Abstract: Doped Cr2O3 has been shown to be a p-type transparent conducting oxide (TCO). Its conductivity, however, is low. As for most p-type TCOs, the main problem is the high effective hole mass due to flat valence bands. We use first-principles methods to investigate whether one can increase the valence band dispersion (i.e. reduce the hole mass) by anion alloying with sulfur, while keeping the band gap large enough for transparency. The alloying concentrations considered are given by Cr(4)SxO(6-x), with x = 1-5. To be able to describe the electronic properties of these materials accurately, we first study Cr2O3, examining critically the accuracy of different density functionals and methods, including PBE, PBE+U, HSE06, as well as perturbative approaches within the GW approximation. Our results demonstrate that Cr4S2O4 has an optical band gap of 3.08 eV and an effective hole mass of 1.8 m(e). This suggests Cr4S2O4 as a new p-type TCO host candidate.

Abstract: The magnetopolaron effect on shallow-impurity states in semiconductors is investigated when subjected simultaneously to a magnetic field and an intense terahertz laser field within the Faraday configuration. We use a time-dependent nonperturbative theory to describe electron interactions. The externally applied fields are exactly included via a laser-dressed interaction potential. Through a variational approach we evaluate the binding energy of the shallow-impurity states. We find that the interaction strength of the laser-dressed Coulomb potential can not only be enhanced but also weakened by varying the two external fields. In this way, the binding energy can be tuned by the external fields and red-or blue-shifted with respect to the static binding energy. In the nonresonant polaron region, a magnetopolaron correction that includes the effects of photon process is observed. In the resonant polaron region, moreover, the resonant magnetopolaron effect accompanied by the emission and absorption of a single photon is distinctly observed. This can be modulated to be far away from the reststrahlen band. The intriguing findings of this paper can be observed experimentally and, in turn, provide a way to measure the strength of the electron-phonon interaction.

Abstract: Due to Klein tunneling, electrostatic confinement of electrons in graphene is not possible. This hinders the use of graphene for quantum dot applications. Only through quasi-bound states with finite lifetime has one achieved to confine charge carriers. Here, we propose that bilayer graphene with a local region of decoupled graphene layers is able to generate bound states under the application of an electrostatic gate. The discrete energy levels in such a quantum blister correspond to localized electron and hole states in the top and bottom layers. We find that this layer localization and the energy spectrum itself are tunable by a global electrostatic gate and that the latter also coincides with the electronic modes in a graphene disk. Curiously, states with energy close to the continuum exist primarily in the classically forbidden region outside the domain defining the blister. The results are robust against variations in size and shape of the blister which shows that it is a versatile system to achieve tunable electrostatic confinement in graphene. Published by AIP Publishing.

Abstract: In the quest for miniaturizing magnetic devices, the effects of boundaries and surfaces become increasingly important. Here we show how the recently predicted boundary-induced Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) affects the magnetization of ferromagnetic films with a C-infinity v symmetry and a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. For an otherwise uniformly magnetized film, we find a surface twist when the magnetization in the bulk is canted by an in-plane external field. This twist at the surfaces caused by the boundary-induced DMI differs from the common canting caused by internal DMI observed at the edges of a chiral magnet. Furthermore, we find that the surface twist due to the boundary-induced DMI strongly affects the width of the domain wall at the surfaces. We also find that the skyrmion radius increases in the depth of the film, with the average size of the skyrmion increasing with boundary-induced DMI. This increase suggests that the boundary-induced DMI contributes to the stability of the skyrmion.

Abstract: When confined between graphene layers, water behaves differently from the bulk and exhibits unusual properties such as fast water flow and ordering into a crystal. The hydrogen-bonded network is affected by the limited space and by the characteristics of the confining walls. The presence of an extraordinary number of hydronium and hydroxide ions in narrow channels has the following effects: (i) they affect water permeation through the channel, (ii) they may interact with functional groups on the graphene oxide surface and on the edges, and (iii) they change the thermochemistry of water, which are fundamentally important to understand, especially when confined water is subjected to an external electric field. Here we study the physical properties of water when confined between two graphene sheets and containing hydronium and hydroxide. We found that: (i) there is a disruption in the solvation structure of the ions, which is also affected by the layered structure of confined water, (ii) hydronium and hydroxide occupy specific regions inside the nanochannel, with a prevalence of hydronium (hydroxide) ions at the edges (interior), and (iii) ions recombine more slowly in confined systems than in bulk water, with the recombination process depending on the channel height and commensurability between the size of the molecules and the nanochannel height – a decay of 20% (40%) in the number of ions in 8 ps is observed for a channel height of h = 7 angstrom (bulk water). Our work reveals distinctive properties of water confined in a nanocapillary in the presence of additional hydronium and hydroxide ions.

Abstract: Dielectric properties of nano-confined water are important in several areas of science, i.e., it is relevant in the dielectric double layer that exists in practically all heterogeneous fluid-based systems. Molecular dynamics simulations are used to predict the in-plane dielectric properties of confined water in planar channels of width ranging from sub-nanometer to bulk. Because of suppressed rotational degrees of freedom near the confining walls, the dipole of the water molecules tends to be aligned parallel to the walls, which results in a strongly enhanced in-plane dielectric constant (epsilon (parallel to)) reaching values of about 120 for channels with height 8 angstrom < h < 10 angstrom. With the increase in the width of the channel, we predict that epsilon (parallel to) decreases nonlinearly and reaches the bulk value for h > 70 angstrom. A stratified continuum model is proposed that reproduces the h > 10 angstrom dependence of epsilon (parallel to). For sub-nanometer height channels, abnormal behavior of epsilon (parallel to) is found with two orders of magnitude reduction of epsilon (parallel to) around h similar to 7.5 angstrom, which is attributed to the formation of a particular ice phase that exhibits long-time (similar to mu s) stable ferroelectricity. This is of particular importance for the understanding of the influence of confined water on the functioning of biological systems.

Abstract: In principle, transport of charged carriers in nanometer sized solid-state devices can be fully characterized once the non-equilibrium distribution function describing the carrier ensemble is known. In this light, we have revisited the Boltzmann and the Wigner distribution functions and the framework in which they emerge from the classical respectively quantum mechanical Liouville equation. We have assessed the method of the characteristic curves as a potential workhorse to solve the time dependent Boltzmann equation for carriers propagating through spatially non-uniform systems, such as nanodevices. In order to validate the proposed solution strategy, we numerically solve the Boltzmann equation for a one-dimensional conductor mimicking the basic features of a biased low-dimensional transistor operating in the on-state. Finally, we propose a computational scheme capable of extending the benefits of the above mentioned solution strategy when it comes to solve the Wigner-Liouville equation.

Abstract: We expand on a recent study of a lattice model of interacting particles [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 110601 (2013)]. The adsorption isotherm and equilibrium fluctuations in particle number are discussed as a function of the interaction. Their behavior is similar to that of interacting particles in porous materials. Different expressions for the particle jump rates are derived from transition-state theory. Which expression should be used depends on the strength of the interparticle interactions. Analytical expressions for the self-and transport diffusion are derived when correlations, caused by memory effects in the environment, are neglected. The diffusive behavior is studied numerically with kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations, which reproduces the diffusion including correlations. The effect of correlations is studied by comparing the analytical expressions with the kMC simulations. It is found that the Maxwell-Stefan diffusion can exceed the self-diffusion. To our knowledge, this is the first time this is observed. The diffusive behavior in one-dimensional and higher-dimensional systems is qualitatively the same, with the effect of correlations decreasing for increasing dimension. The length dependence of both the self-and transport diffusion is studied for one-dimensional systems. For long lengths the self-diffusion shows a 1/L dependence. Finally, we discuss when agreement with experiments and simulations can be expected. The assumption that particles in different cavities do not interact is expected to hold quantitatively at low and medium particle concentrations if the particles are not strongly interacting.

Abstract: We model the fluorescence spectra of planar spin oscillators to find conditions that maximize spin resonance fluorescence. Spin oscillators perform Rabi oscillations under the effect of a periodic effective magnetic field caused by the winding motion of an electron in a gradient of magnetic field. We show that, despite the weak coupling of the spin magnetic dipole to the vacuum, spin oscillators excited by a direct current output a few nanowatts of microwave power, which is comparable to the best microwave sources. The large quantum efficiency relies on the combination of two effects. On the one hand, the spontaneous emission rate is enhanced by the synchronization of spin oscillators, which interact through the microwave field that they emit. On the other hand, the huge Rabi frequencies experienced by spin oscillators promote spins into upper levels of Zeeman transitions, from which a radiative cascade is triggered. We demonstrate different regimes of fluorescence which correspond to different values of the Rabi period relative to the spontaneous decay time and to the oscillator dwell time in the gradient of magnetic field. We investigate the device parameters which make these regimes experimentally accessible and find conditions that optimize microwave output. We find that microwave emission is centered around the cutoff frequency of spin oscillators. This has the advantage that the peak emission frequency may be tuned from zero continuously up to a few hundred gigahertz using an electrostatic gate. Quite remarkably for a spintronics effect, electrically induced spin resonance fluorescence does not require the injection of a spin polarized current. In fact, we show that microwave spectra are mostly independent of the incoming spin polarization except for magnetic waveguides which are shorter than a certain critical length, which we will specify.

Abstract: We provide experimental evidence for the existence of ferromagnetism in bilayers of Pd/C-60 which is supported by theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). The observed ferromagnetism is surprising as C-60 and Pd films are both non-ferromagnetic in the non-interacting limit. Magnetization (M) versus applied field (H) data acquired at different temperatures (T) show magnetic hysteresis with typical coercive fields (H-c) on the order of 50 Oe. From the temperature-dependent magnetization M(T) we extract a Curie temperature (T-c >= 550 K) using Bloch-like power law extrapolations to high temperatures. Using DFT calculations we investigated all plausible scenarios for the interaction between the C-60 molecules and the Pd slabs, Pd single atoms and Pd clusters. DFT shows that while the C-60 molecules are nonmagnetic, Pd films have a degenerate ground state that subject to a weak perturbation, can become ferromagnetic. Calculations also show that the interaction of C-60 molecules with excess Pd atoms and with sharp edges of a Pd slab is the most likely configuration that render the system ferromagnetic Interestingly, the calculated charge transfer (0.016 e per surface Pd atom, 0.064 e per Pd for intimate contact region) between C-60 and Pd does not appear to play an important role. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: We present a generalized Galitskii approach for the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the two-particle vertex function of a Fermi system with the resonant interaction by accounting for the resonant state in the scattering potential and utilizing the universal form of the resonant scattering amplitude. The procedure can be carried out both for the normal as well as for the condensate state. In both cases, the vertex function in the vicinity of the resonance is shown to formally coincide with that obtained for a weakly attractive Fermi gas. Thus we justify the popular calculational framework in which results for the weakly attractive Fermi gas are formally extrapolated into the domain of strong coupling, and further to the repulsive side of the resonance, where molecular states are formed.

Abstract: Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction (SOI) controlled band structure of a two-dimensional superlattice allows for the modulation of the conductance of finite size devices by changing the strength of the SOI. We consider rectangular arrays and find that the temperature dependence of the conductance disappears for high temperatures, but the strength of the SOI still affects the conductance at these temperatures. The modulation effect can be seen even in the presence of strong dephasing, which can be important for practical applications.

Abstract: We investigate the effects of the finite confining potential V0 on the absorption and emission scattering rates of electrons interacting with LO phonons for a cylindrical GaAs quantum wire. The emission rates are qualitatively similar to those of the 2D case. The absorption rates on the other hand exhibit two different regimes: 1) for a wire radius smaller than a certain value (80 Å in the case where V0 = 190 meV) the behavior is similar to the 2D and 3D analogues, but 2) for larger radius the absorption rates initially increase with increasing energy, reach a maximum value and then decrease monotonicaly. A complete study is made as a function of wire radius, and electron energy.