Abstract: We study in detail the optoelectronic properties of graphene. Considering the electron interactions with photons and phonons, we employ the mass- and energy-balance equations to self-consistently evaluate the photoinduced carrier densities, the optical conductance, and the transmission coefficient in the presence of a linearly polarized radiation field. We demonstrate that the photoinduced carrier densities increase around the electron-photon-phonon resonant transition. They depend strongly on the radiation intensity and frequency, temperature, and dark carrier density. For short-wavelength radiation (L<3 μm), we obtain the universal optical conductance σ0=e2/(4ℏ). Importantly, there exists an optical-absorption window in the radiation wavelength range 4100 μm, which is induced by different transition energies required for interband and intraband optical absorption. The position and width of this window depend sensitively on the temperature and the carrier density of the system. These theoretical results are in line with recent experimental findings and indicate that graphene exhibits important features not only in the visible regime but also in the midinfrared bandwidth.

Abstract: A theoretical model is presented for the description of the metal-insulator transition which accompanies the structural phase transition at T approximate to 50 K in polymerized KC60. The model involves orientational charge density waves (along the C-60 polymer chains) which were introduced previously for a description of the structural phase transition. A satisfactory qualitative and quantitative understanding is obtained when the three-dimensionality of the crystal and the presence of the K+ counterions is properly taken into account.

Abstract: The current voltage (IV) characteristics of short [with length L less than or similar to xi(T)] and long [L >> xi(T)] microbridges are theoretically investigated near the critical temperature of the superconductor. Calculations are made in the nonlocal (local) limit when the inelastic relaxation length due to electron-phonon interactions L(in) = (D tau(in))(1/2) is larger (smaller) than the temperature-dependent coherence length xi(T) (D is the diffusion coefficient, tau(in) is the inelastic relaxation time of the quasiparticle distribution function). We find that, in both limits, the origin of the hysteresis in the IV characteristics is mainly connected with the large time scale over which the magnitude of the order parameter varies in comparison with the time-scale variation of the superconducting phase difference across the microbridge in the resistive state. In the nonlocal limit, the time-averaged heating and cooling of quasiparticles are found in different areas of the microbridge, which are driven, respectively, by oscillations of the order parameter and the electric field. We show that, by introducing an additional term in the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, it is possible to take into account the cooling effect in the local limit too.

Abstract: Using advanced three-dimensional simulations, we show that an Abrikosov vortex, trapped inside a cavity perpendicular to an artificial Josephson junction, can serve as a very efficient source for generation of Josephson vortex-antivortex pairs in the presence of the applied electric current. In such a case, the nucleation rate of the pairs can be tuned in a broad range by an out-of-plane ac magnetic field in a broad range of frequencies. This parametrically amplified vortex-antivortex nucleation can be considered as a macroscopic analog of the dynamic Casimir effect, where fluxon pairs mimic the photons and the ac magnetic field plays the role of the oscillating mirrors. The emerging vortex pairs in our system can be detected by the pronounced features in the measured voltage characteristics, or through the emitted electromagnetic radiation, and exhibit resonant dynamics with respect to the frequency of the applied magnetic field. Reported tunability of the Josephson oscillations can be useful for developing high-frequency emission devices.

Abstract: Using the quasiclassical formalism, we determine the low-temperature phase diagram of a quasi-one-dimensional superconductor, taking into account the interchain Josephson coupling and the paramagnetic spin splitting. We show that the anisotropy of the onset of superconductivity changes in the FFLO state as compared with the conventional superconducting phase. It can result in anomalous peaks in the field-direction dependence of the upper critical field when the magnetic field length equals to the FFLO period. This regime is characterized by the lock-in effect of the FFLO modulation wave vector, which is governed by the magnetic length. Furthermore, in the FFLO phase, the anisotropy of the upper critical field is inverted at T-1(**) = 0.5T(c0), where the orbital anisotropy disappears. We suggest that an experimental study of the anisotropy of the upper critical field can provide very reach information about the parameters of the FFLO phase in quasi-1D samples.

Abstract: A unified theory of phonon dispersions and piezoelectricity in bulk and multilayers of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is derived. The dynamical matrix is calculated on the basis of an empirical force constant model of intralayer valence and interlayer van der Waals interactions. Coulomb interactions are calculated by Ewalds method, adapted for the three-dimensional (3D) and the multilayer case. The deformation of the ionic charge distribution with long-wave lattice displacements is taken into account. Special attention is devoted to the nonanalytic long-range Coulomb contribution to the dynamical matrix which is different for the 3D crystal and the multilayer case. Consequently there is a splitting of the transverse optical (TO) and longitudinal optical (LO) phonon branches of E1u symmetry and a discontinuity of the A2u branch at the Γ point in 3D h-BN. No such splitting and discontinuity at Γ are present in multilayer crystals with a finite number N of layers. There a diverging bundle of N overbending optical phonon branches emerges from Γ. Borns long-wave theory is applied and extended for the study of piezoelectricity in layered crystals. While 3D h-BN and h-BN multilayers with an even number of layers (symmetry D6h) are not piezoelectric, multilayers with an uneven number of Nu layers (symmetry D3h) are piezoelectric; the piezoelectric coefficient e1,11 is inversely proportional to Nu.

Abstract: Motivated by recent experimental observations of Tongay et al. [Nano Lett. 12, 5576 (2012)] we show how the electronic properties and Raman characteristics of single layer MoSe2 are affected by elastic biaxial strain. We found that with increasing strain: (1) the E' and E '' Raman peaks (E-2g and E-1g in bulk) exhibit significant redshifts (up to similar to 30 cm(-1)), (2) the position of the A'(1) peak remains at similar to 180 cm(-1) (A(1g) in bulk) and does not change considerably with further strain, (3) the dispersion of low energy flexural phonons crosses over from quadratic to linear, and (4) the electronic band structure undergoes a direct to indirect band gap crossover under similar to 3% biaxial tensile strain. Thus the application of strain appears to be a promising approach for a rapid and reversible tuning of the electronic, vibrational, and optical properties of single layer MoSe2 and similar MX2 dichalcogenides. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.87.125415

Abstract: We present a theoretical study of the plasmon and coupled plasmon-phonon modes induced by intraband electron-electron interaction in graphene in the presence of driving dc electric field. We find that the electric field dependence of these collective excitation modes in graphene differs significantly from that in a conventional two-dimensional electron gas with a parabolic energy spectrum. This is due mainly to the fact that graphene has a linear energy spectrum and the Fermi velocity of electrons in graphene is much larger than the drift velocity of electrons. The obtained results demonstrate that the plasmon and coupled plasmon-phonon modes in graphene can be tuned by applying not only the gate voltage but also the source-to-drain field. The manipulation of plasmon and coupled plasmon-phonon modes by source-to-drain voltage can let graphene be more conveniently applied as an advanced plasmonic material.

Abstract: Ca(OH)(2) crystals, well known as portlandite, are grown in layered form, and we found that they can be exfoliated on different substrates. We performed first principles calculations to investigate the structural, electronic, vibrational, and mechanical properties of bulk, bilayer, and monolayer structures of this material. Different from other lamellar structures such as graphite and transition-metal dichalcogenides, intralayer bonding in Ca(OH)(2) is mainly ionic, while the interlayer interaction remains a weak dispersion-type force. Unlike well-known transition-metal dichalcogenides that exhibit an indirect-to-direct band gap crossover when going from bulk to a single layer, Ca(OH)(2) is a direct band gap semiconductor independent of the number layers. The in-plane Young's modulus and the in-plane shear modulus of monolayer Ca(OH)(2) are predicted to be quite low while the in-plane Poisson ratio is larger in comparison to those in the monolayer of ionic crystal BN. We measured the Raman spectrum of bulk Ca(OH)(2) and identified the high-frequency OH stretching mode A(1g) at 3620 cm(-1). In this study, bilayer and monolayer portlandite [Ca(OH)(2)] are predicted to be stable and their characteristics are analyzed in detail. Our results can guide further research on ultrathin hydroxites.

Abstract: Recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements of the proximity effect in Au/La2−xSrxCuO4 and La1.55Sr0.45CuO4/La2−xSrxCuO4 bilayers showed a proximity-induced pseudogap [O. Yuli, I. Asulin, Y. Kalcheim, G. Koren, and O. Millo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 197003 (2009)]. We describe the proximity effect in mesoscopic superconductor/normal-metal bilayers by using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for a tight-binding Hamiltonian with competing antiferromagnetic and d-wave superconductivity orders. The temperature-dependent local density of states is calculated as a function of the distance from the interface. Bound state due to both d-wave and spin-density wave gaps are formed in the normal metal for energies less than the respective gaps. If there is a mismatch between the Fermi velocities in the two layers we observe that these states will shift in energy when spin-density wave order is present, thus inducing a minigap at finite energy. We conclude that the STM measurement in the proximity structures is able to distinguish between the two scenarios proposed for the pseudogap (competing or precursor to superconductivity).

Abstract: We study the dynamics of vortices in an asymmetric (i.e., consisting of triangular cells) ring channel driven by an external ac current I in a Corbino setup. The asymmetric potential rectifies the motion of vortices and induces a net vortex flow without any unbiased external drive, i.e., the ratchet effect. We show that the net flow of vortices strongly depends on vortex density and frequency of the driving current. Depending on the density, we distinguish a single-vortex rectification regime (for low density, when each vortex is rectified individually) determined by the potential-energy landscape inside each cell of the channel (i.e., hard and easy directions) and multi-vortex, or collective, rectification (high-density case) when the inter-vortex interaction becomes important. We analyze the average angular velocity ω of vortices as a function of I and study commensurability effects between the numbers of vortices and cells in the channel and the role of frequency of the applied ac current. We have shown that the commensurability effect results in a stepwise ω-I curve. Besides the integer steps, i.e., the large steps found in the single-vortex case, we also found fractional steps corresponding to fractional ratios between the numbers of vortices and triangular cells. We have performed preliminary measurements on a device containing a single weak-pinning circular ratchet channel in a Corbino geometry and observed a substantial asymmetric vortex response.

Abstract: Our calculations, within known limitations of Ginzburg-Landau theory, are fully correct and valid for transport phenomena in asymmetric mesoscopic superconductors, deep in the superconducting state. We deemed the experiments of Burlakov et al. [JETP Lett. 86, 517 (2007)] relevant and important to mention in the general context of our paper since the observed shifts in the oscillations of different quantities are qualitatively similar, even though those measurements are performed close to the superconducting-normal state transition in the so-called Little-Parks regime.