system that opens the possibility to study quantum tunneling of the magnetization at liquid helium temperatures.

Voltage-controlled spin selection in a magnetic resonant tunneling diode.

PubMed

Slobodskyy, A; Gould, C; Slobodskyy, T; Becker, C R; Schmidt, G; Molenkamp, L W

2003-06-20

We have fabricated all II-VI semiconductor resonant tunneling diodes based on the (Zn,Mn,Be)Se material system, containing dilute magnetic material in the quantum well, and studied their current-voltage characteristics. When subjected to an external magnetic field the resulting spin splitting of the levels in the quantum well leads to a splitting of the transmission resonance into two separate peaks. This is interpreted as evidence of tunneling transport through spin polarized levels, and could be the first step towards a voltage controlled spin filter.

Controlling the light propagation in one-dimensional photonic crystal via incoherent pump and interdot tunneling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbasabadi, Majid; Sahrai, Mostafa

2018-01-01

We investigated the propagation of an electromagnetic pulse through a one-dimensional photonic crystal doped with quantum-dot (QD) molecules in a defect layer. The QD molecules behave as a three-level quantum system and are driven by a coherent probe laser field and an incoherent pump field. No coherent coupling laser fields were introduced, and the coherence was created by the interdot tunnel effect. Further studied was the effect of tunneling and incoherent pumping on the group velocity of the transmitted and reflected probe pulse.

Tunneling decay of false domain walls: The silence of the lambs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haberichter, Mareike, E-mail: M.Haberichter@kent.ac.uk; School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NF; MacKenzie, Richard, E-mail: richard.mackenzie@umontreal.ca

We study the decay of “false” domain walls, that is, metastable states of the quantum theory where the true vacuum is trapped inside the wall with the false vacuum outside. We consider a theory with two scalar fields, a shepherd field and a field of sheep. The shepherd field serves to herd the solitons of the sheep field so that they are nicely bunched together. However, quantum tunnelling of the shepherd field releases the sheep to spread out uncontrollably. We show how to calculate the tunnelling amplitude for such a disintegration.

Trajectories and traversal times in quantum tunneling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Zhi Hong.

1989-01-01

The classical concepts of trajectories and traversal times applied to quantum tunneling are discussed. By using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation, it is found that in a forbidden region of a multidimensional space the wave function can be described by two sets of trajectories, or equivalently by two sets of wave fronts. The trajectories belonging to different sets are mutually orthogonal. An extended Huygens construction is proposed to determine these wave fronts and trajectories. In contrast to the classical results in the allowed region, these trajectories couple to each other. However, if the incident wave is normal to the turning surface, themore » trajectories are found to be independent and can be determined by Newton's equations of motion with inverted potential and energy. The multidimensional tunneling theory is then applied to the scanning tunneling microscope to calculate the current density distribution and to derive the expressions for the lateral resolution and the surface corrugation amplitude. The traversal time in quantum tunneling, i.e. tunneling time, is found to depend on model calculations and simulations. Computer simulation of a wave packet tunneling through a square barrier is performed. Several approaches, including the phase method, Larmor clock, and time-dependent barrier model, are investigated. For a square barrier, two characteristic times are found: One is equal to the barrier width divided by the magnitude of the imaginary velocity; the other is equal to the decay length divided by the incident velocity. It is believed that the tunneling time can only be defined operationally.« less

Continuous-Time Monitoring of Landau-Zener Interference in a Cooper-Pair Box

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sillanpää, Mika; Lehtinen, Teijo; Paila, Antti; Makhlin, Yuriy; Hakonen, Pertti

2006-05-01

Landau-Zener (LZ) tunneling can occur with a certain probability when crossing energy levels of a quantum two-level system are swept across the minimum energy separation. Here we present experimental evidence of quantum interference effects in solid-state LZ tunneling. We used a Cooper-pair box qubit where the LZ tunneling occurs at the charge degeneracy. By employing a weak nondemolition monitoring, we observe interference between consecutive LZ-tunneling events; we find that the average level occupancies depend on the dynamical phase. The system’s unusually strong linear response is explained by interband relaxation. Our interferometer can be used as a high-resolution Mach-Zehnder type detector for phase and charge.

Continuous-time monitoring of Landau-Zener interference in a cooper-pair box.

PubMed

Sillanpää, Mika; Lehtinen, Teijo; Paila, Antti; Makhlin, Yuriy; Hakonen, Pertti

2006-05-12

Landau-Zener (LZ) tunneling can occur with a certain probability when crossing energy levels of a quantum two-level system are swept across the minimum energy separation. Here we present experimental evidence of quantum interference effects in solid-state LZ tunneling. We used a Cooper-pair box qubit where the LZ tunneling occurs at the charge degeneracy. By employing a weak nondemolition monitoring, we observe interference between consecutive LZ-tunneling events; we find that the average level occupancies depend on the dynamical phase. The system's unusually strong linear response is explained by interband relaxation. Our interferometer can be used as a high-resolution Mach-Zehnder-type detector for phase and charge.

Higher-order spin and charge dynamics in a quantum dot-lead hybrid system.

PubMed

Otsuka, Tomohiro; Nakajima, Takashi; Delbecq, Matthieu R; Amaha, Shinichi; Yoneda, Jun; Takeda, Kenta; Allison, Giles; Stano, Peter; Noiri, Akito; Ito, Takumi; Loss, Daniel; Ludwig, Arne; Wieck, Andreas D; Tarucha, Seigo

2017-09-22

Understanding the dynamics of open quantum systems is important and challenging in basic physics and applications for quantum devices and quantum computing. Semiconductor quantum dots offer a good platform to explore the physics of open quantum systems because we can tune parameters including the coupling to the environment or leads. Here, we apply the fast single-shot measurement techniques from spin qubit experiments to explore the spin and charge dynamics due to tunnel coupling to a lead in a quantum dot-lead hybrid system. We experimentally observe both spin and charge time evolution via first- and second-order tunneling processes, and reveal the dynamics of the spin-flip through the intermediate state. These results enable and stimulate the exploration of spin dynamics in dot-lead hybrid systems, and may offer useful resources for spin manipulation and simulation of open quantum systems.

The role of the tunneling matrix element and nuclear reorganization in the design of quantum-dot cellular automata molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, Jackson; Blair, Enrique P.

2018-02-01

Mixed-valence molecules provide an implementation for a high-speed, energy-efficient paradigm for classical computing known as quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA). The primitive device in QCA is a cell, a structure with multiple quantum dots and a few mobile charges. A single mixed-valence molecule can function as a cell, with redox centers providing quantum dots. The charge configuration of a molecule encodes binary information, and device switching occurs via intramolecular electron transfer between dots. Arrays of molecular cells adsorbed onto a substrate form QCA logic. Individual cells in the array are coupled locally via the electrostatic electric field. This device networking enables general-purpose computing. Here, a quantum model of a two-dot molecule is built in which the two-state electronic system is coupled to the dominant nuclear vibrational mode via a reorganization energy. This model is used to explore the effects of the electronic inter-dot tunneling (coupling) matrix element and the reorganization energy on device switching. A semi-classical reduction of the model also is made to investigate the competition between field-driven device switching and the electron-vibrational self-trapping. A strong electron-vibrational coupling (high reorganization energy) gives rise to self-trapping, which inhibits the molecule's ability to switch. Nonetheless, there remains an expansive area in the tunneling-reorganization phase space where molecules can support adequate tunneling. Thus, the relationship between the tunneling matrix element and the reorganization energy affords significant leeway in the design of molecules viable for QCA applications.

Orientation-dependent imaging of electronically excited quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Duc; Goings, Joshua J.; Nguyen, Huy A.; Lyding, Joseph; Li, Xiaosong; Gruebele, Martin

2018-02-01

We previously demonstrated that we can image electronic excitations of quantum dots by single-molecule absorption scanning tunneling microscopy (SMA-STM). With this technique, a modulated laser beam periodically saturates an electronic transition of a single nanoparticle, and the resulting tunneling current modulation ΔI(x0, y0) maps out the SMA-STM image. In this paper, we first derive the basic theory to calculate ΔI(x0, y0) in the one-electron approximation. For near-resonant tunneling through an empty orbital "i" of the nanostructure, the SMA-STM signal is approximately proportional to the electron density |φi) (x0,y0)|

Orientation-dependent imaging of electronically excited quantum dots.

PubMed

Nguyen, Duc; Goings, Joshua J; Nguyen, Huy A; Lyding, Joseph; Li, Xiaosong; Gruebele, Martin

2018-02-14

We previously demonstrated that we can image electronic excitations of quantum dots by single-molecule absorption scanning tunneling microscopy (SMA-STM). With this technique, a modulated laser beam periodically saturates an electronic transition of a single nanoparticle, and the resulting tunneling current modulation ΔI(x 0 , y 0 ) maps out the SMA-STM image. In this paper, we first derive the basic theory to calculate ΔI(x 0 , y 0 ) in the one-electron approximation. For near-resonant tunneling through an empty orbital "i" of the nanostructure, the SMA-STM signal is approximately proportional to the electron density φ i x 0 ,y 0 2 of the excited orbital in the tunneling region. Thus, the SMA-STM signal is approximated by an orbital density map (ODM) of the resonantly excited orbital at energy E i . The situation is more complex for correlated electron motion, but either way a slice through the excited electronic state structure in the tunneling region is imaged. We then show experimentally that we can nudge quantum dots on the surface and roll them, thus imaging excited state electronic structure of a single quantum dot at different orientations. We use density functional theory to model ODMs at various orientations, for qualitative comparison with the SMA-STM experiment. The model demonstrates that our experimentally observed signal monitors excited states, localized by defects near the surface of an individual quantum dot. The sub-nanometer super-resolution imaging technique demonstrated here could become useful for mapping out the three-dimensional structure of excited states localized by defects within nanomaterials.

Universality of quantum gravity corrections.

PubMed

Das, Saurya; Vagenas, Elias C

2008-11-28

We show that the existence of a minimum measurable length and the related generalized uncertainty principle (GUP), predicted by theories of quantum gravity, influence all quantum Hamiltonians. Thus, they predict quantum gravity corrections to various quantum phenomena. We compute such corrections to the Lamb shift, the Landau levels, and the tunneling current in a scanning tunneling microscope. We show that these corrections can be interpreted in two ways: (a) either that they are exceedingly small, beyond the reach of current experiments, or (b) that they predict upper bounds on the quantum gravity parameter in the GUP, compatible with experiments at the electroweak scale. Thus, more accurate measurements in the future should either be able to test these predictions, or further tighten the above bounds and predict an intermediate length scale between the electroweak and the Planck scale.

Transport through an impurity tunnel coupled to a Si/SiGe quantum dot

DOE PAGES

Foote, Ryan H.; Ward, Daniel R.; Prance, J. R.; ...

2015-09-11

Achieving controllable coupling of dopants in silicon is crucial for operating donor-based qubit devices, but it is difficult because of the small size of donor-bound electron wavefunctions. Here in this paper, we report the characterization of a quantum dot coupled to a localized electronic state and present evidence of controllable coupling between the quantum dot and the localized state. A set of measurements of transport through the device enable the determination that the most likely location of the localized state is consistent with a location in the quantum well near the edge of the quantum dot. Finally, our results aremore » consistent with a gate-voltage controllable tunnel coupling, which is an important building block for hybrid donor and gate-defined quantum dot devices.« less

Imaging the He2 quantum halo state using a free electron laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeller, Stefan; Kunitski, Maksim; Voigtsberger, Jörg; Kalinin, Anton; Schottelius, Alexander; Schober, Carl; Waitz, Markus; Sann, Hendrik; Hartung, Alexander; Bauer, Tobias; Pitzer, Martin; Trinter, Florian; Goihl, Christoph; Janke, Christian; Richter, Martin; Kastirke, Gregor; Weller, Miriam; Czasch, Achim; Kitzler, Markus; Braune, Markus; Grisenti, Robert E.; Schöllkopf, Wieland; Schmidt, Lothar Ph. H.; Schöffler, Markus S.; Williams, Joshua B.; Jahnke, Till; Dörner, Reinhard

2016-12-01

Quantum tunneling is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and crucial for many technological applications. It allows quantum particles to reach regions in space which are energetically not accessible according to classical mechanics. In this “tunneling region,” the particle density is known to decay exponentially. This behavior is universal across all energy scales from nuclear physics to chemistry and solid state systems. Although typically only a small fraction of a particle wavefunction extends into the tunneling region, we present here an extreme quantum system: a gigantic molecule consisting of two helium atoms, with an 80% probability that its two nuclei will be found in this classical forbidden region. This circumstance allows us to directly image the exponentially decaying density of a tunneling particle, which we achieved for over two orders of magnitude. Imaging a tunneling particle shows one of the few features of our world that is truly universal: the probability to find one of the constituents of bound matter far away is never zero but decreases exponentially. The results were obtained by Coulomb explosion imaging using a free electron laser and furthermore yielded He2’s binding energy of 151.9±13.3151.9±13.3 neV, which is in agreement with most recent calculations.

Hydrogen tunneling links protein dynamics to enzyme catalysis.

PubMed

Klinman, Judith P; Kohen, Amnon

2013-01-01

The relationship between protein dynamics and function is a subject of considerable contemporary interest. Although protein motions are frequently observed during ligand binding and release steps, the contribution of protein motions to the catalysis of bond making/breaking processes is more difficult to probe and verify. Here, we show how the quantum mechanical hydrogen tunneling associated with enzymatic C-H bond cleavage provides a unique window into the necessity of protein dynamics for achieving optimal catalysis. Experimental findings support a hierarchy of thermodynamically equilibrated motions that control the H-donor and -acceptor distance and active-site electrostatics, creating an ensemble of conformations suitable for H-tunneling. A possible extension of this view to methyl transfer and other catalyzed reactions is also presented. The impact of understanding these dynamics on the conceptual framework for enzyme activity, inhibitor/drug design, and biomimetic catalyst design is likely to be substantial.

Hydrogen Tunneling Links Protein Dynamics to Enzyme Catalysis

PubMed Central

Klinman, Judith P.; Kohen, Amnon

2014-01-01

The relationship between protein dynamics and function is a subject of considerable contemporary interest. Although protein motions are frequently observed during ligand binding and release steps, the contribution of protein motions to the catalysis of bond making/breaking processes is more difficult to probe and verify. Here, we show how the quantum mechanical hydrogen tunneling associated with enzymatic C–H bond cleavage provides a unique window into the necessity of protein dynamics for achieving optimal catalysis. Experimental findings support a hierarchy of thermodynamically equilibrated motions that control the H-donor and -acceptor distance and active-site electrostatics, creating an ensemble of conformations suitable for H-tunneling. A possible extension of this view to methyl transfer and other catalyzed reactions is also presented. The impact of understanding these dynamics on the conceptual framework for enzyme activity, inhibitor/drug design, and biomimetic catalyst design is likely to be substantial. PMID:23746260

Direct Observation of Double Hydrogen Transfer via Quantum Tunneling in a Single Porphycene Molecule on a Ag(110) Surface.

PubMed

Koch, Matthias; Pagan, Mark; Persson, Mats; Gawinkowski, Sylwester; Waluk, Jacek; Kumagai, Takashi

2017-09-13

Quantum tunneling of hydrogen atoms (or protons) plays a crucial role in many chemical and biological reactions. Although tunneling of a single particle has been examined extensively in various one-dimensional potentials, many-particle tunneling in high-dimensional potential energy surfaces remains poorly understood. Here we present a direct observation of a double hydrogen atom transfer (tautomerization) within a single porphycene molecule on a Ag(110) surface using a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The tautomerization rates are temperature independent below ∼10 K, and a large kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is observed upon substituting the transferred hydrogen atoms by deuterium, indicating that the process is governed by tunneling. The observed KIE for three isotopologues and density functional theory calculations reveal that a stepwise transfer mechanism is dominant in the tautomerization. It is also found that the tautomerization rate is increased by vibrational excitation via an inelastic electron tunneling process. Moreover, the STM tip can be used to manipulate the tunneling dynamics through modification of the potential landscape.

Coulomb-coupled quantum-dot thermal transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yanchao; Yang, Zhimin; Zhang, Xin; Lin, Bihong; Lin, Guoxing; Chen, Jincan

2018-04-01

A quantum-dot thermal transistor consisting of three Coulomb-coupled quantum dots coupled to the respective electronic reservoirs by tunnel contacts is established. The heat flows through the collector and emitter can be controlled by the temperature of the base. It is found that a small change in the base heat flow can induce a large heat flow change in the collector and emitter. The huge amplification factor can be obtained by optimizing the Coulomb interaction between the collector and the emitter or by decreasing the tunneling rate at the base. The proposed quantum-dot thermal transistor may open up potential applications in low-temperature solid-state thermal circuits at the nanoscale.

Quantum Memristors with Superconducting Circuits

PubMed Central

Salmilehto, J.; Deppe, F.; Di Ventra, M.; Sanz, M.; Solano, E.

2017-01-01

Memristors are resistive elements retaining information of their past dynamics. They have garnered substantial interest due to their potential for representing a paradigm change in electronics, information processing and unconventional computing. Given the advent of quantum technologies, a design for a quantum memristor with superconducting circuits may be envisaged. Along these lines, we introduce such a quantum device whose memristive behavior arises from quasiparticle-induced tunneling when supercurrents are cancelled. For realistic parameters, we find that the relevant hysteretic behavior may be observed using current state-of-the-art measurements of the phase-driven tunneling current. Finally, we develop suitable methods to quantify memory retention in the system. PMID:28195193

Multi-Dimensional Quantum Tunneling and Transport Using the Density-Gradient Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biegel, Bryan A.; Yu, Zhi-Ping; Ancona, Mario; Rafferty, Conor; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

We show that quantum effects are likely to significantly degrade the performance of MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) as these devices are scaled below 100 nm channel length and 2 nm oxide thickness over the next decade. A general and computationally efficient electronic device model including quantum effects would allow us to monitor and mitigate these effects. Full quantum models are too expensive in multi-dimensions. Using a general but efficient PDE solver called PROPHET, we implemented the density-gradient (DG) quantum correction to the industry-dominant classical drift-diffusion (DD) model. The DG model efficiently includes quantum carrier profile smoothing and tunneling in multi-dimensions and for any electronic device structure. We show that the DG model reduces DD model error from as much as 50% down to a few percent in comparison to thin oxide MOS capacitance measurements. We also show the first DG simulations of gate oxide tunneling and transverse current flow in ultra-scaled MOSFETs. The advantages of rapid model implementation using the PDE solver approach will be demonstrated, as well as the applicability of the DG model to any electronic device structure.

Spin-dependent tunneling recombination in heterostructures with a magnetic layer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Denisov, K. S., E-mail: denisokonstantin@gmail.com; Rozhansky, I. V.; Averkiev, N. S.

We propose a mechanism for the generation of spin polarization in semiconductor heterostructures with a quantum well and a magnetic impurity layer spatially separated from it. The spin polarization of carriers in a quantum well originates from spin-dependent tunneling recombination at impurity states in the magnetic layer, which is accompanied by a fast linear increase in the degree of circular polarization of photoluminescence from the quantum well. Two situations are theoretically considered. In the first case, resonant tunneling to the spin-split sublevels of the impurity center occurs and spin polarization is caused by different populations of resonance levels in themore » quantum well for opposite spin projections. In the second, nonresonant case, the spin-split impurity level lies above the occupied states of electrons in the quantum well and plays the role of an intermediate state in the two-stage coherent spin-dependent recombination of an electron from the quantum well and a hole in the impurity layer. The developed theory allows us to explain both qualitatively and quantitatively the kinetics of photoexcited electrons in experiments with photoluminescence with time resolution in Mn-doped InGaAs heterostructures.« less

Quantum Tunneling Affects Engine Performance.

PubMed

Som, Sibendu; Liu, Wei; Zhou, Dingyu D Y; Magnotti, Gina M; Sivaramakrishnan, Raghu; Longman, Douglas E; Skodje, Rex T; Davis, Michael J

2013-06-20

We study the role of individual reaction rates on engine performance, with an emphasis on the contribution of quantum tunneling. It is demonstrated that the effect of quantum tunneling corrections for the reaction HO2 + HO2 = H2O2 + O2 can have a noticeable impact on the performance of a high-fidelity model of a compression-ignition (e.g., diesel) engine, and that an accurate prediction of ignition delay time for the engine model requires an accurate estimation of the tunneling correction for this reaction. The three-dimensional model includes detailed descriptions of the chemistry of a surrogate for a biodiesel fuel, as well as all the features of the engine, such as the liquid fuel spray and turbulence. This study is part of a larger investigation of how the features of the dynamics and potential energy surfaces of key reactions, as well as their reaction rate uncertainties, affect engine performance, and results in these directions are also presented here.

Parallel Quantum Circuit in a Tunnel Junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faizy Namarvar, Omid; Dridi, Ghassen; Joachim, Christian; GNS theory Group Team

In between 2 metallic nanopads, adding identical and independent electron transfer paths in parallel increases the electronic effective coupling between the 2 nanopads through the quantum circuit defined by those paths. Measuring this increase of effective coupling using the tunnelling current intensity can lead for example for 2 paths in parallel to the now standard G =G1 +G2 + 2√{G1 .G2 } conductance superposition law (1). This is only valid for the tunnelling regime (2). For large electronic coupling to the nanopads (or at resonance), G can saturate and even decay as a function of the number of parallel paths added in the quantum circuit (3). We provide here the explanation of this phenomenon: the measurement of the effective Rabi oscillation frequency using the current intensity is constrained by the normalization principle of quantum mechanics. This limits the quantum conductance G for example to go when there is only one channel per metallic nanopads. This ef fect has important consequences for the design of Boolean logic gates at the atomic scale using atomic scale or intramolecular circuits. References: This has the financial support by European PAMS project.

Low temperature nano-spin filtering using a diluted magnetic semiconductor core-shell quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chattopadhyay, Saikat; Sen, Pratima; Andrews, Joshep Thomas; Sen, Pranay Kumar

2014-07-01

The spin polarized electron transport properties and spin polarized tunneling current have been investigated analytically in a diluted magnetic semiconductor core-shell quantum dot in the presence of applied electric and magnetic fields. Assuming the electron wave function to satisfy WKB approximation, the electron energy eigenvalues have been calculated. The spin polarized tunneling current and the spin dependent tunneling coefficient are obtained by taking into account the exchange interaction and Zeeman splitting. Numerical estimates made for a specific diluted magnetic semiconductor, viz., Zn1-xMnxSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dot establishes the possibility of a nano-spin filter for a particular biasing voltage and applied magnetic field. Influence of applied voltage on spin polarized electron transport has been investigated in a CSQD.

A molecular dynamics study of intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in solution based upon a mixed quantum-classical approximation. II. Proton transfer reaction in non-polar solvent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kojima, H.; Yamada, A.; Okazaki, S.

2015-05-01

The intramolecular proton transfer reaction of malonaldehyde in neon solvent has been investigated by mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics (QCMD) calculations and fully classical molecular dynamics (FCMD) calculations. Comparing these calculated results with those for malonaldehyde in water reported in Part I [A. Yamada, H. Kojima, and S. Okazaki, J. Chem. Phys. 141, 084509 (2014)], the solvent dependence of the reaction rate, the reaction mechanism involved, and the quantum effect therein have been investigated. With FCMD, the reaction rate in weakly interacting neon is lower than that in strongly interacting water. However, with QCMD, the order of the reaction rates is reversed. To investigate the mechanisms in detail, the reactions were categorized into three mechanisms: tunneling, thermal activation, and barrier vanishing. Then, the quantum and solvent effects were analyzed from the viewpoint of the reaction mechanism focusing on the shape of potential energy curve and its fluctuations. The higher reaction rate that was found for neon in QCMD compared with that found for water solvent arises from the tunneling reactions because of the nearly symmetric double-well shape of the potential curve in neon. The thermal activation and barrier vanishing reactions were also accelerated by the zero-point energy. The number of reactions based on these two mechanisms in water was greater than that in neon in both QCMD and FCMD because these reactions are dominated by the strength of solute-solvent interactions.

Efficiency of quantum vs. classical annealing in nonconvex learning problems

PubMed Central

Zecchina, Riccardo

2018-01-01

Quantum annealers aim at solving nonconvex optimization problems by exploiting cooperative tunneling effects to escape local minima. The underlying idea consists of designing a classical energy function whose ground states are the sought optimal solutions of the original optimization problem and add a controllable quantum transverse field to generate tunneling processes. A key challenge is to identify classes of nonconvex optimization problems for which quantum annealing remains efficient while thermal annealing fails. We show that this happens for a wide class of problems which are central to machine learning. Their energy landscapes are dominated by local minima that cause exponential slowdown of classical thermal annealers while simulated quantum annealing converges efficiently to rare dense regions of optimal solutions. PMID:29382764

Measuring the complex admittance and tunneling rate of a germanium hut wire hole quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yan; Li, Shu-Xiao; Gao, Fei; Li, Hai-Ou; Xu, Gang; Wang, Ke; Liu, He; Cao, Gang; Xiao, Ming; Wang, Ting; Zhang, Jian-Jun; Guo, Guo-Ping

2018-05-01

We investigate the microwave reflectometry of an on-chip reflection line cavity coupled to a Ge hut wire hole quantum dot. The amplitude and phase responses of the cavity can be used to measure the complex admittance and evaluate the tunneling rate of the quantum dot, even in the region where transport signal through the quantum dot is too small to be measured by conventional direct transport means. The experimental observations are found to be in good agreement with a theoretical model of the hybrid system based on cavity frequency shift and linewidth shift. Our experimental results take the first step towards fast and sensitive readout of charge and spin states in Ge hut wire hole quantum dot.

Resonant tunneling IR detectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodall, Jerry M.; Smith, T. P., III

1990-01-01

Researchers propose a novel semiconductor heterojunction photodetector which would have a very low dark current and would be voltage tunable. A schematic diagram of the device and its band structure are shown. The two crucial components of the device are a cathode (InGaAs) whose condition band edge is below the conduction band edge of the quantum wells and a resonant tunneling filter (GaAs-AlGaAs). In a standard resonant tunneling device the electrodes are made of the same material as the quantum wells, and this device becomes highly conducting when the quantum levels in the wells are aligned with the Fermi level in the negatively biased electrode. In contrast, the researchers device is essentially non-conducting under the same bias conditions. This is because the Fermi Level of the cathode (InGaAs) is still well below the quantum levels so that no resonant transport occurs and the barriers (AlGaAs) effectively block current flow through the device. However, if light with the same photon energy as the conduction-band discontinuity between the cathode and the quantum wells, E sub c3-E sub c1, is shone on the sample, free carriers will be excited to an energy corresponding to the lowest quantum level in the well closest to the cathode (hv plue E sub c1 = E sub o). These electrons will resonantly tunnel through the quantum wells and be collected as a photocurrent in the anode (GaAs). To improve the quantum efficiency, the cathode (InGaAs) should be very heavily doped and capped with a highly reflective metal ohmic contact. The thickness of the device should be tailored to optimize thin film interference effects and afford the maximum absorption of light. Because the device relies on resonant tunneling, its response should be very fast, and the small voltages needed to change the responsivity should allow for very high frequency modulation of the photocurrent. In addition, the device is tuned to a specific photon energy so that it can be designed to detect a fairly narrow range of wavelengths. This selectivity is important for reducing the photocurrent due to spurious light sources.

Atomic-scale investigation of nuclear quantum effects of surface water: Experiments and theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jing; Li, Xin-Zheng; Peng, Jinbo; Wang, En-Ge; Jiang, Ying

2017-12-01

Quantum behaviors of protons in terms of tunneling and zero-point motion have significant effects on the macroscopic properties, structure, and dynamics of water even at room temperature or higher. In spite of tremendous theoretical and experimental efforts, accurate and quantitative description of the nuclear quantum effects (NQEs) is still challenging. The main difficulty lies in that the NQEs are extremely susceptible to the structural inhomogeneity and local environments, especially when interfacial systems are concerned. In this review article, we will highlight the recent advances of scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/S), which allows the access to the quantum degree of freedom of protons both in real and energy space. In addition, we will also introduce recent development of ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) simulations at surfaces/interfaces, in which both the electrons and nuclei are treated as quantum particles in contrast to traditional ab initio molecular dynamics (MD). Then we will discuss how the combination of STM/S and PIMD are used to directly visualize the concerted quantum tunneling of protons within the water clusters and quantify the impact of zero-point motion on the strength of a single hydrogen bond (H bond) at a water/solid interface. Those results may open up the new possibility of exploring the exotic quantum states of light nuclei at surfaces, as well as the quantum coupling between the electrons and nuclei.

Quantum aspects of brain activity and the role of consciousness.

PubMed Central

Beck, F; Eccles, J C

1992-01-01

The relationship of brain activity to conscious intentions is considered on the basis of the functional microstructure of the cerebral cortex. Each incoming nerve impulse causes the emission of transmitter molecules by the process of exocytosis. Since exocytosis is a quantal phenomenon of the presynaptic vesicular grid with a probability much less than 1, we present a quantum mechanical model for it based on a tunneling process of the trigger mechanism. Consciousness manifests itself in mental intentions. The consequent voluntary actions become effective by momentary increases of the probability of vesicular emission in the thousands of synapses on each pyramidal cell by quantal selection. PMID:1333607

Evidence for tunneling in base-catalyzed isomerization of glyceraldehyde to dihydroxyacetone by hydride shift under formose conditions.

PubMed

Cheng, Liang; Doubleday, Charles; Breslow, Ronald

2015-04-07

Hydrogen atom transfer reactions between the aldose and ketose are key mechanistic features in formose chemistry by which formaldehyde is converted to higher sugars under credible prebiotic conditions. For one of these transformations, we have investigated whether hydrogen tunneling makes a significant contribution to the mechanism by examining the deuterium kinetic isotope effect associated with the hydrogen transfer during the isomerization of glyceraldehyde to the corresponding dihydroxyacetone. To do this, we developed a quantitative HPLC assay that allowed us to measure the apparent large intrinsic kinetic isotope effect. From the Arrhenius plot of the kinetic isotope effect, the ratio of the preexponential factors AH/AD was 0.28 and the difference in activation energies Ea(D) - Ea(H) was 9.1 kJ·mol(-1). All these results imply a significant quantum-mechanical tunneling component in the isomerization mechanism. This is supported by multidimensional tunneling calculations using POLYRATE with small curvature tunneling.

Effect of low and staggered gap quantum wells inserted in GaAs tunnel junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Louarn, K.; Claveau, Y.; Marigo-Lombart, L.; Fontaine, C.; Arnoult, A.; Piquemal, F.; Bounouh, A.; Cavassilas, N.; Almuneau, G.

2018-04-01

In this article, we investigate the impact of the insertion of either a type I InGaAs or a type II InGaAs/GaAsSb quantum well on the performances of MBE-grown GaAs tunnel junctions (TJs). The devices are designed and simulated using a quantum transport model based on the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism and a 6-band k.p Hamiltonian. We experimentally observe significant improvements of the peak tunneling current density on both heterostructures with a 460-fold increase for a moderately doped GaAs TJ when the InGaAs QW is inserted at the junction interface, and a 3-fold improvement on a highly doped GaAs TJ integrating a type II InGaAs/GaAsSb QW. Thus, the simple insertion of staggered band lineup heterostructures enables us to reach a tunneling current well above the kA cm‑2 range, equivalent to the best achieved results for Si-doped GaAs TJs, implying very interesting potential for TJ-based components, such as multi-junction solar cells, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers and tunnel-field effect transistors.

Tunneling in green tea: understanding the antioxidant activity of catechol-containing compounds. A variational transition-state theory study.

PubMed

Tejero, Ismael; Gonzalez-García, Núria; Gonzalez-Lafont, Angels; Lluch, José M

2007-05-09

The catechol functionality present in the catechins is responsible for the protective effects exerted by green tea against a wide range of human diseases. High-level electronic structure calculations and canonical variational transition-state theory including multidimensional tunneling corrections have allowed us to understand the key factors of the antioxidant effectiveness of the catechol group. This catechol group forms two hydrogen bonds with the two oxygen atoms of the lipid peroxyl radical, leading to a very compact reactant complex. This fact produces an extremely narrow adiabatic potential-energy profile corresponding to the hydrogen abstraction by the peroxyl radical, which makes it possible for a huge tunneling contribution to take place. So, quantum-mechanical tunneling highly increases the corresponding rate constant value, in such a way that catechins become able to trap the lipid peroxyl radicals in a dominant competition with the very damaging free-radical chain-lipid peroxidation reaction.

Fermions tunneling from a general static Riemann black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ge-Rui; Huang, Yong-Chang

2015-05-01

In this paper we investigate the tunneling of fermions from a general static Riemann black hole by following Kerner and Mann (Class Quantum Gravit 25:095014, 2008a; Phys Lett B 665:277-283, 2008b) methods. By applying the WKB approximation and the Hamilton-Jacobi ansatz to the Dirac equation, we obtain the standard Hawking temperature. Furthermore, Kerner and Mann (Class Quantum Gravit 25:095014, 2008a; Phys Lett B 665:277-283, 2008b) only calculated the tunneling spectrum of the Dirac particles with spin-up, and we extend the methods to investigate the tunneling of Dirac particles with arbitrary spin directions and also obtain the expected Hawking temperature. Our result provides further evidence for the universality of black hole radiation.

Monolithic integration of a resonant tunneling diode and a quantum well semiconductor laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grave, I.; Kan, S. C.; Griffel, G.; Wu, S. W.; Sa'Ar, A.

1991-01-01

A monolithic integration of a double barrier AlAs/GaAs resonant tunneling diode and a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well laser is reported. Negative differential resistance and negative differential optical response are observed at room temperature. The device displays bistable electrical and optical characteristics which are voltage controlled. Operation as a two-state optical memory is demonstrated.

Ultracold bosons in a one-dimensional optical lattice chain: Newton's cradle and Bose enhancement effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ji-Guo; Yang, Shi-Jie

2017-05-01

We study a model to realize the long-distance correlated tunneling of ultracold bosons in a one-dimensional optical lattice chain. The model reveals the behavior of a quantum Newton's cradle, which is the perfect transfer between two macroscopic quantum states. Due to the Bose enhancement effect, we find that the resonantly tunneling through a Mott domain is greatly enhanced.

Quantum Rotational Effects in Nanomagnetic Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Keeffe, Michael F.

Quantum tunneling of the magnetic moment in a nanomagnet must conserve the total angular momentum. For a nanomagnet embedded in a rigid body, reversal of the magnetic moment will cause the body to rotate as a whole. When embedded in an elastic environment, tunneling of the magnetic moment will cause local elastic twists of the crystal structure. In this thesis, I will present a theoretical study of the interplay between magnetization and rotations in a variety of nanomagnetic systems which have some degree of rotational freedom. We investigate the effect of rotational freedom on the tunnel splitting of a nanomagnet which is free to rotate about its easy axis. Calculating the exact instanton of the coupled equations of motion shows that mechanical freedom of the particle renormalizes the easy axis anisotropy, increasing the tunnel splitting. To understand magnetization dynamics in free particles, we study a quantum mechanical model of a tunneling spin embedded in a rigid rotor. The exact energy levels for a symmetric rotor exhibit first and second order quantum phase transitions between states with different values the magnetic moment. A quantum phase diagram is obtained in which the magnetic moment depends strongly on the moments of inertia. An intrinsic contribution to decoherence of current oscillations of a flux qubit must come from the angular momentum it transfers to the surrounding body. Within exactly solvable models of a qubit embedded in a rigid body and an elastic medium, we show that slow decoherence is permitted if the solid is macroscopically large. The spin-boson model is one of the simplest representations of a two-level system interacting with a quantum harmonic oscillator, yet has eluded a closed-form solution. I investigate some possible approaches to understanding its spectrum. The Landau-Zener dynamics of a tunneling spin coupled to a torsional resonator show that for certain parameter ranges the system exhibits multiple Landau-Zener transitions. These transitions coincide in time with changes in the oscillator dynamics. A large number of spins on a single oscillator coupled only through the in-phase oscillations behaves as a single large spin, greatly enhancing the spin-phonon coupling.

Electromagnetic Saturation of Angstrom-Sized Quantum Barriers at Terahertz Frequencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahk, Young-Mi; Kang, Bong Joo; Kim, Yong Seung; Kim, Joon-Yeon; Kim, Won Tae; Kim, Tae Yun; Kang, Taehee; Rhie, Jiyeah; Han, Sanghoon; Park, Cheol-Hwan; Rotermund, Fabian; Kim, Dai-Sik

2015-09-01

Metal-graphene-metal hybrid structures allow angstrom-scale van der Waals gaps, across which electron tunneling occurs. We squeeze terahertz electromagnetic waves through these λ /10 000 000 gaps, accompanied by giant field enhancements. Unprecedented transmission reduction of 97% is achieved with the transient voltage across the gap saturating at 5 V. Electron tunneling facilitated by the transient electric field strongly modifies the gap index, starting a self-limiting process related to the barrier height. Our work enables greater interplay between classical optics and quantum tunneling, and provides optical indices to the van der Waals gaps.

Interplay between Switching Driven by the Tunneling Current and Atomic Force of a Bistable Four-Atom Si Quantum Dot.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Shiro; Maeda, Keisuke; Sugimoto, Yoshiaki; Abe, Masayuki; Zobač, Vladimír; Pou, Pablo; Rodrigo, Lucia; Mutombo, Pingo; Pérez, Ruben; Jelínek, Pavel; Morita, Seizo

2015-07-08

We assemble bistable silicon quantum dots consisting of four buckled atoms (Si4-QD) using atom manipulation. We demonstrate two competing atom switching mechanisms, downward switching induced by tunneling current of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and opposite upward switching induced by atomic force of atomic force microscopy (AFM). Simultaneous application of competing current and force allows us to tune switching direction continuously. Assembly of the few-atom Si-QDs and controlling their states using versatile combined AFM/STM will contribute to further miniaturization of nanodevices.

Electromagnetic Saturation of Angstrom-Sized Quantum Barriers at Terahertz Frequencies.

PubMed

Bahk, Young-Mi; Kang, Bong Joo; Kim, Yong Seung; Kim, Joon-Yeon; Kim, Won Tae; Kim, Tae Yun; Kang, Taehee; Rhie, Jiyeah; Han, Sanghoon; Park, Cheol-Hwan; Rotermund, Fabian; Kim, Dai-Sik

2015-09-18

Metal-graphene-metal hybrid structures allow angstrom-scale van der Waals gaps, across which electron tunneling occurs. We squeeze terahertz electromagnetic waves through these λ/10 000 000 gaps, accompanied by giant field enhancements. Unprecedented transmission reduction of 97% is achieved with the transient voltage across the gap saturating at 5 V. Electron tunneling facilitated by the transient electric field strongly modifies the gap index, starting a self-limiting process related to the barrier height. Our work enables greater interplay between classical optics and quantum tunneling, and provides optical indices to the van der Waals gaps.

Edge physics of the quantum spin Hall insulator from a quantum dot excited by optical absorption.

PubMed

Vasseur, Romain; Moore, Joel E

2014-04-11

The gapless edge modes of the quantum spin Hall insulator form a helical liquid in which the direction of motion along the edge is determined by the spin orientation of the electrons. In order to probe the Luttinger liquid physics of these edge states and their interaction with a magnetic (Kondo) impurity, we consider a setup where the helical liquid is tunnel coupled to a semiconductor quantum dot that is excited by optical absorption, thereby inducing an effective quantum quench of the tunneling. At low energy, the absorption spectrum is dominated by a power-law singularity. The corresponding exponent is directly related to the interaction strength (Luttinger parameter) and can be computed exactly using boundary conformal field theory thanks to the unique nature of the quantum spin Hall edge.

Hybrid quantum and classical methods for computing kinetic isotope effects of chemical reactions in solutions and in enzymes.

PubMed

Gao, Jiali; Major, Dan T; Fan, Yao; Lin, Yen-Lin; Ma, Shuhua; Wong, Kin-Yiu

2008-01-01

A method for incorporating quantum mechanics into enzyme kinetics modeling is presented. Three aspects are emphasized: 1) combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical methods are used to represent the potential energy surface for modeling bond forming and breaking processes, 2) instantaneous normal mode analyses are used to incorporate quantum vibrational free energies to the classical potential of mean force, and 3) multidimensional tunneling methods are used to estimate quantum effects on the reaction coordinate motion. Centroid path integral simulations are described to make quantum corrections to the classical potential of mean force. In this method, the nuclear quantum vibrational and tunneling contributions are not separable. An integrated centroid path integral-free energy perturbation and umbrella sampling (PI-FEP/UM) method along with a bisection sampling procedure was summarized, which provides an accurate, easily convergent method for computing kinetic isotope effects for chemical reactions in solution and in enzymes. In the ensemble-averaged variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling (EA-VTST/MT), these three aspects of quantum mechanical effects can be individually treated, providing useful insights into the mechanism of enzymatic reactions. These methods are illustrated by applications to a model process in the gas phase, the decarboxylation reaction of N-methyl picolinate in water, and the proton abstraction and reprotonation process catalyzed by alanine racemase. These examples show that the incorporation of quantum mechanical effects is essential for enzyme kinetics simulations.

Lithographically defined few-electron silicon quantum dots based on a silicon-on-insulator substrate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Horibe, Kosuke; Oda, Shunri; Kodera, Tetsuo, E-mail: kodera.t.ac@m.titech.ac.jp

2015-02-23

Silicon quantum dot (QD) devices with a proximal single-electron transistor (SET) charge sensor have been fabricated in a metal-oxide-semiconductor structure based on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The charge state of the QDs was clearly read out using the charge sensor via the SET current. The lithographically defined small QDs enabled clear observation of the few-electron regime of a single QD and a double QD by charge sensing. Tunnel coupling on tunnel barriers of the QDs can be controlled by tuning the top-gate voltages, which can be used for manipulation of the spin quantum bit via exchange interaction between tunnel-coupled QDs. Themore » lithographically defined silicon QD device reported here is technologically simple and does not require electrical gates to create QD confinement potentials, which is advantageous for the integration of complicated constructs such as multiple QD structures with SET charge sensors for the purpose of spin-based quantum computing.« less

Energy-filtered cold electron transport at room temperature.

PubMed

Bhadrachalam, Pradeep; Subramanian, Ramkumar; Ray, Vishva; Ma, Liang-Chieh; Wang, Weichao; Kim, Jiyoung; Cho, Kyeongjae; Koh, Seong Jin

2014-09-10

Fermi-Dirac electron thermal excitation is an intrinsic phenomenon that limits functionality of various electron systems. Efforts to manipulate electron thermal excitation have been successful when the entire system is cooled to cryogenic temperatures, typically <1 K. Here we show that electron thermal excitation can be effectively suppressed at room temperature, and energy-suppressed electrons, whose energy distribution corresponds to an effective electron temperature of ~45 K, can be transported throughout device components without external cooling. This is accomplished using a discrete level of a quantum well, which filters out thermally excited electrons and permits only energy-suppressed electrons to participate in electron transport. The quantum well (~2 nm of Cr2O3) is formed between source (Cr) and tunnelling barrier (SiO2) in a double-barrier-tunnelling-junction structure having a quantum dot as the central island. Cold electron transport is detected from extremely narrow differential conductance peaks in electron tunnelling through CdSe quantum dots, with full widths at half maximum of only ~15 mV at room temperature.

Unified semiclassical theory for the two-state system: an analytical solution for general nonadiabatic tunneling.

PubMed

Zhu, Chaoyuan; Lin, Sheng Hsien

2006-07-28

Unified semiclasical solution for general nonadiabatic tunneling between two adiabatic potential energy surfaces is established by employing unified semiclassical solution for pure nonadiabatic transition [C. Zhu, J. Chem. Phys. 105, 4159 (1996)] with the certain symmetry transformation. This symmetry comes from a detailed analysis of the reduced scattering matrix for Landau-Zener type of crossing as a special case of nonadiabatic transition and nonadiabatic tunneling. Traditional classification of crossing and noncrossing types of nonadiabatic transition can be quantitatively defined by the rotation angle of adiabatic-to-diabatic transformation, and this rotational angle enters the analytical solution for general nonadiabatic tunneling. The certain two-state exponential potential models are employed for numerical tests, and the calculations from the present general nonadiabatic tunneling formula are demonstrated in very good agreement with the results from exact quantum mechanical calculations. The present general nonadiabatic tunneling formula can be incorporated with various mixed quantum-classical methods for modeling electronically nonadiabatic processes in photochemistry.

Design of p-type cladding layers for tunnel-injected UV-A light emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Yuewei; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Akyol, Fatih

Here, we discuss the engineering of p-AlGaN cladding layers for achieving efficient tunnel-injected III-Nitride ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs) in the UV-A spectral range. We show that the capacitance-voltage measurements can be used to estimate the compensation and doping in the p-AlGaN layers located between the multi-quantum well region and the tunnel junction layer. By increasing the p-type doping concentration to overcome the background compensation, on-wafer external quantum efficiency and wall-plug efficiency of 3.37% and 1.62%, respectively, were achieved for the tunnel-injected UV LEDs emitting at 325 nm. We also show that interband tunneling hole injection can be usedmore » to realize UV LEDs without any acceptor doping. The work discussed here provides new understanding of hole doping and transport in AlGaN-based UV LEDs and demonstrates the excellent performance of tunnel-injected LEDs for the UV-A wavelength range.« less

Design of p-type cladding layers for tunnel-injected UV-A light emitting diodes

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Yuewei; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Akyol, Fatih; ...

2016-11-09

Here, we discuss the engineering of p-AlGaN cladding layers for achieving efficient tunnel-injected III-Nitride ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs) in the UV-A spectral range. We show that the capacitance-voltage measurements can be used to estimate the compensation and doping in the p-AlGaN layers located between the multi-quantum well region and the tunnel junction layer. By increasing the p-type doping concentration to overcome the background compensation, on-wafer external quantum efficiency and wall-plug efficiency of 3.37% and 1.62%, respectively, were achieved for the tunnel-injected UV LEDs emitting at 325 nm. We also show that interband tunneling hole injection can be usedmore » to realize UV LEDs without any acceptor doping. The work discussed here provides new understanding of hole doping and transport in AlGaN-based UV LEDs and demonstrates the excellent performance of tunnel-injected LEDs for the UV-A wavelength range.« less

How to understand the tunneling in attosecond experiment?. Bohr-Einstein photon box Gedanken experiment, tunneling time and the wave particle duality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kullie, Ossama

2018-02-01

The measurement of the tunneling time (T-time) in today's attosecond and strong field (low-frequency) experiments, despite its controversial discussion, offers a fruitful opportunity to understand time measurement and the time in quantum mechanics. In addition, as we will see in this work, a related controversial issue is the particulate nature of the radiation. The T-time in attosecond experiment and its different aspects and models, is discussed in this work, especially in relation to my model of real T-time (Kullie, 2015), where a good agreement with the experiment and an intriguing similarity to the Bohr-Einstein photon box Gedanken experiment was found. The tunneling process itself is still not well understood, but I am arguing that a scattering mechanism (by the laser wave packet) offers a possibility to understand the tunneling process in the tunneling region. This is related to the question about the corpuscular nature of light which is widely discussed in modern quantum optics experiments.

Photon-Assisted Resonant Tunneling and 2-D Plasmon Modes in Double Quantum Wells in Intense Terahertz Electric Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peralta, X. G.; Allen, S. J.; Lin, S. Y.; Simmons, J. A.; Blount, M. A.; Baca, W. E.

1998-03-01

We explore photon-assisted resonant tunneling in double quantum well systems in intense terahertz electric fields that have separately- contacted wells. We have two goals in mind: 1) increase the basic understanding of photon assisted tunneling in semiconductors and 2) assess the potential of this structure as a detector. We can control the tunneling current by varying the electron density of each 2D electron gas or by changing the relative separation of the Fermi levels. This allows us to prepare the system in such a way that photons of the appropriate energy may induce resonant tunneling, which is monitored by a change in conductance. We also examine the possible enhancement of the resonant tunneling by resonant excitations of acoustic plasmon modes. This work is supported by ONR, the U. S. Dept. of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000 and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, México.

Traceable quantum sensing and metrology relied up a quantum electrical triangle principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Yan; Wang, Hengliang; Yang, Xinju; Wei, Jingsong

2016-11-01

Hybrid quantum state engineering in quantum communication and imaging1-2 needs traceable quantum sensing and metrology, which are especially critical to quantum internet3 and precision measurements4 that are important across all fields of science and technology-. We aim to set up a mode of traceable quantum sensing and metrology. We developed a method by specially transforming an atomic force microscopy (AFM) and a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) into a conducting atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) with a feedback control loop, wherein quantum entanglement enabling higher precision was relied upon a set-point, a visible light laser beam-controlled an interferometer with a surface standard at z axis, diffractometers with lateral standards at x-y axes, four-quadrant photodiode detectors, a scanner and its image software, a phase-locked pre-amplifier, a cantilever with a kHz Pt/Au conducting tip, a double barrier tunneling junction model, a STM circuit by frequency modulation and a quantum electrical triangle principle involving single electron tunneling effect, quantum Hall effect and Josephson effect5. The average and standard deviation result of repeated measurements on a 1 nm height local micro-region of nanomedicine crystal hybrid quantum state engineering surface and its differential pA level current and voltage (dI/dV) in time domains by using C-AFM was converted into an international system of units: Siemens (S), an indicated value 0.86×10-12 S (n=6) of a relative standard uncertainty was superior over a relative standard uncertainty reference value 2.3×10-10 S of 2012 CODADA quantized conductance6. It is concluded that traceable quantum sensing and metrology is emerging.

Quantum Memristors with Superconducting Circuits

DOE PAGES

Salmilehto, J.; Deppe, F.; Di Ventra, M.; ...

2017-02-14

Memristors are resistive elements retaining information of their past dynamics. They have garnered substantial interest due to their potential for representing a paradigm change in electronics, information processing and unconventional computing. Given the advent of quantum technologies, a design for a quantum memristor with superconducting circuits may be envisaged. Along these lines, we introduce such a quantum device whose memristive behavior arises from quasiparticle-induced tunneling when supercurrents are cancelled. Here in this paper, for realistic parameters, we find that the relevant hysteretic behavior may be observed using current state-of-the-art measurements of the phase-driven tunneling current. Finally, we develop suitable methodsmore » to quantify memory retention in the system.« less

Tunneling modulation of a quantum-well transistor laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, M.; Qiu, J.; Wang, C. Y.; Holonyak, N.

2016-11-01

Different than the Bardeen and Brattain transistor (1947) with the current gain depending on the ratio of the base carrier spontaneous recombination lifetime to the emitter-collector transit time, the Feng and Holonyak transistor laser current gain depends upon the base electron-hole (e-h) stimulated recombination, the base dielectric relaxation transport, and the collector stimulated tunneling. For the n-p-n transistor laser tunneling operation, the electron-hole pairs are generated at the collector junction under the influence of intra-cavity photon-assisted tunneling, with electrons drifting to the collector and holes drifting to the base. The excess charge in the base lowers the emitter junction energy barrier, allowing emitter electron injection into the base and satisfying charge neutrality via base dielectric relaxation transport (˜femtoseconds). The excess electrons near the collector junction undergo stimulated recombination at the base quantum-well or transport to the collector, thus supporting tunneling current amplification and optical modulation of the transistor laser.

Resonant tunnelling in a quantum oxide superlattice

DOE PAGES

Choi, Woo Seok; Lee, Sang A.; You, Jeong Ho; ...

2015-06-24

Resonant tunneling is a quantum mechanical process that has long been attracting both scientific and technological attention owing to its intriguing underlying physics and unique applications for high-speed electronics. The materials system exhibiting resonant tunneling, however, has been largely limited to the conventional semiconductors, partially due to their excellent crystalline quality. Here we show that a deliberately designed transition metal oxide superlattice exhibits a resonant tunneling behaviour with a clear negative differential resistance. The tunneling occurred through an atomically thin, lanthanum δ- doped SrTiO 3 layer, and the negative differential resistance was realized on top of the bi-polar resistance switchingmore » typically observed for perovskite oxide junctions. This combined process resulted in an extremely large resistance ratio (~10 5) between the high and low resistance states. Lastly, the unprecedentedly large control found in atomically thin δ-doped oxide superlattices can open a door to novel oxide-based high-frequency logic devices.« less

Hopping transport through an array of Luttinger liquid stubs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chudnovskiy, A. L.

2004-01-01

We consider a thermally activated transport across and array of parallel one-dimensional quantum wires of finite length (quantum stubs). The disorder enters as a random tunneling between the nearest-neighbor stubs as well as a random shift of the bottom of the energy band in each stub. Whereas one-particle wave functions are localized across the array, the plasmons are delocalized, which affects the variable-range hopping. A perturbative analytical expression for the low-temperature resistance across the array is obtained for a particular choice of plasmon dispersion.

Hawking radiation as tunneling in Schwarzschild anti-de Sitter black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sefiedgar, A. S.; Ashrafinejad, A.

2017-08-01

The Hawking radiation from a (d+1) -dimensional Schwarzschild Anti-de Sitter (SAdS) black hole is investigated within rainbow gravity. Based on the method proposed by Kraus, Parikh and Wilczek, the Hawking radiation is considered as a tunneling process across the horizon. The emission rate of massless particles which are tunneling across the quantum-corrected horizon is calculated. Enforcing the energy conservation law leads to a dynamical geometry. Both the dynamical geometry and the quantum effects of space-time yield some corrections to the emission rate. The corrected radiation spectrum is not purely thermal. The emission rate is related to the changes of modified entropy in rainbow gravity and the corrected thermal spectrum may be consistent with an underlying unitary quantum theory. The correlations between emitted particles are also investigated in order to address the recovery of information.

Four-electron model for singlet and triplet excitation energy transfers with inclusion of coherence memory, inelastic tunneling and nuclear quantum effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Yosuke; Ebina, Kuniyoshi; Tanaka, Shigenori

2016-08-01

A computational scheme to describe the coherent dynamics of excitation energy transfer (EET) in molecular systems is proposed on the basis of generalized master equations with memory kernels. This formalism takes into account those physical effects in electron-bath coupling system such as the spin symmetry of excitons, the inelastic electron tunneling and the quantum features of nuclear motions, thus providing a theoretical framework to perform an ab initio description of EET through molecular simulations for evaluating the spectral density and the temporal correlation function of electronic coupling. Some test calculations have then been carried out to investigate the dependence of exciton population dynamics on coherence memory, inelastic tunneling correlation time, magnitude of electronic coupling, quantum correction to temporal correlation function, reorganization energy and energy gap.

Si/SiGe quadruple quantum dots with direct barrier gates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Daniel; Gamble, John; Foote, Ryan; Savage, Donald; Lagally, Max; Coppersmith, Susan; Eriksson, Mark

2014-03-01

We have fabricated a quadruple quantum dot in a Si/SiGe heterostructure with the aim of demonstrating a two-qubit quantum gate. This device makes use of direct barrier gates, in which individual gates are placed directly over the quantum dots and tunnel barriers. This design enables rational control of both energies and tunnel rates in coupled quantum dots. In this talk we discuss the design, fabrication, and initial characterization of the device. This work was supported in part by ARO (W911NF-12-0607), NSF (DMR-1206915), and the United States Department of Defense. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressly or implied, of the US Government.

Suppression of Magnetic Quantum Tunneling in a Chiral Single-Molecule Magnet by Ferromagnetic Interactions.

PubMed

Lippert, Kai-Alexander; Mukherjee, Chandan; Broschinski, Jan-Philipp; Lippert, Yvonne; Walleck, Stephan; Stammler, Anja; Bögge, Hartmut; Schnack, Jürgen; Glaser, Thorsten

2017-12-18

Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) retain a magnetization without applied magnetic field for a decent time due to an energy barrier U for spin-reversal. Despite the success to increase U, the difficult to control magnetic quantum tunneling often leads to a decreased effective barrier U eff and a fast relaxation. Here, we demonstrate the influence of the exchange coupling on the tunneling probability in two heptanuclear SMMs hosting the same spin-system with the same high spin ground state S t = 21/2. A chirality-induced symmetry reduction leads to a switch of the Mn III -Mn III exchange from antiferromagnetic in the achiral SMM [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ to ferromagnetic in the new chiral SMM RR [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ . Multispin Hamiltonian analysis by full-matrix diagonalization demonstrates that the ferromagnetic interactions in RR [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ enforce a well-defined S t = 21/2 ground state with substantially less mixing of M S substates in contrast to [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ and no tunneling pathways below the top of the energy barrier. This is experimentally verified as U eff is smaller than the calculated energy barrier U in [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ due to tunneling pathways, whereas U eff equals U in RR [Mn III 6 Cr III ] 3+ demonstrating the absence of quantum tunneling.

Physics and Technology of Resonant-Tunneling Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-01

Negative differential resistance, quantum-well inductance, suppressed shot noise, superlattice tunneling, Type-Il heterostructures, lattice...of these deviations is carried out in the accompanying manuscript of Appendix C. 3.1.3. Superlattice Resonant Tunneling In the 1970s, interest in...resonant-tunneling was driven by the desire to observe long-range coherent transport phenomena, such as Bloch oscillations in superlattice structures. In

Coulomb Mediated Hybridization of Excitons in Coupled Quantum Dots.

PubMed

Ardelt, P-L; Gawarecki, K; Müller, K; Waeber, A M; Bechtold, A; Oberhofer, K; Daniels, J M; Klotz, F; Bichler, M; Kuhn, T; Krenner, H J; Machnikowski, P; Finley, J J

2016-02-19

We report Coulomb mediated hybridization of excitonic states in optically active InGaAs quantum dot molecules. By probing the optical response of an individual quantum dot molecule as a function of the static electric field applied along the molecular axis, we observe unexpected avoided level crossings that do not arise from the dominant single-particle tunnel coupling. We identify a new few-particle coupling mechanism stemming from Coulomb interactions between different neutral exciton states. Such Coulomb resonances hybridize the exciton wave function over four different electron and hole single-particle orbitals. Comparisons of experimental observations with microscopic eight-band k·p calculations taking into account a realistic quantum dot geometry show good agreement and reveal that the Coulomb resonances arise from broken symmetry in the artificial semiconductor molecule.

Radiation of quantum black holes and modified uncertainty relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamali, A. D.; Pedram, P.

In this paper, using a deformed algebra [X,P] = iℏ/(1 ‑ λ2P2) which is originated from various theories of gravity, we study thermodynamical properties of quantum black holes (BHs) in canonical ensembles. We exactly calculate the modified internal energy, entropy and heat capacity. Moreover, we investigate a tunneling mechanism of massless particle in phase space. In this regard, the tunneling radiation of BH receives new corrections and the exact radiant spectrum is no longer precisely thermal. In addition, we show that our results are compatible with other quantum gravity (QG) approaches.

Interference effects on vibration-mediated tunneling through interacting degenerate molecular states.

PubMed

Zhong, X; Cao, J C

2009-07-22

We study the combined effects of quantum electronic interference and Coulomb interaction on electron transport through near-degenerate molecular states with strong electron-vibration interaction. It is found that quantum electronic interference strongly affects the current and its noise properties. In particular, destructive interference induces pronounced negative differential conductances (NDCs) accompanying the vibrational excited states, and such NDC characters are not related to asymmetric tunnel coupling and are robust to the damping of a thermal bath. In a certain transport regime, the non-equilibrium vibration distribution even shows a peculiar sub-Poissonian behavior, which is enhanced by quantum electronic interference.

Quantum tunneling of magnetization and related phenomena in molecular materials.

PubMed

Gatteschi, Dante; Sessoli, Roberta

2003-01-20

Molecules comprising a large number of coupled paramagnetic centers are attracting much interest because they may show properties which are intermediate between those of simple paramagnets and classical bulk magnets and provide unambiguous evidence of quantum size effects in magnets. To date, two cluster families, usually referred to as Mn12 and Fe8, have been used to test theories. However, it is reasonable to predict that other classes of molecules will be discovered which have similar or superior properties. To do this it is necessary that synthetic chemists have a good understanding of the correlation between the structure and properties of the molecules, for this it is necessary that concepts such as quantum tunneling, quantum coherence, quantum oscillations are understood. The goal of this article is to review the fundamental concepts needed to understand quantum size effects in molecular magnets and to critically report what has been done in the field to date.

Entangled trajectories Hamiltonian dynamics for treating quantum nuclear effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Brendan; Akimov, Alexey V.

2018-04-01

A simple and robust methodology, dubbed Entangled Trajectories Hamiltonian Dynamics (ETHD), is developed to capture quantum nuclear effects such as tunneling and zero-point energy through the coupling of multiple classical trajectories. The approach reformulates the classically mapped second-order Quantized Hamiltonian Dynamics (QHD-2) in terms of coupled classical trajectories. The method partially enforces the uncertainty principle and facilitates tunneling. The applicability of the method is demonstrated by studying the dynamics in symmetric double well and cubic metastable state potentials. The methodology is validated using exact quantum simulations and is compared to QHD-2. We illustrate its relationship to the rigorous Bohmian quantum potential approach, from which ETHD can be derived. Our simulations show a remarkable agreement of the ETHD calculation with the quantum results, suggesting that ETHD may be a simple and inexpensive way of including quantum nuclear effects in molecular dynamics simulations.

Tunneling probe of fluctuating superconductivity in disordered thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dentelski, David; Frydman, Aviad; Shimshoni, Efrat; Dalla Torre, Emanuele G.

2018-03-01

Disordered thin films close to the superconductor-insulator phase transition (SIT) hold the key to understanding quantum phase transition in strongly correlated materials. The SIT is governed by superconducting quantum fluctuations, which can be revealed, for example, by tunneling measurements. These experiments detect a spectral gap, accompanied by suppressed coherence peaks, on both sides of the transition. Here we describe the insulating side in terms of a fluctuating superconducting field with finite-range correlations. We perform a controlled diagrammatic resummation and derive analytic expressions for the tunneling differential conductance. We find that short-range superconducting fluctuations suppress the coherence peaks even in the presence of long-range correlations. Our approach offers a quantitative description of existing measurements on disordered thin films and accounts for tunneling spectra with suppressed coherence peaks.

Active mode-locking of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers with short gain recovery time.

PubMed

Wang, Yongrui; Belyanin, Alexey

2015-02-23

We investigate the dynamics of actively modulated mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) using space- and time-domain simulations of coupled density matrix and Maxwell equations with resonant tunneling current taken into account. We show that it is possible to achieve active mode locking and stable generation of picosecond pulses in high performance QCLs with a vertical laser transition and a short gain recovery time by bias modulation of a short section of a monolithic Fabry-Perot cavity. In fact, active mode locking in QCLs with a short gain recovery time turns out to be more robust to the variation of parameters as compared to previously studied lasers with a long gain recovery time. We investigate the effects of spatial hole burning and phase locking on the laser output.

Atomistic analysis of valley-orbit hybrid states and inter-dot tunnel rates in a Si double quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferdous, Rifat; Rahman, Rajib; Klimeck, Gerhard

2014-03-01

Silicon quantum dots are promising candidates for solid-state quantum computing due to the long spin coherence times in silicon, arising from small spin-orbit interaction and a nearly spin free host lattice. However, the conduction band valley degeneracy adds an additional degree of freedom to the electronic structure, complicating the encoding and operation of qubits. Although the valley and the orbital indices can be uniquely identified in an ideal silicon quantum dot, atomic-scale disorder mixes valley and orbital states in realistic dots. Such valley-orbit hybridization, strongly influences the inter-dot tunnel rates.Using a full-band atomistic tight-binding method, we analyze the effect of atomic-scale interface disorder in a silicon double quantum dot. Fourier transform of the tight-binding wavefunctions helps to analyze the effect of disorder on valley-orbit hybridization. We also calculate and compare inter-dot inter-valley and intra-valley tunneling, in the presence of realistic disorder, such as interface tilt, surface roughness, alloy disorder, and interface charges. The method provides a useful way to compute electronic states in realistically disordered systems without any posteriori fitting parameters.

Quantum tunneling observed without its characteristic large kinetic isotope effects.

PubMed

Hama, Tetsuya; Ueta, Hirokazu; Kouchi, Akira; Watanabe, Naoki

2015-06-16

Classical transition-state theory is fundamental to describing chemical kinetics; however, quantum tunneling is also important in explaining the unexpectedly large reaction efficiencies observed in many chemical systems. Tunneling is often indicated by anomalously large kinetic isotope effects (KIEs), because a particle's ability to tunnel decreases significantly with its increasing mass. Here we experimentally demonstrate that cold hydrogen (H) and deuterium (D) atoms can add to solid benzene by tunneling; however, the observed H/D KIE was very small (1-1.5) despite the large intrinsic H/D KIE of tunneling (≳ 100). This strong reduction is due to the chemical kinetics being controlled not by tunneling but by the surface diffusion of the H/D atoms, a process not greatly affected by the isotope type. Because tunneling need not be accompanied by a large KIE in surface and interfacial chemical systems, it might be overlooked in other systems such as aerosols or enzymes. Our results suggest that surface tunneling reactions on interstellar dust may contribute to the deuteration of interstellar aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, which could represent a major source of the deuterium enrichment observed in carbonaceous meteorites and interplanetary dust particles. These findings could improve our understanding of interstellar physicochemical processes, including those during the formation of the solar system.

Quantum tunneling observed without its characteristic large kinetic isotope effects

PubMed Central

Hama, Tetsuya; Ueta, Hirokazu; Kouchi, Akira; Watanabe, Naoki

2015-01-01

Classical transition-state theory is fundamental to describing chemical kinetics; however, quantum tunneling is also important in explaining the unexpectedly large reaction efficiencies observed in many chemical systems. Tunneling is often indicated by anomalously large kinetic isotope effects (KIEs), because a particle’s ability to tunnel decreases significantly with its increasing mass. Here we experimentally demonstrate that cold hydrogen (H) and deuterium (D) atoms can add to solid benzene by tunneling; however, the observed H/D KIE was very small (1–1.5) despite the large intrinsic H/D KIE of tunneling (≳100). This strong reduction is due to the chemical kinetics being controlled not by tunneling but by the surface diffusion of the H/D atoms, a process not greatly affected by the isotope type. Because tunneling need not be accompanied by a large KIE in surface and interfacial chemical systems, it might be overlooked in other systems such as aerosols or enzymes. Our results suggest that surface tunneling reactions on interstellar dust may contribute to the deuteration of interstellar aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, which could represent a major source of the deuterium enrichment observed in carbonaceous meteorites and interplanetary dust particles. These findings could improve our understanding of interstellar physicochemical processes, including those during the formation of the solar system. PMID:26034285

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Illera, S., E-mail: sillera@el.ub.edu; Prades, J. D.; Cirera, A.

The role of different charge transport mechanisms in Si/SiO{sub 2} structures has been studied. A theoretical model based on the Transfer Hamiltonian Formalism has been developed to explain experimental current trends in terms of three different elastic tunneling processes: (1) trap assisted tunneling; (2) transport through an intermediate quantum dot; and (3) direct tunneling between leads. In general, at low fields carrier transport is dominated by the quantum dots whereas, for moderate and high fields, transport through deep traps inherent to the SiO{sub 2} is the most relevant process. Besides, current trends in Si/SiO{sub 2} superlattice structure have been properlymore » reproduced.« less

Tunneling in hydrogen and deuterium atom addition to CO at low temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andersson, Stefan; Goumans, T. P. M.; Arnaldsson, Andri

2011-09-01

The hydrogen and deuterium atom addition reactions of CO to form HCO and DCO are addressed by Harmonic Quantum Transition State Theory calculations. Special attention is paid to the reactions at very low temperatures (5-20 K) where it is found that quantum tunneling leads to substantial rates of reaction. This supports experiments in the solid phase, which conclude that these reactions are driven by tunneling at low temperatures. The calculated kinetic isotope effect of kD/ kH = 1/250 is found to be lower than the experimentally deduced value of 0.08 for the surface reaction. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are discussed.

Quantum Physics in School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, I.

1996-01-01

Discusses a teaching strategy for introducing quantum ideas into the school classroom using modern devices. Develops the concepts of quantization, wave-particle duality, nonlocality, and tunneling. (JRH)

The effect of crystal size on tunneling phenomena in luminescent nanodosimetric materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagonis, Vasilis; Bernier, Shannon; Vieira, Francisco Marques dos Santos; Steele, Shane

2017-12-01

The study of luminescence signals from nanodosimetric materials is an active research area, due to the many possible practical applications of such materials. In several of these materials it has been shown that quantum tunneling is a dominant mechanism for recombination processes associated with luminescence phenomena. This paper examines the effect of crystal size on quantum tunneling phenomena in nanocrystals, based on the assumption of a random distribution of electrons and positive ions. The behavior of such random distributions is determined by three characteristic lengths: the radius of the crystal R, the tunneling length a, and the initial average distance 〈d〉 between electrons and positive ions (which is directly related to the density of charges in the material). Two different cases are examined, depending on the relative concentrations of electrons and ions. In the first case the concentration of electrons is assumed to be much smaller than the concentration of positive ions. Examination of a previously derived analytical equation demonstrates two different types of crystal size effects. When the tunneling length a is much smaller than both R and 〈d〉, the analytical equations show that smaller crystals exhibit a faster tunneling recombination rate. However, when the tunneling length a is of the same order of magnitude as both R and 〈d〉, the opposite effect is observed, with smaller crystals exhibiting a slower tunneling recombination rate. As the crystal size increases, the rate of tunneling in both cases reaches the limit expected for bulk materials. In the second case we examine the situation where the concentrations of electrons and positive ions are equal at all times. In this situation there is no analytical equation available to describe the process, and the crystal size effects are simulated by using Monte Carlo (MC) techniques. The two opposite behaviors as a function of the crystal size are also observed in these MC simulations. The effect of sample temperature is also studied by extending the MC simulations to include thermal characteristics of the defects. The relevance of the simulated results for luminescence dosimetry is discussed.

Quantum I/f noise in infrared detectors and scanning tunneling microscopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truong, Amanda Marie

Noise is, by definition, any random and persistent disturbance, which interferes with the clarity of a signal. Modern electronic devices are designed to limit noise, and in most cases the classical forms of noise have been eliminated or greatly reduced through careful design. However, there is a fundamental, quite unavoidable type of noise, called quantum l/f noise, which occurs at low frequencies and is a fundamental consequence of the discrete nature of the charge carriers themselves. This quantum l/f noise is present in any physical cross section or process rate, such as carrier mobility, diffusion rates and scattering processes. Although quantum l/f noise has been observed for nearly a century, there has been much debate over its origin and formulation. But as modern electronic devices require greater levels of performance and detection, the l/f noise phenomenon has moved to the forefront, becoming the subject of intense research. Here, for the first time, the quantum l/f fluctuations present in both the dark current of the Quantum Well Intersubband Photodetector and the tunneling current of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope are investigated. Using the quantum l/f theory, the quantum l/f noise occurring in each of these devices is formulated. The theoretical noise results are then compared with the experimental findings of various authors with very good agreement. This important work provides a foundation for understanding quantum l/f noise and its causes in the QWIP and STM devices, and could ultimately lead to improved technology and noise reduction in these devices and others.

The Nanoelectric Modeling Tool (NEMO) and Its Expansion to High Performance Parallel Computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimeck, G.; Bowen, C.; Boykin, T.; Oyafuso, F.; Salazar-Lazaro, C.; Stoica, A.; Cwik, T.

1998-01-01

Material variations on an atomic scale enable the quantum mechanical functionality of devices such as resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs), quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), quantum well lasers, and heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs).

How an interacting many-body system tunnels through a potential barrier to open space

PubMed Central

Lode, Axel U.J.; Streltsov, Alexej I.; Sakmann, Kaspar; Alon, Ofir E.; Cederbaum, Lorenz S.

2012-01-01

The tunneling process in a many-body system is a phenomenon which lies at the very heart of quantum mechanics. It appears in nature in the form of α-decay, fusion and fission in nuclear physics, and photoassociation and photodissociation in biology and chemistry. A detailed theoretical description of the decay process in these systems is a very cumbersome problem, either because of very complicated or even unknown interparticle interactions or due to a large number of constituent particles. In this work, we theoretically study the phenomenon of quantum many-body tunneling in a transparent and controllable physical system, an ultracold atomic gas. We analyze a full, numerically exact many-body solution of the Schrödinger equation of a one-dimensional system with repulsive interactions tunneling to open space. We show how the emitted particles dissociate or fragment from the trapped and coherent source of bosons: The overall many-particle decay process is a quantum interference of single-particle tunneling processes emerging from sources with different particle numbers taking place simultaneously. The close relation to atom lasers and ionization processes allows us to unveil the great relevance of many-body correlations between the emitted and trapped fractions of the wave function in the respective processes. PMID:22869703

Direct nanoscale imaging of evolving electric field domains in quantum structures.

PubMed

Dhar, Rudra Sankar; Razavipour, Seyed Ghasem; Dupont, Emmanuel; Xu, Chao; Laframboise, Sylvain; Wasilewski, Zbig; Hu, Qing; Ban, Dayan

2014-11-28

The external performance of quantum optoelectronic devices is governed by the spatial profiles of electrons and potentials within the active regions of these devices. For example, in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), the electric field domain (EFD) hypothesis posits that the potential distribution might be simultaneously spatially nonuniform and temporally unstable. Unfortunately, there exists no prior means of probing the inner potential profile directly. Here we report the nanoscale measured electric potential distribution inside operating QCLs by using scanning voltage microscopy at a cryogenic temperature. We prove that, per the EFD hypothesis, the multi-quantum-well active region is indeed divided into multiple sections having distinctly different electric fields. The electric field across these serially-stacked quantum cascade modules does not continuously increase in proportion to gradual increases in the applied device bias, but rather hops between discrete values that are related to tunneling resonances. We also report the evolution of EFDs, finding that an incremental change in device bias leads to a hopping-style shift in the EFD boundary--the higher electric field domain expands at least one module each step at the expense of the lower field domain within the active region.

Direct Nanoscale Imaging of Evolving Electric Field Domains in Quantum Structures

PubMed Central

Dhar, Rudra Sankar; Razavipour, Seyed Ghasem; Dupont, Emmanuel; Xu, Chao; Laframboise, Sylvain; Wasilewski, Zbig; Hu, Qing; Ban, Dayan

2014-01-01

The external performance of quantum optoelectronic devices is governed by the spatial profiles of electrons and potentials within the active regions of these devices. For example, in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), the electric field domain (EFD) hypothesis posits that the potential distribution might be simultaneously spatially nonuniform and temporally unstable. Unfortunately, there exists no prior means of probing the inner potential profile directly. Here we report the nanoscale measured electric potential distribution inside operating QCLs by using scanning voltage microscopy at a cryogenic temperature. We prove that, per the EFD hypothesis, the multi-quantum-well active region is indeed divided into multiple sections having distinctly different electric fields. The electric field across these serially-stacked quantum cascade modules does not continuously increase in proportion to gradual increases in the applied device bias, but rather hops between discrete values that are related to tunneling resonances. We also report the evolution of EFDs, finding that an incremental change in device bias leads to a hopping-style shift in the EFD boundary – the higher electric field domain expands at least one module each step at the expense of the lower field domain within the active region. PMID:25431158

Direct Nanoscale Imaging of Evolving Electric Field Domains in Quantum Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhar, Rudra Sankar; Razavipour, Seyed Ghasem; Dupont, Emmanuel; Xu, Chao; Laframboise, Sylvain; Wasilewski, Zbig; Hu, Qing; Ban, Dayan

2014-11-01

The external performance of quantum optoelectronic devices is governed by the spatial profiles of electrons and potentials within the active regions of these devices. For example, in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), the electric field domain (EFD) hypothesis posits that the potential distribution might be simultaneously spatially nonuniform and temporally unstable. Unfortunately, there exists no prior means of probing the inner potential profile directly. Here we report the nanoscale measured electric potential distribution inside operating QCLs by using scanning voltage microscopy at a cryogenic temperature. We prove that, per the EFD hypothesis, the multi-quantum-well active region is indeed divided into multiple sections having distinctly different electric fields. The electric field across these serially-stacked quantum cascade modules does not continuously increase in proportion to gradual increases in the applied device bias, but rather hops between discrete values that are related to tunneling resonances. We also report the evolution of EFDs, finding that an incremental change in device bias leads to a hopping-style shift in the EFD boundary - the higher electric field domain expands at least one module each step at the expense of the lower field domain within the active region.

Self-sustained magnetoelectric oscillations in magnetic resonant tunneling structures.

PubMed

Ertler, Christian; Fabian, Jaroslav

2008-08-15

The dynamic interplay of transport, electrostatic, and magnetic effects in the resonant tunneling through ferromagnetic quantum wells is theoretically investigated. It is shown that the carrier-mediated magnetic order in the ferromagnetic region not only induces, but also takes part in intrinsic, robust, and sustainable high-frequency current oscillations over a large window of nominally steady bias voltages. This phenomenon could spawn a new class of quantum electronic devices based on ferromagnetic semiconductors.

Quantum tunneling of electron snake states in an inhomogeneous magnetic field.

PubMed

Hoodbhoy, Pervez

2018-05-10

In a two dimensional free electron gas subjected to a perpendicular spatially varying magnetic field, the classical paths of electrons are snake-like trajectories that weave along the line where the field crosses zero. But quantum mechanically this system is described by a symmetric double well potential which, for low excitations, leads to very different electron behavior. We compute the spectrum, as well as the wavefunctions, for states of definite parity in the limit of nearly degenerate states, i.e. for electrons sufficiently far from the B z   =  0 line. Transitions between the states are shown to give rise to a tunneling current. If the well is made asymmetrical by a time-dependent parity breaking perturbation then Rabi-like oscillations between parity states occur. Resonances can be excited and used to stimulate the transfer of electrons from one side of the potential barrier to the other through quantum tunneling.

Magnetotunneling spectroscopy of dilute Ga(AsN) quantum wells.

PubMed

Endicott, J; Patanè, A; Ibáñez, J; Eaves, L; Bissiri, M; Hopkinson, M; Airey, R; Hill, G

2003-09-19

We use magnetotunneling spectroscopy to explore the admixing of the extended GaAs conduction band states with the localized N-impurity states in dilute GaAs(1-y)N(y) quantum wells. In our resonant tunneling diodes, electrons can tunnel into the N-induced E- and E+ subbands in a GaAs(1-y)N(y) quantum well layer, leading to resonant peaks in the current-voltage characteristics. By varying the magnetic field applied perpendicular to the current direction, we can tune an electron to tunnel into a given k state of the well; since the applied voltage tunes the energy, we can map out the form of the energy-momentum dispersion curves of E- and E+. The data reveal that for a small N content (approximately 0.1%) the E- and E+ subbands are highly nonparabolic and that the heavy effective mass E+ states have a significant Gamma-conduction band character even at k=0.

Quantum tunneling of electron snake states in an inhomogeneous magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoodbhoy, Pervez

2018-05-01

In a two dimensional free electron gas subjected to a perpendicular spatially varying magnetic field, the classical paths of electrons are snake-like trajectories that weave along the line where the field crosses zero. But quantum mechanically this system is described by a symmetric double well potential which, for low excitations, leads to very different electron behavior. We compute the spectrum, as well as the wavefunctions, for states of definite parity in the limit of nearly degenerate states, i.e. for electrons sufficiently far from the B z   =  0 line. Transitions between the states are shown to give rise to a tunneling current. If the well is made asymmetrical by a time-dependent parity breaking perturbation then Rabi-like oscillations between parity states occur. Resonances can be excited and used to stimulate the transfer of electrons from one side of the potential barrier to the other through quantum tunneling.

Negative differential conductance in InAs wire based double quantum dot induced by a charged AFM tip

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhukov, A. A., E-mail: azhukov@issp.ac.ru; Volk, Ch.; Winden, A.

We investigate the conductance of an InAs nanowire in the nonlinear regime in the case of low electron density where the wire is split into quantum dots connected in series. The negative differential conductance in the wire is initiated by means of a charged atomic force microscope tip adjusting the transparency of the tunneling barrier between two adjoining quantum dots. We confirm that the negative differential conductance arises due to the resonant tunneling between these two adjoining quantum dots. The influence of the transparency of the blocking barriers and the relative position of energy states in the adjoining dots onmore » a decrease of the negative differential conductance is investigated in detail.« less

Determination of the transmission coefficients for quantum structures using FDTD method.

PubMed

Peng, Yangyang; Wang, Xiaoying; Sui, Wenquan

2011-12-01

The purpose of this work is to develop a simple method to incorporate quantum effect in traditional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulators. Witch could make it possible to co-simulate systems include quantum structures and traditional components. In this paper, tunneling transmission coefficient is calculated by solving time-domain Schrödinger equation with a developed FDTD technique, called FDTD-S method. To validate the feasibility of the method, a simple resonant tunneling diode (RTD) structure model has been simulated using the proposed method. The good agreement between the numerical and analytical results proves its accuracy. The effectness and accuracy of this approach makes it a potential method for analysis and design of hybrid systems includes quantum structures and traditional components.

High Density Memory Based on Quantum Device Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

vanderWagt, Paul; Frazier, Gary; Tang, Hao

1995-01-01

We explore the feasibility of ultra-high density memory based on quantum devices. Starting from overall constraints on chip area, power consumption, access speed, and noise margin, we deduce boundaries on single cell parameters such as required operating voltage and standby current. Next, the possible role of quantum devices is examined. Since the most mature quantum device, the resonant tunneling diode (RTD) can easily be integrated vertically, it naturally leads to the issue of 3D integrated memory. We propose a novel method of addressing vertically integrated bistable two-terminal devices, such as resonant tunneling diodes (RTD) and Esaki diodes, that avoids individual physical contacts. The new concept has been demonstrated experimentally in memory cells of field effect transistors (FET's) and stacked RTD's.

Observation of room temperature negative differential resistance in multi-layer heterostructures of quantum dots and conducting polymers.

PubMed

Kannan, V; Kim, M R; Chae, Y S; Ramana, Ch V V; Rhee, J K

2011-01-14

Multi-layer heterostructure negative differential resistance devices based on poly-[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) conducting polymer and CdSe quantum dots is reported. The conducting polymer MEH-PPV acts as a barrier while CdSe quantum dots form the well layer. The devices exhibit negative differential resistance (NDR) at low voltages. For these devices, strong negative differential resistance is observed at room temperature. A maximum value of 51 for the peak-to-valley ratio of current is reported. Tunneling of electrons through the discrete quantum confined states in the CdSe quantum dots is believed to be responsible for the multiple peaks observed in the I-V measurement. Depending on the observed NDR signature, operating mechanisms are explored based on resonant tunneling and Coulomb blockade effects.

Low frequency critical current noise and two level system defects in Josephson junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugroho, Christopher Daniel

The critical current in a Josephson junction is known to exhibit a 1/falpha low frequency noise. Implemented as a superconducting qubit, this low frequency noise can lead to decoherence. While the 1/f noise has been known to arise from an ensemble of two level systems connected to the tunnel barrier, the precise microscopic nature of these TLSs remain a mystery. In this thesis we will present measurements of the 1/f alpha low frequency noise in the critical current and tunneling resistance of Al-AlOx-Al Josephson junctions. Measurements in a wide range of resistively shunted and unshunted junctions confirm the equality of critical current and tunneling resistance noise. That is the critical current fluctuation corresponds to fluctuations of the tunneling resistance. In not too small Al-AlOx-Al junctions we have found that the fractional power spectral density scales linearly with temperature. We confirmed that the 1/falpha power spectrum is the result of a large number of two level systems modulating the tunneling resistance. At small junction areas and low temperatures, the number of thermally active TLSs is insufficient to integrate out a featureless 1/ f spectral shape. By analyzing the spectral variance in small junction areas, we have been able to deduce the TLS defect density, n ≈ 2.53 per micrometer squared per Kelvin spread in the TLS energy per factor e in the TLS lifetimes. This density is consistent with the density of tunneling TLSs found in glassy insulators, as well as the density deduced from coherent TLSs interacting at qubit frequencies. The deduced TLS density combined with the magnitude of the 1/f power spectral density in large area junctions, gives an average TLS effective area, A ˜ 0.3 nanometer squared. In ultra small tunnel junctions, we have studied the time-domain dynamics of isolated TLSs. We have found a TLS whose dynamics is described by the quantum tunneling between the two localized wells, and a one-phonon absorption/emission switching rate. From the quantum limiting rate and the WKB approximation, we estimated that the TLS has a mass and tunneling distance product consistent with an atomic mass tunneling through crystal lattice distances. At higher temperatures TLSs have been found that obey a simple thermal activation dynamics. By analyzing the TLS response to an external electric field, we have deduced that the TLS electric dipole is in the order of, P ˜ 1 electron-Angstrom, consistent with the TLS having the charge of one electron tunneling through a disorder potential of distances, d ˜ 1 Angstrom.

Resilience of the quantum Rabi model in circuit QED

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

E Manucharyan, Vladimir; Baksic, Alexandre; Ciuti, Cristiano

2017-07-01

In circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit QED), an artificial ‘circuit atom’ can couple to a quantized microwave radiation much stronger than its real atomic counterpart. The celebrated quantum Rabi model describes the simplest interaction of a two-level system with a single-mode boson field. When the coupling is large enough, the bare multilevel structure of a realistic circuit atom cannot be ignored even if the circuit is strongly anharmonic. We explored this situation theoretically for flux (fluxonium) and charge (Cooper pair box) type multi-level circuits tuned to their respective flux/charge degeneracy points. We identified which spectral features of the quantum Rabi model survive and which are renormalized for large coupling. Despite significant renormalization of the low-energy spectrum in the fluxonium case, the key quantum Rabi feature—nearly-degenerate vacuum consisting of an atomic state entangled with a multi-photon field—appears in both types of circuits when the coupling is sufficiently large. Like in the quantum Rabi model, for very large couplings the entanglement spectrum is dominated by only two, nearly equal eigenvalues, in spite of the fact that a large number of bare atomic states are actually involved in the atom-resonator ground state. We interpret the emergence of the two-fold degeneracy of the vacuum of both circuits as an environmental suppression of flux/charge tunneling due to their dressing by virtual low-/high-impedance photons in the resonator. For flux tunneling, the dressing is nothing else than the shunting of a Josephson atom with a large capacitance of the resonator. Suppression of charge tunneling is a manifestation of the dynamical Coulomb blockade of transport in tunnel junctions connected to resistive leads.

Many-body exciton states in self-assembled quantum dots coupled to a Fermi sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleemans, N. A. J. M.; van Bree, J.; Govorov, A. O.; Keizer, J. G.; Hamhuis, G. J.; Nötzel, R.; Silov, A. Yu.; Koenraad, P. M.

2010-07-01

Many-body interactions give rise to fascinating physics such as the X-ray Fermi-edge singularity in metals, the Kondo effect in the resistance of metals with magnetic impurities and the fractional quantum Hall effect. Here we report the observation of striking many-body effects in the optical spectra of a semiconductor quantum dot interacting with a degenerate electron gas. A semiconductor quantum dot is an artificial atom, the properties of which can be controlled by means of a tunnel coupling between a metallic contact and the quantum dot. Previous studies concern mostly the regime of weak tunnel coupling, whereas here we investigate the regime of strong coupling, which markedly modifies the optical spectra. In particular we observe two many-body exciton states: Mahan and hybrid excitons. These experimental results open the route towards the observation of a tunable Kondo effect in excited states of semiconductors and are of importance for the technological implementation of quantum dots in devices for quantum information processing.

Quantum Tunneling of Magnetization in Ultrasmall Half-Metallic V3O4 Quantum Dots: Displaying Quantum Superparamagnetic State

PubMed Central

Xiao, Chong; Zhang, Jiajia; Xu, Jie; Tong, Wei; Cao, Boxiao; Li, Kun; Pan, Bicai; Su, Haibin; Xie, Yi

2012-01-01

Quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTMs), stemming from their importance for understanding materials with unconventional properties, has continued to attract widespread theoretical and experimental attention. However, the observation of QTMs in the most promising candidates of molecular magnets and few iron-based compounds is limited to very low temperature. Herein, we first highlight a simple system, ultrasmall half-metallic V3O4 quantum dots, as a promising candidate for the investigation of QTMs at high temperature. The quantum superparamagnetic state (QSP) as a high temperature signature of QTMs is observed at 16 K, which is beyond absolute zero temperature and much higher than that of conventional iron-based compounds due to the stronger spin-orbital coupling of V3+ ions bringing high anisotropy energy. It is undoubtedly that this ultrasmall quantum dots, V3O4, offers not only a promising candidate for theoretical understanding of QTMs but also a very exciting possibility for computers using mesoscopic magnets. PMID:23091695

Integrating Condensed Matter Physics into a Liberal Arts Physics Curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collett, Jeffrey

2008-03-01

The emergence of nanoscale science into the popular consciousness presents an opportunity to attract and retain future condensed matter scientists. We inject nanoscale physics into recruiting activities and into the introductory and the core portions of the curriculum. Laboratory involvement and research opportunity play important roles in maintaining student engagement. We use inexpensive scanning tunneling (STM) and atomic force (AFM) microscopes to introduce students to nanoscale structure early in their college careers. Although the physics of tip-surface interactions is sophisticated, the resulting images can be interpreted intuitively. We use the STM in introductory modern physics to explore quantum tunneling and the properties of electrons at surfaces. An interdisciplinary course in nanoscience and nanotechnology course team-taught with chemists looks at nanoscale phenomena in physics, chemistry, and biology. Core quantum and statistical physics courses look at effects of quantum mechanics and quantum statistics in degenerate systems. An upper level solid-state physics course takes up traditional condensed matter topics from a structural perspective by beginning with a study of both elastic and inelastic scattering of x-rays from crystalline solids and liquid crystals. Students encounter reciprocal space concepts through the analysis of laboratory scattering data and by the development of the scattering theory. The course then examines the importance of scattering processes in band structure and in electrical and thermal conduction. A segment of the course is devoted to surface physics and nanostructures where we explore the effects of restricting particles to two-dimensional surfaces, one-dimensional wires, and zero-dimensional quantum dots.

Thermal decay of Coulomb blockade oscillations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idrisov, Edvin G.; Levkivskyi, Ivan P.; Sukhorukov, Eugene V.

2017-10-01

We study transport properties and the charge quantization phenomenon in a small metallic island connected to the leads through two quantum point contacts (QPCs). The linear conductance is calculated perturbatively with respect to weak tunneling and weak backscattering at QPCs as a function of the temperature T and gate voltage. The conductance shows Coulomb blockade (CB) oscillations as a function of the gate voltage that decay with the temperature as a result of thermally activated fluctuations of the charge in the island. The regimes of quantum T ≪EC and thermal T ≫EC fluctuations are considered, where EC is the charging energy of an isolated island. Our predictions for CB oscillations in the quantum regime coincide with previous findings by Furusaki and Matveev [Phys. Rev. B 52, 16676 (1995), 10.1103/PhysRevB.52.16676]. In the thermal regime the visibility of Coulomb blockade oscillations decays with the temperature as √{T /EC }exp(-π2T /EC) , where the exponential dependence originates from the thermal averaging over the instant charge fluctuations, while the prefactor has a quantum origin. This dependence does not depend on the strength of couplings to the leads. The differential capacitance, calculated in the case of a single tunnel junction, shows the same exponential decay, however the prefactor is linear in the temperature. This difference can be attributed to the nonlocality of the quantum effects. Our results agree with the recent experiment [Nature (London) 536, 58 (2016), 10.1038/nature19072] in the whole range of the parameter T /EC .

Tunneling conductance in superconductor-hybrid double quantum dots Josephson junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chamoli, Tanuj; Ajay

2018-05-01

The present work deals with the theoretical model study to analyse the tunneling conductance across a superconductor hybrid double quantum dots tunnel junction (S-DQD-S). Recently, there are many experimental works where the Josephson current across such nanoscopic junction is found to be dependent on nature of the superconducting electrodes, coupling of the hybrid double quantum dot's electronic states with the electronic states of the superconductors and nature of electronic structure of the coupled dots. For this, we have attempted a theoretical model containing contributions of BCS superconducting leads, magnetic coupled quantum dot states and coupling of superconducting leads with QDs. In order to include magnetic coupled QDs the contributions of competitive Kondo and Ruderman-Kittel- Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction terms are also introduced through many body effects in the model Hamiltonian at low temperatures (where Kondo temperature TK < superconducting transition temperature TC). Employing non-equilibrium Green's function approach within mean field approximation, we have obtained expressions for density of states (DOS) and analysed the same using numerical computation to underline the nature of DOS close to Fermi level in S-DQD-S junctions. On the basis of numerical computation, it is pointed out that indirect exchange interaction between impurities (QD) i.e. RKKY interaction suppresses the screening of magnetic QD due to Cooper pair electrons i.e. Kondo effect in the form of reduction in the magnitude of sharp DOS peak close to Fermi level which is in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations in such tunnel junctions. Tunneling conductance is proportional to DOS, hence we can analyse it's behaviour with the help of DOS.

Protein dynamics promote hydride tunnelling in substrate oxidation by aryl-alcohol oxidase.

PubMed

Carro, Juan; Martínez-Júlvez, Marta; Medina, Milagros; Martínez, Angel T; Ferreira, Patricia

2017-11-01

The temperature dependence of hydride transfer from the substrate to the N5 of the FAD cofactor during the reductive half-reaction of Pleurotus eryngii aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO) is assessed here. Kinetic isotope effects on both the pre-steady state reduction of the enzyme and its steady-state kinetics, with differently deuterated substrates, suggest an environmentally-coupled quantum-mechanical tunnelling process. Moreover, those kinetic data, along with the crystallographic structure of the enzyme in complex with a substrate analogue, indicate that AAO shows a pre-organized active site that would only require the approaching of the hydride donor and acceptor for the tunnelled transfer to take place. Modification of the enzyme's active-site architecture by replacement of Tyr92, a residue establishing hydrophobic interactions with the substrate analogue in the crystal structure, in the Y92F, Y92L and Y92W variants resulted in different temperature dependence patterns that indicated a role of this residue in modulating the transfer reaction.

Energy-filtered cold electron transport at room temperature

PubMed Central

Bhadrachalam, Pradeep; Subramanian, Ramkumar; Ray, Vishva; Ma, Liang-Chieh; Wang, Weichao; Kim, Jiyoung; Cho, Kyeongjae; Koh, Seong Jin

2014-01-01

Fermi-Dirac electron thermal excitation is an intrinsic phenomenon that limits functionality of various electron systems. Efforts to manipulate electron thermal excitation have been successful when the entire system is cooled to cryogenic temperatures, typically <1 K. Here we show that electron thermal excitation can be effectively suppressed at room temperature, and energy-suppressed electrons, whose energy distribution corresponds to an effective electron temperature of ~45 K, can be transported throughout device components without external cooling. This is accomplished using a discrete level of a quantum well, which filters out thermally excited electrons and permits only energy-suppressed electrons to participate in electron transport. The quantum well (~2 nm of Cr2O3) is formed between source (Cr) and tunnelling barrier (SiO2) in a double-barrier-tunnelling-junction structure having a quantum dot as the central island. Cold electron transport is detected from extremely narrow differential conductance peaks in electron tunnelling through CdSe quantum dots, with full widths at half maximum of only ~15 mV at room temperature. PMID:25204839

Experimental demonstration of single electron transistors featuring SiO{sub 2} plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition in Ni-SiO{sub 2}-Ni tunnel junctions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Karbasian, Golnaz, E-mail: Golnaz.Karbasian.1@nd.edu; McConnell, Michael S.; Orlov, Alexei O.

The authors report the use of plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) to fabricate single-electron transistors (SETs) featuring ultrathin (≈1 nm) tunnel-transparent SiO{sub 2} in Ni-SiO{sub 2}-Ni tunnel junctions. They show that, as a result of the O{sub 2} plasma steps in PEALD of SiO{sub 2}, the top surface of the underlying Ni electrode is oxidized. Additionally, the bottom surface of the upper Ni layer is also oxidized where it is in contact with the deposited SiO{sub 2}, most likely as a result of oxygen-containing species on the surface of the SiO{sub 2}. Due to the presence of these surface parasitic layersmore » of NiO, which exhibit features typical of thermally activated transport, the resistance of Ni-SiO{sub 2}-Ni tunnel junctions is drastically increased. Moreover, the transport mechanism is changed from quantum tunneling through the dielectric barrier to one consistent with thermally activated resistors in series with tunnel junctions. The reduction of NiO to Ni is therefore required to restore the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure of the junctions. Rapid thermal annealing in a forming gas ambient at elevated temperatures is presented as a technique to reduce both parasitic oxide layers. This method is of great interest for devices that rely on MIM tunnel junctions with ultrathin barriers. Using this technique, the authors successfully fabricated MIM SETs with minimal trace of parasitic NiO component. They demonstrate that the properties of the tunnel barrier in nanoscale tunnel junctions (with <10{sup −15} m{sup 2} in area) can be evaluated by electrical characterization of SETs.« less

The ground state tunneling splitting and the zero point energy of malonaldehyde: a quantum Monte Carlo determination.

PubMed

Viel, Alexandra; Coutinho-Neto, Maurício D; Manthe, Uwe

2007-01-14

Quantum dynamics calculations of the ground state tunneling splitting and of the zero point energy of malonaldehyde on the full dimensional potential energy surface proposed by Yagi et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 1154, 10647 (2001)] are reported. The exact diffusion Monte Carlo and the projection operator imaginary time spectral evolution methods are used to compute accurate benchmark results for this 21-dimensional ab initio potential energy surface. A tunneling splitting of 25.7+/-0.3 cm-1 is obtained, and the vibrational ground state energy is found to be 15 122+/-4 cm-1. Isotopic substitution of the tunneling hydrogen modifies the tunneling splitting down to 3.21+/-0.09 cm-1 and the vibrational ground state energy to 14 385+/-2 cm-1. The computed tunneling splittings are slightly higher than the experimental values as expected from the potential energy surface which slightly underestimates the barrier height, and they are slightly lower than the results from the instanton theory obtained using the same potential energy surface.

Electronic-Reconstruction-Enhanced Tunneling Conductance at Terrace Edges of Ultrathin Oxide Films.

PubMed

Wang, Lingfei; Kim, Rokyeon; Kim, Yoonkoo; Kim, Choong H; Hwang, Sangwoon; Cho, Myung Rae; Shin, Yeong Jae; Das, Saikat; Kim, Jeong Rae; Kalinin, Sergei V; Kim, Miyoung; Yang, Sang Mo; Noh, Tae Won

2017-11-01

Quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons across ultrathin insulating oxide barriers has been studied extensively for decades due to its great potential in electronic-device applications. In the few-nanometers-thick epitaxial oxide films, atomic-scale structural imperfections, such as the ubiquitously existed one-unit-cell-high terrace edges, can dramatically affect the tunneling probability and device performance. However, the underlying physics has not been investigated adequately. Here, taking ultrathin BaTiO 3 films as a model system, an intrinsic tunneling-conductance enhancement is reported near the terrace edges. Scanning-probe-microscopy results demonstrate the existence of highly conductive regions (tens of nanometers wide) near the terrace edges. First-principles calculations suggest that the terrace-edge geometry can trigger an electronic reconstruction, which reduces the effective tunneling barrier width locally. Furthermore, such tunneling-conductance enhancement can be discovered in other transition metal oxides and controlled by surface-termination engineering. The controllable electronic reconstruction can facilitate the implementation of oxide electronic devices and discovery of exotic low-dimensional quantum phases. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Tunnel determinants from spectral zeta functions. Instanton effects in quantum mechanics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Izquierdo, A. Alonso; Guilarte, J. Mateos

2014-07-23

In this paper we develop an spectral zeta function regularization procedure on the determinants of instanton fluctuation operators that describe the semi-classical order of tunnel effects between degenerate vacua.

Semiclassical theory of the tunneling anomaly in partially spin-polarized compressible quantum Hall states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chowdhury, Debanjan; Skinner, Brian; Lee, Patrick A.

2018-05-01

Electron tunneling into a system with strong interactions is known to exhibit an anomaly, in which the tunneling conductance vanishes continuously at low energy due to many-body interactions. Recent measurements have probed this anomaly in a quantum Hall bilayer of the half-filled Landau level, and shown that the anomaly apparently gets stronger as the half-filled Landau level is increasingly spin polarized. Motivated by this result, we construct a semiclassical hydrodynamic theory of the tunneling anomaly in terms of the charge-spreading action associated with tunneling between two copies of the Halperin-Lee-Read state with partial spin polarization. This theory is complementary to our recent work (D. Chowdhury, B. Skinner, and P. A. Lee, arXiv:1709.06091) where the electron spectral function was computed directly using an instanton-based approach. Our results show that the experimental observation cannot be understood within conventional theories of the tunneling anomaly, in which the spreading of the injected charge is driven by the mean-field Coulomb energy. However, we identify a qualitatively new regime, in which the mean-field Coulomb energy is effectively quenched and the tunneling anomaly is dominated by the finite compressibility of the composite Fermion liquid.

Enhanced zero-bias Majorana peak in the differential tunneling conductance of disordered multisubband quantum-wire/superconductor junctions.

PubMed

Pientka, Falko; Kells, Graham; Romito, Alessandro; Brouwer, Piet W; von Oppen, Felix

2012-11-30

A recent experiment Mourik et al. [Science 336, 1003 (2012)] on InSb quantum wires provides possible evidence for the realization of a topological superconducting phase and the formation of Majorana bound states. Motivated by this experiment, we consider the signature of Majorana bound states in the differential tunneling conductance of multisubband wires. We show that the weight of the Majorana-induced zero-bias peak is strongly enhanced by mixing of subbands, when disorder is added to the end of the quantum wire. We also consider how the topological phase transition is reflected in the gap structure of the current-voltage characteristic.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salmilehto, J.; Deppe, F.; Di Ventra, M.

Memristors are resistive elements retaining information of their past dynamics. They have garnered substantial interest due to their potential for representing a paradigm change in electronics, information processing and unconventional computing. Given the advent of quantum technologies, a design for a quantum memristor with superconducting circuits may be envisaged. Along these lines, we introduce such a quantum device whose memristive behavior arises from quasiparticle-induced tunneling when supercurrents are cancelled. Here in this paper, for realistic parameters, we find that the relevant hysteretic behavior may be observed using current state-of-the-art measurements of the phase-driven tunneling current. Finally, we develop suitable methodsmore » to quantify memory retention in the system.« less

Simulations of Resonant Intraband and Interband Tunneling Spin Filters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ting, David; Cartoixa-Soler, Xavier; McGill, T. C.; Smith, Darryl L.; Schulman, Joel N.

2001-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews resonant intraband and interband tunneling spin filters It explores the possibility of building a zero-magnetic-field spin polarizer using nonmagnetic III-V semiconductor heterostructures. It reviews the extensive simulations of quantum transport in asymmetric InAs/GaSb/AlSb resonant tunneling structures with Rashba spin splitting and proposes a. new device concept: side-gated asymmetric Resonant Interband Tunneling Diode (a-RITD).

Experimental Evidence for Wigner’s Tunneling Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camus, N.; Yakaboylu, E.; Fechner, L.; Klaiber, M.; Laux, M.; Mi, Y.; Hatsagortsyan, K. Z.; Pfeifer, T.; Keitel, C. H.; Moshammer, R.

2018-04-01

Tunneling of a particle through a barrier is one of the counter-intuitive properties of quantum mechanical motion. Thanks to advances in the generation of strong laser fields, new opportunities to dynamically investigate this process have been developed. In the so-called attoclock measurements the electron’s properties after tunneling are mapped on its emission direction. We investigate the tunneling dynamics and achieve a high sensitivity thanks to two refinements of the attoclock principle. Using near-IR wavelength we place firmly the ionization process in the tunneling regime. Furthermore, we compare the electron momentum distributions of two atomic species of slightly different atomic potentials (argon and krypton) being ionized under absolutely identical conditions. Experimentally, using a reaction microscope, we succeed in measuring the 3D electron momentum distributions for both targets simultaneously. Theoretically, the time resolved description of tunneling in strong-field ionization is studied using the leading quantum-mechanical Wigner treatment. A detailed analysis of the most probable photoelectron emission for Ar and Kr allows testing the theoretical models and a sensitive check of the electron initial conditions at the tunnel exit. The agreement between experiment and theory provides a clear evidence for a non-zero tunneling time delay and a non-vanishing longitudinal momentum at this point.

Coulomb interaction rules timescales in potassium ion channel tunneling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De March, N.; Prado, S. D.; Brunnet, L. G.

2018-06-01

Assuming the selectivity filter of KcsA potassium ion channel may exhibit quantum coherence, we extend a previous model by Vaziri and Plenio (2010 New J. Phys. 12 085001) to take into account Coulomb repulsion between potassium ions. We show that typical ion transit timescales are determined by this interaction, which imposes optimal input/output parameter ranges. Also, as observed in other examples of quantum tunneling in biological systems, the addition of moderate noise helps coherent ion transport.

Hybrid semiconductor nanomagnetoelectronic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bae, Jong Uk

2007-12-01

The subject of this dissertation is the exploration of a new class of hybrid semiconductor nanomagnetoelectronic devices. In these studies, single-domain nanomagnets are used as the gate in a transistor structure, and the spatially non-uniform magnetic fields that they generate provide an additional means to modulate the channel conductance. A quantum wire etched in a high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well serves as the channel of this device and the current flow through it is modulated by a high-aspect-ratio Co nanomagnet. The conductance of this device exhibits clear hysteresis in a magnetic field, which is significantly enhanced when the nanomagnet is used as a gate to form a local tunnel barrier in the semiconductor channel. A simple theoretical model, which models the tunnel barrier as a simple harmonic saddle, is able to account for the experimentallyobserved behavior. Further improvements in the tunneling magneto-resistance of this device should be possible in the future by optimizing the gate and channel geometries. In addition to these investigations, we have also explored the hysteretic magnetoresistance of devices in which the tunnel barrier is absent and the behavior is instead dominated by the properties of the magnetic barrier alone. We show experimentally how quantum corrections to the conductance of the quantum wire compete against the magneto-transport effects induced by the non-uniform magnetic field.

New method in muon-hadron absorption on Thx DUO2 nano material structure at 561 MHz quantum gyro-magnetic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardiyanto, M.; Ermawaty, I. R.

2018-01-01

We present an experimental of muan-hadron tunneling chain investigation with new methods of Thx DUO2 nano structure based on Josephson’s tunneling and Abrikosov-Balseiro-Russel (ABR) formulation with quantum quadrupole interacting with a strongly localized high gyro-magnetic optical field as encountered in high-resolution near-field optical microscopy for 1.2 nano meter lambda-function. The strong gradients of these localized gyro-magnetic fields suggest that higher-order multipolar interactions will affect the standard magnetic quadrupole transition rates in 1.8 x 103 currie/mm fuel energy in nuclear moderator pool and selection rules with quatum dot. For muan-hadron absorption in Josephson’s tunnelling quantum quadrupole in the strong confinement limit we calculated the inter band of gyro-magnetic quadrupole absorption rate and the associated selection rules. Founded that the magnetic quadrupole absorption rate is comparable with the absorption rate calculated in the gyro-magneticdipole approximation of ThxDUO2 nano material structure. This implies that near-field optical techniques can extend the range of spectroscopic measurements for 545 MHz at quantum gyro-magnetic field until 561 MHz deployment quantum field at B around 455-485 tesla beyond the standard dipole approximation. However, we also show that spatial resolution could be improved by the selective excitation of ABR formulation in quantum quadrupole transitions.

The quantum universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hey, Anthony J. G.; Walters, Patrick

This book provides a descriptive, popular account of quantum physics. The basic topics addressed include: waves and particles, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the Schroedinger equation and matter waves, atoms and nuclei, quantum tunneling, the Pauli exclusion principle and the elements, quantum cooperation and superfluids, Feynman rules, weak photons, quarks, and gluons. The applications of quantum physics to astrophyics, nuclear technology, and modern electronics are addressed.

Interlayer tunneling in double-layer quantum hall pseudoferromagnets.

PubMed

Balents, L; Radzihovsky, L

2001-02-26

We show that the interlayer tunneling I-V in double-layer quantum Hall states displays a rich behavior which depends on the relative magnitude of sample size, voltage length scale, current screening, disorder, and thermal lengths. For weak tunneling, we predict a negative differential conductance of a power-law shape crossing over to a sharp zero-bias peak. An in-plane magnetic field splits this zero-bias peak, leading instead to a "derivative" feature at V(B)(B(parallel)) = 2 pi Planck's over 2 pi upsilon B(parallel)d/e phi(0), which gives a direct measurement of the dispersion of the Goldstone mode corresponding to the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the double-layer Hall state.

Strongly interacting photons in asymmetric quantum well via resonant tunneling.

PubMed

Sun, H; Fan, S L; Feng, X L; Wu, C F; Gong, S Q; Huang, G X; Oh, C H

2012-04-09

We propose an asymmetric quantum well structure to realize strong interaction between two slow optical pulses. The essential idea is the combination of the advantages of inverted-Y type scheme and resonant tunneling. We analytically demonstrate that giant cross-Kerr nonlinearity can be achieved with vanishing absorptions. Owing to resonant tunneling, the contributions of the probe and signal cross-Kerr nonlinearities to total nonlinear phase shift vary from destructive to constrictive, leading to nonlinear phase shift on order of π at low light level. In this structure, the scheme is inherent symmetric for the probe and signal pulses. Consequently, the condition of group velocity matching can be fulfilled with appropriate initial electron distribution.

Terahertz Mixing Characteristics of NbN Superconducting Tunnel Junctions and Related Astronomical Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.

2010-01-01

High-sensitivity superconducting SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixers are playing an increasingly important role in the terahertz (THz) astronomical observation, which is an emerging research frontier in modern astrophysics. Superconducting SIS mixers with niobium (Nb) tunnel junctions have reached a sensitivity close to the quantum limit, but have a frequency limit about 0.7 THz (i.e., gap frequency of Nb tunnel junctions). Beyond this frequency Nb superconducting films will absorb energetic photons (i.e., energy loss) to break Cooper pairs, thereby resulting in significant degradation of the mixer performance. Therefore, it is of particular interest to develop THz superconducting SIS mixers incorporating tunnel junctions with a larger energy gap. Niobium-nitride (NbN) superconducting tunnel junctions have been long known for their large energy gap, almost double that of Nb ones. With the introduction of epitaxially grown NbN films, the fabrication technology of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions has been considerably improved in the recent years. Nevertheless, their performances are still not as good as Nb ones, and furthermore they are not yet demonstrated in real astronomical applications. Given the facts mentioned above, in this paper we systematically study the quantum mixing behaviors of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions in the THz regime and demonstrate an astronomical testing observation with a 0.5 THz superconducting SIS mixer developed with NbN tunnel junctions. The main results of this study include: (1) successful design and fabrication of a 0.4˜0.6 THz waveguide mixing circuit with the high-dielectric-constant MgO substrate; (2) successful fabrication of NbN superconducting tunnel junctions with the gap voltage reaching 5.6 mV and the quality factor as high as 15; (3) demonstration of a 0.5 THz waveguide NbN superconducting SIS mixer with a measured receiver noise temperature (no correction) as low as five times the quantum limit (5hω/kB), which is the best among NbN superconducting SIS mixers developed in this frequency band; (4) demonstration of high sensitivity for NbN superconducting SIS mixers operated at temperatures as high as 10 K, and demonstration of much less interference resulting from the Josephson effect; (5) demonstration of the first astronomical observation ever done with an NbN superconducting SIS mixer. This study has provided further understanding of the quantum mixing behaviors of NbN superconducting SIS mixers. It has been demonstrated that NbN superconducting SIS mixers can reach nearly quantum-limited sensitivity and have good stability. Furthermore, NbN superconducting SIS mixers have less stringent requirement for cooling and magnetic field compared with Nb ones. Hence they can be used in astronomical applications, especially for space-borne projects and complex systems such as multi-beam receivers.

Barrier versus tilt exchange gate operations in spin-based quantum computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shim, Yun-Pil; Tahan, Charles

2018-04-01

We present a theory for understanding the exchange interaction between electron spins in neighboring quantum dots, either by changing the detuning of the two quantum dots or independently tuning the tunneling barrier between quantum dots. The Hubbard model and a more realistic confining-potential model are used to investigate how the tilting and barrier control affect the effective exchange coupling and thus the gate fidelity in both the detuning and symmetric regimes. We show that the exchange coupling is less sensitive to the charge noise through tunnel barrier control (while allowing for exchange coupling operations on a sweet spot where the exchange interaction has zero derivative with respect to the detuning). Both GaAs and Si quantum dots are considered, and we compare our results with experimental data showing qualitative agreements. Our results answer the open question of why barrier gates are preferable to tilt gates for exchange-based gate operations.

Quantum-statistical theory of microwave detection using superconducting tunnel junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deviatov, I. A.; Kuzmin, L. S.; Likharev, K. K.; Migulin, V. V.; Zorin, A. B.

1986-09-01

A quantum-statistical theory of microwave and millimeter-wave detection using superconducting tunnel junctions is developed, with a rigorous account of quantum, thermal, and shot noise arising from fluctuation sources associated with the junctions, signal source, and matching circuits. The problem of the noise characterization in the quantum sensitivity range is considered and a general noise parameter Theta(N) is introduced. This parameter is shown to be an adequate figure of merit for most receivers of interest while some devices can require a more complex characterization. Analytical expressions and/or numerically calculated plots for Theta(N) are presented for the most promising detection modes including the parametric amplification, heterodyne mixing, and quadratic videodetection, using both the quasiparticle-current and the Cooper-pair-current nonlinearities. Ultimate minimum values of Theta(N) for each detection mode are compared and found to be in agreement with limitations imposed by the quantum-mechanical uncertainty principle.

Fast current blinking in individual PbS and CdSe quantum dots.

PubMed

Maturova, Klara; Nanayakkara, Sanjini U; Luther, Joseph M; van de Lagemaat, Jao

2013-06-12

Fast current intermittency of the tunneling current through single semiconductor quantum dots was observed through time-resolved intermittent contact conductive atomic force microscopy in the dark and under illumination at room temperature. The current through a single dot switches on and off at time scales ranging from microseconds to seconds with power-law distributions for both the on and off times. On states are attributed to the resonant tunneling of charges from the electrically conductive AFM tip to the quantum dot, followed by transfer to the substrate, whereas off states are attributed to a Coulomb blockade effect in the quantum dots that shifts the energy levels out of resonance conditions due to the presence of the trapped charge, while at the same bias. The observation of current intermittency due to Coulomb blockade effects has important implications for the understanding of carrier transport through arrays of quantum dots.

Conversion efficiency of an energy harvester based on resonant tunneling through quantum dots with heat leakage.

PubMed

Kano, Shinya; Fujii, Minoru

2017-03-03

We study the conversion efficiency of an energy harvester based on resonant tunneling through quantum dots with heat leakage. Heat leakage current from a hot electrode to a cold electrode is taken into account in the analysis of the harvester operation. Modeling of electrical output indicates that a maximum heat leakage current is not negligible because it is larger than that of the heat current harvested into electrical power. A reduction of heat leakage is required in this energy harvester in order to obtain efficient heat-to-electrical conversion. Multiple energy levels of a quantum dot can increase the output power of the harvester. Heavily doped colloidal semiconductor quantum dots are a possible candidate for a quantum-dot monolayer in the energy harvester to reduce heat leakage, scaling down device size, and increasing electrical output via multiple discrete energy levels.

Quantum dot in interacting environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rylands, Colin; Andrei, Natan

2018-04-01

A quantum impurity attached to an interacting quantum wire gives rise to an array of new phenomena. Using the Bethe Ansatz we solve exactly models describing two geometries of a quantum dot coupled to an interacting quantum wire: a quantum dot that is (i) side coupled and (ii) embedded in a Luttinger liquid. We find the eigenstates and determine the spectrum through the Bethe Ansatz equations. Using this we derive exact expressions for the ground-state dot occupation. The thermodynamics are then studied using the thermodynamics Bethe Ansatz equations. It is shown that at low energies the dot becomes fully hybridized and acts as a backscattering impurity or tunnel junction depending on the geometry and furthermore that the two geometries are related by changing the sign of the interactions. Although remaining strongly coupled for all values of the interaction in the wire, there exists competition between the tunneling and backscattering leading to a suppression or enhancement of the dot occupation depending on the sign of the bulk interactions.

A Resonant Tunneling Nanowire Field Effect Transistor with Physical Contractions: A Negative Differential Resistance Device for Low Power Very Large Scale Integration Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molaei Imen Abadi, Rouzbeh; Saremi, Mehdi

2018-02-01

In this paper, the influence of ultra-scaled physical symmetrical contraction on electrical characteristics of ultra-thin silicon-on-insulator nanowires with circular gate-all-around structure is investigated by using a 3D Atlas numerical quantum simulator based on non-equilibrium green's function formalism. It is demonstrated that local cross-section variation in a nanowire transistor results in the establishment of tunnel energy barriers at the source-channel and drain-channel junctions which change device physics and cause a transmission from a quantum wire (1-D) to a floating quantum dot nanowire (0-D) introducing a resonant tunneling nanowire FET (RT-NWFET) as an interesting concept of nanoscale MOSFETs. The barriers construct resonance energy levels in the channel region of nanowires because of the longitudinal confinement in three directions causing some fluctuation in I D- V GS characteristic. In addition, these barriers remarkably improve the subthreshold swing and minimize the ON/OFF-current ratio degradation at a low operation voltage of 0.5 V. As a result, RT-NWFETs are intrinsically preserved from drain-source tunneling and are an interesting candidate for developing the roadmap below 10 nm.

Correlating quantum decoherence and material defects in a Josephson qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hite, D. A.; McDermott, R.; Simmonds, R. W.; Cooper, K. B.; Steffen, M.; Nam, S.; Pappas, D. P.; Martinis, J. M.

2004-03-01

Superconducting tunnel junction devices are promising candidates for constructing quantum bits (qubits) for quantum computation because of their inherently low dissipation and ease of scalability by microfabrication. Recently, the Josephson phase qubit has been characterized spectroscopically as having spurious microwave resonators that couple to the qubit and act as a dominant source of decoherence. While the origin of these spurious resonances remains unknown, experimental evidence points to the material system of the tunnel barrier. Here, we focus on our materials research aimed at elucidating and eliminating these spurious resonators. In particular, we have studied the use of high quality Al films epitaxially grown on Si(111) as the base electrode of the tunnel junction. During each step in the Al/AlOx/Al trilayer growth, we have investigated the structure in situ by AES, AED and LEED. While tunnel junctions fabricated with these epitaxial base electrodes prove to be of non-uniform oxide thickness and too thin, I-V characteristics have shown a lowering of subgap currents by a factor of two. Transport measurements will be correlated with morphological structure for a number of devices fabricated with various degrees of crystalline quality.

Structural and Electrical-Optical Characterizations of Semiconductor-Atomic Superlattice

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

and Avalanche diodes certainly fall into this category. Resonant tunneling diodes like Esaki Tunnel diodes are NDC devices belong to a class where...Heterostructures, Eds. M. Dutta and M. Stroscio, (World Sci. 2003, Singapore), p221 177 Cooling by Inverse Nottingham Effect with Resonant Tunneling ...controlled emitter, V. Semet, V.T. Binh, J.Zhang, J.Yang, M.A. Khan, and R. Tsu, APL. 84,1937 (2004) 186 Stability Issues in Tunneling via Quantum

Fermionic entanglement via quantum walks in quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnikov, Alexey A.; Fedichkin, Leonid E.

2018-02-01

Quantum walks are fundamentally different from random walks due to the quantum superposition property of quantum objects. Quantum walk process was found to be very useful for quantum information and quantum computation applications. In this paper we demonstrate how to use quantum walks as a tool to generate high-dimensional two-particle fermionic entanglement. The generated entanglement can survive longer in the presence of depolorazing noise due to the periodicity of quantum walk dynamics. The possibility to create two distinguishable qudits in a system of tunnel-coupled semiconductor quantum dots is discussed.

Current Fluctuations in a Semiconductor Quantum Dot with Large Energy Spacing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Heejun

2014-12-01

We report on the measurements of the current noise properties of electron tunneling through a split-gate GaAs quantum dot with large energy level spacing and a small number of electrons. Shot noise is full Poissonian or suppressed in the Coulomb-blockaded regime, while it is enhanced to show as super-Poissonian when an excited energy level is involved by finite source-drain bias. The results can be explained by multiple Poissonian processes through multilevel sequential tunneling.

Probing the energy reactance with adiabatically driven quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludovico, María Florencia; Arrachea, Liliana; Moskalets, Michael; Sánchez, David

2018-02-01

The tunneling Hamiltonian describes a particle transfer from one region to another. Although there is no particle storage in the tunneling region itself, it has an associated amount of energy. The corresponding energy flux was named reactance since, such as an electrical reactance, it manifests itself in time-dependent transport only. We show here that the existence of the energy reactance leads to the universal response of a mesoscopic thermometer, a floating contact coupled to an adiabatically driven quantum dot.

Resonant tunneling in nanocolumns improved by quantum collimation.

PubMed

Wensorra, Jakob; Indlekofer, Klaus Michael; Lepsa, Mihail Ion; Förster, Arno; Lüth, Hans

2005-12-01

We report on a quantum collimation effect based on surface depletion regions in AlAs/GaAs nanocolumns with an embedded resonant tunneling structure. The considered MBE-grown nanodevices have been fabricated by means of a top-down approach that employs a reproducible lithographic definition of the vertical nanocolumns. By analyzing the scaling properties of these nanodevices, we discuss how a collimation effect due to a saddle point in the confining potential can explain an improved device performance of the ultimately scaled structures at room temperature.

Quasiparticle Tunneling in the Fractional Quantum Hall effect at filling fraction ν=5/2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radu, Iuliana P.

2009-03-01

In a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), in the fractional quantum Hall regime, the quasiparticles are predicted to have fractional charge and statistics, as well as modified Coulomb interactions. The state at filling fraction ν=5/2 is predicted by some theories to have non-abelian statistics, a property that might be exploited for topological quantum computing. However, alternative models with abelian properties have been proposed as well. Weak quasiparticle tunneling between counter-propagating edges is one of the methods that can be used to learn about the properties of the state and potentially distinguish between models describing it. We employ an electrostatically defined quantum point contact (QPC) fabricated on a high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs 2DEG to create a constriction where quasiparticles can tunnel between counter-propagating edges. We study the temperature and dc bias dependence of the tunneling conductance, while preserving the same filling fraction in the constriction and the bulk of the sample. The data show scaling of the bias-dependent tunneling over a range of temperatures, in agreement with the theory of weak quasiparticle tunneling, and we extract values for the effective charge and interaction parameter of the quasiparticles. The ranges of values obtained are consistent with those predicted by certain models describing the 5/2 state, indicating as more probable a non-abelian state. This work was done in collaboration with J. B. Miller, C. M. Marcus, M. A. Kastner, L. N. Pfeiffer and K. W. West. This work was supported in part by the Army Research Office (W911NF-05-1-0062), the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center program of NSF (PHY-0117795), NSF (DMR-0701386), the Center for Materials Science and Engineering program of NSF (DMR-0213282) at MIT, the Microsoft Corporation Project Q, and the Center for Nanoscale Systems at Harvard University.

State-specific tunneling lifetimes from classical trajectories: H-atom dissociation in electronically excited pyrrole

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xie, Weiwei; Domcke, Wolfgang; Farantos, Stavros C.

A trajectory method of calculating tunneling probabilities from phase integrals along straight line tunneling paths, originally suggested by Makri and Miller [J. Chem. Phys. 91, 4026 (1989)] and recently implemented by Truhlar and co-workers [Chem. Sci. 5, 2091 (2014)], is tested for one- and two-dimensional ab initio based potentials describing hydrogen dissociation in the {sup 1}B{sub 1} excited electronic state of pyrrole. The primary observables are the tunneling rates in a progression of bending vibrational states lying below the dissociation barrier and their isotope dependences. Several initial ensembles of classical trajectories have been considered, corresponding to the quasiclassical and themore » quantum mechanical samplings of the initial conditions. It is found that the sampling based on the fixed energy Wigner density gives the best agreement with the quantum mechanical dissociation rates.« less

Resonant Tunneling Spin Pump

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ting, David Z.

2007-01-01

The resonant tunneling spin pump is a proposed semiconductor device that would generate spin-polarized electron currents. The resonant tunneling spin pump would be a purely electrical device in the sense that it would not contain any magnetic material and would not rely on an applied magnetic field. Also, unlike prior sources of spin-polarized electron currents, the proposed device would not depend on a source of circularly polarized light. The proposed semiconductor electron-spin filters would exploit the Rashba effect, which can induce energy splitting in what would otherwise be degenerate quantum states, caused by a spin-orbit interaction in conjunction with a structural-inversion asymmetry in the presence of interfacial electric fields in a semiconductor heterostructure. The magnitude of the energy split is proportional to the electron wave number. Theoretical studies have suggested the possibility of devices in which electron energy states would be split by the Rashba effect and spin-polarized currents would be extracted by resonant quantum-mechanical tunneling.

Water pair potential of near spectroscopic accuracy. II. Vibration-rotation-tunneling levels of the water dimer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groenenboom, G. C.; Wormer, P. E. S.; van der Avoird, A.; Mas, E. M.; Bukowski, R.; Szalewicz, K.

2000-10-01

Nearly exact six-dimensional quantum calculations of the vibration-rotation-tunneling (VRT) levels of the water dimer for values of the rotational quantum numbers J and K ⩽2 show that the SAPT-5s water pair potential presented in the preceding paper (paper I) gives a good representation of the experimental high-resolution far-infrared spectrum of the water dimer. After analyzing the sensitivity of the transition frequencies with respect to the linear parameters in the potential we could further improve this potential by using only one of the experimentally determined tunneling splittings of the ground state in (H2O)2. The accuracy of the resulting water pair potential, SAPT-5st, is established by comparison with the spectroscopic data of both (H2O)2 and (D2O)2: ground and excited state tunneling splittings and rotational constants, as well as the frequencies of the intermolecular vibrations.

Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling in Superconducting Junctions of β-Ag2Se Topological Insulator Nanowire.

PubMed

Kim, Jihwan; Kim, Bum-Kyu; Kim, Hong-Seok; Hwang, Ahreum; Kim, Bongsoo; Doh, Yong-Joo

2017-11-08

We report on the fabrication and electrical transport properties of superconducting junctions made of β-Ag 2 Se topological insulator (TI) nanowires in contact with Al superconducting electrodes. The temperature dependence of the critical current indicates that the superconducting junction belongs to a short and diffusive junction regime. As a characteristic feature of the narrow junction, the critical current decreases monotonously with increasing magnetic field. The stochastic distribution of the switching current exhibits the macroscopic quantum tunneling behavior, which is robust up to T = 0.8 K. Our observations indicate that the TI nanowire-based Josephson junctions can be a promising building block for the development of nanohybrid superconducting quantum bits.

Quantum-dot cellular automata: Review and recent experiments (invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snider, G. L.; Orlov, A. O.; Amlani, I.; Zuo, X.; Bernstein, G. H.; Lent, C. S.; Merz, J. L.; Porod, W.

1999-04-01

An introduction to the operation of quantum-dot cellular automata is presented, along with recent experimental results. Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is a transistorless computation paradigm that addresses the issues of device density and interconnection. The basic building blocks of the QCA architecture, such as AND, OR, and NOT are presented. The experimental device is a four-dot QCA cell with two electrometers. The dots are metal islands, which are coupled by capacitors and tunnel junctions. An improved design of the cell is presented in which all four dots of the cell are coupled by tunnel junctions. The operation of this basic cell is confirmed by the externally controlled polarization change of the cell.

Strong electron-hole exchange in coherently coupled quantum dots.

PubMed

Fält, Stefan; Atatüre, Mete; Türeci, Hakan E; Zhao, Yong; Badolato, Antonio; Imamoglu, Atac

2008-03-14

We have investigated few-body states in vertically stacked quantum dots. Because of a small interdot tunneling rate, the coupling in our system is in a previously unexplored regime where electron-hole exchange plays a prominent role. By tuning the gate bias, we are able to turn this coupling off and study a complementary regime where total electron spin is a good quantum number. The use of differential transmission allows us to obtain unambiguous signatures of the interplay between electron and hole-spin interactions. Small tunnel coupling also enables us to demonstrate all-optical charge sensing, where a conditional exciton energy shift in one dot identifies the charging state of the coupled partner.

Magnetic field mediated conductance oscillation in graphene p–n junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Shu-Guang

2018-04-01

The electronic transport of graphene p–n junctions under perpendicular magnetic field is investigated in theory. Under low magnetic field, the transport is determined by the resonant tunneling of Landau levels and conductance versus magnetic field shows a Shubnikov–de Haas oscillation. At higher magnetic field, the p–n junction subjected to the quasi-classical regime and the formation of snake states results in periodical backscattering and transmission as magnetic field varies. The conductance oscillation pattern is mediated both by magnetic field and the carrier concentration on bipolar regions. For medium magnetic field between above two regimes, the combined contributions of resonant tunneling, snake states oscillation and Aharanov–Bohm interference induce irregular oscillation of conductance. At very high magnetic field, the system is subjected to quantum Hall regime. Under disorder, the quantum tunneling at low magnetic field is slightly affected and the oscillation of snake states at higher magnetic field is suppressed. In the quantum Hall regime, the conductance is a constant as predicted by the mixture rule.

Engineering drag currents in Coulomb coupled quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Jong Soo; Sánchez, David; López, Rosa

2018-02-01

The Coulomb drag phenomenon in a Coulomb-coupled double quantum dot system is revisited with a simple model that highlights the importance of simultaneous tunneling of electrons. Previously, cotunneling effects on the drag current in mesoscopic setups have been reported both theoretically and experimentally. However, in both cases the sequential tunneling contribution to the drag current was always present unless the drag level position were too far away from resonance. Here, we consider the case of very large Coulomb interaction between the dots, whereby the drag current needs to be assisted by cotunneling events. As a consequence, a quantum coherent drag effect takes place. Further, we demonstrate that by properly engineering the tunneling probabilities using band tailoring it is possible to control the sign of the drag and drive currents, allowing them to flow in parallel or antiparallel directions. We also show that the drag current can be manipulated by varying the drag gate potential and is thus governed by electron- or hole-like transport.

Crossing Over from Attractive to Repulsive Interactions in a Tunneling Bosonic Josephson Junction.

PubMed

Spagnolli, G; Semeghini, G; Masi, L; Ferioli, G; Trenkwalder, A; Coop, S; Landini, M; Pezzè, L; Modugno, G; Inguscio, M; Smerzi, A; Fattori, M

2017-06-09

We explore the interplay between tunneling and interatomic interactions in the dynamics of a bosonic Josephson junction. We tune the scattering length of an atomic ^{39}K Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a double-well trap to investigate regimes inaccessible to other superconducting or superfluid systems. In the limit of small-amplitude oscillations, we study the transition from Rabi to plasma oscillations by crossing over from attractive to repulsive interatomic interactions. We observe a critical slowing down in the oscillation frequency by increasing the strength of an attractive interaction up to the point of a quantum phase transition. With sufficiently large initial oscillation amplitude and repulsive interactions, the system enters the macroscopic quantum self-trapping regime, where we observe coherent undamped oscillations with a self-sustained average imbalance of the relative well population. The exquisite agreement between theory and experiments enables the observation of a broad range of many body coherent dynamical regimes driven by tunable tunneling energy, interactions and external forces, with applications spanning from atomtronics to quantum metrology.

Tunneling calculations for GaAs-Al(x)Ga(1-x) as graded band-gap sawtooth superlattices. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forrest, Kathrine A.; Meijer, Paul H. E.

1991-01-01

Quantum mechanical tunneling calculations for sawtooth (linearly graded band-gap) and step-barrier AlGaAs superlattices were performed by means of a transfer matrix method, within the effective mass approximation. The transmission coefficient and tunneling current versus applied voltage were computed for several representative structures. Particular consideration was given to effective mass variations. The tunneling properties of step and sawtooth superlattices show some qualitative similarities. Both structures exhibit resonant tunneling, however, because they deform differently under applied fields, the J-V curves differ.

Tunnelling in Dante's Inferno

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Furuuchi, Kazuyuki; Sperling, Marcus, E-mail: kazuyuki.furuuchi@manipal.edu, E-mail: marcus.sperling@univie.ac.at

2017-05-01

We study quantum tunnelling in Dante's Inferno model of large field inflation. Such a tunnelling process, which will terminate inflation, becomes problematic if the tunnelling rate is rapid compared to the Hubble time scale at the time of inflation. Consequently, we constrain the parameter space of Dante's Inferno model by demanding a suppressed tunnelling rate during inflation. The constraints are derived and explicit numerical bounds are provided for representative examples. Our considerations are at the level of an effective field theory; hence, the presented constraints have to hold regardless of any UV completion.

Superluminal tunneling of a relativistic half-integer spin particle through a potential barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanni, Luca

2017-11-01

This paper investigates the problem of a relativistic Dirac half-integer spin free particle tunneling through a rectangular quantum-mechanical barrier. If the energy difference between the barrier and the particle is positive, and the barrier width is large enough, there is proof that the tunneling may be superluminal. For first spinor components of particle and antiparticle states, the tunneling is always superluminal regardless the barrier width. Conversely, the second spinor components of particle and antiparticle states may be either subluminal or superluminal depending on the barrier width. These results derive from studying the tunneling time in terms of phase time. For the first spinor components of particle and antiparticle states, it is always negative while for the second spinor components of particle and antiparticle states, it is always positive, whatever the height and width of the barrier. In total, the tunneling time always remains positive for particle states while it becomes negative for antiparticle ones. Furthermore, the phase time tends to zero, increasing the potential barrier both for particle and antiparticle states. This agrees with the interpretation of quantum tunneling that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle provides. This study's results are innovative with respect to those available in the literature. Moreover, they show that the superluminal behaviour of particles occurs in those processes with high-energy confinement.

Can p-channel tunnel field-effect transistors perform as good as n-channel?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Verhulst, A. S., E-mail: anne.verhulst@imec.be; Pourghaderi, M. A.; Collaert, N.

2014-07-28

We show that bulk semiconductor materials do not allow perfectly complementary p- and n-channel tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs), due to the presence of a heavy-hole band. When tunneling in p-TFETs is oriented towards the gate-dielectric, field-induced quantum confinement results in a highest-energy subband which is heavy-hole like. In direct-bandgap IIIV materials, the most promising TFET materials, phonon-assisted tunneling to this subband degrades the subthreshold swing and leads to at least 10× smaller on-current than the desired ballistic on-current. This is demonstrated with quantum-mechanical predictions for p-TFETs with tunneling orthogonal to the gate, made out of InP, In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As, InAs,more » and a modified version of In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As with an artificially increased conduction-band density-of-states. We further show that even if the phonon-assisted current would be negligible, the build-up of a heavy-hole-based inversion layer prevents efficient ballistic tunneling, especially at low supply voltages. For p-TFET, a strongly confined n-i-p or n-p-i-p configuration is therefore recommended, as well as a tensily strained line-tunneling configuration.« less

Size dependent bandgap of molecular beam epitaxy grown InN quantum dots measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, Mahesh; Roul, Basanta; Central Research Laboratory, Bharat Electronics, Bangalore-560013

InN quantum dots (QDs) were grown on Si (111) by epitaxial Stranski-Krastanow growth mode using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Single-crystalline wurtzite structure of InN QDs was verified by the x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Scanning tunneling microscopy has been used to probe the structural aspects of QDs. A surface bandgap of InN QDs was estimated from scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) I-V curves and found that it is strongly dependent on the size of QDs. The observed size-dependent STS bandgap energy shifts with diameter and height were theoretical explained based on an effective mass approximation with finite-depth square-well potential model.

Quantum-shutter approach to tunneling time scales with wave packets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamada, Norifumi; Garcia-Calderon, Gaston; Villavicencio, Jorge

2005-07-15

The quantum-shutter approach to tunneling time scales [G. Garcia-Calderon and A. Rubio, Phys. Rev. A 55, 3361 (1997)], which uses a cutoff plane wave as the initial condition, is extended to consider certain type of wave packet initial conditions. An analytical expression for the time-evolved wave function is derived. The time-domain resonance, the peaked structure of the probability density (as the function of time) at the exit of the barrier, originally found with the cutoff plane wave initial condition, is studied with the wave packet initial conditions. It is found that the time-domain resonance is not very sensitive to themore » width of the packet when the transmission process occurs in the tunneling regime.« less

Fundamental quantum noise mapping with tunnelling microscopes tested at surface structures of subatomic lateral size.

PubMed

Herz, Markus; Bouvron, Samuel; Ćavar, Elizabeta; Fonin, Mikhail; Belzig, Wolfgang; Scheer, Elke

2013-10-21

We present a measurement scheme that enables quantitative detection of the shot noise in a scanning tunnelling microscope while scanning the sample. As test objects we study defect structures produced on an iridium single crystal at low temperatures. The defect structures appear in the constant current images as protrusions with curvature radii well below the atomic diameter. The measured power spectral density of the noise is very near to the quantum limit with Fano factor F = 1. While the constant current images show detailed structures expected for tunnelling involving d-atomic orbitals of Ir, we find the current noise to be without pronounced spatial variation as expected for shot noise arising from statistically independent events.

Active quantum plasmonics

PubMed Central

Marinica, Dana Codruta; Zapata, Mario; Nordlander, Peter; Kazansky, Andrey K.; M. Echenique, Pedro; Aizpurua, Javier; Borisov, Andrei G.

2015-01-01

The ability of localized surface plasmons to squeeze light and engineer nanoscale electromagnetic fields through electron-photon coupling at dimensions below the wavelength has turned plasmonics into a driving tool in a variety of technological applications, targeting novel and more efficient optoelectronic processes. In this context, the development of active control of plasmon excitations is a major fundamental and practical challenge. We propose a mechanism for fast and active control of the optical response of metallic nanostructures based on exploiting quantum effects in subnanometric plasmonic gaps. By applying an external dc bias across a narrow gap, a substantial change in the tunneling conductance across the junction can be induced at optical frequencies, which modifies the plasmonic resonances of the system in a reversible manner. We demonstrate the feasibility of the concept using time-dependent density functional theory calculations. Thus, along with two-dimensional structures, metal nanoparticle plasmonics can benefit from the reversibility, fast response time, and versatility of an active control strategy based on applied bias. The proposed electrical manipulation of light using quantum plasmonics establishes a new platform for many practical applications in optoelectronics. PMID:26824066

Ultrafast Spectroscopic Noninvasive Probe of Vertical Carrier Transport in Heterostructure Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

where barriers, tunneling , scattering, strong polarization-induced fields, or carrier localization due to Type I or Type II quantum-well structures can... tunneling across junctions, scattering at heterointerfaces, and internal fields. For light-emitting devices, poor charge transport across multilayer...localization of holes and rapid electron tunneling .5 However, direct transport properties were Approved for public release; distribution is

Light-induced negative differential resistance in graphene/Si-quantum-dot tunneling diodes

PubMed Central

Lee, Kyeong Won; Jang, Chan Wook; Shin, Dong Hee; Kim, Jong Min; Kang, Soo Seok; Lee, Dae Hun; Kim, Sung; Choi, Suk-Ho; Hwang, Euyheon

2016-01-01

One of the interesing tunneling phenomena is negative differential resistance (NDR), the basic principle of resonant-tunneling diodes. NDR has been utilized in various semiconductor devices such as frequency multipliers, oscillators, relfection amplifiers, logic switches, and memories. The NDR in graphene has been also reported theoretically as well as experimentally, but should be further studied to fully understand its mechanism, useful for practical device applications. Especially, there has been no observation about light-induced NDR (LNDR) in graphene-related structures despite very few reports on the LNDR in GaAs-based heterostructures. Here, we report first observation of LNDR in graphene/Si quantum dots-embedded SiO2 (SQDs:SiO2) multilayers (MLs) tunneling diodes. The LNDR strongly depends on temperature (T) as well as on SQD size, and the T dependence is consistent with photocurrent (PC)-decay behaviors. With increasing light power, the PC-voltage curves are more structured with peak-to-valley ratios over 2 at room temperature. The physical mechanism of the LNDR, governed by resonant tunneling of charge carriers through the minibands formed across the graphene/SQDs:SiO2 MLs and by their nonresonant phonon-assisted tunneling, is discussed based on theoretical considerations. PMID:27465107

Light-induced negative differential resistance in graphene/Si-quantum-dot tunneling diodes.

PubMed

Lee, Kyeong Won; Jang, Chan Wook; Shin, Dong Hee; Kim, Jong Min; Kang, Soo Seok; Lee, Dae Hun; Kim, Sung; Choi, Suk-Ho; Hwang, Euyheon

2016-07-28

One of the interesing tunneling phenomena is negative differential resistance (NDR), the basic principle of resonant-tunneling diodes. NDR has been utilized in various semiconductor devices such as frequency multipliers, oscillators, relfection amplifiers, logic switches, and memories. The NDR in graphene has been also reported theoretically as well as experimentally, but should be further studied to fully understand its mechanism, useful for practical device applications. Especially, there has been no observation about light-induced NDR (LNDR) in graphene-related structures despite very few reports on the LNDR in GaAs-based heterostructures. Here, we report first observation of LNDR in graphene/Si quantum dots-embedded SiO2 (SQDs:SiO2) multilayers (MLs) tunneling diodes. The LNDR strongly depends on temperature (T) as well as on SQD size, and the T dependence is consistent with photocurrent (PC)-decay behaviors. With increasing light power, the PC-voltage curves are more structured with peak-to-valley ratios over 2 at room temperature. The physical mechanism of the LNDR, governed by resonant tunneling of charge carriers through the minibands formed across the graphene/SQDs:SiO2 MLs and by their nonresonant phonon-assisted tunneling, is discussed based on theoretical considerations.

Signatures of a quantum diffusion limited hydrogen atom tunneling reaction.

PubMed

Balabanoff, Morgan E; Ruzi, Mahmut; Anderson, David T

2017-12-20

We are studying the details of hydrogen atom (H atom) quantum diffusion in highly enriched parahydrogen (pH 2 ) quantum solids doped with chemical species in an effort to better understand H atom transport and reactivity under these conditions. In this work we present kinetic studies of the 193 nm photo-induced chemistry of methanol (CH 3 OH) isolated in solid pH 2 . Short-term irradiation of CH 3 OH at 1.8 K readily produces CH 2 O and CO which we detect using FTIR spectroscopy. The in situ photochemistry also produces CH 3 O and H atoms which we can infer from the post-photolysis reaction kinetics that display significant CH 2 OH growth. The CH 2 OH growth kinetics indicate at least three separate tunneling reactions contribute; (i) reactions of photoproduced CH 3 O with the pH 2 host, (ii) H atom reactions with the CH 2 O photofragment, and (iii) long-range migration of H atoms and reaction with CH 3 OH. We assign the rapid CH 2 OH growth to the following CH 3 O + H 2 → CH 3 OH + H → CH 2 OH + H 2 two-step sequential tunneling mechanism by conducting analogous kinetic measurements using deuterated methanol (CD 3 OD). By performing photolysis experiments at 1.8 and 4.3 K, we show the post-photolysis reaction kinetics change qualitatively over this small temperature range. We use this qualitative change in the reaction kinetics with temperature to identify reactions that are quantum diffusion limited. While these results are specific to the conditions that exist in pH 2 quantum solids, they have direct implications on the analogous low temperature H atom tunneling reactions that occur on metal surfaces and on interstellar grains.

Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snider, Gregory

2000-03-01

Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) [1] is a promising architecture which employs quantum dots for digital computation. It is a revolutionary approach that holds the promise of high device density and low power dissipation. A basic QCA cell consists of four quantum dots coupled capacitively and by tunnel barriers. The cell is biased to contain two excess electrons within the four dots, which are forced to opposite "corners" of the four-dot cell by mutual Coulomb repulsion. These two possible polarization states of the cell will represent logic "0" and "1". Properly arranged, arrays of these basic cells can implement Boolean logic functions. Experimental results from functional QCA devices built of nanoscale metal dots defined by tunnel barriers will be presented. The experimental devices to be presented consist of Al islands, which we will call quantum dots, interconnected by tunnel junctions and lithographically defined capacitors. Aluminum/ aluminum-oxide/aluminum tunnel junctions were fabricated using a standard e-beam lithography and shadow evaporation technique. The experiments were performed in a dilution refrigerator at a temperature of 70 mK. The operation of a cell is evaluated by direct measurements of the charge state of dots within a cell as the input voltage is changed. The experimental demonstration of a functioning cell will be presented. A line of three cells demonstrates that there are no metastable switching states in a line of cells. A QCA majority gate will also be presented, which is a programmable AND/OR gate and represents the basic building block of QCA systems. The results of recent experiments will be presented. 1. C.S. Lent, P.D. Tougaw, W. Porod, and G.H. Bernstein, Nanotechnology, 4, 49 (1993).

Students' Conceptual Difficulties in Quantum Mechanics: Potential Well Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozcan, Ozgur; Didis, Nilufer; Tasar, Mehmet Fatih

2009-01-01

In this study, students' conceptual difficulties about some basic concepts in quantum mechanics like one-dimensional potential well problems and probability density of tunneling particles were identified. For this aim, a multiple choice instrument named Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Test has been developed by one of the researchers of this study…

Quantum walks of interacting fermions on a cycle graph

PubMed Central

Melnikov, Alexey A.; Fedichkin, Leonid E.

2016-01-01

Quantum walks have been employed widely to develop new tools for quantum information processing recently. A natural quantum walk dynamics of interacting particles can be used to implement efficiently the universal quantum computation. In this work quantum walks of electrons on a graph are studied. The graph is composed of semiconductor quantum dots arranged in a circle. Electrons can tunnel between adjacent dots and interact via Coulomb repulsion, which leads to entanglement. Fermionic entanglement dynamics is obtained and evaluated. PMID:27681057

A 2 × 2 quantum dot array with controllable inter-dot tunnel couplings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhopadhyay, Uditendu; Dehollain, Juan Pablo; Reichl, Christian; Wegscheider, Werner; Vandersypen, Lieven M. K.

2018-04-01

The interaction between electrons in arrays of electrostatically defined quantum dots is naturally described by a Fermi-Hubbard Hamiltonian. Moreover, the high degree of tunability of these systems makes them a powerful platform to simulate different regimes of the Hubbard model. However, most quantum dot array implementations have been limited to one-dimensional linear arrays. In this letter, we present a square lattice unit cell of 2 × 2 quantum dots defined electrostatically in an AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure using a double-layer gate technique. We probe the properties of the array using nearby quantum dots operated as charge sensors. We show that we can deterministically and dynamically control the charge occupation in each quantum dot in the single- to few-electron regime. Additionally, we achieve simultaneous individual control of the nearest-neighbor tunnel couplings over a range of 0-40 μeV. Finally, we demonstrate fast (˜1 μs) single-shot readout of the spin state of electrons in the dots through spin-to-charge conversion via Pauli spin blockade. These advances pave the way for analog quantum simulations in two dimensions, not previously accessible in quantum dot systems.

Pressure effects on enzyme-catalyzed quantum tunneling events arise from protein-specific structural and dynamic changes.

PubMed

Hay, Sam; Johannissen, Linus O; Hothi, Parvinder; Sutcliffe, Michael J; Scrutton, Nigel S

2012-06-13

The rate and kinetic isotope effect (KIE) on proton transfer during the aromatic amine dehydrogenase-catalyzed reaction with phenylethylamine shows complex pressure and temperature dependences. We are able to rationalize these effects within an environmentally coupled tunneling model based on constant pressure molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. As pressure appears to act anisotropically on the enzyme, perturbation of the reaction coordinate (donor-acceptor compression) is, in this case, marginal. Therefore, while we have previously demonstrated that pressure and temperature dependences can be used to infer H-tunneling and the involvement of promoting vibrations, these effects should not be used in the absence of atomistic insight, as they can vary greatly for different enzymes. We show that a pressure-dependent KIE is not a definitive hallmark of quantum mechanical H-tunneling during an enzyme-catalyzed reaction and that pressure-independent KIEs cannot be used to exclude tunneling contributions or a role for promoting vibrations in the enzyme-catalyzed reaction. We conclude that coupling of MD calculations with experimental rate and KIE studies is required to provide atomistic understanding of pressure effects in enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

A Study of Vertical Transport through Graphene toward Control of Quantum Tunneling.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiaodan; Lei, Sidong; Tsai, Shin-Hung; Zhang, Xiang; Liu, Jun; Yin, Gen; Tang, Min; Torres, Carlos M; Navabi, Aryan; Jin, Zehua; Tsai, Shiao-Po; Qasem, Hussam; Wang, Yong; Vajtai, Robert; Lake, Roger K; Ajayan, Pulickel M; Wang, Kang L

2018-02-14

Vertical integration of van der Waals (vdW) materials with atomic precision is an intriguing possibility brought forward by these two-dimensional (2D) materials. Essential to the design and analysis of these structures is a fundamental understanding of the vertical transport of charge carriers into and across vdW materials, yet little has been done in this area. In this report, we explore the important roles of single layer graphene in the vertical tunneling process as a tunneling barrier. Although a semimetal in the lateral lattice plane, graphene together with the vdW gap act as a tunneling barrier that is nearly transparent to the vertically tunneling electrons due to its atomic thickness and the transverse momenta mismatch between the injected electrons and the graphene band structure. This is accentuated using electron tunneling spectroscopy (ETS) showing a lack of features corresponding to the Dirac cone band structure. Meanwhile, the graphene acts as a lateral conductor through which the potential and charge distribution across the tunneling barrier can be tuned. These unique properties make graphene an excellent 2D atomic grid, transparent to charge carriers, and yet can control the carrier flux via the electrical potential. A new model on the quantum capacitance's effect on vertical tunneling is developed to further elucidate the role of graphene in modulating the tunneling process. This work may serve as a general guideline for the design and analysis of vdW vertical tunneling devices and heterostructures, as well as the study of electron/spin injection through and into vdW materials.

Splitting efficiency and interference effects in a Cooper pair splitter based on a triple quantum dot with ferromagnetic contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bocian, Kacper; Rudziński, Wojciech; Weymann, Ireneusz

2018-05-01

We theoretically study the spin-resolved subgap transport properties of a Cooper pair splitter based on a triple quantum dot attached to superconducting and ferromagnetic leads. Using the Keldysh Green's function formalism, we analyze the dependence of the Andreev conductance, Cooper pair splitting efficiency, and tunnel magnetoresistance on the gate and bias voltages applied to the system. We show that the system's transport properties are strongly affected by spin dependence of tunneling processes and quantum interference between different local and nonlocal Andreev reflections. We also study the effects of finite hopping between the side quantum dots on the Andreev current. This allows for identifying the optimal conditions for enhancing the Cooper pair splitting efficiency of the device. We find that the splitting efficiency exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on the degree of spin polarization of the leads and the magnitude and type of hopping between the dots. An almost perfect splitting efficiency is predicted in the nonlinear response regime when the energies of the side quantum dots are tuned to the energies of the corresponding Andreev bound states. In addition, we analyzed features of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) for a wide range of the gate and bias voltages, as well as for different model parameters, finding the corresponding sign changes of the TMR in certain transport regimes. The mechanisms leading to these effects are thoroughly discussed.

Experimental Evidence for Quantum Tunneling Time.

PubMed

Camus, Nicolas; Yakaboylu, Enderalp; Fechner, Lutz; Klaiber, Michael; Laux, Martin; Mi, Yonghao; Hatsagortsyan, Karen Z; Pfeifer, Thomas; Keitel, Christoph H; Moshammer, Robert

2017-07-14

The first hundred attoseconds of the electron dynamics during strong field tunneling ionization are investigated. We quantify theoretically how the electron's classical trajectories in the continuum emerge from the tunneling process and test the results with those achieved in parallel from attoclock measurements. An especially high sensitivity on the tunneling barrier is accomplished here by comparing the momentum distributions of two atomic species of slightly deviating atomic potentials (argon and krypton) being ionized under absolutely identical conditions with near-infrared laser pulses (1300 nm). The agreement between experiment and theory provides clear evidence for a nonzero tunneling time delay and a nonvanishing longitudinal momentum of the electron at the "tunnel exit."

Experimental Evidence for Quantum Tunneling Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camus, Nicolas; Yakaboylu, Enderalp; Fechner, Lutz; Klaiber, Michael; Laux, Martin; Mi, Yonghao; Hatsagortsyan, Karen Z.; Pfeifer, Thomas; Keitel, Christoph H.; Moshammer, Robert

2017-07-01

The first hundred attoseconds of the electron dynamics during strong field tunneling ionization are investigated. We quantify theoretically how the electron's classical trajectories in the continuum emerge from the tunneling process and test the results with those achieved in parallel from attoclock measurements. An especially high sensitivity on the tunneling barrier is accomplished here by comparing the momentum distributions of two atomic species of slightly deviating atomic potentials (argon and krypton) being ionized under absolutely identical conditions with near-infrared laser pulses (1300 nm). The agreement between experiment and theory provides clear evidence for a nonzero tunneling time delay and a nonvanishing longitudinal momentum of the electron at the "tunnel exit."

Tunneling current noise spectra of biased impurity with a phonon mode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maslova, N. S.; Arseev, P. I.; Mantsevich, V. N., E-mail: vmantsev@gmail.com

We report the results of theoretical investigations of the tunneling current noise spectra through a single-level impurity both in the presence and in the absence of electron–phonon interaction based on the nonequilibrium Green’s functions formalism. We show that due to the quantum nature of tunneling, the Fano factor is dramatically different from the Poisson limit both in the presence and in the absence of inelastic processes. The results are demonstrated to be sensitive to the tunneling contact parameters.

Significant Quantum Effects in Hydrogen Activation

DOE PAGES

Kyriakou, Georgios; Davidson, Erlend R. M.; Peng, Guowen; ...

2014-03-31

Dissociation of molecular hydrogen is an important step in a wide variety of chemical, biological, and physical processes. Due to the light mass of hydrogen, it is recognized that quantum effects are often important to its reactivity. However, understanding how quantum effects impact the reactivity of hydrogen is still in its infancy. Here, we examine this issue using a well-defined Pd/Cu(111) alloy that allows the activation of hydrogen and deuterium molecules to be examined at individual Pd atom surface sites over a wide range of temperatures. Experiments comparing the uptake of hydrogen and deuterium as a function of temperature revealmore » completely different behavior of the two species. The rate of hydrogen activation increases at lower sample temperature, whereas deuterium activation slows as the temperature is lowered. Density functional theory simulations in which quantum nuclear effects are accounted for reveal that tunneling through the dissociation barrier is prevalent for H 2 up to ~190 K and for D 2 up to ~140 K. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the effective barrier to H 2 dissociation is so low that hydrogen uptake on the surface is limited merely by thermodynamics, whereas the D 2 dissociation process is controlled by kinetics. These data illustrate the complexity and inherent quantum nature of this ubiquitous and seemingly simple chemical process. Here, examining these effects in other systems with a similar range of approaches may uncover temperature regimes where quantum effects can be harnessed, yielding greater control of bond-breaking processes at surfaces and uncovering useful chemistries such as selective bond activation or isotope separation.« less

Arrays of Nano Tunnel Junctions as Infrared Image Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Son, Kyung-Ah; Moon, Jeong S.; Prokopuk, Nicholas

2006-01-01

Infrared image sensors based on high density rectangular planar arrays of nano tunnel junctions have been proposed. These sensors would differ fundamentally from prior infrared sensors based, variously, on bolometry or conventional semiconductor photodetection. Infrared image sensors based on conventional semiconductor photodetection must typically be cooled to cryogenic temperatures to reduce noise to acceptably low levels. Some bolometer-type infrared sensors can be operated at room temperature, but they exhibit low detectivities and long response times, which limit their utility. The proposed infrared image sensors could be operated at room temperature without incurring excessive noise, and would exhibit high detectivities and short response times. Other advantages would include low power demand, high resolution, and tailorability of spectral response. Neither bolometers nor conventional semiconductor photodetectors, the basic detector units as proposed would partly resemble rectennas. Nanometer-scale tunnel junctions would be created by crossing of nanowires with quantum-mechanical-barrier layers in the form of thin layers of electrically insulating material between them (see figure). A microscopic dipole antenna sized and shaped to respond maximally in the infrared wavelength range that one seeks to detect would be formed integrally with the nanowires at each junction. An incident signal in that wavelength range would become coupled into the antenna and, through the antenna, to the junction. At the junction, the flow of electrons between the crossing wires would be dominated by quantum-mechanical tunneling rather than thermionic emission. Relative to thermionic emission, quantum mechanical tunneling is a fast process.

Simulations of "tunnelling of the 3rd kind"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mou, Zong-Gang; Saffin, Paul M.; Tognarelli, Paul; Tranberg, Anders

2017-07-01

We consider the phenomenon of "tunnelling of the 3rd kind" [1], whereby a magnetic field may traverse a classically impenetrable barrier by pair creation of unimpeded quantum fermions. These propagate through the barrier and generate a magnetic field on the other side. We study this numerically using quantum fermions coupled to a classical Higgs-gauge system, where we set up a magnetic field outside a box shielded by two superconducting barriers. We examine the magnitude of the internal magnetic field, and find agreement with existing perturbative results within a factor of two.

FIBER OPTICS: Nonclassical states of light in tunnel-coupled optical fibers and possibilities for experimental realization in the beams of low-power high-coherence cw lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alodzhants, A. P.; Dzheĭranyan, G. A.; Gevorkyan, L. P.; Arakelyan, S. M.

1993-08-01

The creation of nonclassical states of light in tunnel-coupled optical fibers is analyzed. It is possible to achieve a 40% suppression of quantum (vacuum) fluctuations in one quadrature of the field of a standard cw He-Ne laser with an intensity as low as 1 kW/cm2 (i.e., a power of ~ 1 mW). The possibility of experimental implementation of this scheme for generating squeezed quantum states is discussed.

Nonadiabatic Dynamics in Single-Electron Tunneling Devices with Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dittmann, Niklas; Splettstoesser, Janine; Helbig, Nicole

2018-04-01

We simulate the dynamics of a single-electron source, modeled as a quantum dot with on-site Coulomb interaction and tunnel coupling to an adjacent lead in time-dependent density-functional theory. Based on this system, we develop a time-nonlocal exchange-correlation potential by exploiting analogies with quantum-transport theory. The time nonlocality manifests itself in a dynamical potential step. We explicitly link the time evolution of the dynamical step to physical relaxation timescales of the electron dynamics. Finally, we discuss prospects for simulations of larger mesoscopic systems.

Spin bottleneck in resonant tunneling through double quantum dots with different Zeeman splittings.

PubMed

Huang, S M; Tokura, Y; Akimoto, H; Kono, K; Lin, J J; Tarucha, S; Ono, K

2010-04-02

We investigated the electron transport property of the InGaAs/GaAs double quantum dots, the electron g factors of which are different from each other. We found that in a magnetic field, the resonant tunneling is suppressed even if one of the Zeeman sublevels is aligned. This is because the other misaligned Zeeman sublevels limit the total current. A finite broadening of the misaligned sublevel partially relieves this bottleneck effect, and the maximum current is reached when interdot detuning is half the Zeeman energy difference.

Resonant pair tunneling in double quantum dots.

PubMed

Sela, Eran; Affleck, Ian

2009-08-21

We present exact results on the nonequilibrium current fluctuations for 2 quantum dots in series throughout a crossover from non-Fermi liquid to Fermi liquid behavior described by the 2 impurity Kondo model. The result corresponds to resonant tunneling of carriers of charge 2e for a critical interimpurity coupling. At low energy scales, the result can be understood from a Fermi liquid approach that we develop and use to also study nonequilibrium transport in an alternative double dot realization of the 2 impurity Kondo model under current experimental study.

Nonadiabatic Dynamics in Single-Electron Tunneling Devices with Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory.

PubMed

Dittmann, Niklas; Splettstoesser, Janine; Helbig, Nicole

2018-04-13

We simulate the dynamics of a single-electron source, modeled as a quantum dot with on-site Coulomb interaction and tunnel coupling to an adjacent lead in time-dependent density-functional theory. Based on this system, we develop a time-nonlocal exchange-correlation potential by exploiting analogies with quantum-transport theory. The time nonlocality manifests itself in a dynamical potential step. We explicitly link the time evolution of the dynamical step to physical relaxation timescales of the electron dynamics. Finally, we discuss prospects for simulations of larger mesoscopic systems.

Silicon-Based Quantum MOS Technology Development

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-03-07

resonant interband tunnel diodes were demonstrated with peak current density greater than 104 A/cm2; peak-to-valley current ratio exceeding 2 was...photon emission reduce the peak-to-valley current ratio and device performance. Therefore, interband tunnel devices should be more resilient to...Comparison of bipolar interband tunnel and optical devices: (a) Esaki diode biased into the valley current region and (b) optical light emitter. The Esaki

Stationary phase method and delay times for relativistic and non-relativistic tunneling particles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bernardini, A.E.

2009-06-15

The stationary phase method is frequently adopted for calculating tunneling phase times of analytically-continuous Gaussian or infinite-bandwidth step pulses which collide with a potential barrier. This report deals with the basic concepts on deducing transit times for quantum scattering: the stationary phase method and its relation with delay times for relativistic and non-relativistic tunneling particles. After reexamining the above-barrier diffusion problem, we notice that the applicability of this method is constrained by several subtleties in deriving the phase time that describes the localization of scattered wave packets. Using a recently developed procedure - multiple wave packet decomposition - for somemore » specifical colliding configurations, we demonstrate that the analytical difficulties arising when the stationary phase method is applied for obtaining phase (traversal) times are all overcome. In this case, we also investigate the general relation between phase times and dwell times for quantum tunneling/scattering. Considering a symmetrical collision of two identical wave packets with an one-dimensional barrier, we demonstrate that these two distinct transit time definitions are explicitly connected. The traversal times are obtained for a symmetrized (two identical bosons) and an antisymmetrized (two identical fermions) quantum colliding configuration. Multiple wave packet decomposition shows us that the phase time (group delay) describes the exact position of the scattered particles and, in addition to the exact relation with the dwell time, leads to correct conceptual understanding of both transit time definitions. At last, we extend the non-relativistic formalism to the solutions for the tunneling zone of a one-dimensional electrostatic potential in the relativistic (Dirac to Klein-Gordon) wave equation where the incoming wave packet exhibits the possibility of being almost totally transmitted through the potential barrier. The conditions for the occurrence of accelerated and, eventually, superluminal tunneling transmission probabilities are all quantified and the problematic superluminal interpretation based on the non-relativistic tunneling dynamics is revisited. Lessons concerning the dynamics of relativistic tunneling and the mathematical structure of its solutions suggest revealing insights into mathematically analogous condensed-matter experiments using electrostatic barriers in single- and bi-layer graphene, for which the accelerated tunneling effect deserves a more careful investigation.« less

Single-electron quantization at room temperature in a-few-donor quantum dot in silicon nano-transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samanta, Arup; Muruganathan, Manoharan; Hori, Masahiro; Ono, Yukinori; Mizuta, Hiroshi; Tabe, Michiharu; Moraru, Daniel

2017-02-01

Quantum dots formed by donor-atoms in Si nanodevices can provide a breakthrough for functionality at the atomic level with one-by-one control of electrons. However, single-electron effects in donor-atom devices have only been observed at low temperatures mainly due to the low tunnel barriers. If a few donor-atoms are closely coupled as a molecule to form a quantum dot, the ground-state energy level is significantly deepened, leading to higher tunnel barriers. Here, we demonstrate that such an a-few-donor quantum dot, formed by selective conventional doping of phosphorus (P) donors in a Si nano-channel, sustains Coulomb blockade behavior even at room temperature. In this work, such a quantum dot is formed by 3 P-donors located near the center of the selectively-doped area, which is consistent with a statistical analysis. This finding demonstrates practical conditions for atomic- and molecular-level electronics based on donor-atoms in silicon nanodevices.

Single-electron-occupation metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dots formed from efficient poly-silicon gate layout

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carroll, Malcolm S.; rochette, sophie; Rudolph, Martin

We introduce a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dot structure that achieves dot-reservoir tunnel coupling control without a dedicated barrier gate. The elementary structure consists of two accumulation gates separated spatially by a gap, one gate accumulating a reservoir and the other a quantum dot. Control of the tunnel rate between the dot and the reservoir across the gap is demonstrated in the single electron regime by varying the reservoir accumulation gate voltage while compensating with the dot accumulation gate voltage. The method is then applied to a quantum dot connected in series to source and drain reservoirs, enabling transport down tomore » the single electron regime. Finally, tuning of the valley splitting with the dot accumulation gate voltage is observed. This split accumulation gate structure creates silicon quantum dots of similar characteristics to other realizations but with less electrodes, in a single gate stack subtractive fabrication process that is fully compatible with silicon foundry manufacturing.« less

Theory of chaos regularization of tunneling in chaotic quantum dots.

PubMed

Lee, Ming-Jer; Antonsen, Thomas M; Ott, Edward; Pecora, Louis M

2012-11-01

Recent numerical experiments of Pecora et al. [Phys. Rev. E 83, 065201 (2011)] have investigated tunneling between two-dimensional symmetric double wells separated by a tunneling barrier. The wells were bounded by hard walls and by the potential barrier which was created by a step increase from the zero potential within a well to a uniform barrier potential within the barrier region, which is a situation potentially realizable in the context of quantum dots. Numerical results for the splitting of energy levels between symmetric and antisymmetric eigenstates were calculated. It was found that the splittings vary erratically from state to state, and the statistics of these variations were studied for different well shapes with the fluctuation levels being much less in chaotic wells than in comparable nonchaotic wells. Here we develop a quantitative theory for the statistics of the energy level splittings for chaotic wells. Our theory is based on the random plane wave hypothesis of Berry. While the fluctuation statistics are very different for chaotic and nonchaotic well dynamics, we show that the mean splittings of differently shaped wells, including integrable and chaotic wells, are the same if their well areas and barrier parameters are the same. We also consider the case of tunneling from a single well into a region with outgoing quantum waves.

Gate-defined Quantum Confinement in Suspended Bilayer Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Monica

2013-03-01

Quantum confined devices in carbon-based materials offer unique possibilities for applications ranging from quantum computation to sensing. In particular, nanostructured carbon is a promising candidate for spin-based quantum computation due to the ability to suppress hyperfine coupling to nuclear spins, a dominant source of spin decoherence. Yet graphene lacks an intrinsic bandgap, which poses a serious challenge for the creation of such devices. We present a novel approach to quantum confinement utilizing tunnel barriers defined by local electric fields that break sublattice symmetry in suspended bilayer graphene. This technique electrostatically confines charges via band structure control, thereby eliminating the edge and substrate disorder that hinders on-chip etched nanostructures to date. We report clean single electron tunneling through gate-defined quantum dots in two regimes: at zero magnetic field using the energy gap induced by a perpendicular electric field and at finite magnetic fields using Landau level confinement. The observed Coulomb blockade periodicity agrees with electrostatic simulations based on local top-gate geometry, a direct demonstration of local control over the band structure of graphene. This technology integrates quantum confinement with pristine device quality and access to vibrational modes, enabling wide applications from electromechanical sensors to quantum bits. More broadly, the ability to externally tailor the graphene bandgap over nanometer scales opens a new unexplored avenue for creating quantum devices.

Quantum versus simulated annealing in wireless interference network optimization.

PubMed

Wang, Chi; Chen, Huo; Jonckheere, Edmond

2016-05-16

Quantum annealing (QA) serves as a specialized optimizer that is able to solve many NP-hard problems and that is believed to have a theoretical advantage over simulated annealing (SA) via quantum tunneling. With the introduction of the D-Wave programmable quantum annealer, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted to detect and quantify quantum speedup. While the debate over speedup remains inconclusive as of now, instead of attempting to show general quantum advantage, here, we focus on a novel real-world application of D-Wave in wireless networking-more specifically, the scheduling of the activation of the air-links for maximum throughput subject to interference avoidance near network nodes. In addition, D-Wave implementation is made error insensitive by a novel Hamiltonian extra penalty weight adjustment that enlarges the gap and substantially reduces the occurrence of interference violations resulting from inevitable spin bias and coupling errors. The major result of this paper is that quantum annealing benefits more than simulated annealing from this gap expansion process, both in terms of ST99 speedup and network queue occupancy. It is the hope that this could become a real-word application niche where potential benefits of quantum annealing could be objectively assessed.

Quantum versus simulated annealing in wireless interference network optimization

PubMed Central

Wang, Chi; Chen, Huo; Jonckheere, Edmond

2016-01-01

Quantum annealing (QA) serves as a specialized optimizer that is able to solve many NP-hard problems and that is believed to have a theoretical advantage over simulated annealing (SA) via quantum tunneling. With the introduction of the D-Wave programmable quantum annealer, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted to detect and quantify quantum speedup. While the debate over speedup remains inconclusive as of now, instead of attempting to show general quantum advantage, here, we focus on a novel real-world application of D-Wave in wireless networking—more specifically, the scheduling of the activation of the air-links for maximum throughput subject to interference avoidance near network nodes. In addition, D-Wave implementation is made error insensitive by a novel Hamiltonian extra penalty weight adjustment that enlarges the gap and substantially reduces the occurrence of interference violations resulting from inevitable spin bias and coupling errors. The major result of this paper is that quantum annealing benefits more than simulated annealing from this gap expansion process, both in terms of ST99 speedup and network queue occupancy. It is the hope that this could become a real-word application niche where potential benefits of quantum annealing could be objectively assessed. PMID:27181056

Quantum versus simulated annealing in wireless interference network optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chi; Chen, Huo; Jonckheere, Edmond

2016-05-01

Quantum annealing (QA) serves as a specialized optimizer that is able to solve many NP-hard problems and that is believed to have a theoretical advantage over simulated annealing (SA) via quantum tunneling. With the introduction of the D-Wave programmable quantum annealer, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted to detect and quantify quantum speedup. While the debate over speedup remains inconclusive as of now, instead of attempting to show general quantum advantage, here, we focus on a novel real-world application of D-Wave in wireless networking—more specifically, the scheduling of the activation of the air-links for maximum throughput subject to interference avoidance near network nodes. In addition, D-Wave implementation is made error insensitive by a novel Hamiltonian extra penalty weight adjustment that enlarges the gap and substantially reduces the occurrence of interference violations resulting from inevitable spin bias and coupling errors. The major result of this paper is that quantum annealing benefits more than simulated annealing from this gap expansion process, both in terms of ST99 speedup and network queue occupancy. It is the hope that this could become a real-word application niche where potential benefits of quantum annealing could be objectively assessed.

Chaos-Assisted Quantum Tunneling and Delocalization Caused by Resonance or Near-Resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Danfu; Zhang, Jiawei; Zhang, Xili

2018-05-01

We investigate the quantum transport of a single particle trapped in a tilted optical lattice modulated with periodical delta kicks, and attempt to figure out the relationship between chaos and delocalization or quantum tunneling. We illustrate some resonant parameter lines existing in both chaotic and regular parameter regions, and discover the velocity of delocalization of particle tends to faster in the resonant line as well as the lines in which the lattice tilt is an integral multiple n of tilt driving frequency in chaotic region. While the degree of localization is linked to the distance between parameter points and resonant lines. Those useful results can be experimentally applied to control chaos-assisted transport of single particle held in optical lattices.

Quasi-particle properties from tunneling in the v = 5/2 fractional quantum Hall state.

PubMed

Radu, Iuliana P; Miller, J B; Marcus, C M; Kastner, M A; Pfeiffer, L N; West, K W

2008-05-16

Quasi-particles with fractional charge and statistics, as well as modified Coulomb interactions, exist in a two-dimensional electron system in the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) regime. Theoretical models of the FQH state at filling fraction v = 5/2 make the further prediction that the wave function can encode the interchange of two quasi-particles, making this state relevant for topological quantum computing. We show that bias-dependent tunneling across a narrow constriction at v = 5/2 exhibits temperature scaling and, from fits to the theoretical scaling form, extract values for the effective charge and the interaction parameter of the quasi-particles. Ranges of values obtained are consistent with those predicted by certain models of the 5/2 state.

Self-sustaining dynamical nuclear polarization oscillations in quantum dots.

PubMed

Rudner, M S; Levitov, L S

2013-02-22

Early experiments on spin-blockaded double quantum dots revealed robust, large-amplitude current oscillations in the presence of a static (dc) source-drain bias. Despite experimental evidence implicating dynamical nuclear polarization, the mechanism has remained a mystery. Here we introduce a minimal albeit realistic model of coupled electron and nuclear spin dynamics which supports self-sustained oscillations. Our mechanism relies on a nuclear spin analog of the tunneling magnetoresistance phenomenon (spin-dependent tunneling rates in the presence of an inhomogeneous Overhauser field) and nuclear spin diffusion, which governs dynamics of the spatial profile of nuclear polarization. The proposed framework naturally explains the differences in phenomenology between vertical and lateral quantum dot structures as well as the extremely long oscillation periods.

Applications and research on nano power electronics: an adventure beyond quantum electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Arindam; Emadi, Ali

2005-06-01

This paper is a roadmap to the exhaustive role of the newly emerging field of nanotechnology in various application and research areas. Some of the today's important topics are plasma, dielectric layer semiconductor, and carbon nanoparticle based technologies. Carbon nanotubes are very useful for the purpose of fabricating nano opto power devices. The basic concept behind tunneling of electrons has been utilized to define another scope of this technology, and thus came many quantum scale tunneling devices and elements. Fabrication of crystal semiconductors of high quality along with oxides of nano aspect would give rise to superior device performance and find applications such as LEDs, LASER, VLSI technology and also in highly efficient solar cells. Many nano-research based organizations are fully devoted to develop nano power cells, which would give birth to new battery cells, tunneling devises, with high power quality, longer lives, and higher activation rates. Different electronics industries as well as the military organizations would be largely benefited due to this major component and system design ideas of 'Smart Power' technologies. The contribution of nano scale power electronics would be realized in various fields like switching devices, electromechanical systems and quantum science. Such a sophisticated technology will have great impact on the modernization of robotics; space systems, automotive systems and many other fields. The highly emerging field of nanomedicine according to specialists would bring a dramatic revolution in the present century. However nanomedicine is nothing but an integration of biology, medicine and technology. Thermoelectric materials as been referred earlier also are used in case of implantable medical equipments for generation of electric power sufficient for those equipments.

Quantized spin-momentum transfer in atom-sized magnetic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loth, Sebastian

2010-03-01

Our ability to quickly access the vast amounts of information linked in the internet is owed to the miniaturization of magnetic data storage. In modern disk drives the tunnel magnetoresistance effect (TMR) serves as sensitive reading mechanism for the nanoscopic magnetic bits [1]. At its core lies the ability to control the flow of electrons with a material's magnetization. The inverse effect, spin transfer torque (STT), allows one to influence a magnetic layer by high current densities of spin-polarized electrons and carries high hopes for applications in non-volatile magnetic memory [2]. We show that equivalent processes are active in quantum spin systems. We use a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating at low temperature and high magnetic field to address individual magnetic structures and probe their spin excitations by inelastic electron tunneling [3]. As model system we investigate transition metal atoms adsorbed to a copper nitride layer grown on a Cu crystal. The magnetic atoms on the surface possess well-defined spin states [4]. Transfer of one magnetic atom to the STM tip's apex creates spin-polarization in the probe tip. The combination of functionalized tip and surface adsorbed atom resembles a TMR structure where the magnetic layers now consist of one magnetic atom each. Spin-polarized current emitted from the probe tip not only senses the magnetic orientation of the atomic spin system, it efficiently transfers spin angular momentum and pumps the quantum spin system between the different spin states. This enables further exploration of the microscopic mechanisms for spin-relaxation and stability of quantum spin systems. [4pt] [1] Zhu and Park, Mater. Today 9, 36 (2006).[0pt] [2] Huai, AAPPS Bulletin 18, 33 (2008).[0pt] [3] Heinrich et al., Science 306, 466 (2004).[0pt] [4] Hirjibehedin et al., Science 317, 1199 (2007).

Efficiency droop in GaN LEDs at high injection levels: Role of hydrogen

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bochkareva, N. I.; Sheremet, I. A.; Shreter, Yu. G., E-mail: y.shreter@mail.ioffe.ru

2016-10-15

Point defects in GaN and, in particular, their manifestation in the photoluminescence, optical absorption, and recombination current in light-emitting diodes with InGaN/GaN quantum wells are analyzed. The results of this analysis demonstrate that the wide tail of defect states in the band gap of GaN facilitates the trap-assisted tunneling of thermally activated carriers into the quantum well, but simultaneously leads to a decrease in the nonradiative-recombination lifetime and to an efficiency droop as the quasi-Fermi levels intersect the defect states with increasing forward bias. The results reveal the dominant role of hydrogen in the recombination activity of defects with danglingmore » bonds and in the efficiency of GaN-based devices.« less

Salecker-Wigner-Peres clock, Feynman paths, and a tunneling time that should not exist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolovski, D.

2017-08-01

The Salecker-Wigner-Peres (SWP) clock is often used to determine the duration a quantum particle is supposed to spend in a specified region of space Ω . By construction, the result is a real positive number, and the method seems to avoid the difficulty of introducing complex time parameters, which arises in the Feynman paths approach. However, it tells little about the particle's motion. We investigate this matter further, and show that the SWP clock, like any other Larmor clock, correlates the rotation of its angular momentum with the durations τ , which the Feynman paths spend in Ω , thereby destroying interference between different durations. An inaccurate weakly coupled clock leaves the interference almost intact, and the need to resolve the resulting "which way?" problem is one of the main difficulties at the center of the "tunnelling time" controversy. In the absence of a probability distribution for the values of τ , the SWP results are expressed in terms of moduli of the "complex times," given by the weighted sums of the corresponding probability amplitudes. It is shown that overinterpretation of these results, by treating the SWP times as physical time intervals, leads to paradoxes and should be avoided. We also analyze various settings of the SWP clock, different calibration procedures, and the relation between the SWP results and the quantum dwell time. The cases of stationary tunneling and tunnel ionization are considered in some detail. Although our detailed analysis addresses only one particular definition of the duration of a tunneling process, it also points towards the impossibility of uniting various time parameters, which may occur in quantum theory, within the concept of a single tunnelling time.

Thermoelectric energy harvesting with quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sothmann, Björn; Sánchez, Rafael; Jordan, Andrew N.

2015-01-01

We review recent theoretical work on thermoelectric energy harvesting in multi-terminal quantum-dot setups. We first discuss several examples of nanoscale heat engines based on Coulomb-coupled conductors. In particular, we focus on quantum dots in the Coulomb-blockade regime, chaotic cavities and resonant tunneling through quantum dots and wells. We then turn toward quantum-dot heat engines that are driven by bosonic degrees of freedom such as phonons, magnons and microwave photons. These systems provide interesting connections to spin caloritronics and circuit quantum electrodynamics.

Interface and phase transition between Moore-Read and Halperin 331 fractional quantum Hall states: Realization of chiral Majorana fermion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Kun

2017-12-01

We consider an interface separating the Moore-Read state and Halperin 331 state in a half-filled Landau level, which can be realized in a double quantum well system with varying interwell tunneling and/or interaction strengths. In the presence of electron tunneling and strong Coulomb interactions across the interface, we find that all charge modes localize and the only propagating mode left is a chiral Majorana fermion mode. Methods to probe this neutral mode are proposed. A quantum phase transition between the Moore-Read and Halperin 331 states is described by a network of such Majorana fermion modes. In addition to a direct transition, they may also be separated by a phase in which the Majorana fermions are delocalized, realizing an incompressible state which exhibits quantum Hall charge transport and bulk heat conduction.

Resonant and Inelastic Andreev Tunneling Observed on a Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dot.

PubMed

Gramich, J; Baumgartner, A; Schönenberger, C

2015-11-20

We report the observation of two fundamental subgap transport processes through a quantum dot (QD) with a superconducting contact. The device consists of a carbon nanotube contacted by a Nb superconducting and a normal metal contact. First, we find a single resonance with position, shape, and amplitude consistent with the theoretically predicted resonant Andreev tunneling (AT) through a single QD level. Second, we observe a series of discrete replicas of resonant AT at a separation of ~145 μeV, with a gate, bias, and temperature dependence characteristic for boson-assisted, inelastic AT, in which energy is exchanged between a bosonic bath and the electrons. The magnetic field dependence of the replica's amplitudes and energies suggest that two different bosons couple to the tunnel process.

Tunneling Spectroscopy of Quantum Hall States in Bilayer Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ke; Harzheim, Achim; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Kim, Philip

In the quantum Hall (QH) regime, ballistic conducting paths along the physical edges of a sample appear, leading to quantized Hall conductance and vanishing longitudinal magnetoconductance. These QH edge states are often described as ballistic compressible strips separated by insulating incompressible strips, the spatial profiles of which can be crucial in understanding the stability and emergence of interaction driven QH states. In this work, we present tunneling transport between two QH edge states in bilayer graphene. Employing locally gated device structure, we guide and control the separation between the QH edge states in bilayer graphene. Using resonant Landau level tunneling as a spectroscopy tool, we measure the energy gap in bilayer graphene as a function of displacement field and probe the emergence and evolution of incompressible strips.

Quantum dot lasers: From promise to high-performance devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, P.; Mi, Z.; Yang, J.; Basu, D.; Saha, D.

2009-03-01

Ever since self-organized In(Ga)As/Ga(AI)As quantum dots were realized by molecular beam epitaxy, it became evident that these coherently strained nanostructures could be used as the active media in devices. While the expected advantages stemming from three-dimensional quantum confinement were clearly outlined, these were not borne out by the early experiments. It took a very detailed understanding of the unique carrier dynamics in the quantum dots to exploit their full potential. As a result, we now have lasers with emission wavelengths ranging from 0.7 to 1.54 μm, on GaAs, which demonstrate ultra-low threshold currents, near-zero chip and α-factor and large modulation bandwidth. State-of-the-art performance characteristics of these lasers are briefly reviewed. The growth, fabrication and characteristics of quantum dot lasers on silicon substrates are also described. With the incorporation of multiple quantum dot layers as a dislocation filter, we demonstrate lasers with Jth=900 A/cm 2. The monolithic integration of the lasers with guided wave modulators on silicon is also described. Finally, the properties of spin-polarized lasers with quantum dot active regions are described. Spin injection of electrons is done with a MnAs/GaAs tunnel barrier. Laser operation at 200 K is demonstrated, with the possibility of room temperature operation in the near future.

Coupled Qubits for Next Generation Quantum Annealing: Improving Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Steven; Samach, Gabriel; Hover, David; Rosenberg, Danna; Yoder, Jonilyn; Kim, David K.; Kerman, Andrew; Oliver, William D.

Quantum annealing is an optimization technique which potentially leverages quantum tunneling to enhance computational performance. Existing quantum annealers use superconducting flux qubits with short coherence times, limited primarily by the use of large persistent currents. Here, we examine an alternative approach, using flux qubits with smaller persistent currents and longer coherence times. We demonstrate tunable coupling, a basic building-block for quantum annealing, between two such qubits. Furthermore, we characterize qubit coherence as a function of coupler setting and investigate the effect of flux noise in the coupler loop on qubit coherence. Our results provide insight into the available design space for next-generation quantum annealers with improved coherence. This research was funded by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering under Air Force Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0002. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of ODNI, IARPA, or the US Government.

Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics and Orthogonality Constrained Density Functional Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shushkov, Philip Georgiev

The exact quantum dynamics of realistic, multidimensional systems remains a formidable computational challenge. In many chemical processes, however, quantum effects such as tunneling, zero-point energy quantization, and nonadiabatic transitions play an important role. Therefore, approximate approaches that improve on the classical mechanical framework are of special practical interest. We propose a novel ring polymer surface hopping method for the calculation of chemical rate constants. The method blends two approaches, namely ring polymer molecular dynamics that accounts for tunneling and zero-point energy quantization, and surface hopping that incorporates nonadiabatic transitions. We test the method against exact quantum mechanical calculations for a one-dimensional, two-state model system. The method reproduces quite accurately the tunneling contribution to the rate and the distribution of reactants between the electronic states for this model system. Semiclassical instanton theory, an approach related to ring polymer molecular dynamics, accounts for tunneling by the use of periodic classical trajectories on the inverted potential energy surface. We study a model of electron transfer in solution, a chemical process where nonadiabatic events are prominent. By representing the tunneling electron with a ring polymer, we derive Marcus theory of electron transfer from semiclassical instanton theory after a careful analysis of the tunneling mode. We demonstrate that semiclassical instanton theory can recover the limit of Fermi's Golden Rule rate in a low-temperature, deep-tunneling regime. Mixed quantum-classical dynamics treats a few important degrees of freedom quantum mechanically, while classical mechanics describes affordably the rest of the system. But the interface of quantum and classical description is a challenging theoretical problem, especially for low-energy chemical processes. We therefore focus on the semiclassical limit of the coupled nuclear-electronic dynamics. We show that the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the electrons employed in the widely used fewest switches surface hopping method is applicable only in the limit of nearly identical classical trajectories on the different potential energy surfaces. We propose a short-time decoupling algorithm that restricts the use of the Schrodinger equation only to the interaction regions. We test the short-time approximation on three model systems against exact quantum-mechanical calculations. The approximation improves the performance of the surface hopping approach. Nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations require the efficient and accurate computation of ground and excited state potential energy surfaces. Unlike the ground state calculations where standard methods exist, the computation of excited state properties is a challenging task. We employ time-independent density functional theory, in which the excited state energy is represented as a functional of the total density. We suggest an adiabatic-like approximation that simplifies the excited state exchange-correlation functional. We also derive a set of minimal conditions to impose exactly the orthogonality of the excited state Kohn-Sham determinant to the ground state determinant. This leads to an efficient, variational algorithm for the self-consistent optimization of the excited state energy. Finally, we assess the quality of the excitation energies obtained by the new method on a set of 28 organic molecules. The new approach provides results of similar accuracy to time-dependent density functional theory.

Magnetic Molecules from Chemist's Point of View

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrickson, David

2002-03-01

A single-molecule magnet (SMM) is a molecule that functions as a nanoscale, single-domain magnetic particle that, below its blocking temperature, exhibits magnetization hysteresis [1]. SMMs have attracted considerable interest because they : (1) can serve as the smallest nanomagnet, monodisperse in size, shape and anisotropy; (2) exhibit quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTM); and (3) may function as memory devices in a quantum computer. SMM’s are synthetically designed nanomagnets, built from a core containing metal ion unpaired spin carriers bridged by oxide or other simple ions which is surrounded by organic ligands. Many systematic changes can be made in the structure of these molecular nanomagnets. Manganese-containing SMM’s are known with from Mn4 to Mn_30 compositions. The magnetic bistability, which is desirable for data storage applications, is achievable at temperatures below 3K. The largest spin of the ground state of a SMM is presently S = 13. Appreciable largely uniaxial magnetoanisotropy in the ground state leads to magnetic bistability. Rather than a continuum of higher energy states separating the “spin-up” and “spin-down” ground states, the quantum nature of the molecular nanomagnets result in a well defined ladder of discrete quantum states. Recent studies have definitively shown that, under conditions that can be controlled via the application of external perturbations, quantum tunneling may occur through the energy separating the “spin-up” and “spin-down” states. The tunneling is due to weak symmetry breaking perturbations that give rise to long-lived quantum states consisting of coherent superpositions of the “spin-up” and “spin-down” states. It is the ability to manipulate these coherent states that makes SMMs particularly attractive for quantum computation. Reference: [1] G. Christou, D. Gatteschi, D. N. Hendrickson, R. Sessoli, “Single-molecule Magnets”, M.R.S. Bull. 25, 66 (2001).

Molecular Orientation of a Terbium(III)-Phthalocyaninato Double-Decker Complex for Effective Suppression of Quantum Tunneling of the Magnetization.

PubMed

Yamabayashi, Tsutomu; Katoh, Keiichi; Breedlove, Brian K; Yamashita, Masahiro

2017-06-15

Single-molecule magnet (SMM) properties of crystals of a terbium(III)-phthalocyaninato double-decker complex with different molecular packings ( 1 : TbPc₂, 2 : TbPc₂·CH₂Cl₂) were studied to elucidate the relationship between the molecular packing and SMM properties. From single crystal X-ray analyses, the high symmetry of the coordination environment of 2 suggested that the SMM properties were improved. Furthermore, the shorter intermolecular Tb-Tb distance and relative collinear alignment of the magnetic dipole in 2 indicated that the magnetic dipole-dipole interactions were stronger than those in 1 . This was confirmed by using direct current magnetic measurements. From alternating current magnetic measurements, the activation energy for spin reversal for 1 and 2 were similar. However, the relaxation time for 2 is three orders of magnitude slower than that for 1 in the low- T region due to effective suppression of the quantum tunneling of the magnetization. These results suggest that the SMM properties of TbPc₂ highly depend on the molecular packing.

First-principles investigation of quantum transport in GeP3 nanoribbon-based tunneling junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qiang; Li, Jian-Wei; Wang, Bin; Nie, Yi-Hang

2018-06-01

Two-dimensional (2D) GeP3 has recently been theoretically proposed as a new low-dimensional material [ Nano Lett. 17(3), 1833 (2017)]. In this manuscript, we propose a first-principles calculation to investigate the quantum transport properties of several GeP3 nanoribbon-based atomic tunneling junctions. Numerical results indicate that monolayer GeP3 nanoribbons show semiconducting behavior, whereas trilayer GeP3 nanoribbons express metallic behavior owing to the strong interaction between each of the layers. This behavior is in accordance with that proposed in two-dimensional GeP3 layers. The transmission coefficient T( E) of tunneling junctions is sensitive to the connecting formation between the central monolayer GeP3 nanoribbon and the trilayer GeP3 nanoribbon at both ends. The T( E) value of the bottom-connecting tunneling junction is considerably larger than those of the middle-connecting and top-connecting ones. With increases in gate voltage, the conductances increase for the bottom-connecting and middle-connecting tunneling junctions, but decrease for the top-connecting tunneling junctions. In addition, the conductance decreases exponentially with respect to the length of the central monolayer GeP3 nanoribbon for all the tunneling junctions. I-V curves show approximately linear behavior for the bottom-connecting and middle-connecting structures, but exhibit negative differential resistance for the top-connecting structures. The physics of each phenomenon is analyzed in detail.

Influence of Coherent Tunneling and Incoherent Hopping on the Charge Transfer Mechanism in Linear Donor-Bridge-Acceptor Systems.

PubMed

Li, Guangqi; Govind, Niranjan; Ratner, Mark A; Cramer, Christopher J; Gagliardi, Laura

2015-12-17

The mechanism of charge transfer has been observed to change from tunneling to hopping with increasing numbers of DNA base pairs in polynucleotides and with the length of molecular wires. The aim of this paper is to investigate this transition by examining the population dynamics using a tight-binding Hamiltonian with model parameters to describe a linear donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) system. The model includes a primary vibration and an electron-vibration coupling at each site. A further coupling of the primary vibration with a secondary phonon bath allows the system to dissipate energy to the environment and reach a steady state. We apply the quantum master equation (QME) approach, based on second-order perturbation theory in a quantum dissipative system, to examine the dynamical processes involved in charge-transfer and follow the population transfer rate at the acceptor, ka, to shed light on the transition from tunneling to hopping. With a small tunneling parameter, V, the on-site population tends to localize and form polarons, and the hopping mechanism dominates the transfer process. With increasing V, the population tends to be delocalized and the tunneling mechanism dominates. The competition between incoherent hopping and coherent tunneling governs the mechanism of charge transfer. By varying V and the total number of sites, we also examine the onset of the transition from tunneling to hopping with increasing length.

Resonant tunneling across a ferroelectric domain wall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, M.; Tao, L. L.; Velev, J. P.; Tsymbal, E. Y.

2018-04-01

Motivated by recent experimental observations, we explore electron transport properties of a ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) with an embedded head-to-head ferroelectric domain wall, using first-principles density-functional theory calculations. We consider a FTJ with L a0.5S r0.5Mn O3 electrodes separated by a BaTi O3 barrier layer and show that an in-plane charged domain wall in the ferroelectric BaTi O3 can be induced by polar interfaces. The resulting V -shaped electrostatic potential profile across the BaTi O3 layer creates a quantum well and leads to the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas, which stabilizes the domain wall. The confined electronic states in the barrier are responsible for resonant tunneling as is evident from our quantum-transport calculations. We find that the resonant tunneling is an orbital selective process, which leads to sharp spikes in the momentum- and energy-resolved transmission spectra. Our results indicate that domain walls embedded in FTJs can be used to control the electron transport.

Conformation-driven quantum interference effects mediated by through-space conjugation in self-assembled monolayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlotti, Marco; Kovalchuk, Andrii; Wächter, Tobias; Qiu, Xinkai; Zharnikov, Michael; Chiechi, Ryan C.

2016-12-01

Tunnelling currents through tunnelling junctions comprising molecules with cross-conjugation are markedly lower than for their linearly conjugated analogues. This effect has been shown experimentally and theoretically to arise from destructive quantum interference, which is understood to be an intrinsic, electronic property of molecules. Here we show experimental evidence of conformation-driven interference effects by examining through-space conjugation in which π-conjugated fragments are arranged face-on or edge-on in sufficiently close proximity to interact through space. Observing these effects in the latter requires trapping molecules in a non-equilibrium conformation closely resembling the X-ray crystal structure, which we accomplish using self-assembled monolayers to construct bottom-up, large-area tunnelling junctions. In contrast, interference effects are completely absent in zero-bias simulations on the equilibrium, gas-phase conformation, establishing through-space conjugation as both of fundamental interest and as a potential tool for tuning tunnelling charge-transport in large-area, solid-state molecular-electronic devices.

Entropy is conserved in Hawking radiation as tunneling: A revisit of the black hole information loss paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Baocheng; Cai, Qing-yu; Zhan, Ming-sheng; You, Li

2011-02-01

We revisit in detail the paradox of black hole information loss due to Hawking radiation as tunneling. We compute the amount of information encoded in correlations among Hawking radiations for a variety of black holes, including the Schwarzchild black hole, the Reissner-Nordström black hole, the Kerr black hole, and the Kerr-Newman black hole. The special case of tunneling through a quantum horizon is also considered. Within a phenomenological treatment based on the accepted emission probability spectrum from a black hole, we find that information is leaked out hidden in the correlations of Hawking radiation. The recovery of this previously unaccounted for information helps to conserve the total entropy of a system composed of a black hole plus its radiations. We thus conclude, irrespective of the microscopic picture for black hole collapsing, the associated radiation process: Hawking radiation as tunneling, is consistent with unitarity as required by quantum mechanics.

Revealing energy level structure of individual quantum dots by tunneling rate measured by single-electron sensitive electrostatic force spectroscopy.

PubMed

Roy-Gobeil, Antoine; Miyahara, Yoichi; Grutter, Peter

2015-04-08

We present theoretical and experimental studies of the effect of the density of states of a quantum dot (QD) on the rate of single-electron tunneling that can be directly measured by electrostatic force microscopy (e-EFM) experiments. In e-EFM, the motion of a biased atomic force microscope cantilever tip modulates the charge state of a QD in the Coulomb blockade regime. The charge dynamics of the dot, which is detected through its back-action on the capacitavely coupled cantilever, depends on the tunneling rate of the QD to a back-electrode. The density of states of the QD can therefore be measured through its effect on the energy dependence of tunneling rate. We present experimental data on individual 5 nm colloidal gold nanoparticles that exhibit a near continuous density of state at 77 K. In contrast, our analysis of already published data on self-assembled InAs QDs at 4 K clearly reveals discrete degenerate energy levels.

The tunnel magnetoresistance in chains of quantum dots weakly coupled to external leads.

PubMed

Weymann, Ireneusz

2010-01-13

We analyze numerically the spin-dependent transport through coherent chains of three coupled quantum dots weakly connected to external magnetic leads. In particular, using the diagrammatic technique on the Keldysh contour, we calculate the conductance, shot noise and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in the sequential and cotunneling regimes. We show that transport characteristics greatly depend on the strength of the interdot Coulomb correlations, which determines the spatial distribution of the electron wavefunction in the chain. When the correlations are relatively strong, depending on the transport regime, we find both negative TMR as well as TMR enhanced above the Julliere value, accompanied with negative differential conductance (NDC) and super-Poissonian shot noise. This nontrivial behavior of tunnel magnetoresistance is associated with selection rules that govern tunneling processes and various high-spin states of the chain that are relevant for transport. For weak interdot correlations, on the other hand, the TMR is always positive and not larger than the Julliere TMR, although super-Poissonian shot noise and NDC can still be observed.

Investigation of efficiency enhancement in InGaN MQW LED with compositionally step graded GaN/InAlN/GaN multi-layer barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prajoon, P.; Anuja Menokey, M.; Charles Pravin, J.; Ajayan, J.; Rajesh, S.; Nirmal, D.

2018-04-01

The advantage of InGaN multiple Quantum well (MQW) Light emitting diode (LED) on a SiC substrate with compositionally step graded GaN/InAlN/GaN multi-layer barrier (MLB) is studied. The Internal quantum efficiency, Optical power, current-voltage characteristics, spontaneous emission rate and carrier distribution profile in the active region are investigated using Sentaurus TCAD simulation. An analytical model is also developed to describe the QW carrier injection efficiency, by including carrier leakage mechanisms like carrier overflow, thermionic emission and tunnelling. The enhanced electron confinement, reduced carrier asymmetry, and suppressed carrier overflow in the active region of the MLB MQW LED leads to render a superior performance than the conventional GaN barrier MQW LED. The simulation result also elucidates the efficiency droop behaviour in the MLB MQW LED, it suggests that the efficiency droop effect is remarkably improved when the GaN barrier is replaced with GaN/InAlN/GaN MLB barrier. The analysis shows a dominating behaviour of carrier escape mechanism due to tunnelling. Moreover, the lower lattice mismatching of SiC substrate with GaN epitaxial layer is attributed with good crystal quality and reduced polarization effect, ultimately enhances the optical performance of the LEDs.

Electron-Electron and Electron-Phonon interactions effects on the tunnel electronic spectrum of PbS quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hongyue; Lhuillier, Emmanuel; Yu, Qian; Mottaghizadeh, Alireza; Ulysse, Christian; Zimmers, Alexandre; Dubertret, Benoit; Aubin, Herve

2015-03-01

We present a tunnel spectroscopy study of the electronic spectrum of single PbS Quantum Dots (QDs) trapped between nanometer-spaced electrodes, measured at low temperature T=5 K. The carrier filling of the QD can be controlled either by the drain voltage in the shell filling regime or by a gate voltage. In the empty QD, the tunnel spectrum presents the expected signature of the 8x degenerated excited levels. In the drain controlled shell filling regime, the levels degeneracies are lifted by the global electrostatic Coulomb energy of the QD; in the gate controlled shell filling regime, the levels degeneracies are lifted by the intra-Coulomb interactions. In the charged quantum dot, electron-phonons interactions lead to the apparition of Franck-Condon side bands on the single excited levels and possibly Franck Condon blockade at low energy. The sharpening of excited levels at higher gate voltage suggests that the magnitude of electron-phonon interactions is decreased upon increasing the electron filling in the quantum dot. This work was supported by the French ANR Grants 10-BLAN-0409-01, 09-BLAN-0388-01, by the Region Ile-de-France in the framework of DIM Nano-K and by China Scholarship Council.

Tunnel-injected sub 290 nm ultra-violet light emitting diodes with 2.8% external quantum efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuewei; Jamal-Eddine, Zane; Akyol, Fatih; Bajaj, Sanyam; Johnson, Jared M.; Calderon, Gabriel; Allerman, Andrew A.; Moseley, Michael W.; Armstrong, Andrew M.; Hwang, Jinwoo; Rajan, Siddharth

2018-02-01

We report on the high efficiency tunnel-injected ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs) emitting at 287 nm. Deep UV LED performance has been limited by the severe internal light absorption in the p-type contact layers and low electrical injection efficiency due to poor p-type conduction. In this work, a polarization engineered Al0.65Ga0.35N/In0.2Ga0.8N tunnel junction layer is adopted for non-equilibrium hole injection to replace the conventionally used direct p-type contact. A reverse-graded AlGaN contact layer is further introduced to realize a low resistance contact to the top n-AlGaN layer. This led to the demonstration of a low tunnel junction resistance of 1.9 × 10-3 Ω cm2 obtained at 1 kA/cm2. Light emission at 287 nm with an on-wafer peak external quantum efficiency of 2.8% and a wall-plug efficiency of 1.1% was achieved. The measured power density at 1 kA/cm2 was 54.4 W/cm2, confirming the efficient hole injection through interband tunneling. With the benefits of the minimized internal absorption and efficient hole injection, a tunnel-injected UV LED structure could enable future high efficiency UV emitters.

Identification of Mott insulators and Anderson insulators in self-assembled gold nanoparticles thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Cheng-Wei; Ni, I.-Chih; Tzeng, Shien-Der; Wu, Cen-Shawn; Kuo, Watson

2014-05-01

How the interparticle tunnelling affects the charge conduction of self-assembled gold nanoparticles is studied by three means: tuning the tunnel barrier width by different molecule modification and by substrate bending, and tuning the barrier height by high-dose electron beam exposure. All approaches indicate that the metal-Mott insulator transition is governed predominantly by the interparticle coupling strength, which can be quantified by the room temperature sheet resistance. The Hubbard gap, following the prediction of quantum fluctuation theory, reduces to zero rapidly as the sheet resistance decreases to the quantum resistance. At very low temperature, the fate of devices near the Mott transition depends on the strength of disorder. The charge conduction is from nearest-neighbour hopping to co-tunnelling between nanoparticles in Mott insulators whereas it is from variable-range hopping through charge puddles in Anderson insulators. When the two-dimensional nanoparticle network is under a unidirectional strain, the interparticle coupling becomes anisotropic so the average sheet resistance is required to describe the charge conduction.How the interparticle tunnelling affects the charge conduction of self-assembled gold nanoparticles is studied by three means: tuning the tunnel barrier width by different molecule modification and by substrate bending, and tuning the barrier height by high-dose electron beam exposure. All approaches indicate that the metal-Mott insulator transition is governed predominantly by the interparticle coupling strength, which can be quantified by the room temperature sheet resistance. The Hubbard gap, following the prediction of quantum fluctuation theory, reduces to zero rapidly as the sheet resistance decreases to the quantum resistance. At very low temperature, the fate of devices near the Mott transition depends on the strength of disorder. The charge conduction is from nearest-neighbour hopping to co-tunnelling between nanoparticles in Mott insulators whereas it is from variable-range hopping through charge puddles in Anderson insulators. When the two-dimensional nanoparticle network is under a unidirectional strain, the interparticle coupling becomes anisotropic so the average sheet resistance is required to describe the charge conduction. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr06627d

Using Quantum Confinement to Uniquely Identify Devices

PubMed Central

Roberts, J.; Bagci, I. E.; Zawawi, M. A. M.; Sexton, J.; Hulbert, N.; Noori, Y. J.; Young, M. P.; Woodhead, C. S.; Missous, M.; Migliorato, M. A.; Roedig, U.; Young, R. J.

2015-01-01

Modern technology unintentionally provides resources that enable the trust of everyday interactions to be undermined. Some authentication schemes address this issue using devices that give a unique output in response to a challenge. These signatures are generated by hard-to-predict physical responses derived from structural characteristics, which lend themselves to two different architectures, known as unique objects (UNOs) and physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The classical design of UNOs and PUFs limits their size and, in some cases, their security. Here we show that quantum confinement lends itself to the provision of unique identities at the nanoscale, by using fluctuations in tunnelling measurements through quantum wells in resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs). This provides an uncomplicated measurement of identity without conventional resource limitations whilst providing robust security. The confined energy levels are highly sensitive to the specific nanostructure within each RTD, resulting in a distinct tunnelling spectrum for every device, as they contain a unique and unpredictable structure that is presently impossible to clone. This new class of authentication device operates with minimal resources in simple electronic structures above room temperature. PMID:26553435

Quantum memristor in a superconducting circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salmilehto, Juha; Sanz, Mikel; di Ventra, Massimiliano; Solano, Enrique

Memristors, resistive elements that retain information of their past, have garnered interest due to their paradigm-changing potential in information processing and electronics. The emergent hysteretic behaviour allows for novel architectural applications and has recently been classically demonstrated in a simplified superconducting setup using the phase-dependent conductance in the tunnel-junction-microscopic model. In this contribution, we present a truly quantum model for a memristor constructed using established elements and techniques in superconducting nanoelectronics, and explore the parameters for feasible operation as well as refine the methods for quantifying the memory retention. In particular, the memristive behaviour is shown to arise from quasiparticle-induced tunneling in the full dissipative model and can be observed in the phase-driven tunneling current. The relevant hysteretic behaviour should be observable using current state-of-the-art measurements for detecting quasiparticle excitations. Our theoretical findings constitute the first quantum memristor in a superconducting circuit and act as the starting point for designing further circuit elements that have non-Markovian characteristics The authors acknowledge support from the CCQED EU project and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Canadian Semiconductor Technology Conference, 6th, Ottawa, Canada, Aug. 11-13, 1992, Proceedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baribeau, Jean-Marc

1992-11-01

This volume contains papers on the growth efficiency and distribution coefficient of GaInP-InP epilayers and heterostructures, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies of Ge epilayers on Si(100), and mechanical properties of silicon carbide films for X-ray lithography application. Attention is also given to fine structure in Raman spectroscopy and X-ray reflectometry and its uses for the characterization of superlattices, phase formation in Fe-Si thin-film diffusion couples, process optimization for a micromachined silicon nonreverse valve, and a numerical study of heat transport in thermally isolated flow-rate microsensors. Particular consideration is given to a versatile 2D model for InGaAsP quantum-well semiconductor lasers, gallium arsenide electronics in the marketplace, and optical channel grading in p-type Si/SiGe MOSFETs. Other papers are on ultrafast electron tunneling in a reverse-biased high-efficiency quantum well laser structure, excess currents as a result of trap-assisted tunneling in double-barrier resonant tunneling diodes, and carrier lifetimes in strained InGaAsP multiple quantum-well laser structures.

Laterally biased structures for room temperature operation of quantum-well infrared photodetectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guzmán, Álvaro; Gargallo-Caballero, Raquel; Lü, Xiang; Grahn, Holger T.

2017-11-01

Laterally biased quantum-well infrared photodetectors (LBQWIPs) are expected to exhibit a photoresponse at room temperature. In these devices, the photocurrent is collected by means of two lateral Ohmic contacts on each side of an undoped quantum well (QW), which is coupled by tunneling to another n-doped QW. Photoexcited electrons from the n-doped QW tunnel through to the undoped QW and are swept out via a lateral bias voltage. Up to now, the practical development of these structures has not been yet achieved due to the difficulty of contacting single QWs separated by a few nanometers. In this paper, we report on a viable technology to fabricate LBQWIPs. We present two procedures to contact individual QWs, which are sufficiently close to be coupled by tunneling. The final devices exhibit very low dark-current values and clear infrared absorption peaks at 300 K, in good agreement with the results of numerical simulations. This work demonstrates the practical functionality of the laterally biased structure and paves the way for future developments of room temperature QWIPs.

Orbital-resolved nonadiabatic tunneling ionization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qingbin; Basnayake, Gihan; Winney, Alexander; Lin, Yun Fei; Debrah, Duke; Lee, Suk Kyoung; Li, Wen

2017-08-01

In this theoretical work, we show that both the orbital helicity (p+ vs p-) and the adiabaticity of tunneling have a significant effect on the initial conditions of tunneling ionization. We developed a hybrid quantum (numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation) and classical (back propagation of trajectories) approach to extract orbital-specific initial conditions of electrons at the tunneling exit. Clear physical insight connecting these initial conditions with the final momentum and deflection angles of electrons are presented. Moreover, the adiabaticity of tunneling ionization is characterized by comparing the initial conditions with those with a static field. Significant nonadiabatic tunneling is found to persist beyond a Keldysh parameter of less than 0.5.

Floquet Engineering of Correlated Tunneling in the Bose-Hubbard Model with Ultracold Atoms.

PubMed

Meinert, F; Mark, M J; Lauber, K; Daley, A J; Nägerl, H-C

2016-05-20

We report on the experimental implementation of tunable occupation-dependent tunneling in a Bose-Hubbard system of ultracold atoms via time-periodic modulation of the on-site interaction energy. The tunneling rate is inferred from a time-resolved measurement of the lattice site occupation after a quantum quench. We demonstrate coherent control of the tunneling dynamics in the correlated many-body system, including full suppression of tunneling as predicted within the framework of Floquet theory. We find that the tunneling rate explicitly depends on the atom number difference in neighboring lattice sites. Our results may open up ways to realize artificial gauge fields that feature density dependence with ultracold atoms.

Consistent description of quantum Brownian motors operating at strong friction.

PubMed

Machura, L; Kostur, M; Hänggi, P; Talkner, P; Luczka, J

2004-09-01

A quantum Smoluchowski equation is put forward that consistently describes thermal quantum states. In particular, it notably does not induce a violation of the second law of thermodynamics. This so modified kinetic equation is applied to study analytically directed quantum transport at strong friction in arbitrarily shaped ratchet potentials that are driven by nonthermal two-state noise. Depending on the mutual interplay of quantum tunneling and quantum reflection these quantum corrections can induce both, a sizable enhancement or a suppression of transport. Moreover, the threshold for current reversals becomes markedly shifted due to such quantum fluctuations.

Hawking Radiation of Massive Bosons via Tunneling from Black Strings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zhong-Wen

2017-12-01

In the present paper, the Hawking radiation of massive bosons from 4-dimensional and 5-dimensional black strings are studied in quantum tunneling formalism. First, we derive the Hamilton-Jacobi equation set via the Proca equation and WKB approximation. Then, the tunneling rates and Hawking temperatures of the black strings are obtained. Our calculations show that the tunneling rates and Hawking temperatures are related to the properties of black strings' spacetime. When compare our results with those of scalars and fermions cases, it finds that they are the same.

Hawking Radiation of Massive Bosons via Tunneling from Black Strings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zhong-Wen

2018-03-01

In the present paper, the Hawking radiation of massive bosons from 4-dimensional and 5-dimensional black strings are studied in quantum tunneling formalism. First, we derive the Hamilton-Jacobi equation set via the Proca equation and WKB approximation. Then, the tunneling rates and Hawking temperatures of the black strings are obtained. Our calculations show that the tunneling rates and Hawking temperatures are related to the properties of black strings' spacetime. When compare our results with those of scalars and fermions cases, it finds that they are the same.

Spin injection in n-type resonant tunneling diodes.

PubMed

Orsi Gordo, Vanessa; Herval, Leonilson Ks; Galeti, Helder Va; Gobato, Yara Galvão; Brasil, Maria Jsp; Marques, Gilmar E; Henini, Mohamed; Airey, Robert J

2012-10-25

We have studied the polarized resolved photoluminescence of n-type GaAs/AlAs/GaAlAs resonant tunneling diodes under magnetic field parallel to the tunnel current. Under resonant tunneling conditions, we have observed two emission lines attributed to neutral (X) and negatively charged excitons (X-). We have observed a voltage-controlled circular polarization degree from the quantum well emission for both lines, with values up to -88% at 15 T at low voltages which are ascribed to an efficient spin injection from the 2D gases formed at the accumulation layers.

Quantum gravity effects on scalar particle tunneling from rotating BTZ black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meitei, I. Ablu; Singh, T. Ibungochouba; Devi, S. Gayatri; Devi, N. Premeshwari; Singh, K. Yugindro

2018-04-01

Tunneling of scalar particles across the event horizon of rotating BTZ black hole is investigated using the Generalized Uncertainty Principle to study the corrected Hawking temperature and entropy in the presence of quantum gravity effects. We have determined explicitly the various correction terms in the entropy of rotating BTZ black hole including the logarithmic term of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy (SBH), the inverse term of SBH and terms with inverse powers of SBH, in terms of properties of the black hole and the emitted particles — mass, energy and angular momentum. In the presence of quantum gravity effects, for the emission of scalar particles, the Hawking radiation and thermodynamics of rotating BTZ black hole are observed to be related to the metric element, hence to the curvature of space-time.

Theory of scanning tunneling spectroscopy: from Kondo impurities to heavy fermion materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morr, Dirk K.

2017-01-01

Kondo systems ranging from the single Kondo impurity to heavy fermion materials present us with a plethora of unconventional properties whose theoretical understanding is still one of the major open problems in condensed matter physics. Over the last few years, groundbreaking scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) experiments have provided unprecedented new insight into the electronic structure of Kondo systems. Interpreting the results of these experiments—the differential conductance and the quasi-particle interference spectrum—however, has been complicated by the fact that electrons tunneling from the STS tip into the system can tunnel either into the heavy magnetic moment or the light conduction band states. In this article, we briefly review the theoretical progress made in understanding how quantum interference between these two tunneling paths affects the experimental STS results. We show how this theoretical insight has allowed us to interpret the results of STS experiments on a series of heavy fermion materials providing detailed knowledge of their complex electronic structure. It is this knowledge that is a conditio sine qua non for developing a deeper understanding of the fascinating properties exhibited by heavy fermion materials, ranging from unconventional superconductivity to non-Fermi-liquid behavior in the vicinity of quantum critical points.

Tunneling decay of false vortices with gravitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dupuis, Éric; Gobeil, Yan; Lee, Bum-Hoon; Lee, Wonwoo; MacKenzie, Richard; Paranjape, Manu B.; Yajnik, Urjit A.; Yeom, Dong-han

2017-11-01

We study the effect of vortices on the tunneling decay of a symmetry-breaking false vacuum in three spacetime dimensions with gravity. The scenario considered is one in which the initial state, rather than being the homogeneous false vacuum, contains false vortices. The question addressed is whether, and, if so, under which circumstances, the presence of vortices has a significant catalyzing effect on vacuum decay. After studying the existence and properties of vortices, we study their decay rate through quantum tunneling using a variety of techniques. In particular, for so-called thin-wall vortices we devise a one-parameter family of configurations allowing a quantum-mechanical calculation of tunneling. Also for thin-wall vortices, we employ the Israel junction conditions between the interior and exterior spacetimes. Matching these two spacetimes reveals a decay channel which results in an unstable, expanding vortex. We find that the tunneling exponent for vortices, which is the dominant factor in the decay rate, is half that for Coleman-de Luccia bubbles. This implies that vortices are short-lived, making them cosmologically significant even for low vortex densities. In the limit of the vanishing gravitational constant we smoothly recover our earlier results for the decay of the false vortex in a model without gravity.

Rotational fluxons of Bose-Einstein condensates in coplanar double-ring traps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brand, J.; Institute of Natural Sciences, Massey University; Haigh, T. J.

Rotational analogs to magnetic fluxons in conventional Josephson junctions are predicted to emerge in the ground state of rotating tunnel-coupled annular Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). Such topological condensate-phase structures can be manipulated by external potentials. We determine conditions for observing macroscopic quantum tunneling of a fluxon. Rotational fluxons in double-ring BECs can be created, manipulated, and controlled by external potentials in different ways than is possible in the solid-state system, thus rendering them a promising candidate system for studying and utilizing quantum properties of collective many-particle degrees of freedom.

Coulomb versus spin-orbit interaction in few-electron carbon-nanotube quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Secchi, Andrea; Rontani, Massimo

2009-07-01

Few-electron states in carbon-nanotube quantum dots are studied by means of the configuration-interaction method. The peculiar noninteracting feature of the tunneling spectrum for two electrons, recently measured by F. Kuemmeth, S. Ilani, D. C. Ralph, and P. L. McEuen [Nature (London) 452, 448 (2008)], is explained by the splitting of a low-lying isospin multiplet due to spin-orbit interaction. Nevertheless, the strongly interacting ground state forms a “Wigner molecule” made of electrons localized in space. Signatures of the electron molecule may be seen in tunneling spectra by varying the tunable dot confinement potential.

Single-electron thermal devices coupled to a mesoscopic gate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Rafael; Thierschmann, Holger; Molenkamp, Laurens W.

2017-11-01

We theoretically investigate the propagation of heat currents in a three-terminal quantum dot engine. Electron-electron interactions introduce state-dependent processes which can be resolved by energy-dependent tunneling rates. We identify the relevant transitions which define the operation of the system as a thermal transistor or a thermal diode. In the former case, thermal-induced charge fluctuations in the gate dot modify the thermal currents in the conductor with suppressed heat injection, resulting in huge amplification factors and the possible gating with arbitrarily low energy cost. In the latter case, enhanced correlations of the state-selective tunneling transitions redistribute heat flows giving high rectification coefficients and the unexpected cooling of one conductor terminal by heating the other one. We propose quantum dot arrays as a possible way to achieve the extreme tunneling asymmetries required for the different operations.

Correlated sequential tunneling through a double barrier for interacting one-dimensional electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thorwart, M.; Egger, R.; Grifoni, M.

2005-07-01

The problem of resonant tunneling through a quantum dot weakly coupled to spinless Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids has been studied. We compute the linear conductance due to sequential tunneling processes upon employing a master equation approach. Besides the previously used lowest-order golden rule rates describing uncorrelated sequential tunneling processes, we systematically include higher-order correlated sequential tunneling (CST) diagrams within the standard Weisskopf-Wigner approximation. We provide estimates for the parameter regions where CST effects can be important. Focusing mainly on the temperature dependence of the peak conductance, we discuss the relation of these findings to previous theoretical and experimental results.

Photoluminescence kinetics slowdown in an ensemble of GaN/AlN quantum dots upon tunneling interaction with defects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aleksandrov, I. A., E-mail: Aleksandrov@isp.nsc.ru; Mansurov, V. G.; Zhuravlev, K. S.

2016-08-15

The carrier recombination dynamics in an ensemble of GaN/AlN quantum dots is studied. The model proposed for describing this dynamics takes into account the transition of carriers between quantum dots and defects in a matrix. Comparison of the experimental and calculated photoluminescence decay curves shows that the interaction between quantum dots and defects slows down photoluminescence decay in the ensemble of GaN/AlN quantum dots.

Quantum Devices and Structures Using Si-Based Molecular Beam Epitaxy

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-05-15

the MBE growth studies of Sii_..,Ge./Si superlattices and the fabrication of resonant tunneling devices. 1 In the following we highlight the...relaxation was obtained.[7] A new approach in growth of strained layers on a patterned substrate was implemented. Permeable transistors and tunneling ...Fig. 5(b) shows a hot hole transistor using a superlattice base and resonant tunneling injector. In order to facilitate the design of such devices

Quantum algorithm for energy matching in hard optimization problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, C. L.; Laumann, C. R.

2018-06-01

We consider the ability of local quantum dynamics to solve the "energy-matching" problem: given an instance of a classical optimization problem and a low-energy state, find another macroscopically distinct low-energy state. Energy matching is difficult in rugged optimization landscapes, as the given state provides little information about the distant topography. Here, we show that the introduction of quantum dynamics can provide a speedup over classical algorithms in a large class of hard optimization problems. Tunneling allows the system to explore the optimization landscape while approximately conserving the classical energy, even in the presence of large barriers. Specifically, we study energy matching in the random p -spin model of spin-glass theory. Using perturbation theory and exact diagonalization, we show that introducing a transverse field leads to three sharp dynamical phases, only one of which solves the matching problem: (1) a small-field "trapped" phase, in which tunneling is too weak for the system to escape the vicinity of the initial state; (2) a large-field "excited" phase, in which the field excites the system into high-energy states, effectively forgetting the initial energy; and (3) the intermediate "tunneling" phase, in which the system succeeds at energy matching. The rate at which distant states are found in the tunneling phase, although exponentially slow in system size, is exponentially faster than classical search algorithms.

Single Nucleobase Identification Using Biophysical Signatures from Nanoelectronic Quantum Tunneling.

PubMed

Korshoj, Lee E; Afsari, Sepideh; Khan, Sajida; Chatterjee, Anushree; Nagpal, Prashant

2017-03-01

Nanoelectronic DNA sequencing can provide an important alternative to sequencing-by-synthesis by reducing sample preparation time, cost, and complexity as a high-throughput next-generation technique with accurate single-molecule identification. However, sample noise and signature overlap continue to prevent high-resolution and accurate sequencing results. Probing the molecular orbitals of chemically distinct DNA nucleobases offers a path for facile sequence identification, but molecular entropy (from nucleotide conformations) makes such identification difficult when relying only on the energies of lowest-unoccupied and highest-occupied molecular orbitals (LUMO and HOMO). Here, nine biophysical parameters are developed to better characterize molecular orbitals of individual nucleobases, intended for single-molecule DNA sequencing using quantum tunneling of charges. For this analysis, theoretical models for quantum tunneling are combined with transition voltage spectroscopy to obtain measurable parameters unique to the molecule within an electronic junction. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy is then used to measure these nine biophysical parameters for DNA nucleotides, and a modified machine learning algorithm identified nucleobases. The new parameters significantly improve base calling over merely using LUMO and HOMO frontier orbital energies. Furthermore, high accuracies for identifying DNA nucleobases were observed at different pH conditions. These results have significant implications for developing a robust and accurate high-throughput nanoelectronic DNA sequencing technique. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Kinetics of Hydrogen Radical Reactions with Toluene Including Chemical Activation Theory Employing System-Specific Quantum RRK Theory Calibrated by Variational Transition State Theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bao, Junwei Lucas; Zheng, Jingjing; Truhlar, Donald G.

Here, pressure-dependent reactions are ubiquitous in combustion and atmospheric chemistry. We employ a new calibration procedure for quantum Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel (QRRK) unimolecular rate theory within a chemical activation mechanism to calculate the pressure-falloff effect of a radical association with an aromatic ring. The new theoretical framework is applied to the reaction of H with toluene, which is a prototypical reaction in the combustion chemistry of aromatic hydrocarbons present in most fuels. Both the hydrogen abstraction reactions and the hydrogen addition reactions are calculated. Our system-specific (SS) QRRK approach is adjusted with SS parameters to agree with multistructural canonical variational transition statemore » theory with multidimensional tunneling (MS-CVT/SCT) at the high-pressure limit. The new method avoids the need for the usual empirical estimations of the QRRK parameters, and it eliminates the need for variational transition state theory calculations as a function of energy, although in this first application we do validate the falloff curves by comparing SS-QRRK results without tunneling to multistructural microcanonical variational transition state theory (MS-μVT) rate constants without tunneling. At low temperatures, the two approaches agree well with each other, but at high temperatures, SS-QRRK tends to overestimate falloff slightly. We also show that the variational effect is important in computing the energy-resolved rate constants. Multiple-structure anharmonicity, torsional–potential anharmonicity, and high-frequency-mode vibrational anharmonicity are all included in the rate computations, and torsional anharmonicity effects on the density of states are investigated. Branching fractions, which are both temperature- and pressure-dependent (and for which only limited data is available from experiment), are predicted as a function of pressure.« less

Kinetics of Hydrogen Radical Reactions with Toluene Including Chemical Activation Theory Employing System-Specific Quantum RRK Theory Calibrated by Variational Transition State Theory

DOE PAGES

Bao, Junwei Lucas; Zheng, Jingjing; Truhlar, Donald G.

2016-02-03

Here, pressure-dependent reactions are ubiquitous in combustion and atmospheric chemistry. We employ a new calibration procedure for quantum Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel (QRRK) unimolecular rate theory within a chemical activation mechanism to calculate the pressure-falloff effect of a radical association with an aromatic ring. The new theoretical framework is applied to the reaction of H with toluene, which is a prototypical reaction in the combustion chemistry of aromatic hydrocarbons present in most fuels. Both the hydrogen abstraction reactions and the hydrogen addition reactions are calculated. Our system-specific (SS) QRRK approach is adjusted with SS parameters to agree with multistructural canonical variational transition statemore » theory with multidimensional tunneling (MS-CVT/SCT) at the high-pressure limit. The new method avoids the need for the usual empirical estimations of the QRRK parameters, and it eliminates the need for variational transition state theory calculations as a function of energy, although in this first application we do validate the falloff curves by comparing SS-QRRK results without tunneling to multistructural microcanonical variational transition state theory (MS-μVT) rate constants without tunneling. At low temperatures, the two approaches agree well with each other, but at high temperatures, SS-QRRK tends to overestimate falloff slightly. We also show that the variational effect is important in computing the energy-resolved rate constants. Multiple-structure anharmonicity, torsional–potential anharmonicity, and high-frequency-mode vibrational anharmonicity are all included in the rate computations, and torsional anharmonicity effects on the density of states are investigated. Branching fractions, which are both temperature- and pressure-dependent (and for which only limited data is available from experiment), are predicted as a function of pressure.« less

Kinetics of Hydrogen Radical Reactions with Toluene Including Chemical Activation Theory Employing System-Specific Quantum RRK Theory Calibrated by Variational Transition State Theory.

PubMed

Bao, Junwei Lucas; Zheng, Jingjing; Truhlar, Donald G

2016-03-02

Pressure-dependent reactions are ubiquitous in combustion and atmospheric chemistry. We employ a new calibration procedure for quantum Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel (QRRK) unimolecular rate theory within a chemical activation mechanism to calculate the pressure-falloff effect of a radical association with an aromatic ring. The new theoretical framework is applied to the reaction of H with toluene, which is a prototypical reaction in the combustion chemistry of aromatic hydrocarbons present in most fuels. Both the hydrogen abstraction reactions and the hydrogen addition reactions are calculated. Our system-specific (SS) QRRK approach is adjusted with SS parameters to agree with multistructural canonical variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling (MS-CVT/SCT) at the high-pressure limit. The new method avoids the need for the usual empirical estimations of the QRRK parameters, and it eliminates the need for variational transition state theory calculations as a function of energy, although in this first application we do validate the falloff curves by comparing SS-QRRK results without tunneling to multistructural microcanonical variational transition state theory (MS-μVT) rate constants without tunneling. At low temperatures, the two approaches agree well with each other, but at high temperatures, SS-QRRK tends to overestimate falloff slightly. We also show that the variational effect is important in computing the energy-resolved rate constants. Multiple-structure anharmonicity, torsional-potential anharmonicity, and high-frequency-mode vibrational anharmonicity are all included in the rate computations, and torsional anharmonicity effects on the density of states are investigated. Branching fractions, which are both temperature- and pressure-dependent (and for which only limited data is available from experiment), are predicted as a function of pressure.

Neuroreceptor Activation by Vibration-Assisted Tunneling

PubMed Central

Hoehn, Ross D.; Nichols, David; Neven, Hartmut; Kais, Sabre

2015-01-01

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a large family of receptor proteins that sense molecular signals on the exterior of a cell and activate signal transduction pathways within the cell. Modeling how an agonist activates such a receptor is fundamental for an understanding of a wide variety of physiological processes and it is of tremendous value for pharmacology and drug design. Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) has been proposed as a model for the mechanism by which olfactory GPCRs are activated by a bound agonist. We apply this hyothesis to GPCRs within the mammalian nervous system using quantum chemical modeling. We found that non-endogenous agonists of the serotonin receptor share a particular IET spectral aspect both amongst each other and with the serotonin molecule: a peak whose intensity scales with the known agonist potencies. We propose an experiential validation of this model by utilizing lysergic acid dimethylamide (DAM-57), an ergot derivative, and its deuterated isotopologues; we also provide theoretical predictions for comparison to experiment. If validated our theory may provide new avenues for guided drug design and elevate methods of in silico potency/activity prediction. PMID:25909758

Long wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting laser

DOEpatents

Choquette, Kent D.; Klem, John F.

2005-08-16

Selectively oxidized vertical cavity lasers emitting near 1300 nm using InGaAsN quantum wells are reported for the first time which operate continuous wave below, at and above room temperature. The lasers employ two n-type Al.sub.0.94 Ga.sub.0.06 As/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors each with a selectively oxidized current aperture adjacent to the active region, and the top output mirror contains a tunnel junction to inject holes into the active region. Continuous wave single mode lasing is observed up to 55.degree. C.

Novel Design of Type I High Power Mid-IR Diode Lasers for Spectral Region 3 - 4.2 Microns

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-25

multifold improvement of the device characteristics. Cascade pumping was achieved utilizing efficient interband tunneling through "leaky" window in band...Initially cascade pumping scheme was applied to laser heterostructures utilizing gain sections based on either intersubband [1] or type-II interband ...active regions, metamorphic virtual substrate and cascade pumping scheme. Cascade pumping of type-I quantum well gain section opened the whole new

A post Gurney quantum mechanical perspective on the electrolysis of water: ion neutralization in solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Enyi; McKenzie, David R.

2017-11-01

Electron fluxes crossing the interface between a metallic conductor and an aqueous environment are important in many fields; hydrogen production, environmental scanning tunnelling microscopy, scanning electrochemical microscopy being some of them. Gurney (Gurney 1931 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 134, 137 (doi:10.1098/rspa.1931.0187)) provided in 1931 a scheme for tunnelling during electrolysis and outlined conditions for it to occur. We measure the low-voltage current flows between gold electrodes in pure water and use the time-dependent behaviour at voltage switch-on and switch-off to evaluate the relative contribution to the steady current arising from tunnelling of electrons between the electrodes and ions in solution and from the neutralization of ions adsorbed onto the electrode surface. We ascribe the larger current contribution to quantum tunnelling of electrons to and from ions in solution near the electrodes. We refine Gurney's barrier scheme to include solvated electron states and quantify energy differences using updated information. We show that Gurney's conditions would prevent the current flow at low voltages we observe but outline how the ideas of Marcus (Marcus 1956 J. Chem. Phys. 24, 966-978 (doi:10.1063/1.1742723)) concerning solvation fluctuations enable the condition to be relaxed. We derive an average barrier tunnelling model and a multiple pathways tunnelling model and compare predictions with measurements of the steady-state current-voltage relation. The tunnelling barrier was found to be wide and low in agreement with other experimental studies. Applications as a biosensing mechanism are discussed that exploit the fast tunnelling pathways along molecules in solution.

Nonconservative Forces via Quantum Reservoir Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vuglar, Shanon L.; Zhdanov, Dmitry V.; Cabrera, Renan; Seideman, Tamar; Jarzynski, Christopher; Bondar, Denys I.

2018-06-01

A systematic approach is given for engineering dissipative environments that steer quantum wave packets along desired trajectories. The methodology is demonstrated with several illustrative examples: environment-assisted tunneling, trapping, effective mass assignment, and pseudorelativistic behavior. Nonconservative stochastic forces do not inevitably lead to decoherence—we show that purity can be well preserved. These findings highlight the flexibility offered by nonequilibrium open quantum dynamics.

Quantum Effects in Molecule-Based Nanomagnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, Stephen

2005-11-01

Research into molecule-based-magnets has made immense strides in recent years, with the discoveries of all organic molecular magnets, room temperature 3D ordered permanent magnets, and single-molecule magnets (SMMs), the latter exhibiting a host of spectacular quantum phenomena; for a review, see ref. [1]. SMMs represent a molecular approach to nanoscale and sub-nanoscale magnetic particles. They offer all of the advantages of molecular chemistry as well as displaying the superparamagnetic properties of mesoscale magnetic particles of much larger dimensions. They also straddle the interface between classical and quantum behavior; for example, they exhibit quantum tunneling of their magnetization. I will give a general introduction to this area of research, followed by an overview of recent results obtained using high-frequency (40-800 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance techniques developed at the University of Florida. These results include: an elucidation of the role of molecular symmetry in the magnetic quantum tunneling phenomenon [2]; and the observation of quantum entanglement between pairs of nanomagnets within a supramolecular dimer [3]. 1. D. Gatteschi and R. Sessoli, Angew. Chem. 42, 268 (2003). 2. E. del Barco et al., J. Low Temp. Phys. 140, 119-174 (2005). 3. S. Hill et al., Science 302, 1015 (2003).

Parallel Quantum Circuit in a Tunnel Junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faizy Namarvar, Omid; Dridi, Ghassen; Joachim, Christian

2016-07-01

Spectral analysis of 1 and 2-states per line quantum bus are normally sufficient to determine the effective Vab(N) electronic coupling between the emitter and receiver states through the bus as a function of the number N of parallel lines. When Vab(N) is difficult to determine, an Heisenberg-Rabi time dependent quantum exchange process must be triggered through the bus to capture the secular oscillation frequency Ωab(N) between those states. Two different linear and regimes are demonstrated for Ωab(N) as a function of N. When the initial preparation is replaced by coupling of the quantum bus to semi-infinite electrodes, the resulting quantum transduction process is not faithfully following the Ωab(N) variations. Because of the electronic transparency normalisation to unity and of the low pass filter character of this transduction, large Ωab(N) cannot be captured by the tunnel junction. The broadly used concept of electrical contact between a metallic nanopad and a molecular device must be better described as a quantum transduction process. At small coupling and when N is small enough not to compensate for this small coupling, an N2 power law is preserved for Ωab(N) and for Vab(N).

Parallel Quantum Circuit in a Tunnel Junction

PubMed Central

Faizy Namarvar, Omid; Dridi, Ghassen; Joachim, Christian

2016-01-01

Spectral analysis of 1 and 2-states per line quantum bus are normally sufficient to determine the effective Vab(N) electronic coupling between the emitter and receiver states through the bus as a function of the number N of parallel lines. When Vab(N) is difficult to determine, an Heisenberg-Rabi time dependent quantum exchange process must be triggered through the bus to capture the secular oscillation frequency Ωab(N) between those states. Two different linear and regimes are demonstrated for Ωab(N) as a function of N. When the initial preparation is replaced by coupling of the quantum bus to semi-infinite electrodes, the resulting quantum transduction process is not faithfully following the Ωab(N) variations. Because of the electronic transparency normalisation to unity and of the low pass filter character of this transduction, large Ωab(N) cannot be captured by the tunnel junction. The broadly used concept of electrical contact between a metallic nanopad and a molecular device must be better described as a quantum transduction process. At small coupling and when N is small enough not to compensate for this small coupling, an N2 power law is preserved for Ωab(N) and for Vab(N). PMID:27453262

Parallel Quantum Circuit in a Tunnel Junction.

PubMed

Faizy Namarvar, Omid; Dridi, Ghassen; Joachim, Christian

2016-07-25

Spectral analysis of 1 and 2-states per line quantum bus are normally sufficient to determine the effective Vab(N) electronic coupling between the emitter and receiver states through the bus as a function of the number N of parallel lines. When Vab(N) is difficult to determine, an Heisenberg-Rabi time dependent quantum exchange process must be triggered through the bus to capture the secular oscillation frequency Ωab(N) between those states. Two different linear and regimes are demonstrated for Ωab(N) as a function of N. When the initial preparation is replaced by coupling of the quantum bus to semi-infinite electrodes, the resulting quantum transduction process is not faithfully following the Ωab(N) variations. Because of the electronic transparency normalisation to unity and of the low pass filter character of this transduction, large Ωab(N) cannot be captured by the tunnel junction. The broadly used concept of electrical contact between a metallic nanopad and a molecular device must be better described as a quantum transduction process. At small coupling and when N is small enough not to compensate for this small coupling, an N(2) power law is preserved for Ωab(N) and for Vab(N).

Competing ν = 5/2 fractional quantum Hall states in confined geometry.

PubMed

Fu, Hailong; Wang, Pengjie; Shan, Pujia; Xiong, Lin; Pfeiffer, Loren N; West, Ken; Kastner, Marc A; Lin, Xi

2016-11-01

Some theories predict that the filling factor 5/2 fractional quantum Hall state can exhibit non-Abelian statistics, which makes it a candidate for fault-tolerant topological quantum computation. Although the non-Abelian Pfaffian state and its particle-hole conjugate, the anti-Pfaffian state, are the most plausible wave functions for the 5/2 state, there are a number of alternatives with either Abelian or non-Abelian statistics. Recent experiments suggest that the tunneling exponents are more consistent with an Abelian state rather than a non-Abelian state. Here, we present edge-current-tunneling experiments in geometrically confined quantum point contacts, which indicate that Abelian and non-Abelian states compete at filling factor 5/2. Our results are consistent with a transition from an Abelian state to a non-Abelian state in a single quantum point contact when the confinement is tuned. Our observation suggests that there is an intrinsic non-Abelian 5/2 ground state but that the appropriate confinement is necessary to maintain it. This observation is important not only for understanding the physics of the 5/2 state but also for the design of future topological quantum computation devices.

Driving force analysis of proton tunnelling across a reactivity series for an enzyme-substrate complex.

PubMed

Hothi, Parvinder; Hay, Sam; Roujeinikova, Anna; Sutcliffe, Michael J; Lee, Michael; Leys, David; Cullis, Paul M; Scrutton, Nigel S

2008-11-24

Quantitative structure-activity relationships are widely used to probe C-H bond breakage by quinoprotein enzymes. However, we showed recently that p-substituted benzylamines are poor reactivity probes for the quinoprotein aromatic amine dehydrogenase (AADH) because of a requirement for structural change in the enzyme-substrate complex prior to C-H bond breakage. This rearrangement is partially rate limiting, which leads to deflated kinetic isotope effects for p-substituted benzylamines. Here we report reactivity (driving force) studies of AADH with p-substituted phenylethylamines for which the kinetic isotope effect (approximately 16) accompanying C-H/C-(2)H bond breakage is elevated above the semi-classical limit. We show bond breakage occurs by quantum tunnelling and that within the context of the environmentally coupled framework for H-tunnelling the presence of the p-substituent places greater demand on the apparent need for fast promoting motions. The crystal structure of AADH soaked with phenylethylamine or methoxyphenylethylamine indicates that the structural change identified with p-substituted benzylamines should not limit the reaction with p-substituted phenylethylamines. This is consistent with the elevated kinetic isotope effects measured with p-substituted phenylethylamines. We find a good correlation in the rate constant for proton transfer with bond dissociation energy for the reactive C-H bond, consistent with a rate that is limited by a Marcus-like tunnelling mechanism. As the driving force becomes larger, the rate of proton transfer increases while the Marcus activation energy becomes smaller. This is the first experimental report of the driving force perturbation of H-tunnelling in enzymes using a series of related substrates. Our study provides further support for proton tunnelling in AADH.

Electrical control of charged carriers and excitons in atomically thin materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ke; De Greve, Kristiaan; Jauregui, Luis A.; Sushko, Andrey; High, Alexander; Zhou, You; Scuri, Giovanni; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Lukin, Mikhail D.; Park, Hongkun; Kim, Philip

2018-02-01

Electrical confinement and manipulation of charge carriers in semiconducting nanostructures are essential for realizing functional quantum electronic devices1-3. The unique band structure4-7 of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offers a new route towards realizing novel 2D quantum electronic devices, such as valleytronic devices and valley-spin qubits8. 2D TMDs also provide a platform for novel quantum optoelectronic devices9-11 due to their large exciton binding energy12,13. However, controlled confinement and manipulation of electronic and excitonic excitations in TMD nanostructures have been technically challenging due to the prevailing disorder in the material, preventing accurate experimental control of local confinement and tunnel couplings14-16. Here we demonstrate a novel method for creating high-quality heterostructures composed of atomically thin materials that allows for efficient electrical control of excitations. Specifically, we demonstrate quantum transport in the gate-defined, quantum-confined region, observing spin-valley locked quantized conductance in quantum point contacts. We also realize gate-controlled Coulomb blockade associated with confinement of electrons and demonstrate electrical control over charged excitons with tunable local confinement potentials and tunnel couplings. Our work provides a basis for novel quantum opto-electronic devices based on manipulation of charged carriers and excitons.

Quantum Detection and Invisibility in Coherent Nanostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fransson, J.

2010-04-28

We address quantum invisibility in the context of electronics in nanoscale quantum structures. In analogy with metamaterials, we use the freedom of design that quantum corrals provide and show that quantum mechanical objects can be hidden inside the corral, with respect to inelastic electron scattering spectroscopy in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy, and we propose a design strategy. A simple illustration of the invisibility is given in terms of an elliptic quantum corral containing a molecule, with a local vibrational mode, at one of the foci. Our work has implications to quantum information technology and presents new tools for nonlocalmore » quantum detection and distinguishing between different molecules.« less

Entangled Dynamics in Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling of Bose-Einstein Condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alcala, Diego A.; Glick, Joseph A.; Carr, Lincoln D.

2017-05-01

Tunneling of a quasibound state is a nonsmooth process in the entangled many-body case. Using time-evolving block decimation, we show that repulsive (attractive) interactions speed up (slow down) tunneling. While the escape time scales exponentially with small interactions, the maximization time of the von Neumann entanglement entropy between the remaining quasibound and escaped atoms scales quadratically. Stronger interactions require higher-order corrections. Entanglement entropy is maximized when about half the atoms have escaped.

The collective and quantum nature of proton transfer in the cyclic water tetramer on NaCl(001)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Yexin; Wang, Zhichang; Guo, Jing; Chen, Ji; Wang, En-Ge; Jiang, Ying; Li, Xin-Zheng

2018-03-01

Proton tunneling is an elementary process in the dynamics of hydrogen-bonded systems. Collective tunneling is known to exist for a long time. Atomistic investigations of this mechanism in realistic systems, however, are scarce. Using a combination of ab initio theoretical and high-resolution experimental methods, we investigate the role played by the protons on the chirality switching of a water tetramer on NaCl(001). Our scanning tunneling spectroscopies show that partial deuteration of the H2O tetramer with only one D2O leads to a significant suppression of the chirality switching rate at a cryogenic temperature (T), indicating that the chirality switches by tunneling in a concerted manner. Theoretical simulations, in the meantime, support this picture by presenting a much smaller free-energy barrier for the translational collective proton tunneling mode than other chirality switching modes at low T. During this analysis, the virial energy provides a reasonable estimator for the description of the nuclear quantum effects when a traditional thermodynamic integration method cannot be used, which could be employed in future studies of similar problems. Given the high-dimensional nature of realistic systems and the topology of the hydrogen-bonded network, collective proton tunneling may exist more ubiquitously than expected. Systems of this kind can serve as ideal platforms for studies of this mechanism, easily accessible to high-resolution experimental measurements.

The quantum physics of synaptic communication via the SNARE protein complex.

PubMed

Georgiev, Danko D; Glazebrook, James F

2018-07-01

Twenty five years ago, Sir John Carew Eccles together with Friedrich Beck proposed a quantum mechanical model of neurotransmitter release at synapses in the human cerebral cortex. The model endorsed causal influence of human consciousness upon the functioning of synapses in the brain through quantum tunneling of unidentified quasiparticles that trigger the exocytosis of synaptic vesicles, thereby initiating the transmission of information from the presynaptic towards the postsynaptic neuron. Here, we provide a molecular upgrade of the Beck and Eccles model by identifying the quantum quasiparticles as Davydov solitons that twist the protein α-helices and trigger exocytosis of synaptic vesicles through helical zipping of the SNARE protein complex. We also calculate the observable probabilities for exocytosis based on the mass of this quasiparticle, along with the characteristics of the potential energy barrier through which tunneling is necessary. We further review the current experimental evidence in support of this novel bio-molecular model as presented. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benchmarking Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) Methods on the Thymidylate Synthase-Catalyzed Hydride Transfer.

PubMed

Świderek, Katarzyna; Arafet, Kemel; Kohen, Amnon; Moliner, Vicent

2017-03-14

Given the ubiquity of hydride-transfer reactions in enzyme-catalyzed processes, identifying the appropriate computational method for evaluating such biological reactions is crucial to perform theoretical studies of these processes. In this paper, the hydride-transfer step catalyzed by thymidylate synthase (TSase) is studied by examining hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) potentials via multiple semiempirical methods and the M06-2X hybrid density functional. Calculations of protium and tritium transfer in these reactions across a range of temperatures allowed calculation of the temperature dependence of kinetic isotope effects (KIE). Dynamics and quantum-tunneling effects are revealed to have little effect on the reaction rate, but are significant in determining the KIEs and their temperature dependence. A good agreement with experiments is found, especially when computed for RM1/MM simulations. The small temperature dependence of quantum tunneling corrections and the quasiclassical contribution term cancel each other, while the recrossing transmission coefficient seems to be temperature-independent over the interval of 5-40 °C.

Measurement of Electronic States of PbS Nanocrystal Quantum Dots Using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy: The Role of Parity Selection Rules in Optical Absorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diaconescu, Bogdan; Padilha, Lazaro A.; Nagpal, Prashant; Swartzentruber, Brian S.; Klimov, Victor I.

2013-03-01

We study the structure of electronic states in individual PbS nanocrystal quantum dots by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) using one-to-two monolayer nanocrystal films treated with 1, 2-ethanedithiols (EDT). Up to six individual valence and conduction band states are resolved for a range of quantum dot sizes. The measured states’ energies are in good agreement with calculations using the k·p four-band envelope function formalism. A comparison of STS and optical absorption spectra indicates that some of the absorption features can only be explained by asymmetric transitions involving the states of different symmetries (e.g., S and P or P and D), which points towards the relaxation of the parity selection rules in these nanostructures. STS measurements also reveal a midgap feature, which is likely similar to one observed in previous charge transport studies of EDT-treated quantum dot films.

Radiation hard blocked tunneling band {GaAs}/{AlGaAs} superlattice long wavelength infrared detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, C. S.; Wen, C. P.; Reiner, P.; Tu, C. W.; Hou, H. Q.

1996-09-01

We have developed a novel multiple quantum well (MQW) long wavelength infrared (LWIR) detector which can operate in a photovoltaic detection mode with an intrinsic event discrimination (IED) capability. The detector was constructed using the {GaAs}/{AlGaAs} MQW technology to form a blocked tunneling band superlattice structure with a 10.2 micron wavelength and 2.2 micron bandwidth. The detector exhibited Schottky junction and photovoltaic detection characteristics with extremely low dark current and low noise as a result of a built-in tunneling current blocking layer structure. In order to enhance quantum efficiency, a built-in electric field was created by grading the doping concentration of each quantum well in the MQW region. The peak responsivity of the detector was 0.4 amps/W with a measured detectivity of 6.0 × 10 11 Jones. The external quantum efficiency was measured to be 4.4%. The detector demonstrated an excellent intrinsic event discrimination capability due to the presence of a p-type GaAs hole collector layer, which was grown on top of the n-type electron emitter region of the MQW detector. The best results show that an infrared signal which is as much as 100 times smaller than coincident nuclear radiation induced current can be distinguished and extracted from the noise signal. With this hole collector structure, our detector also demonstrated two-color detection.

Adding GaAs Monolayers to InAs Quantum-Dot Lasers on (001) InP

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Qiu, Yueming; Chacon, Rebecca; Uhl, David; Yang, Rui

2005-01-01

In a modification of the basic configuration of InAs quantum-dot semiconductor lasers on (001)lnP substrate, a thin layer (typically 1 to 2 monolayer thick) of GaAs is incorporated into the active region. This modification enhances laser performance: In particular, whereas it has been necessary to cool the unmodified devices to temperatures of about 80 K in order to obtain lasing at long wavelengths, the modified devices can lase at wavelengths of about 1.7 microns or more near room temperature. InAs quantum dots self-assemble, as a consequence of the lattice mismatch, during epitaxial deposition of InAs on ln0.53Ga0.47As/lnP. In the unmodified devices, the quantum dots as thus formed are typically nonuniform in size. Strainenergy relaxation in very large quantum dots can lead to poor laser performance, especially at wavelengths near 2 microns, for which large quantum dots are needed. In the modified devices, the thin layers of GaAs added to the active regions constitute potential-energy barriers that electrons can only penetrate by quantum tunneling and thus reduce the hot carrier effects. Also, the insertion of thin GaAs layer is shown to reduce the degree of nonuniformity of sizes of the quantum dots. In the fabrication of a batch of modified InAs quantum-dot lasers, the thin additional layer of GaAs is deposited as an interfacial layer in an InGaAs quantum well on (001) InP substrate. The device as described thus far is sandwiched between InGaAsPy waveguide layers, then further sandwiched between InP cladding layers, then further sandwiched between heavily Zn-doped (p-type) InGaAs contact layer.

Atom Tunneling in the Hydroxylation Process of Taurine/α-Ketoglutarate Dioxygenase Identified by Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics Simulations.

PubMed

Álvarez-Barcia, Sonia; Kästner, Johannes

2017-06-01

Taurine/α-ketoglutarate dioxygenase is one of the most studied α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases (αKGDs), involved in several biotechnological applications. We investigated the key step in the catalytic cycle of the αKGDs, the hydrogen transfer process, by a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach (B3LYP/CHARMM22). Analysis of the charge and spin densities during the reaction demonstrates that a concerted mechanism takes place, where the H atom transfer happens simultaneously with the electron transfer from taurine to the Fe═O cofactor. We found the quantum tunneling of the hydrogen atom to increase the rate constant by a factor of 40 at 5 °C. As a consequence, a quite high kinetic isotope effect close to 60 is obtained, which is consistent with the experimental value.

Photon statistics of shot noise measured using a Josephson parametric amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simoneau, Jean Olivier; Virally, Stéphane; Lupien, Christian; Reulet, Bertrand

2015-03-01

Quantum measurements are very sensitive to external noise sources. Such measurements require careful amplification chain design so as not to overwhelm the signal with extraneous noise. A quantum-limited amplifier, like the Josephson parametric amplifier (paramp), is thus an ideal candidate for this purpose. We used a paramp to investigate the quantum noise of a tunnel junction. This measurement scheme allowed us to improve upon previous observations of shot noise by an order of magnitude in terms of noise temperature. With this setup, we have measured the second and fourth cumulants of current fluctuations generated by the tunnel junction within a 40 MHz bandwidth around 6 GHz. From theses measurements, we deduce the variance of the photon number fluctuations for various bias schemes of the junction. In particular, we investigate the regime where the junction emits pairs of photons.

Extracting random numbers from quantum tunnelling through a single diode.

PubMed

Bernardo-Gavito, Ramón; Bagci, Ibrahim Ethem; Roberts, Jonathan; Sexton, James; Astbury, Benjamin; Shokeir, Hamzah; McGrath, Thomas; Noori, Yasir J; Woodhead, Christopher S; Missous, Mohamed; Roedig, Utz; Young, Robert J

2017-12-19

Random number generation is crucial in many aspects of everyday life, as online security and privacy depend ultimately on the quality of random numbers. Many current implementations are based on pseudo-random number generators, but information security requires true random numbers for sensitive applications like key generation in banking, defence or even social media. True random number generators are systems whose outputs cannot be determined, even if their internal structure and response history are known. Sources of quantum noise are thus ideal for this application due to their intrinsic uncertainty. In this work, we propose using resonant tunnelling diodes as practical true random number generators based on a quantum mechanical effect. The output of the proposed devices can be directly used as a random stream of bits or can be further distilled using randomness extraction algorithms, depending on the application.

Fluctuations of tunneling currents in photonic and polaritonic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mantsevich, V. N.; Glazov, M. M.

2018-04-01

Here we develop the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism to analyze the fluctuation spectra of the boson tunneling currents. The approach allows us to calculate the noise spectra in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions. The proposed general formalism is applied to several important realizations of boson transport, including the tunneling transport between two reservoirs and the case where the boson current flows through the intermediate region between the reservoirs. Developed theory can be applied for the analysis of the current noise in waveguides, coupled optical resonators, quantum microcavities, etc., where the tunneling of photons, exciton-polaritons, or excitons can be realized.

Spin injection in n-type resonant tunneling diodes

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

We have studied the polarized resolved photoluminescence of n-type GaAs/AlAs/GaAlAs resonant tunneling diodes under magnetic field parallel to the tunnel current. Under resonant tunneling conditions, we have observed two emission lines attributed to neutral (X) and negatively charged excitons (X−). We have observed a voltage-controlled circular polarization degree from the quantum well emission for both lines, with values up to −88% at 15 T at low voltages which are ascribed to an efficient spin injection from the 2D gases formed at the accumulation layers. PMID:23098559

Modeling direct interband tunneling. II. Lower-dimensional structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pan, Andrew, E-mail: pandrew@ucla.edu; Chui, Chi On; California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095

We investigate the applicability of the two-band Hamiltonian and the widely used Kane analytical formula to interband tunneling along unconfined directions in nanostructures. Through comparisons with k·p and tight-binding calculations and quantum transport simulations, we find that the primary correction is the change in effective band gap. For both constant fields and realistic tunnel field-effect transistors, dimensionally consistent band gap scaling of the Kane formula allows analytical and numerical device simulations to approximate non-equilibrium Green's function current characteristics without arbitrary fitting. This allows efficient first-order calibration of semiclassical models for interband tunneling in nanodevices.

Valence-band structure of the ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAs studied by spin-dependent resonant tunneling spectroscopy.

PubMed

Ohya, Shinobu; Muneta, Iriya; Hai, Pham Nam; Tanaka, Masaaki

2010-04-23

The valence-band structure and the Fermi level (E(F)) position of ferromagnetic-semiconductor GaMnAs are quantitatively investigated by electrically detecting the resonant tunneling levels of a GaMnAs quantum well (QW) in double-barrier heterostructures. The resonant level from the heavy-hole first state is clearly observed in the metallic GaMnAs QW, indicating that holes have a high coherency and that E(F) exists in the band gap. Clear enhancement of tunnel magnetoresistance induced by resonant tunneling is demonstrated in these double-barrier heterostructures.

Dependence of the electrical and optical properties on growth interruption in AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunneling diodes

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The dependence of interface roughness of pseudomorphic AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunneling diodes [RTDs] grown by molecular beam epitaxy on interruption time was studied by current-voltage [I-V] characteristics, photoluminescence [PL] spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy [TEM]. We have observed that a splitting in the quantum-well PL due to island formation in the quantum well is sensitive to growth interruption at the AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As interfaces. TEM images also show flatter interfaces with a few islands which only occur by applying an optimum value of interruption time. The symmetry of I-V characteristics of RTDs with PL and TEM results is consistent because tunneling current is highly dependent on barrier thickness and interface roughness. PMID:22112249

Dependence of the electrical and optical properties on growth interruption in AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunneling diodes.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Guan, Min; Liu, Xingfang; Zeng, Yiping

2011-11-23

The dependence of interface roughness of pseudomorphic AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunneling diodes [RTDs] grown by molecular beam epitaxy on interruption time was studied by current-voltage [I-V] characteristics, photoluminescence [PL] spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy [TEM]. We have observed that a splitting in the quantum-well PL due to island formation in the quantum well is sensitive to growth interruption at the AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As interfaces. TEM images also show flatter interfaces with a few islands which only occur by applying an optimum value of interruption time. The symmetry of I-V characteristics of RTDs with PL and TEM results is consistent because tunneling current is highly dependent on barrier thickness and interface roughness.

Tunnel magnetoresistance and linear conductance of double quantum dots strongly coupled to ferromagnetic leads

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weymann, Ireneusz, E-mail: weymann@amu.edu.pl

2015-05-07

We analyze the spin-dependent linear-response transport properties of double quantum dots strongly coupled to external ferromagnetic leads. By using the numerical renormalization group method, we determine the dependence of the linear conductance and tunnel magnetoresistance on the degree of spin polarization of the leads and the position of the double dot levels. We focus on the transport regime where the system exhibits the SU(4) Kondo effect. It is shown that the presence of ferromagnets generally leads the suppression of the linear conductance due to the presence of an exchange field. Moreover, the exchange field gives rise to a transition frommore » the SU(4) to the orbital SU(2) Kondo effect. We also analyze the dependence of the tunnel magnetoresistance on the double dot levels' positions and show that it exhibits a very nontrivial behavior.« less

Efficient charge transfer and field-induced tunneling transport in hybrid composite device of organic semiconductor and cadmium telluride quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Varade, Vaibhav, E-mail: vaibhav.tvarade@gmail.com; Jagtap, Amardeep M.; Koteswara Rao, K. S. R.

2015-06-07

Temperature and photo-dependent current–voltage characteristics are investigated in thin film devices of a hybrid-composite comprising of organic semiconductor poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and cadmium telluride quantum dots (CdTe QDs). A detailed study of the charge injection mechanism in ITO/PEDOT:PSS-CdTe QDs/Al device exhibits a transition from direct tunneling to Fowler–Nordheim tunneling with increasing electric field due to formation of high barrier at the QD interface. In addition, the hybrid-composite exhibits a huge photoluminescence quenching compared to aboriginal CdTe QDs and high increment in photoconductivity (∼ 400%), which is attributed to the charge transfer phenomena. The effective barrier height (Φ{sub B} ≈ 0.68 eV) ismore » estimated from the transition voltage and the possible origin of its variation with temperature and photo-illumination is discussed.« less

Quantum tunneling and quasinormal modes in the spacetime of the Alcubierre warp drive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jusufi, Kimet; Sakallı, İzzet; Övgün, Ali

2018-01-01

In a seminal paper, Alcubierre showed that Einstein's theory of general relativity appears to allow a super-luminal motion. In the present study, we use a recent eternal-warp-drive solution found by Alcubierre to study the effect of Hawking radiation upon an observer located within the warp drive in the framework of the quantum tunneling method. We find the same expression for the Hawking temperatures associated with the tunneling of both massive vector and scalar particles, and show this expression to be proportional to the velocity of the warp drive. On the other hand, since the discovery of gravitational waves, the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of black holes have also been extensively studied. With this purpose in mind, we perform a QNM analysis of massive scalar field perturbations in the background of the eternal-Alcubierre-warp-drive spacetime. Our analytical analysis shows that massive scalar perturbations lead to stable QNMs.

Quantum and classical chaos in kicked coupled Jaynes-Cummings cavities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hayward, A. L. C.; Greentree, Andrew D.

2010-06-15

We consider two Jaynes-Cummings cavities coupled periodically with a photon hopping term. The semiclassical phase space is chaotic, with regions of stability over some ranges of the parameters. The quantum case exhibits dynamic localization and dynamic tunneling between classically forbidden regions. We explore the correspondence between the classical and quantum phase space and propose an implementation in a circuit QED system.

Quantum Transport

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-14

Lent 6 I We have studied transmission in quantum waveguides in the presence of resonant cavities. This work was inspired by our previous modeling of the...conductance of resonantly- coupled quantum wire systems. We expected to find qualitatively the same phenomena as in the much studied case of double...transmission peaks does not give the location of the quasi-bound3 states, like for double-barrier resonant tunneling. In current work, we study

Quantum interference in DNA bases probed by graphene nanoribbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Heejeong; Seul Kim, Han; Lee, Sung-Hoon; Lee, Dongho; Hoon Kim, Yong; Huh, Nam

2013-07-01

Based on first-principles nonequilibrium Green's function calculations, we demonstrate quantum interference (QI) effects on the tunneling conductance of deoxyribonucleic acid bases placed between zigzag graphene nanoribbon electrodes. With the analogy of QI in hydrocarbon ring structures, we hypothesize that QI can be well preserved in the π-π coupling between the carbon-based electrode and a single DNA base. We demonstrate indications of QI, such as destructively interfered anti-resonance or Fano-resonance, that affect the variation of tunneling conductance depending on the orientation of a base. We find that guanine, with a 10-fold higher transverse conductance, can be singled out from the other bases.

Interferometry of Klein tunnelling electrons in graphene quantum rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Sousa, D. J. P.; Chaves, Andrey; Pereira, J. M.; Farias, G. A.

2017-01-01

We theoretically study a current switch that exploits the phase acquired by a charge carrier as it tunnels through a potential barrier in graphene. The system acts as an interferometer based on an armchair graphene quantum ring, where the phase difference between interfering electronic wave functions for each path can be controlled by tuning either the height or the width of a potential barrier in the ring arms. By varying the parameters of the potential barriers, the interference can become completely destructive. We demonstrate how this interference effect can be used for developing a simple graphene-based logic gate with a high on/off ratio.

Exploration of the Memory Effect on the Photon-Assisted Tunneling via a Single Quantum Dot:. a Generalized Floquet Theoretical Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hsing-Ta; Ho, Tak-San; Chu, Shih-I.

The generalized Floquet approach is developed to study memory effect on electron transport phenomena through a periodically driven single quantum dot in an electrode-multi-level dot-electrode nanoscale quantum device. The memory effect is treated using a multi-function Lorentzian spectral density (LSD) model that mimics the spectral density of each electrode in terms of multiple Lorentzian functions. For the symmetric single-function LSD model involving a single-level dot, the underlying single-particle propagator is shown to be related to a 2×2 effective time-dependent Hamiltonian that includes both the periodic external field and the electrode memory effect. By invoking the generalized Van Vleck (GVV) nearly degenerate perturbation theory, an analytical Tien-Gordon-like expression is derived for arbitrary order multi-photon resonance d.c. tunneling current. Numerically converged simulations and the GVV analytical results are in good agreement, revealing the origin of multi-photon coherent destruction of tunneling and accounting for the suppression of the staircase jumps of d.c. current due to the memory effect. Specially, a novel blockade phenomenon is observed, showing distinctive oscillations in the field-induced current in the large bias voltage limit.

Modeling direct band-to-band tunneling: From bulk to quantum-confined semiconductor devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrillo-Nuñez, H.; Ziegler, A.; Luisier, M.; Schenk, A.

2015-06-01

A rigorous framework to study direct band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) in homo- and hetero-junction semiconductor nanodevices is introduced. An interaction Hamiltonian coupling conduction and valence bands (CVBs) is derived using a multiband envelope method. A general form of the BTBT probability is then obtained from the linear response to the "CVBs interaction" that drives the system out of equilibrium. Simple expressions in terms of the one-electron spectral function are developed to compute the BTBT current in two- and three-dimensional semiconductor structures. Additionally, a two-band envelope equation based on the Flietner model of imaginary dispersion is proposed for the same purpose. In order to characterize their accuracy and differences, both approaches are compared with full-band, atomistic quantum transport simulations of Ge, InAs, and InAs-Si Esaki diodes. As another numerical application, the BTBT current in InAs-Si nanowire tunnel field-effect transistors is computed. It is found that both approaches agree with high accuracy. The first one is considerably easier to conceive and could be implemented straightforwardly in existing quantum transport tools based on the effective mass approximation to account for BTBT in nanodevices.

Optical Studies of Semiconductor Heterostructures: Measurements of Tunneling Times, and Studies of Strained Superlattices.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, Michael Kevin

1991-05-01

This thesis describes experimental optical studies of semiconductor heterostructures. The topic is introduced in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 we describe measurements of tunneling escape times for carriers photoexcited in the quantum well of an undoped GaAs/AlAs/GaAs/AlAs/GaAs double -barrier heterostructure. The first experimental measurements of the tunneling escape times for both electrons and heavy holes were made using the two-beam technique of photoluminescence excitation correlation spectroscopy (PECS). Heavy holes were observed to escape much more rapidly than expected from a simple one-band calculation of the heavy-hold tunneling escape time. This can be explained by considering a four -band model for holes. Calculations indicate that mixing of the quantum well heavy- and light-hole levels, due to dispersion in the plane of the quantum well, can lead to significantly faster heavy hole escape at the experimental carrier densities and temperatures. Chapter 3 describes a study of the effect of indirect (X-point) levels in the AlAs barriers on the tunneling escape of electrons in undoped double-barrier heterostructures. The X-point levels affect the escape of photoexcited electrons in devices where the energy of the electron state confined in the GaAs quantum well is nearly equal to, or higher than, that of the X-point levels in the AlAs barriers. In Chapter 4, we present time-resolved photoluminescence and photocurrent studies of electrically biased double -barrier heterostructures. Studies of the photoluminescence indicate that transport of photoexcited carriers from the electrodes into the quantum well occurs. The PECS technique has been extended to a study of photocurrents in these devices; results indicate that this technique may be useful for the study of devices that cannot be studied with photoluminescence. Chapter 5 describes a study of the accomodation of lattice mismatch in CdTe/ZnTe strained layer superlattices. Using resonance Raman scattering, the energies of the ZnTe-like phonons were determined in a series of superlattices. The ZnTe-like phonon energies decrease with increasing average CdTe content, indicative of the increasing strain of the ZnTe layers, and in agreement with calculations assuming a free-standing superlattice.

Photodissociation Dynamics of Phenol: Multistate Trajectory Simulations including Tunneling

DOE PAGES

Xu, Xuefei; Zheng, Jingjing; Yang, Ke R.; ...

2014-10-27

We report multistate trajectory simulations, including coherence, decoherence, and multidimensional tunneling, of phenol photodissociation dynamics. The calculations are based on full-dimensional anchor-points reactive potential surfaces and state couplings fit to electronic structure calculations including dynamical correlation with an augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence double-ζ basis set. The calculations successfully reproduce the experimentally observed bimodal character of the total kinetic energy release spectra and confirm the interpretation of the most recent experiments that the photodissociation process is dominated by tunneling. Analysis of the trajectories uncovers an unexpected dissociation pathway for one quantum excitation of the O–H stretching mode of the S 1more » state, namely, tunneling in a coherent mixture of states starting in a smaller R OH (~0.9–1.0 Å) region than has previously been invoked. The simulations also show that most trajectories do not pass close to the S 1–S 2 conical intersection (they have a minimum gap greater than 0.6 eV), they provide statistics on the out-of-plane angles at the locations of the minimum energy adiabatic gap, and they reveal information about which vibrational modes are most highly activated in the products.« less

Alternating-current conductivity and dielectric relaxation of bulk iodoargentate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duan, Hai-Bao, E-mail: duanhaibao4660@163.com; Yu, Shan-Shan; Zhou, Hong

Graphical abstract: The electric modulus shows single dielectric relaxation process in the measured frequency range. - Highlights: • The conduction mechanism is described by quantum mechanical tunneling model. • The applications of dielectric modulus give a simple method for evaluating the activation energy of the dielectric relaxation. • The [Ag{sub 2}I{sub 4}]{sup 2−}1-D chain and [Cu(en){sub 2}]{sup 2+} cation column form the layered stacks by hydrogen bond interactions. - Abstract: An inorganic-organic hybrid compound Cu(en){sub 2}Ag{sub 2}I{sub 4} (en = ethylenediamine) (1) was synthesized and single crystal structurally characterized. Along the [001] direction, the inorganic parts form an infinite 1-Dmore » chain and [Cu(en){sub 2}]{sup 2+} cations are separated by inorganic chain. The electrical conductivity and dielectric properties of 1 have been investigated over wide ranges of frequency. The alternating-current conductivities have been fitted to the Almond–West type power law expression with use of a single value of S. It is found that S values for 1 are nearly temperature-independent, which indicates that the conduction mechanism could be quantum mechanical tunneling (QMT) model. The dielectric loss and electric modulus show single dielectric relaxation process. The activation energy obtained from temperature-dependent electric modulus compare with the calculated from the dc conductivity plots.« less

Non-Markovian spin-resolved counting statistics and an anomalous relation between autocorrelations and cross correlations in a three-terminal quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, JunYan; Yan, Yiying; Huang, Yixiao; Yu, Li; He, Xiao-Ling; Jiao, HuJun

2017-01-01

We investigate the noise correlations of spin and charge currents through an electron spin resonance (ESR)-pumped quantum dot, which is tunnel coupled to three electrodes maintained at an equivalent chemical potential. A recursive scheme is employed with inclusion of the spin degrees of freedom to account for the spin-resolved counting statistics in the presence of non-Markovian effects due to coupling with a dissipative heat bath. For symmetric spin-up and spin-down tunneling rates, an ESR-induced spin flip mechanism generates a pure spin current without an accompanying net charge current. The stochastic tunneling of spin carriers, however, produces universal shot noises of both charge and spin currents, revealing the effective charge and spin units of quasiparticles in transport. In the case of very asymmetric tunneling rates for opposite spins, an anomalous relationship between noise autocorrelations and cross correlations is revealed, where super-Poissonian autocorrelation is observed in spite of a negative cross correlation. Remarkably, with strong dissipation strength, non-Markovian memory effects give rise to a positive cross correlation of the charge current in the absence of a super-Poissonian autocorrelation. These unique noise features may offer essential methods for exploiting internal spin dynamics and various quasiparticle tunneling processes in mesoscopic transport.

Hawking temperature of rotating charged black strings from tunneling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ahmed, Jamil; Saifullah, K., E-mail: jamil_051@yahoo.com, E-mail: saifullah@qau.edu.pk

2011-11-01

Thermal radiations from spherically symmetric black holes have been studied from the point of view of quantum tunneling. In this paper we extend this approach to study radiation of fermions from charged and rotating black strings. Using WKB approximation and Hamilton-Jacobi method we work out the tunneling probabilities of incoming and outgoing fermions and find the correct Hawking temperature for these objects. We show that in appropriate limits the results reduce to those for the uncharged and non-rotating black strings.

Experimental Studies of Josephson Effect

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-09-06

to test predictions that macroscopic variables, such as the flux through a SQUID loop, display quantum mechanical properties such as tunneling and...approximately Oo/L as flux quanta enter the loop. In the Josephson junctions used here are lead-alloy tunnel junc- linear region, for I, <<J, the rate...magnetometer. The junctions ln(F)-AU/kT+In(f/2z). (3) used were nominal I x I pm 2 Nb/AI2O3/Nb tunnel junc- As Fig. 3 shows, the observed dependence is in

Tunneling Radiation Characteristic of the Charged Particle from the Reissner Nordström anti de Sitter Black Hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, De-You; Jiang, Qing-Quan; Yang, Shu-Zheng

2007-12-01

Applying Parikh’s semi-classical quantum tunneling method, the tunneling radiation characteristic of the charged particle from the event horizon of the Reissner Nordström anti de Sitter black hole is researched. The result shows the derived spectrum is not purely thermal one, but is consistent with the underlying unitary theory, which gives a might explanation to the information loss paradox and is the correct amendment to the Hawking radiation.

Low Leakage Superconducting Tunnel Junctions with a Single Crystal Al2O3 Barrier

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-30

have recently implemented Josephson junction superconducting devices into qubits [1-6]. Before a multi -qubit quantum computer is realized, however...Low-Leakage Superconducting Tunnel Junctions with a Single-Crystal Al2O3 Barrier* S Oh1,2, K Cicak1, R McDermott3, K B Cooper3, K D Osborn1, R W...growth scheme for single-crystal Al2O3 tunnel barriers. The barriers are epitaxially grown on single-crystal rhenium (Re) base electrodes that are

Coherent destruction of tunneling in chaotic microcavities via three-state anti-crossings

PubMed Central

Song, Qinghai; Gu, Zhiyuan; Liu, Shuai; Xiao, Shumin

2014-01-01

Coherent destruction of tunneling (CDT) has been one seminal result of quantum dynamics control. Traditionally, CDT is understood as destructive interference between two intermediate transition paths near the level crossing. CDT near the level anti-crossings, especially the “locking”, has not been thoroughly explored so far. Taking chaotic microcavity as an example, here we study the inhibition of the tunneling via the strong couplings of three resonances. While the tunneling rate is only slightly affected by each strong coupling between two modes, the destructive interference between two strong couplings can dramatically improve the inhibition of the tunneling. A “locking” point, where dynamical tunneling is completely suppressed, has even been observed. We believe our finding will shed light on researches on micro- & nano-photonics. PMID:24781881

Tunneling-Electron-Induced Light Emission from Single Gold Nanoclusters.

PubMed

Yu, Arthur; Li, Shaowei; Czap, Gregory; Ho, W

2016-09-14

The coupling of tunneling electrons with the tip-nanocluster-substrate junction plasmon was investigated by monitoring light emission in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Gold atoms were evaporated onto the ∼5 Å thick Al2O3 thin film grown on the NiAl (110) surface where they formed nanoclusters 3-7 nm wide. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) of these nanoclusters revealed quantum-confined electronic states. Spatially resolved photon imaging showed localized emission hot spots. Size dependent study and light emission from nanocluster dimers further support the viewpoint that coupling of tunneling electrons to the junction plasmon is the main radiative mechanism. These results showed the potential of the STM to reveal the electronic and optical properties of nanoscale metallic systems in the confined geometry of the tunnel junction.

Unraveling the role of protein dynamics in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis

PubMed Central

Luk, Louis Y. P.; Javier Ruiz-Pernía, J.; Dawson, William M.; Roca, Maite; Loveridge, E. Joel; Glowacki, David R.; Harvey, Jeremy N.; Mulholland, Adrian J.; Tuñón, Iñaki; Moliner, Vicent; Allemann, Rudolf K.

2013-01-01

Protein dynamics have controversially been proposed to be at the heart of enzyme catalysis, but identification and analysis of dynamical effects in enzyme-catalyzed reactions have proved very challenging. Here, we tackle this question by comparing an enzyme with its heavy (15N, 13C, 2H substituted) counterpart, providing a subtle probe of dynamics. The crucial hydride transfer step of the reaction (the chemical step) occurs more slowly in the heavy enzyme. A combination of experimental results, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, and theoretical analyses identify the origins of the observed differences in reactivity. The generally slightly slower reaction in the heavy enzyme reflects differences in environmental coupling to the hydride transfer step. Importantly, the barrier and contribution of quantum tunneling are not affected, indicating no significant role for “promoting motions” in driving tunneling or modulating the barrier. The chemical step is slower in the heavy enzyme because protein motions coupled to the reaction coordinate are slower. The fact that the heavy enzyme is only slightly less active than its light counterpart shows that protein dynamics have a small, but measurable, effect on the chemical reaction rate. PMID:24065822

Deformed transition-state theory: Deviation from Arrhenius behavior and application to bimolecular hydrogen transfer reaction rates in the tunneling regime.

PubMed

Carvalho-Silva, Valter H; Aquilanti, Vincenzo; de Oliveira, Heibbe C B; Mundim, Kleber C

2017-01-30

A formulation is presented for the application of tools from quantum chemistry and transition-state theory to phenomenologically cover cases where reaction rates deviate from Arrhenius law at low temperatures. A parameter d is introduced to describe the deviation for the systems from reaching the thermodynamic limit and is identified as the linearizing coefficient in the dependence of the inverse activation energy with inverse temperature. Its physical meaning is given and when deviation can be ascribed to quantum mechanical tunneling its value is calculated explicitly. Here, a new derivation is given of the previously established relationship of the parameter d with features of the barrier in the potential energy surface. The proposed variant of transition state theory permits comparison with experiments and tests against alternative formulations. Prescriptions are provided and implemented to three hydrogen transfer reactions: CH 4  + OH → CH 3  + H 2 O, CH 3 Cl + OH → CH 2 Cl + H 2 O and H 2  + CN → H + HCN, widely investigated both experimentally and theoretically. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anisotropic hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr and Zircaloy predicted by accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yongfeng; Jiang, Chao; Bai, Xianming

2017-01-01

This report presents an accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method to compute the diffusivity of hydrogen in hcp metals and alloys, considering both thermally activated hopping and quantum tunneling. The acceleration is achieved by replacing regular KMC jumps in trapping energy basins formed by neighboring tetrahedral interstitial sites, with analytical solutions for basin exiting time and probability. Parameterized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the accelerated KMC method is shown to be capable of efficiently calculating hydrogen diffusivity in α-Zr and Zircaloy, without altering the kinetics of long-range diffusion. Above room temperature, hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr and Zircaloy is dominated by thermal hopping, with negligible contribution from quantum tunneling. The diffusivity predicted by this DFT + KMC approach agrees well with that from previous independent experiments and theories, without using any data fitting. The diffusivity along is found to be slightly higher than that along , with the anisotropy saturated at about 1.20 at high temperatures, resolving contradictory results in previous experiments. Demonstrated using hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr, the same method can be extended for on-lattice diffusion in hcp metals, or systems with similar trapping basins.

Anisotropic hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr and Zircaloy predicted by accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yongfeng; Jiang, Chao; Bai, Xianming

2017-01-01

This report presents an accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method to compute the diffusivity of hydrogen in hcp metals and alloys, considering both thermally activated hopping and quantum tunneling. The acceleration is achieved by replacing regular KMC jumps in trapping energy basins formed by neighboring tetrahedral interstitial sites, with analytical solutions for basin exiting time and probability. Parameterized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the accelerated KMC method is shown to be capable of efficiently calculating hydrogen diffusivity in α-Zr and Zircaloy, without altering the kinetics of long-range diffusion. Above room temperature, hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr and Zircaloy is dominated by thermal hopping, with negligible contribution from quantum tunneling. The diffusivity predicted by this DFT + KMC approach agrees well with that from previous independent experiments and theories, without using any data fitting. The diffusivity along is found to be slightly higher than that along , with the anisotropy saturated at about 1.20 at high temperatures, resolving contradictory results in previous experiments. Demonstrated using hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr, the same method can be extended for on-lattice diffusion in hcp metals, or systems with similar trapping basins. PMID:28106154

Self-consistent performance modeling for dual band MIS UV photodetectors based on Si/SiO2 multilayer structure.

PubMed

Rostami, A; Leilaeioun, M; Golmmohamadi, S; Rasooli Saghai, H

2012-06-01

In this paper, we present a self-consistent theoretical model for a metal-insulator semiconductor (MIS) dual band ultraviolet (UV) photodetector with a modified structure implying an arbitrarily defined insulating potential barrier as its active region. Utilizing our proposed model, the dark and photocurrent density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of MIS UV photodetectors with multi-quantum wells of silicon (MQWs) are calculated. We demonstrate that dark current is reduced in the suggested structure, because the electron-tunneling probability becomes unity at energies coincident with the peak detection wavelength. This is due to the resonant tunneling and decreases at energies that are significantly smaller than this optimum value. In consequence, the number of carriers contributing to the dark current, which have a broad energy distribution at high temperatures, will decrease. It is also shown that the designed structure could detect two individual UV wavelengths, simultaneously. The width of each Si quantum well has been considered at around 1.2 nm, in order to observe these two absorption peaks in the middle and near UV regions of photon spectrum (about 365 nm, 175 nm).

Quantum-well charge and voltage distribution in a metal–insulator–semiconductor structure upon resonant electron Tunneling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vexler, M. I., E-mail: vexler@mail.ioffe.ru; Illarionov, Yu. Yu.; Grekhov, I. V.

The prerequisites for electron storage in the quantum well of a metal–oxide–p{sup +}-Si resonant-tunneling structure and the effect of the stored charge on the voltage distribution are theoretically investigated. Systems with SiO{sub 2}, HfO{sub 2}, and TiO{sub 2} insulators are studied. It is demonstrated that the occurrence of a charge in the well in the case of resonant transport can be expected in structures on substrates with an acceptor concentration from (5–6) × 10{sup 18} to (2–3) × 10{sup 19} cm{sup –3} in the range of oxide thicknesses dependent on this concentration. In particular, the oxide layer thickness in themore » structures with SiO{sub 2}/p{sup +}-Si(10{sup 19} cm{sup –3}) should exceed ~3 nm. The electron density in the well can reach ~10{sup 12} cm{sup –2} and higher. However, the effect of this charge on the electrostatics of the structure becomes noticeable only at relatively high voltages far above the activation of resonant transport through the first subband.« less

Anisotropic hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr and Zircaloy predicted by accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo simulations

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Yongfeng; Jiang, Chao; Bai, Xianming

2017-01-20

Here, this report presents an accelerated kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method to compute the diffusivity of hydrogen in hcp metals and alloys, considering both thermally activated hopping and quantum tunneling. The acceleration is achieved by replacing regular KMC jumps in trapping energy basins formed by neighboring tetrahedral interstitial sites, with analytical solutions for basin exiting time and probability. Parameterized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the accelerated KMC method is shown to be capable of efficiently calculating hydrogen diffusivity in α-Zr and Zircaloy, without altering the kinetics of long-range diffusion. Above room temperature, hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr and Zircaloy ismore » dominated by thermal hopping, with negligible contribution from quantum tunneling. The diffusivity predicted by this DFT + KMC approach agrees well with that from previous independent experiments and theories, without using any data fitting. The diffusivity along < c > is found to be slightly higher than that along < a >, with the anisotropy saturated at about 1.20 at high temperatures, resolving contradictory results in previous experiments. Demonstrated using hydrogen diffusion in α-Zr, the same method can be extended for on-lattice diffusion in hcp metals, or systems with similar trapping basins.« less

Improved multidimensional semiclassical tunneling theory.

PubMed

Wagner, Albert F

2013-12-12

We show that the analytic multidimensional semiclassical tunneling formula of Miller et al. [Miller, W. H.; Hernandez, R.; Handy, N. C.; Jayatilaka, D.; Willets, A. Chem. Phys. Lett. 1990, 172, 62] is qualitatively incorrect for deep tunneling at energies well below the top of the barrier. The origin of this deficiency is that the formula uses an effective barrier weakly related to the true energetics but correctly adjusted to reproduce the harmonic description and anharmonic corrections of the reaction path at the saddle point as determined by second order vibrational perturbation theory. We present an analytic improved semiclassical formula that correctly includes energetic information and allows a qualitatively correct representation of deep tunneling. This is done by constructing a three segment composite Eckart potential that is continuous everywhere in both value and derivative. This composite potential has an analytic barrier penetration integral from which the semiclassical action can be derived and then used to define the semiclassical tunneling probability. The middle segment of the composite potential by itself is superior to the original formula of Miller et al. because it incorporates the asymmetry of the reaction barrier produced by the known reaction exoergicity. Comparison of the semiclassical and exact quantum tunneling probability for the pure Eckart potential suggests a simple threshold multiplicative factor to the improved formula to account for quantum effects very near threshold not represented by semiclassical theory. The deep tunneling limitations of the original formula are echoed in semiclassical high-energy descriptions of bound vibrational states perpendicular to the reaction path at the saddle point. However, typically ab initio energetic information is not available to correct it. The Supporting Information contains a Fortran code, test input, and test output that implements the improved semiclassical tunneling formula.

Vibration-rotation-tunneling dynamics in small water clusters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pugliano, Nick

The goal of this work is to characterize the intermolecular vibrations of small water clusters. Using tunable far infrared laser absorption spectroscopy, large amplitude vibration-rotation-tunneling (VRT) dynamics in vibrationally excited states of the water dimer and the water trimer are investigated. This study begins with the measurement of 12 VRT subbands, consisting of approximately 230 transitions, which are assigned to an 82.6 cm -1 intermolecular vibration of the water dimer-d 4. Each of the VRT subbands originate from K a''=0 and terminate in either K a'=0 or 1. These data provide a complete characterization of the tunneling dynamics in themore » vibrationally excited state as well as definitive symmetry labels for all VRT energy levels. Furthermore, an accurate value for the A' rotational constant is found to agree well with its corresponding ground state value. All other excited state rotational constants are fitted, and discussed in terms of the corresponding ground state constants. In this vibration, the quantum tunneling motions are determined to exhibit large dependencies with both the K a' quantum number and the vibrational coordinate, as is evidenced by the measured tunneling splittings. The generalized internal-axis-method treatment which has been developed to model the tunneling dynamics, is considered for the qualitative description of each tunneling pathway, however, the variation of tunneling splittings with vibrational excitation indicate that the high barrier approximation does not appear to be applicable for this vibrational coordinate. The data are consistent with a motion possessing a' symmetry, and the vibration is assigned as the v 12 acceptor bending coordinate. This assignment is in agreement with the vibrational symmetry, the resultsof high level ab initio calculations, and preliminary data assigned to the analogous vibration in the D 2O-DOH isotopomer.« less

Path-integral analysis of the time delay for wave-packet scattering and the status of complex tunneling times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolovski, D.; Connor, J. N. L.

1990-12-01

The wave-packet simulation (WPS) method for calculating the time a tunneling particle spends inside a one-dimensional potential barrier is reexamined using the Feynman path-integral technique. Following earlier work by Sokolovski and Baskin [Phys. Rev. A 36, 4604 (1987)], the tunneling (or traversal) time tTpack is defined as a matrix element of a classical nonlocal functional between two states that represent the initial and transmitted wave packets. These states do not lie on the same orbit in Hilbert space; as a result, tTpack is complex-valued. It is shown that RetTpack reduces to the standard WPS result, tTphase, for conditions similar to those employed in the conventional WPS analysis. Similarly, ImtTpack is shown to contain information about the energy dependence of the transmission probability. Under semiclassical conditions, ImtTpack reduces to the well-known Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin expression for the tunneling time. It is shown there are different definitions for the traversal time of a classical moving object, whose size is comparable to the width of the region of interest. In the quantum case, these different definitions correspond to different ways of analyzing the WPS experiment. The path-integral approach demonstrates that the tunneling-time problem is one of understanding the physical significance of complex-valued off-orbit matrix elements of an operator or functional. The physical content of complex-valued tunneling times is discussed. It is emphasized that the use of complex tunneling times includes real-time approaches as a special case. Nevertheless, there is a limitation in the description of tunneling experiments using tunneling times, whether real or complex. The path-integral approach does not supply a universal traversal time, analogous to a classical time, that can be used in quantum situations. It is demonstrated that the often expressed hope of finding a well-defined and universal real tunneling time is erroneous.

Thermally Assisted Macroscopic Quantum Resonance on a Single-Crystal of Mn12-ac

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lionti, F.; Thomas, L.; Ballou, R.; Wernsdorfer, W.; Barbara, B.; Sulpice, A.; Sessoli, R.; Gatteschi, D.

1997-03-01

Magnetization measurements have been performed on a single mono-crystal of the molecule Mn12-acetate (L. Thomas, F. Lionti, R. Ballou, R. Sessoli, D. Gatteschi and B. Barbara, Nature, 383, 145 (1996).). Steps were observed in the hysteresis loop for values of the applied field at which level crossings of the collective spin states of each manganese clusters take place. The influence of quartic terms is taken into account. At these fields, the magnetization relaxes at short time scales, being otherwise essentially blocked. This novel behavior is interpreted in terms of resonant quantum tunneling of the magnetization from thermally activated energy levels. Hysteresis loop measurements performed for different field orientations and ac-susceptibility experiments, confirm general trends of this picture.

Tunneling effects in the kinetics of helium and hydrogen isotopes desorption from single-walled carbon nanotube bundles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Danilchenko, B. A., E-mail: danil@iop.kiev.ua; Yaskovets, I. I.; Uvarova, I. Y.

2014-04-28

The kinetics of desorption both helium isotopes and molecules of hydrogen and deuterium from open-ended or γ-irradiated single-walled carbon nanotube bundles was investigated in temperature range of 10–300 K. The gases desorption rates obey the Arrhenius law at high temperatures, deviate from it with temperature reduction and become constant at low temperatures. These results indicate the quantum nature of gas outflow from carbon nanotube bundles. We had deduced the crossover temperature below which the quantum corrections to the effective activation energy of desorption become significant. This temperature follows linear dependence against the inverse mass of gas molecule and is consistent withmore » theoretical prediction.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, Chun-Yaung; Perez, Danny; Voter, Arthur F., E-mail: afv@lanl.gov

Nuclear quantum effects are important for systems containing light elements, and the effects are more prominent in the low temperature regime where the dynamics also becomes sluggish. We show that parallel replica (ParRep) dynamics, an accelerated molecular dynamics approach for infrequent-event systems, can be effectively combined with ring-polymer molecular dynamics, a semiclassical trajectory approach that gives a good approximation to zero-point and tunneling effects in activated escape processes. The resulting RP-ParRep method is a powerful tool for reaching long time scales in complex infrequent-event systems where quantum dynamics are important. Two illustrative examples, symmetric Eckart barrier crossing and interstitial heliummore » diffusion in Fe and Fe–Cr alloy, are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and long-time scale capability of this approach.« less

Quantum computation with cold bosonic atoms in an optical lattice.

PubMed

García-Ripoll, Juan José; Cirac, Juan Ignacio

2003-07-15

We analyse an implementation of a quantum computer using bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. We show that, even though the number of atoms per site and the tunnelling rate between neighbouring sites is unknown, one may operate a universal set of gates by means of adiabatic passage.

Electron Tunneling in Lithium Ammonia Solutions Probed by Frequency-Dependent Electron-Spin Relaxation Studies

PubMed Central

Maeda, Kiminori; Lodge, Matthew T.J.; Harmer, Jeffrey; Freed, Jack H.; Edwards, Peter P.

2012-01-01

Electron transfer or quantum tunneling dynamics for excess or solvated electrons in dilute lithium-ammonia solutions have been studied by pulse electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at both X- (9.7 GHz) and W-band (94 GHz) frequencies. The electron spin-lattice (T1) and spin-spin (T2) relaxation data indicate an extremely fast transfer or quantum tunneling rate of the solvated electron in these solutions which serves to modulate the hyperfine (Fermi-contact) interaction with nitrogen nuclei in the solvation shells of ammonia molecules surrounding the localized, solvated electron. The donor and acceptor states of the solvated electron in these solutions are the initial and final electron solvation sites found before, and after, the transfer or tunneling process. To interpret and model our electron spin relaxation data from the two observation EPR frequencies requires a consideration of a multi-exponential correlation function. The electron transfer or tunneling process that we monitor through the correlation time of the nitrogen Fermi-contact interaction has a time scale of (1–10)×10−12 s over a temperature range 230–290K in our most dilute solution of lithium in ammonia. Two types of electron-solvent interaction mechanisms are proposed to account for our experimental findings. The dominant electron spin relaxation mechanism results from an electron tunneling process characterized by a variable donor-acceptor distance or range (consistent with such a rapidly fluctuating liquid structure) in which the solvent shell that ultimately accepts the transferring electron is formed from random, thermal fluctuations of the liquid structure in, and around, a natural hole or Bjerrum-like defect vacancy in the liquid. Following transfer and capture of the tunneling electron, further solvent-cage relaxation with a timescale of ca. 10−13 s results in a minor contribution to the electron spin relaxation times. This investigation illustrates the great potential of multi-frequency EPR measurements to interrogate the microscopic nature and dynamics of ultra fast electron transfer or quantum-tunneling processes in liquids. Our results also impact on the universal issue of the role of a host solvent (or host matrix, e.g. a semiconductor) in mediating long-range electron transfer processes and we discuss the implications of our results with a range of other materials and systems exhibiting the phenomenon of electron transfer. PMID:22568866

Tunneling measurement of quantum spin oscillations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulaevskii, L. N.; Hruška, M.; Ortiz, G.

2003-09-01

We consider the problem of tunneling between two leads via a localized spin 1/2 or any other microscopic system (e.g., a quantum dot) which can be modeled by a two-level Hamiltonian. We assume that a constant magnetic field B0 acts on the spin, that electrons in the leads are in a voltage driven thermal equilibrium, and that the tunneling electrons are coupled to the spin through exchange and spin-orbit interactions. Using the nonequilibrium Keldysh formalism we find the dependence of the spin-spin and current-current correlation functions on the applied voltage between leads V, temperature T, B0, and on the degree and orientation mα of spin polarization of the electrons in the right (α=R) and left (α=L) leads. We show the following (a) The spin-spin correlation function exhibits a peak at the Larmor frequency, ωL, corresponding to the effective magnetic field B acting upon the spin as determined by B0 and the exchange field induced by tunneling of spin-polarized electrons. (b) If the mα’s are not parallel to B the second-order derivative of the average tunneling current I(V) with respect to V is proportional to the spectral density of the spin-spin correlation function, i.e., exhibits a peak at the voltage V=ħωL/e. (c) In the same situation when V>B the current-current correlation function exhibits a peak at the same frequency. (d) The signal-to-noise (shot-noise) ratio R for this peak reaches a maximum value of order unity, R⩽4, at large V when the spin is decoupled from the environment and the electrons in both leads are fully polarized in the direction perpendicular to B. (e) R≪1 if the electrons are weakly polarized, or if they are polarized in a direction close to B0, or if the spin interacts with the environment stronger than with the tunneling electrons. Our results of a full quantum-mechanical treatment of the tunneling-via-spin model when V≫B are in agreement with those previously obtained in the quasiclassical approach. We discuss also the experimental results observed using scanning tunneling microscopy dynamic probes of the localized spin.

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study on Dirac Nodal-line Semimetal ZrSiS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Chih-Chuan; Guan, Syu-You; Wang, Tzu-Cheng; Sankar, Raman; Guo, Guang-Yu; Chou, Fangcheng; Chang, Chia-Seng; Chuang, Tien-Ming

The discovery of 3D Dirac nodal-line protected by non-symmophic symmetry in ZrSiS family has been reported by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and quantum oscillation measurements. ZrSiS also exhibits a butterfly shaped titanic angular magnetoresistance and strong Zeeman splitting in quantum oscillation. These observations with its layered crystal structure make the ZrSiS family an interesting candidate to understand the novel properties of the nodal-line semimetals. Here, we study the electronic structures of the single crystal ZrSiS by using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscope at T= 4.2K. Our quasiparticle scattering interference imaging reveals the characteristic wave vectors with linear dispersion from Dirac line nodes in the bulk and its surface states. Our results are in excellent agreement with the first principle calculation, and also in consistent with ARPES and quantum oscillation measurements.

Spin-polarized current in Zeeman-split d-wave superconductor/quantum wire junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emamipour, Hamidreza

2016-06-01

We study a thin-film quantum wire/unconventional superconductor junction in the presence of an intrinsic exchange field for a d-wave symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. A strongly spin-polarized current is generated due to an interplay between Zeeman splitting of bands and the nodal structure of the superconducting order parameter. We show that strongly spin-polarized current is achievable for both metallic and tunnel junctions. This is because of the presence of a quantum wire (one-dimensional metal) in our junction. While in two-dimensional junctions with both conventional [F. Giazotto, F. Taddei, Phys. Rev. B 77 (2008) 132501] and unconventional [J. Linder, T. Yokoyama, Y. Tanaka, A. Sudbo, Phys. Rev. B 78 (2008) 014516] pairing states, highly spin polarized current takes place just for a tunnel junction. Also, the obtained spin-polarized current is tunable in sign and magnitude in terms of exchange field and applied bias voltage.

Efficient 3He/4He separation in a nanoporous graphenylene membrane.

PubMed

Qu, Yuanyuan; Li, Feng; Zhao, Mingwen

2017-08-16

Helium-3 is a precious noble gas, which is essential in many advanced technologies such as cryogenics, isotope labeling and nuclear weapons. The current imbalance of 3 He demand and supply shortage leads to the search for an efficient membrane with high performance for 3 He separation. In this study, based on first-principles calculations, we demonstrated that highly efficient 3 He harvesting can be achieved in a nanoporous graphenylene membrane with industrially-acceptable selectivity and permeance. The quantum tunneling effect leads to 3 He harvesting with high efficiency via kinetic sieving. Both the quantum tunneling effect and zero-point energy (ZPE) determine the 3 He/ 4 He separation via thermally-driven equilibrium sieving, where the ZPE effect dominates efficient 3 He/ 4 He separation between two reservoirs. The quantum effects revealed in this work suggest that the nanoporous graphenylene membrane is promising for efficient 3 He harvesting that can be exploited for industrial applications.

Quantum Dot Gate Three-State and Nonvolatile Memory Field-Effect Transistors Using a ZnS/ZnMgS/ZnS Heteroepitaxial Stack as a Tunnel Insulator on Silicon-on-Insulator Substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez, Ernesto; Chan, Pik-Yiu; Lingalugari, Murali; Ayers, John E.; Heller, Evan; Jain, Faquir

2013-11-01

This paper describes the use of II-VI lattice-matched gate insulators in quantum dot gate three-state and flash nonvolatile memory structures. Using silicon-on-insulator wafers we have fabricated GeO x -cladded Ge quantum dot (QD) floating gate nonvolatile memory field-effect transistor devices using ZnS-Zn0.95Mg0.05S-ZnS tunneling layers. The II-VI heteroepitaxial stack is nearly lattice-matched and is grown using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on a silicon channel. This stack reduces the interface state density, improving threshold voltage variation, particularly in sub-22-nm devices. Simulations using self-consistent solutions of the Poisson and Schrödinger equations show the transfer of charge to the QD layers in three-state as well as nonvolatile memory cells.

Dissipative tunnelling by means of scaled trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mousavi, S. V.; Miret-Artés, S.

2018-06-01

Dissipative quantum tunnelling through an inverted parabolic barrier is considered in the presence of an electric field. A Schrödinger-Langevin or Kostin quantum-classical transition wave equation is used and applied resulting in a scaled differential equation of motion. A Gaussian wave packet solution to the resulting scaled Kostin nonlinear equation is assumed and compared to the same solution for the scaled linear Caldirola-Kanai equation. The resulting scaled trajectories are obtained at different dynamical regimes and friction cases, showing the gradual decoherence process in this open dynamics. Theoretical results show that the transmission probabilities are always higher in the Kostin approach than in the Caldirola-Kanai approach in the presence or not of an external electric field. This discrepancy should be understood due to the presence of an environment since the corresponding open dynamics should be governed by nonlinear quantum equations, whereas the second approach is issued from an effective Hamiltonian within a linear theory.

Measurement of the quantum conductance of germanium by an electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope break junction based on a jump-to-contact mechanism.

PubMed

Xie, Xufen; Yan, Jiawei; Liang, Jinghong; Li, Jijun; Zhang, Meng; Mao, Bingwei

2013-10-01

We present quantum conductance measurements of germanium by means of an electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope (STM) break junction based on a jump-to-contact mechanism. Germanium nanowires between a platinum/iridium tip and different substrates were constructed to measure the quantum conductance. By applying appropriate potentials to the substrate and the tip, the process of heterogeneous contact and homogeneous breakage was realized. Typical conductance traces exhibit steps at 0.025 and 0.05 G0. The conductance histogram indicates that the conductance of germanium nanowires is located between 0.02 and 0.15 G0 in the low-conductance region and is free from the influence of substrate materials. However, the distribution of conductance plateaus is too discrete to display distinct peaks in the conductance histogram of the high-conductance region. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Invited Article: Autonomous assembly of atomically perfect nanostructures using a scanning tunneling microscope.

PubMed

Celotta, Robert J; Balakirsky, Stephen B; Fein, Aaron P; Hess, Frank M; Rutter, Gregory M; Stroscio, Joseph A

2014-12-01

A major goal of nanotechnology is to develop the capability to arrange matter at will by placing individual atoms at desired locations in a predetermined configuration to build a nanostructure with specific properties or function. The scanning tunneling microscope has demonstrated the ability to arrange the basic building blocks of matter, single atoms, in two-dimensional configurations. An array of various nanostructures has been assembled, which display the quantum mechanics of quantum confined geometries. The level of human interaction needed to physically locate the atom and bring it to the desired location limits this atom assembly technology. Here we report the use of autonomous atom assembly via path planning technology; this allows atomically perfect nanostructures to be assembled without the need for human intervention, resulting in precise constructions in shorter times. We demonstrate autonomous assembly by assembling various quantum confinement geometries using atoms and molecules and describe the benefits of this approach.

Complementary Barrier Infrared Detector (CBIRD) with Double Tunnel Junction Contact and Quantum Dot Barrier Infrared Detector (QD-BIRD)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ting, David Z.-Y; Soibel, Alexander; Khoshakhlagh, Arezou; Keo, Sam A.; Nguyen, Jean; Hoglund, Linda; Mumolo, Jason M.; Liu, John K.; Rafol, Sir B.; Hill, Cory J.;

Statistical approach to tunneling time in attosecond experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, Durmuş; Güner, Tuğrul

2017-11-01

Tunneling, transport of particles through classically forbidden regions, is a pure quantum phenomenon. It governs numerous phenomena ranging from single-molecule electronics to donor-acceptor transition reactions. The main problem is the absence of a universal method to compute tunneling time. This problem has been attacked in various ways in the literature. Here, in the present work, we show that a statistical approach to the problem, motivated by the imaginary nature of time in the forbidden regions, lead to a novel tunneling time formula which is real and subluminal (in contrast to various known time definitions implying superluminal tunneling). In addition to this, we show explicitly that the entropic time formula is in good agreement with the tunneling time measurements in laser-driven He ionization. Moreover, it sets an accurate range for long-range electron transfer reactions. The entropic time formula is general enough to extend to the photon and phonon tunneling phenomena.

Atomically manufactured nickel-silicon quantum dots displaying robust resonant tunneling and negative differential resistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jian-Yih; Fisher, Brandon L.; Guisinger, Nathan P.; Lilley, Carmen M.

2017-12-01

Providing a spin-free host material in the development of quantum information technology has made silicon a very interesting and desirable material for qubit design. Much of the work and experimental progress has focused on isolated phosphorous atoms. In this article, we report on the exploration of Ni-Si clusters that are atomically manufactured via self-assembly from the bottom-up and behave as isolated quantum dots. These small quantum dot structures are probed at the atomic-scale with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, revealing robust resonance through discrete quantized energy levels within the Ni-Si clusters. The resonance energy is reproducible and the peak spacing of the quantum dot structures increases as the number of atoms in the cluster decrease. Probing these quantum dot structures on degenerately doped silicon results in the observation of negative differential resistance in both I-V and dI/dV spectra. At higher surface coverage of nickel, a well-known √19 surface modification is observed and is essentially a tightly packed array of the clusters. Spatial conductance maps reveal variations in the local density of states that suggest the clusters are influencing the electronic properties of their neighbors. All of these results are extremely encouraging towards the utilization of metal modified silicon surfaces to advance or complement existing quantum information technology.

Atomically manufactured nickel–silicon quantum dots displaying robust resonant tunneling and negative differential resistance

DOE PAGES

Cheng, Jian -Yih; Fisher, Brandon L.; Guisinger, Nathan P.; ...

2017-05-22

Providing a spin-free host material in the development of quantum information technology has made silicon a very interesting and desirable material for qubit design. Much of the work and experimental progress has focused on isolated phosphorous atoms. In this article, we report on the exploration of Ni–Si clusters that are atomically manufactured via self-assembly from the bottom-up and behave as isolated quantum dots. These small quantum dot structures are probed at the atomic-scale with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, revealing robust resonance through discrete quantized energy levels within the Ni–Si clusters. The resonance energy is reproducible and the peak spacingmore » of the quantum dot structures increases as the number of atoms in the cluster decrease. Probing these quantum dot structures on degenerately doped silicon results in the observation of negative differential resistance in both I–V and dI/dV spectra. At higher surface coverage of nickel, a well-known √19 surface modification is observed and is essentially a tightly packed array of the clusters. Spatial conductance maps reveal variations in the local density of states that suggest the clusters are influencing the electronic properties of their neighbors. Furthermore, all of these results are extremely encouraging towards the utilization of metal modified silicon surfaces to advance or complement existing quantum information technology.« less

Atomically manufactured nickel–silicon quantum dots displaying robust resonant tunneling and negative differential resistance

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, Jian -Yih; Fisher, Brandon L.; Guisinger, Nathan P.

Providing a spin-free host material in the development of quantum information technology has made silicon a very interesting and desirable material for qubit design. Much of the work and experimental progress has focused on isolated phosphorous atoms. In this article, we report on the exploration of Ni–Si clusters that are atomically manufactured via self-assembly from the bottom-up and behave as isolated quantum dots. These small quantum dot structures are probed at the atomic-scale with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, revealing robust resonance through discrete quantized energy levels within the Ni–Si clusters. The resonance energy is reproducible and the peak spacingmore » of the quantum dot structures increases as the number of atoms in the cluster decrease. Probing these quantum dot structures on degenerately doped silicon results in the observation of negative differential resistance in both I–V and dI/dV spectra. At higher surface coverage of nickel, a well-known √19 surface modification is observed and is essentially a tightly packed array of the clusters. Spatial conductance maps reveal variations in the local density of states that suggest the clusters are influencing the electronic properties of their neighbors. Furthermore, all of these results are extremely encouraging towards the utilization of metal modified silicon surfaces to advance or complement existing quantum information technology.« less

Measurements of undoped accumulation-mode SiGe quantum dot devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eng, Kevin; Borselli, Mathew; Holabird, Kevin; Milosavljevic, Ivan; Schmitz, Adele; Deelman, Peter; Huang, Biqin; Sokolich, Marko; Warren, Leslie; Hazard, Thomas; Kiselev, Andrey; Ross, Richard; Gyure, Mark; Hunter, Andrew

2012-02-01

We report transport measurements of undoped single-well accumulation-mode SiGe quantum dot devices with an integrated dot charge sensor. The device is designed so that individual forward-biased circular gates have dominant control of dot charge occupancy, and separate intervening gates have dominant control of tunnel rates and exchange coupling. We have demonstrated controlled loading of the first electron in single and double quantum dots. We used magneto-spectroscopy to measure singlet-triplet splittings in our quantum dots: values are typically ˜0.1 meV. Tunnel rates of single electrons to the baths can be controlled from less than 1 Hz to greater than 10 MHz. We are able to control the (0,2) to (1,1) coupling in a double quantum dot from under-coupled (tc < kT˜ 5μeV) to over-coupled (tc ˜ 0.1 meV) with a bias control of one exchange gate. Sponsored by the United States Department of Defense. Approved for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

Intrinsic errors in transporting a single-spin qubit through a double quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiao; Barnes, Edwin; Kestner, J. P.; Das Sarma, S.

2017-07-01

Coherent spatial transport or shuttling of a single electron spin through semiconductor nanostructures is an important ingredient in many spintronic and quantum computing applications. In this work we analyze the possible errors in solid-state quantum computation due to leakage in transporting a single-spin qubit through a semiconductor double quantum dot. In particular, we consider three possible sources of leakage errors associated with such transport: finite ramping times, spin-dependent tunneling rates between quantum dots induced by finite spin-orbit couplings, and the presence of multiple valley states. In each case we present quantitative estimates of the leakage errors, and discuss how they can be minimized. The emphasis of this work is on how to deal with the errors intrinsic to the ideal semiconductor structure, such as leakage due to spin-orbit couplings, rather than on errors due to defects or noise sources. In particular, we show that in order to minimize leakage errors induced by spin-dependent tunnelings, it is necessary to apply pulses to perform certain carefully designed spin rotations. We further develop a formalism that allows one to systematically derive constraints on the pulse shapes and present a few examples to highlight the advantage of such an approach.

Kinetics of low-temperature transitions and a reaction rate theory from non-equilibrium distributions

PubMed Central

Aquilanti, Vincenzo; Coutinho, Nayara Dantas

2017-01-01

This article surveys the empirical information which originated both by laboratory experiments and by computational simulations, and expands previous understanding of the rates of chemical processes in the low-temperature range, where deviations from linearity of Arrhenius plots were revealed. The phenomenological two-parameter Arrhenius equation requires improvement for applications where interpolation or extrapolations are demanded in various areas of modern science. Based on Tolman's theorem, the dependence of the reciprocal of the apparent activation energy as a function of reciprocal absolute temperature permits the introduction of a deviation parameter d covering uniformly a variety of rate processes, from those where quantum mechanical tunnelling is significant and d < 0, to those where d > 0, corresponding to the Pareto–Tsallis statistical weights: these generalize the Boltzmann–Gibbs weight, which is recovered for d = 0. It is shown here how the weights arise, relaxing the thermodynamic equilibrium limit, either for a binomial distribution if d > 0 or for a negative binomial distribution if d < 0, formally corresponding to Fermion-like or Boson-like statistics, respectively. The current status of the phenomenology is illustrated emphasizing case studies; specifically (i) the super-Arrhenius kinetics, where transport phenomena accelerate processes as the temperature increases; (ii) the sub-Arrhenius kinetics, where quantum mechanical tunnelling propitiates low-temperature reactivity; (iii) the anti-Arrhenius kinetics, where processes with no energetic obstacles are rate-limited by molecular reorientation requirements. Particular attention is given for case (i) to the treatment of diffusion and viscosity, for case (ii) to formulation of a transition rate theory for chemical kinetics including quantum mechanical tunnelling, and for case (iii) to the stereodirectional specificity of the dynamics of reactions strongly hindered by the increase of temperature. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Theoretical and computational studies of non-equilibrium and non-statistical dynamics in the gas phase, in the condensed phase and at interfaces’. PMID:28320904

Kinetics of low-temperature transitions and a reaction rate theory from non-equilibrium distributions.

PubMed

Aquilanti, Vincenzo; Coutinho, Nayara Dantas; Carvalho-Silva, Valter Henrique

2017-04-28

This article surveys the empirical information which originated both by laboratory experiments and by computational simulations, and expands previous understanding of the rates of chemical processes in the low-temperature range, where deviations from linearity of Arrhenius plots were revealed. The phenomenological two-parameter Arrhenius equation requires improvement for applications where interpolation or extrapolations are demanded in various areas of modern science. Based on Tolman's theorem, the dependence of the reciprocal of the apparent activation energy as a function of reciprocal absolute temperature permits the introduction of a deviation parameter d covering uniformly a variety of rate processes, from those where quantum mechanical tunnelling is significant and d  < 0, to those where d  > 0, corresponding to the Pareto-Tsallis statistical weights: these generalize the Boltzmann-Gibbs weight, which is recovered for d  = 0. It is shown here how the weights arise, relaxing the thermodynamic equilibrium limit, either for a binomial distribution if d  > 0 or for a negative binomial distribution if d  < 0, formally corresponding to Fermion-like or Boson-like statistics, respectively. The current status of the phenomenology is illustrated emphasizing case studies; specifically (i) the super -Arrhenius kinetics, where transport phenomena accelerate processes as the temperature increases; (ii) the sub -Arrhenius kinetics, where quantum mechanical tunnelling propitiates low-temperature reactivity; (iii) the anti -Arrhenius kinetics, where processes with no energetic obstacles are rate-limited by molecular reorientation requirements. Particular attention is given for case (i) to the treatment of diffusion and viscosity, for case (ii) to formulation of a transition rate theory for chemical kinetics including quantum mechanical tunnelling, and for case (iii) to the stereodirectional specificity of the dynamics of reactions strongly hindered by the increase of temperature.This article is part of the themed issue 'Theoretical and computational studies of non-equilibrium and non-statistical dynamics in the gas phase, in the condensed phase and at interfaces'. © 2017 The Author(s).

The Real Difference between Biotic and Abiotic Methane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, X.; Bao, H.; Peng, Y.

2017-12-01

Methane has both biotic and abiotic origins, and the identification of these two origins has important implications not only in understanding terrestrial processes but also in searching for extraterrestrial life. Carbon and hydrogen isotopes in methane have been used to identify certain biosignatures, but such efforts often suffer from ambiguity. Recent advancement in our capability in measuring multiply substituted isotopologues of methane (i.e. 13CDH3 and 12CD2H2) has found large 12CD2H2 depletion in abiotic methane. Quantum tunneling has been proposed to account for the apparent abiotic signature. However, quantum tunneling is neither unique to abiotic processes nor consistent with the observed not-so-depleted hydrogen isotope composition. Here we constructed a general kinetic model for methane formation from CO2, and validated it by fitting its parameters to observed 13CDH3, 12CD2H2, and 12CDH3. Our model revealed that the fundamental difference between biotic and abiotic methane isotopic signatures is in the source of hydrogens during methane formation. Hydrogens in biotic methane originate from the stronger carbon-hydrogen and sulfur-hydrogen bonds, while hydrogens in abiotic methane originate from the much weaker metal-hydrogen adsorption bond. This hydrogen source difference results in abiotic methane being more depleted in 12CD2H2 than the biotic one. Our model also shows that the primary kinetic hydrogen isotope effect is at approximately 0.6 for both abiotic and biotic pathways, a normal value further nullifying the role of quantum tunneling. The active and exclusive shuttling of reduced hydrogen via strong chemical bonds like carbon-hydrogen and sulfur-hydrogen in coenzymes is proposed here to be a unique signature of life. In an ironic sense, it is the equilibrated hydrogen isotope composition in the hydrogen donors that distinguishes the living from the non-living.

Does the pressure dependence of kinetic isotope effects report usefully on dynamics in enzyme H-transfer reactions?

PubMed

Hoeven, Robin; Heyes, Derren J; Hay, Sam; Scrutton, Nigel S

2015-08-01

The temperature dependence of kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) has emerged as the main experimental probe of enzymatic H-transfer by quantum tunnelling. Implicit in the interpretation is a presumed role for dynamic coupling of H-transfer chemistry to the protein environment, the so-called 'promoting motions/vibrations hypothesis'. This idea remains contentious, and others have questioned the importance and/or existence of promoting motions/vibrations. New experimental methods of addressing this problem are emerging, including use of mass-modulated enzymes and time-resolved spectroscopy. The pressure dependence of KIEs has been considered as a potential probe of quantum tunnelling reactions, because semi-classical KIEs, which are defined by differences in zero-point vibrational energy, are relatively insensitive to kbar changes in pressure. Reported combined pressure and temperature (p-T) dependence studies of H-transfer reactions are, however, limited. Here, we extend and review the available p-T studies that have utilized well-defined experimental systems in which quantum mechanical tunnelling is established. These include flavoproteins, quinoproteins, light-activated enzymes and chemical model systems. We show that there is no clear general trend between the p-T dependencies of the KIEs in these systems. Given the complex nature of p-T studies, we conclude that computational simulations using determined (e.g. X-ray) structures are also needed alongside experimental measurements of reaction rates/KIEs to guide the interpretation of p-T effects. In providing new insight into H-transfer/environmental coupling, combined approaches that unite both atomistic understanding with experimental rate measurements will require careful evaluation on a case-by-case basis. Although individually informative, we conclude that p-T studies do not provide the more generalized insight that has come from studies of the temperature dependence of KIEs. © 2015 The Authors. FEBS Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of FEBS.

Large current modulation and spin-dependent tunneling of vertical graphene/MoS2 heterostructures.

PubMed

Myoung, Nojoon; Seo, Kyungchul; Lee, Seung Joo; Ihm, G

2013-08-27

Vertical graphene heterostructures have been introduced as an alternative architecture for electronic devices by using quantum tunneling. Here, we present that the current on/off ratio of vertical graphene field-effect transistors is enhanced by using an armchair graphene nanoribbon as an electrode. Moreover, we report spin-dependent tunneling current of the graphene/MoS2 heterostructures. When an atomically thin MoS2 layer sandwiched between graphene electrodes becomes magnetic, Dirac fermions with different spins feel different heights of the tunnel barrier, leading to spin-dependent tunneling. Our finding will develop the present graphene heterostructures for electronic devices by improving the device performance and by adding the possibility of spintronics based on graphene.

Tunneling interferometry and measurement of the thickness of ultrathin metallic Pb(111) films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ustavshchikov, S. S.; Putilov, A. V.; Aladyshkin, A. Yu.

2017-10-01

Spectra of the differential tunneling conductivity for ultrathin lead films grown on Si(111) 7 × 7 single crystals with a thickness of 9 to 50 ML have been studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The presence of local maxima of the tunneling conductivity is characteristic of such systems. The energies of maxima of the differential conductivity are determined by the spectrum of quantum-confined states of electrons in a metallic layer and, consequently, the local thickness of the layer. It has been shown that features of the microstructure of substrates, such as steps of monatomic height, structural defects, and inclusions of other materials covered with a lead layer, can be visualized by bias-modulation scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

WKB approximation and tunneling in theories with noncanonical kinetic terms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, Mariana Carrillo; Masoumi, Ali; Solomon, Adam R.; Trodden, Mark

2017-09-01

Tunneling is a fascinating aspect of quantum mechanics that renders the local minima of a potential meta-stable, with important consequences for particle physics, for the early hot stage of the universe, and more speculatively, for the behavior of the putative multiverse. While this phenomenon has been studied extensively for systems which have canonical kinetic terms, many theories of fundamental physics contain fields with noncanonical kinetic structures. It is therefore desirable to have a detailed framework for calculating tunneling rates and initial states after tunneling for these theories. In this work we present such a rigorous formulation and illustrate its use by applying it to a number of examples.

Hawking Tunneling Radiation of Black Holes in de Sitter and ANTI-de Sitter Spacetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Qing-Quan; Li, Hui-Ling; Yang, Shu-Zheng; Chen, De-You

Applying Parikh-Wilczek's semiclassical quantum tunneling method, we investigate the tunneling radiation characteristics of a torus-like black hole and Kerr-Newman-Kausya de Sitter black hole. Both black holes have the cosmological constant Λ, but a torus-like black hole is in anti-de Sitter spacetime and the other black hole is in de Sitter spacetime. The derived results show that the tunneling rate is related to the change of Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, and the factual radiated spectrum is not precisely thermal, but is consistent with an underlying unitary theory, which gives a might explanation to the paradox of black hole information lost.

Quantum biology of the retina.

PubMed

Sia, Paul Ikgan; Luiten, André N; Stace, Thomas M; Wood, John Pm; Casson, Robert J

2014-08-01

The emerging field of quantum biology has led to a greater understanding of biological processes at the microscopic level. There is recent evidence to suggest that non-trivial quantum features such as entanglement, tunnelling and coherence have evolved in living systems. These quantum features are particularly evident in supersensitive light-harvesting systems such as in photosynthesis and photoreceptors. A biomimetic strategy utilizing biological quantum phenomena might allow new advances in the field of quantum engineering, particularly in quantum information systems. In addition, a better understanding of quantum biological features may lead to novel medical diagnostic and therapeutic developments. In the present review, we discuss the role of quantum physics in biological systems with an emphasis on the retina. © 2014 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

Resonant tunneling with high peak to valley current ratio in SiO{sub 2}/nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} multi-layers at room temperature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, D. Y., E-mail: cdy7659@126.com; Nanjing University of posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210046; Sun, Y.

We have investigated carrier transport in SiO{sub 2}/nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} multi-layers by room temperature current-voltage measurements. Resonant tunneling signatures accompanied by current peaks are observed. Carrier transport in the multi-layers were analyzed by plots of ln(I/V{sup 2}) as a function of 1/V and ln(I) as a function of V{sup 1/2}. Results suggest that besides films quality, nc-Si and barrier sub-layer thicknesses are important parameters that restrict carrier transport. When thicknesses are both small, direct tunneling dominates carrier transport, resonant tunneling occurs only at certain voltages and multi-resonant tunneling related current peaks can be observed but with peak to valley current ratiomore » (PVCR) values smaller than 1.5. When barrier thickness is increased, trap-related and even high field related tunneling is excited, causing that multi-current peaks cannot be observed clearly, only one current peak with higher PVCR value of 7.7 can be observed. While if the thickness of nc-Si is large enough, quantum confinement is not so strong, a broad current peak with PVCR value as high as 60 can be measured, which may be due to small energy difference between the splitting energy levels in the quantum dots of nc-Si. Size distribution in a wide range may cause un-controllability of the peak voltages.« less

Improving Efficiency of III-N Quantum Well Based Optoelectronic Devices through Active Region Design and Growth Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Nathan Garrett

The III-Nitride materials system provides a fascinating platform for developing optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and LEDs, which have the power to dramatically improve the efficiency of our power consumption and reduce our environmental footprint. Finding ways to make these devices more efficient is key to driving their widespread adoption. This dissertation focuses on the intersection of challenges in physics and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth at the nanoscale when designing for device efficiency. In order to create the best possible InGaN solar cell, a multiple quantum well (MQW) active region design had to be employed to prevent strain relaxation related degradation. There were two competing challenges for MQW active region design and growth. First, it was observed current collection efficiency improved with thinner quantum barriers, which promoted efficient tunneling transport instead of inefficiency thermally activated escape. Second, GaN barriers could planarize surface defects in the MQW region under the right conditions and when grown thick enough. A two-step growth method for thinner quantum barriers was developed that simultaneously allowed for tunneling transport and planarized V-defects. Barriers as thin as 4 nm were employed in MQW active regions with up to 30 periods without structural or electrical degradation, leading to record performance. Application of dielectric optical coatings greatly reduced surface reflections and allowed a second pass of light through the device. This both demonstrated the feasibility of multijunction solar integration and boosted conversion efficiency to record levels for an InGaN solar cell. III-N LEDs have achieved state-of-the-art performance for decades, but still suffer from the phenomena of efficiency droop, where device efficiency drops dramatically at high power operation. Droop is exacerbated by the polarization-induced electric fields in InGaN quantum wells, which originate from a lack of inversion symmetry in GaN's wurtzite crystal structure. These fields can be screened by using highly doped layers, but the extreme dopant densities predicted by simulation for complete screening may require using Ge as an alternative n-type dopant to Si. GaN:Ge layers with excellent electrical characteristics were grown by MOCVD with doping densities exceeding 1020 cm -3. However, their surface morphologies were very poor and they proved a poor screening dopant in LED structures. Using Si as the n-type screening dopant, LEDs with single QW active regions were grown, packaged, and tested. Biased photoluminescence showed strong evidence of complete polarization screening. The LEDs had low droop, but also low peak efficiencies. Possible explanations for trends in efficiency with varying QW width and field screening will be discussed.

Tunneling with a hydrodynamic pilot-wave model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nachbin, André; Milewski, Paul A.; Bush, John W. M.

2017-03-01

Eddi et al. [Phys. Rev Lett. 102, 240401 (2009), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.240401] presented experimental results demonstrating the unpredictable tunneling of a classical wave-particle association as may arise when a droplet walking across the surface of a vibrating fluid bath approaches a submerged barrier. We here present a theoretical model that captures the influence of bottom topography on this wave-particle association and so enables us to investigate its interaction with barriers. The coupled wave-droplet dynamics results in unpredictable tunneling events. As reported in the experiments by Eddi et al. and as is the case in quantum tunneling [Gamow, Nature (London) 122, 805 (1928), 10.1038/122805b0], the predicted tunneling probability decreases exponentially with increasing barrier width. In the parameter regimes examined, tunneling between two cavities suggests an underlying stationary ergodic process for the droplet's position.

Optical turbulence and transverse rogue waves in a cavity with triple-quantum-dot molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eslami, M.; Khanmohammadi, M.; Kheradmand, R.; Oppo, G.-L.

2017-09-01

We show that optical turbulence extreme events can exist in the transverse dynamics of a cavity containing molecules of triple quantum dots under conditions close to tunneling-induced transparency. These nanostructures, when coupled via tunneling, form a four-level configuration with tunable energy-level separations. We show that such a system exhibits multistability and bistability of Turing structures in instability domains with different critical wave vectors. By numerical simulation of the mean-field equation that describes the transverse dynamics of the system, we show that the simultaneous presence of two transverse solutions with opposite nonlinearities gives rise to a series of turbulent structures with the capability of generating two-dimensional rogue waves.

Wigner Transport Simulation of Resonant Tunneling Diodes with Auxiliary Quantum Wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Joon-Ho; Shin, Mincheol; Byun, Seok-Joo; Kim, Wangki

2018-03-01

Resonant-tunneling diodes (RTDs) with auxiliary quantum wells ( e.g., emitter prewell, subwell, and collector postwell) are studied using a Wigner transport equation (WTE) discretized by a thirdorder upwind differential scheme. A flat-band potential profile is used for the WTE simulation. Our calculations revealed functions of the auxiliary wells as follows: The prewell increases the current density ( J) and the peak voltage ( V p ) while decreasing the peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR), and the postwell decreases J while increasing the PVCR. The subwell affects J and PVCR, but its main effect is to decrease V p . When multiple auxiliary wells are used, each auxiliary well contributes independently to the transport without producing side effects.

Resonant tunneling based graphene quantum dot memristors.

PubMed

Pan, Xuan; Skafidas, Efstratios

2016-12-08

In this paper, we model two-terminal all graphene quantum dot (GQD) based resistor-type memory devices (memristors). The resistive switching is achieved by resonant electron tunneling. We show that parallel GQDs can be used to create multi-state memory circuits. The number of states can be optimised with additional voltage sources, whilst the noise margin for each state can be controlled by appropriately choosing the branch resistance. A three-terminal GQD device configuration is also studied. The addition of an isolated gate terminal can be used to add further or modify the states of the memory device. The proposed devices provide a promising route towards volatile memory devices utilizing only atomically thin two-dimensional graphene.

Ligand-protein docking using a quantum stochastic tunneling optimization method.

PubMed

Mancera, Ricardo L; Källblad, Per; Todorov, Nikolay P

2004-04-30

A novel hybrid optimization method called quantum stochastic tunneling has been recently introduced. Here, we report its implementation within a new docking program called EasyDock and a validation with the CCDC/Astex data set of ligand-protein complexes using the PLP score to represent the ligand-protein potential energy surface and ScreenScore to score the ligand-protein binding energies. When taking the top energy-ranked ligand binding mode pose, we were able to predict the correct crystallographic ligand binding mode in up to 75% of the cases. By using this novel optimization method run times for typical docking simulations are significantly shortened. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 25: 858-864, 2004

Quantum rotor in nanostructured superconductors

PubMed Central

Lin, Shi-Hsin; Milošević, M. V.; Covaci, L.; Jankó, B.; Peeters, F. M.

2014-01-01

Despite its apparent simplicity, the idealized model of a particle constrained to move on a circle has intriguing dynamic properties and immediate experimental relevance. While a rotor is rather easy to set up classically, the quantum regime is harder to realize and investigate. Here we demonstrate that the quantum dynamics of quasiparticles in certain classes of nanostructured superconductors can be mapped onto a quantum rotor. Furthermore, we provide a straightforward experimental procedure to convert this nanoscale superconducting rotor into a regular or inverted quantum pendulum with tunable gravitational field, inertia, and drive. We detail how these novel states can be detected via scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The proposed experiments will provide insights into quantum dynamics and quantum chaos. PMID:24686241

A reconfigurable gate architecture for Si/SiGe quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zajac, D. M.; Hazard, T. M.; Mi, X.

2015-06-01

We demonstrate a reconfigurable quantum dot gate architecture that incorporates two interchangeable transport channels. One channel is used to form quantum dots, and the other is used for charge sensing. The quantum dot transport channel can support either a single or a double quantum dot. We demonstrate few-electron occupation in a single quantum dot and extract charging energies as large as 6.6 meV. Magnetospectroscopy is used to measure valley splittings in the range of 35–70 μeV. By energizing two additional gates, we form a few-electron double quantum dot and demonstrate tunable tunnel coupling at the (1,0) to (0,1) interdot charge transition.

Quantum dynamics in strong fluctuating fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goychuk, Igor; Hänggi, Peter

A large number of multifaceted quantum transport processes in molecular systems and physical nanosystems, such as e.g. nonadiabatic electron transfer in proteins, can be treated in terms of quantum relaxation processes which couple to one or several fluctuating environments. A thermal equilibrium environment can conveniently be modelled by a thermal bath of harmonic oscillators. An archetype situation provides a two-state dissipative quantum dynamics, commonly known under the label of a spin-boson dynamics. An interesting and nontrivial physical situation emerges, however, when the quantum dynamics evolves far away from thermal equilibrium. This occurs, for example, when a charge transferring medium possesses nonequilibrium degrees of freedom, or when a strong time-dependent control field is applied externally. Accordingly, certain parameters of underlying quantum subsystem acquire stochastic character. This may occur, for example, for the tunnelling coupling between the donor and acceptor states of the transferring electron, or for the corresponding energy difference between electronic states which assume via the coupling to the fluctuating environment an explicit stochastic or deterministic time-dependence. Here, we review the general theoretical framework which is based on the method of projector operators, yielding the quantum master equations for systems that are exposed to strong external fields. This allows one to investigate on a common basis, the influence of nonequilibrium fluctuations and periodic electrical fields on those already mentioned dynamics and related quantum transport processes. Most importantly, such strong fluctuating fields induce a whole variety of nonlinear and nonequilibrium phenomena. A characteristic feature of such dynamics is the absence of thermal (quantum) detailed balance.ContentsPAGE1. Introduction5262. Quantum dynamics in stochastic fields531 2.1. Stochastic Liouville equation531 2.2. Non-Markovian vs. Markovian discrete state fluctuations531 2.3. Averaging the quantum propagator533  2.3.1. Kubo oscillator535  2.3.2. Averaged dynamics of two-level quantum systems exposed to two-state stochastic fields537 2.4. Projection operator method: a primer5403. Two-state quantum dynamics in periodic fields542 3.1. Coherent destruction of tunnelling542 3.2. Driving-induced tunnelling oscillations (DITO)5434. Dissipative quantum dynamics in strong time-dependent fields544 4.1. General formalism544  4.1.1. Weak-coupling approximation545  4.1.2. Markovian approximation: Generalised Redfield Equations5475. Application I: Quantum relaxation in driven, dissipative two-level systems548 5.1. Decoupling approximation for fast fluctuating energy levels550  5.1.1. Control of quantum rates551  5.1.2. Stochastic cooling and inversion of level populations552  5.1.3. Emergence of an effective energy bias553 5.2. Quantum relaxation in strong periodic fields554 5.3. Approximation of time-dependent rates554 5.4. Exact averaging for dichotomous Markovian fluctuations5556. Application II: Driven electron transfer within a spin-boson description557 6.1. Curve-crossing problems with dissipation558 6.2. Weak system-bath coupling559 6.3. Beyond weak-coupling theory: Strong system-bath coupling563  6.3.1. Fast fluctuating energy levels565  6.3.2. Exact averaging over dichotomous fluctuations of the energy levels566  6.3.3. Electron transfer in fast oscillating periodic fields567  6.3.4. Dichotomously fluctuating tunnelling barrier5687. Quantum transport in dissipative tight-binding models subjected tostrong external fields569 7.1. Noise-induced absolute negative mobility571 7.2. Dissipative quantum rectifiers573 7.3. Limit of vanishing dissipation575 7.4. Case of harmonic mixing drive5758. Summary576Acknowledgements578References579

Atomically Thin Al2O3 Films for Tunnel Junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilt, Jamie; Gong, Youpin; Gong, Ming; Su, Feifan; Xu, Huikai; Sakidja, Ridwan; Elliot, Alan; Lu, Rongtao; Zhao, Shiping; Han, Siyuan; Wu, Judy Z.

2017-06-01

Metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions are common throughout the microelectronics industry. The industry standard AlOx tunnel barrier, formed through oxygen diffusion into an Al wetting layer, is plagued by internal defects and pinholes which prevent the realization of atomically thin barriers demanded for enhanced quantum coherence. In this work, we employ in situ scanning tunneling spectroscopy along with molecular-dynamics simulations to understand and control the growth of atomically thin Al2O3 tunnel barriers using atomic-layer deposition. We find that a carefully tuned initial H2O pulse hydroxylated the Al surface and enabled the creation of an atomically thin Al2O3 tunnel barrier with a high-quality M -I interface and a significantly enhanced barrier height compared to thermal AlOx . These properties, corroborated by fabricated Josephson junctions, show that atomic-layer deposition Al2O3 is a dense, leak-free tunnel barrier with a low defect density which can be a key component for the next generation of metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions.

QmeQ 1.0: An open-source Python package for calculations of transport through quantum dot devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiršanskas, Gediminas; Pedersen, Jonas Nyvold; Karlström, Olov; Leijnse, Martin; Wacker, Andreas

2017-12-01

QmeQ is an open-source Python package for numerical modeling of transport through quantum dot devices with strong electron-electron interactions using various approximate master equation approaches. The package provides a framework for calculating stationary particle or energy currents driven by differences in chemical potentials or temperatures between the leads which are tunnel coupled to the quantum dots. The electronic structures of the quantum dots are described by their single-particle states and the Coulomb matrix elements between the states. When transport is treated perturbatively to lowest order in the tunneling couplings, the possible approaches are Pauli (classical), first-order Redfield, and first-order von Neumann master equations, and a particular form of the Lindblad equation. When all processes involving two-particle excitations in the leads are of interest, the second-order von Neumann approach can be applied. All these approaches are implemented in QmeQ. We here give an overview of the basic structure of the package, give examples of transport calculations, and outline the range of applicability of the different approximate approaches.

Structural characterization and observation of variable range hopping conduction mechanism at high temperature in CdSe quantum dot solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha, Subhojyoti; Kumar Chatterjee, Sanat; Ghosh, Jiten; Kumar Meikap, Ajit

2013-03-01

We have used Rietveld refinement technique to extract the microstructural parameters of thioglycolic acid capped CdSe quantum dots. The quantum dot formation and its efficient capping are further confirmed by HR-TEM, UV-visible and FT-IR spectroscopy. Comparative study of the variation of dc conductivity with temperature (298 K ≤ T ≤ 460 K) is given considering Arrhenius formalism, small polaron hopping and Schnakenberg model. We observe that only Schnakenberg model provides good fit to the non-linear region of the variation of dc conductivity with temperature. Experimental variation of ac conductivity and dielectric parameters with temperature (298 K ≤ T ≤ 460 K) and frequency (80 Hz ≤ f ≤ 2 MHz) are discussed in the light of hopping theory and quantum confinement effect. We have elucidated the observed non-linearity in the I-V curves (measured within ±50 V), at dark and at ambient light, in view of tunneling mechanism. Tunnel exponents and non-linearity weight factors have also been evaluated in this regard.

Hierarchical Equation of Motion Investigation of Decoherence and Relaxation Dynamics in Nonequilibrium Transport through Interacting Quantum Dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartle, Rainer; Cohen, Guy; Reichman, David R.; Millis, Andrew J.

2014-03-01

A recently developed hierarchical quantum master equation approach is used to investigate nonequilibrium electron transport through an interacting double quantum dot system in the regime where the inter-dot coupling is weaker than the coupling to the electrodes. The corresponding eigenstates provide tunneling paths that may interfere constructively or destructively, depending on the energy of the tunneling electrons. Electron-electron interactions are shown to quench these interference effects in bias-voltage dependent ways, leading, in particular, to negative differential resistance, population inversion and an enhanced broadening of resonances in the respective transport characteristics. Relaxation times are found to be very long, and to be correlated with very slow dynamics of the inter-dot coherences (off diagonal density matrix elements). The ability of the hierarchical quantum master equation approach to access very long time scales is crucial for the study of this physics. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF DMR-1006282 and NSF CHE-1213247), the Yad Hanadiv-Rothschild Foundation (via a Rothschild Fellowship for GC) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (via a Feodor Lynen fellowship for RH).

Study on spin and optical polarization in a coupled InGaN/GaN quantum well and quantum dots structure.

PubMed

Yu, Jiadong; Wang, Lai; Di Yang; Zheng, Jiyuan; Xing, Yuchen; Hao, Zhibiao; Luo, Yi; Sun, Changzheng; Han, Yanjun; Xiong, Bing; Wang, Jian; Li, Hongtao

2016-10-19

The spin and optical polarization based on a coupled InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) and quantum dots (QDs) structure is investigated. In this structure, spin-electrons can be temporarily stored in QW, and spin injection from the QW into QDs via spin-conserved tunneling is enabled. Spin relaxation can be suppressed owing to the small energy difference between the initial state in the QW and the final states in the QDs. Photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements are carried out on optical spin-injection and -detection. Owing to the coupled structure, spin-conserved tunneling mechanism plays a significant role in preventing spin relaxation process. As a result, a higher circular polarization degree (CPD) (~49.1%) is achieved compared with conventional single layer of QDs structure. Moreover, spin relaxation time is also extended to about 2.43 ns due to the weaker state-filling effect. This coupled structure is believed an appropriate candidate for realization of spin-polarized light source.

Quantum shot noise in tunnel junctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ben-Jacob, E.; Mottola, E.; Schoen, G.

1983-01-01

The current and voltage fluctuations in a normal tunnel junction are calculated from microscopic theory. The power spectrum can deviate from the familiar Johnson-Nyquist form when the self-capacitance of the junction is small, at low temperatures permitting experimental verification. The deviation reflects the discrete nature of the charge transfer across the junction and should be present in a wide class of similar systems.

An AlGaN Core-Shell Tunnel Junction Nanowire Light-Emitting Diode Operating in the Ultraviolet-C Band.

PubMed

Sadaf, S M; Zhao, S; Wu, Y; Ra, Y-H; Liu, X; Vanka, S; Mi, Z

2017-02-08

To date, semiconductor light emitting diodes (LEDs) operating in the deep ultraviolet (UV) spectral range exhibit very low efficiency due to the presence of large densities of defects and extremely inefficient p-type conduction of conventional AlGaN quantum well heterostructures. We have demonstrated that such critical issues can be potentially addressed by using nearly defect-free AlGaN tunnel junction core-shell nanowire heterostructures. The core-shell nanowire arrays exhibit high photoluminescence efficiency (∼80%) in the UV-C band at room temperature. With the incorporation of an epitaxial Al tunnel junction, the p-(Al)GaN contact-free nanowire deep UV LEDs showed nearly one order of magnitude reduction in the device resistance, compared to the conventional nanowire p-i-n device. The unpackaged Al tunnel junction deep UV LEDs exhibit an output power >8 mW and a peak external quantum efficiency ∼0.4%, which are nearly one to two orders of magnitude higher than previously reported AlGaN nanowire devices. Detailed studies further suggest that the maximum achievable efficiency is limited by electron overflow and poor light extraction efficiency due to the TM polarized emission.

Entropy is conserved in Hawking radiation as tunneling: A revisit of the black hole information loss paradox

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang Baocheng; Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049; Cai Qingyu, E-mail: qycai@wipm.ac.cn

2011-02-15

Research Highlights: > Information is found to be encoded and carried away by Hawking radiations. > Entropy is conserved in Hawking radiation. > We thus conclude no information is lost. > The dynamics of black hole may be unitary. - Abstract: We revisit in detail the paradox of black hole information loss due to Hawking radiation as tunneling. We compute the amount of information encoded in correlations among Hawking radiations for a variety of black holes, including the Schwarzchild black hole, the Reissner-Nordstroem black hole, the Kerr black hole, and the Kerr-Newman black hole. The special case of tunneling throughmore » a quantum horizon is also considered. Within a phenomenological treatment based on the accepted emission probability spectrum from a black hole, we find that information is leaked out hidden in the correlations of Hawking radiation. The recovery of this previously unaccounted for information helps to conserve the total entropy of a system composed of a black hole plus its radiations. We thus conclude, irrespective of the microscopic picture for black hole collapsing, the associated radiation process: Hawking radiation as tunneling, is consistent with unitarity as required by quantum mechanics.« less

Development of Vector Parabolic Equation Technique for Propagation in Urban and Tunnel Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

relativistic quantum mechanics J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 16 1869–84 [8] Nottale L 1995 Scale relativity, fractal space- time and quantum mechanics Quantum...proportional to the “ time ” elapsed. By performing various approximations to the transfer function, several approximate absorbing boundary condi- tions...The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing

Momentum Distribution as a Fingerprint of Quantum Delocalization in Enzymatic Reactions: Open-Chain Path-Integral Simulations of Model Systems and the Hydride Transfer in Dihydrofolate Reductase.

PubMed

Engel, Hamutal; Doron, Dvir; Kohen, Amnon; Major, Dan Thomas

2012-04-10

The inclusion of nuclear quantum effects such as zero-point energy and tunneling is of great importance in studying condensed phase chemical reactions involving the transfer of protons, hydrogen atoms, and hydride ions. In the current work, we derive an efficient quantum simulation approach for the computation of the momentum distribution in condensed phase chemical reactions. The method is based on a quantum-classical approach wherein quantum and classical simulations are performed separately. The classical simulations use standard sampling techniques, whereas the quantum simulations employ an open polymer chain path integral formulation which is computed using an efficient Monte Carlo staging algorithm. The approach is validated by applying it to a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator and symmetric double-well potential. Subsequently, the method is applied to the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) catalyzed reduction of 7,8-dihydrofolate by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate hydride (NADPH) to yield S-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate and NADP(+). The key chemical step in the catalytic cycle of DHFR involves a stereospecific hydride transfer. In order to estimate the amount of quantum delocalization, we compute the position and momentum distributions for the transferring hydride ion in the reactant state (RS) and transition state (TS) using a recently developed hybrid semiempirical quantum mechanics-molecular mechanics potential energy surface. Additionally, we examine the effect of compression of the donor-acceptor distance (DAD) in the TS on the momentum distribution. The present results suggest differential quantum delocalization in the RS and TS, as well as reduced tunneling upon DAD compression.

Selective control of electron and hole tunneling in 2D assembly

PubMed Central

Chu, Dongil; Lee, Young Hee; Kim, Eun Kyu

2017-01-01

Recent discoveries in the field of two-dimensional (2D) materials have led to the demonstration of exotic devices. Although they have new potential applications in electronics, thermally activated transport over a metal/semiconductor barrier sets physical subthermionic limitations. The challenge of realizing an innovative transistor geometry that exploits this concern remains. A new class of 2D assembly (namely, “carristor”) with a configuration similar to the metal-insulator-semiconductor structure is introduced in this work. Superior functionalities, such as a current rectification ratio of up to 400,000 and a switching ratio of higher than 106 at room temperature, are realized by quantum-mechanical tunneling of majority and minority carriers across the barrier. These carristors have a potential application as the fundamental building block of low–power consumption electronics. PMID:28439554

Optical pulse generation in a transistor laser via intra-cavity photon-assisted tunneling and excess base carrier redistribution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, M.; Iverson, E. W.; Wang, C. Y.

2015-11-02

For a direct-gap semiconductor (e.g., a p-n junction), photon-assisted tunneling is known to exhibit a high nonlinear absorption. In a transistor laser, as discussed here, the coherent photons generated at the quantum well interact with the collector junction field and “assist” electron tunneling from base to collector, thus resulting in the nonlinear modulation of the laser and the realization of optical pulse generation. 1 and 2 GHz optical pulses are demonstrated in the transistor laser using collector voltage control.