Abstract: A comparative study is made of the strain distribution in cylindrical InAs/GaAs and InP/InGaP self-assembled quantum dots as obtained from isotropic elasticity theory, the anisotropic continuum mechanical model, and from atomistic calculations. For the isotropic case, the recently proposed approach [J. H. Davies, J. Appl. Phys. 84, 1358 (1998)] is used, while the finite-element method, the valence force field method, and Stillinger-Weber potentials are employed to calculate the strain in anisotropic structures. We found that all four methods result in strain distributions of similar shapes, but with notable quantitative differences inside the dot and near the disk-matrix boundary. The variations of the diagonal strains with the height of the quantum dot, with fixed radius, as calculated from all models, are almost linear. Furthermore, the energies of the band edges in the two types of quantum dots are extracted from the multiband effective-mass theory by inserting the strain distributions as obtained by the four models. We demonstrated that all strain models produce effective potentials for the heavy and light holes which agree very well inside the dot. A negligible anisotropy of all normal strains in the (x,y) plane is found, which, providing the axial symmetry of the kinetic part of the multiband effective-mass Hamiltonian, justifies the use of the axial approximation. Strain propagation along the vertical direction is also considered with the aim to study the influence of strain on the electron coupling in stacks of quantum dots. We found that the interaction between the strain fields of the individual quantum dots makes the effective quantum wells for the electrons in the conduction band shallower, thereby counteracting the quantum mechanical coupling. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Abstract: The ordering of N equally charged particles (-e) moving in two dimensions and confined by a Coulomb potential, resulting from a displaced positive charge Ze is discussed. This is a classical model system for atoms. We obtain the configurations of charged particles which, depending on the value of N and Z, may result in ring structures, hexagonal-type configurations, and for N/Z approximate to 1 in an inner structure of particles which is separated by an outer ring of particles. For N/Z << 1, the Hamiltonian of the parabolic confinement case is recovered. For N/Z approximate to 1, the configurations are very different from those found in the case of a parabolic confinement potential. A hydrodynamic analysis is presented in order to highlight the correlations effects.

Abstract: We present a theoretical study on plasmon-polariton modes in graphene placed inside an optical cavity and driven by a source-to-drain electric field. The electron velocity and electron temperature are determined by solving self-consistently the momentum-and energy-balance equations in which electron interactions with impurities, acoustic-, and optic-phonons are included. Based on many-body self-consistent field theory, we develop a tractable approach to study plasmon-polariton in an electron gas system. We find that when graphene is placed inside a Fabry-Perot cavity, two branches of the plasmon-polariton modes can be observed and these modes are very much optic-or plasmon-like. The frequencies of these modes depend markedly on driving electric field especially at higher resonant frequency regime. Moreover, the plasmon-polariton frequency in graphene is in terahertz (THz) bandwidth and can be tuned by changing the cavity length, gate voltage, and driving electric field. This work is pertinent to the application of graphene-based structures as tunable THz plasmonic devices. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Abstract: Electronic transport properties of a graphene-silicene bilayer system are studied using density-functional theory in combination with the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. Depending on the energy of the electrons, the transmission can be larger in this system as compared to the sum of the transmissions of separated graphene and silicene monolayers. This effect is related to the increased electron density of states in the bilayer sample. At some energies, the electronic states become localized in one of the layers, resulting in the suppression of the electron transmission. The effect of an applied voltage on the transmission becomes more pronounced in the layered sample as compared to graphene due to the larger variation of the electrostatic potential profile. Our findings will be useful when creating hybrid nanoscale devices where enhanced transport properties will be desirable. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

Abstract: We find localized electron and hole states in a ring-shaped potential kink in biased bilayer graphene. Within the continuum description, we show that for sharp potential steps the Dirac equation describing carrier states close to the K (or K′) point of the first Brillouin zone can be solved analytically for a circular kink/antikink dot. The solutions exhibit interfacial states which exhibit AharonovBohm oscillations as functions of the height of the potential step and/or the radius of the ring.

Abstract: The diffusion of a system of ferromagnetic dipoles confined in a quasi-one-dimensional parabolic trap is studied using Brownian dynamics simulations. We show that the dynamics of the system is tunable by an in-plane external homogeneous magnetic field. For a strong applied magnetic field, we find that the mobility of the system, the exponent of diffusion, and the crossover time among different diffusion regimes can be tuned by the orientation of the magnetic field. For weak magnetic fields, the exponent of diffusion in the subdiffusive regime is independent of the orientation of the external field. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.012307

Abstract: The vibrational properties of graphene fluoride and graphane are studied using ab initio calculations. We find that both sp(3) bonded derivatives of graphene have different phonon dispersion relations and phonon densities of states as expected from the different masses associated with the attached atoms of fluorine and hydrogen, respectively. These differences manifest themselves in the predicted temperature behavior of the constant-volume specific heat of both compounds. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3551712]

Abstract: We show that the angular range of the transmission through magnetic barrier structures can be efficiently controlled in single-layer and bilayer graphenes and this renders the structures efficient wavevector filters. As the number of magnetic barriers increases, this range shrinks, the gaps in the transmission versus energy become wider, and the conductance oscillates with the Fermi energy.

Abstract: In this study, we present a theoretical investigation of structural, electronic, and mechanical properties of pentagonal monolayers of carbon (p-graphene), boron nitride (p-B2N4 and p-B4N2), and silver azide (p-AgN3) by performing state-of-the-art first principles calculations. Our total energy calculations suggest feasible formation of monolayer crystal structures composed entirely of pentagons. In addition, electronic band dispersion calculations indicate that while p-graphene and p-AgN3 are semiconductors with indirect bandgaps, p-BN structures display metallic behavior. We also investigate the mechanical properties (in-plane stiffness and the Poisson's ratio) of four different pentagonal structures under uniaxial strain. p-graphene is found to have the highest stiffness value and the corresponding Poisson's ratio is found to be negative. Similarly, p-B2N4 and p-B4N2 have negative Poisson's ratio values. On the other hand, the p-AgN3 has a large and positive Poisson's ratio. In dynamical stability tests based on calculated phonon spectra of these pentagonal monolayers, we find that only p-graphene and p-B2N4 are stable, but p-AgN3 and p-B4N2 are vulnerable against vibrational excitations.

Abstract: Valley-polarized currents can be generated by local straining of multi-terminal graphene devices. The pseudo-magnetic field created by the deformation allows electrons from only one valley to transmit, and a current of electrons from a single valley is generated at the opposite side of the locally strained region. We show that valley filtering is most effective with bumps of a certain height and width. Despite the fact that the highest contribution to the polarized current comes from electrons from the lowest sub-band, contributions of other sub-bands are not negligible and can significantly enhance the output current. Published by AIP Publishing.

Abstract: We report on work function measurements on graphene, which is exfoliated over a predefined array of wells in silicon oxide, by Kelvin probe force microscopy operating in a vacuum. The obtained graphene sealed microchambers can support large pressure differences, providing controllable stretching of the nearly impermeable graphene membranes. These measurements allow detecting variations of the work function induced by the mechanical stresses in the suspended graphene where the work function varies linearly with the strain and changes by 62 +/- 2 meV for 1 percent of strain. Our related ab initio calculations result in a work function variation that is a factor of 1.4 larger than the experimental value. The limited discrepancy between the theory and the experiment can be accounted for by a charge transfer from the unstrained to the strained graphene regions. Published by AIP Publishing.

Abstract: Straining graphene results in the appearance of a pseudo-magnetic field which alters its local electronic properties. Applying a pressure difference between the two sides of the membrane causes it to bend/bulge resulting in a resistance change. We find that the resistance changes linearly with pressure for bubbles of small radius while the response becomes non-linear for bubbles that stretch almost to the edges of the sample. This is explained as due to the strong interference of propagating electronic modes inside the bubble. Our calculations show that high gauge factors can be obtained in this way which makes graphene a good candidate for pressure sensing. Published by AIP Publishing.

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: Recently, two stable allotropes (germancite and stancite) for the group IV elements (Ge and Sn) with a staggered layered dumbell structure were proposed to be three-dimensional (3D) topological Dirac semimetals [Phys. Rev. B 93, 241117 (2016)]. A pair of Dirac points is on the rotation axis away from the time-reversal invariant momentum, and the stability of the 3D bulk Dirac points is protected by the C-3 rotation symmetry. Here, we use the first principles calculations to investigate GexSny alloys which share the same rhombohedral crystal structure with the space group of D-3d(6). Six GexSny alloys are predicted to be energetically and dynamically stable, where (x, y) = (8, 6) and (6, 8) and the alpha and beta phases of (10, 4) and (4, 10). Our results demonstrate that all the six GexSny alloys are topological Dirac semimetals. The different nontrivial surface states and surface Fermi arcs are identified. Our work will substantially enrich the family of 3D Dirac semimetals which are within the reach of experimental realization. Published by AIP Publishing.