Abstract: Nonlinear dynamics of Josephson vortices (fluxons) in artificial stacks of superconducting-normal-superconducting Josephson junctions under simultaneously applied time-periodic ac and constant biasing dc currents is studied using the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau formalism with a Lawrence-Doniach extension. At zero external magnetic field and dc biasing current the resistive state of the system is characterized by periodic nucleation and annihilation of fluxon-antifluxon pairs, relative positions of which are determined by the state of neighboring junctions. Due to the mutual repulsive interaction, fluxons in different junctions move out of phase. Their collective motion can be synchronized by adding a small ac component to the biasing dc current. Coherent motion of fluxons is observed for a broad frequency range of the applied drive. In the coherent state the maximal output voltage, which is proportional to the number of junctions in the stack, is observed near the characteristic frequency of the system determined by the crossing of the fluxons across the sample. However, in this frequency range the dynamically synchronized state has an alternative-a less ordered state with smaller amplitude of the output voltage. Collective behavior of the junctions is strongly affected by the sloped sidewalls of the stack. Synchronization is observed only for weakly trapezoidal cross sections, whereas irregular motion of fluxons is observed for larger slopes of the sample edge.

Abstract: The tunneling current has been computed for a cylindrical nanowire tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET) with an all-round gate that covers the source region. Being the underlying mechanism, band-to-band tunneling, mediated by electron-phonon interaction, is pronouncedly affected by carrier confinement in the radial direction and, therefore, involves the self-consistent solution of the Schrodinger and Poisson equations. The latter has been accomplished by exploiting a non-linear variational principle within the framework of the modified local density approximation taking into account the nonparabolicity of both the valence band and conduction band in relatively thick wires. Moreover, while the effective-mass approximation might still provide a reasonable description of the conduction band in relatively thick wires, we have found that the nonparabolicity of the valence band needs to be included. As a major conclusion, it is observed that confinement effects in nanowire tunneling field-effect transistors have a stronger impact on the onset voltage of the tunneling current in comparison with planar TFETs. On the other hand, the value of the onset voltage is found to be overestimated when the valence band nonparabolicity is ignored. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Abstract: We study magnetic flux interacting with arrays of pinning sites (APSs) placed on vertices of hyperbolic tesselations (HTs). We show that, due to the gradient in the density of pinning sites, HT APSs are capable of trapping vortices for a broad range of applied magnetic fluxes. Thus, the penetration of magnetic field in HT APSs is essentially different from the usual scenario predicted by the Bean model. We demonstrate that, due to the enhanced asymmetry of the surface barrier for vortex entry and exit, this HT APS could be used as a “capacitor” to store magnetic flux.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: Epitaxially grown heterostructures consisting of alternating layers of LaMnO(3) (LMO, 9 or 15 unit cells) and SrMnO(3) (SMO, 4 or 6 unit cells) on a SrTiO(3)(100) (STO(100)) substrate have been studied by a combination of high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron diffraction, quantitative electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) with model fitting, energy filtered TEM (EFTEM) and imaging spectroscopy on an atomic scale. The combination of these techniques is necessary for the structural, chemical, and electronic characterization of these heterostructures. A model is proposed containing chemically and structurally sharp interfaces. The SrMnO(3) layers are stabilized in a Pm3m structure between two LMO layers. Tensile stress causes oxygen deficiency in the SMO layers increasing the number of 3d electrons on the Mn sites to resemble the Mn(3+) sites in LMO. The energy loss near edge structure (ELNES) of O and Mn is compared for both LMO and SMO layers and shows that the Mn-O bonds have a partially covalent character. The absence of a strong valency effect in the Mn ELNES is due to the oxygen vacancies in SMO.

Abstract: Structural phase transitions in two vertically or horizontally coupled channels of strongly interacting particles are investigated. The particles are free to move in the x direction but are confined by a parabolic potential in the y direction. They interact with each other through a screened power-law potential (r(-n)e(-r/lambda)). In vertically coupled systems, the channels are stacked above each other in the direction perpendicular to the (x, y) plane, while in horizontally coupled systems both channels are aligned in the confinement direction. Using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations we obtain the ground-state configurations and the structural transitions as a function of the linear particle density and the separation between the channels. At zero temperature, the vertically coupled system exhibits a rich phase diagram with continuous and discontinuous transitions. On the other hand, the horizontally coupled system exhibits only a very limited number of phase transitions due to its symmetry. Further, we calculated the normal modes for the Wigner crystals in both cases. From MC simulations, we found that in the case of vertically coupled systems, the zigzag transition is only possible for low densities. A Ginzburg-Landau theory for the zigzag transition is presented, which predicts correctly the behavior of this transition from which we interpret the structural phase transition of the Wigner crystal through the reduction of the Brillouin zone.

Abstract: Nanoscale extension and refinement of the Lucas-Washburn model is presented with a detailed analysis of recent experimental data and extensive molecular dynamics simulations to investigate rapid water flow and water imbibition within nanocapillaries. Through a comparative analysis of capillary rise in hydrophilic nanochannels, an unexpected reversal of the anticipated trend, with an abnormal peak, of imbibition length below the size of 3 nm was discovered in hydrophilic nanochannels, surprisingly sharing the same physical origin as the well-known peak observed in flow rate within hydrophobic nanochannels. The extended imbibition model is applicable across diverse spatiotemporal scales and validated against simulation results and existing experimental data for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic

Abstract: It was recently shown that the electronic band alignment in lateral two-dimensional heterostructures is strongly dependent on the system geometry, such as heterostructure width and layer thickness. This is so even in the absence of polar edge terminations because of the appearance of an interface dipole between the two different materials. In this study, this work is expanded to include two-dimensional materials that possess an electronic dipole over their surface, i.e., in the direction transverse to the crystal plane. To this end, a heterostucture consisting of polar hydrofluorinated graphene and non-polar graphane layers is studied with first-principles calculations. As for nonpolar heterostructures, a significant geometry dependence is observed with two different limits for the band offset. For infinitely wide heterostructures, the potential step in the vacuum is equally divided over the two sides of the heterostructure, resulting in a finite potential step in the heterostructure. For infinitely thick heterostructure slabs, on the other hand, the band offset is reduced, similar to the three-dimensional case.

Abstract: By means of synchrotron x-ray and electron diffraction, we studied the structural changes at the charge order transition T-CO = 176 K in the mixed-valence quadruple perovskite (NaMn3)Mn4O12. Below T-CO we find satellite peaks indicating a commensurate structural modulation with the same propagation vector q = ( 1/2,0,-1/2) of the CE magnetic structure that orders at low temperatures, similarly to the case of simple perovskites such as La0.5Ca0.5MnO3. In the present case, the modulated structure, together with the observation of a large entropy change at T-CO, gives evidence of a rare case of full Mn3+/Mn4+ charge and orbital order, consistent with the Goodenough-Kanamori model.

Abstract: A Josephson phase shift can be induced in a Josephson junction by a strategically nearby pinned Abrikosov vortex (AV). For an asymmetric distribution of an imprinted phase along the junction (controlled by the position of the AV) such a simple system is capable of rectification of ac current in a broad and tunable frequency range. The resulting rectified voltage is a consequence of the directed motion of a Josephson antivortex which forms a pair with the AV when at local equilibrium. The proposed realization of the ratchet potential by an imprinted phase is more efficient than the asymmetric geometry of the junction itself, is easily realizable experimentally, and provides rectification even in the absence of an applied magnetic field.

Abstract: We study the effects of a nearby surface on the spectral weight of a Holstein polaron, using the inhomogeneous momentum average approximation which is accurate over the entire range of electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling strengths. The broken translational symmetry is taken into account exactly. We find that the e-ph coupling gives rise to a large additional surface potential, with strong retardation effects, which may bind surface states even when they are not normally expected. The surface, therefore, has a significant effect and bulk properties are recovered only very far away from it. These results demonstrate that interpretation in terms of bulk quantities of spectroscopic data sensitive only to a few surface layers is not always appropriate.

Abstract: Atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy records the spatially resolved scattered electron density to infer positions, density, and species of atoms. These data are indispensable for studying the relation between structure and properties in solids. Here, we show how this signal can be augmented by the lateral probability current of the scattered electrons in the object plane at similar resolutions and fields of view. The currents are reconstructed from a series of three atomic resolution TEM images recorded under a slight difference of perpendicular line foci. The technique does not rely on the coherence of the electron beam and can be used to reveal electric, magnetic, and strain fields with incoherent electron beams as well as correlations in inelastic transitions, such as electron magnetic chiral dichroism.