Quantum transport from the perspective of quantum open systems

By viewing the non-equilibrium transport setup as a quantum open system, we propose a reduced-density-matrix based quantum transport formalism. At the level of self-consistent Born approximation, it can precisely account for the correlation between tunneling and the system internal many-body interaction, leading to certain novel behavior such as the non-equilibrium Kondo effect. It also opens a new way to construct time-dependent density functional theory for transport through large-scale complex systems. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Quantum waveguide theory for hole transport in mesoscopic structures

A quantum waveguide theory is proposed for hole transport in the mesoscopic structures, including the band mixing effect. We found that due to the interference between the 'light' hole and 'heavy' wave, the transmission and reflection coefficients oscillate more irregularly as a function of incident wave vector geometry parameters. Furthermore conversion between the heavy hole and light hole states occurs at the intersection. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory and experiment of two-photon 'direct' interference for type-II spontaneous parametric down-conversion with an ultrafast pulse laser pump

Fourth-order spatial interference of entangled photon pairs generated in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion pumped by a femtosecond pulse laser has been performed for the first time. In theory, it takes into account the transverse correlation between the two photons and is used to calculate the dependence of the visibility of the interference pattern obtained in Young's double-slit experiment. In this experiment, a short focal length tens and two narrow band interference filters were adopted to eliminate the effects of the broadband pump laser and improve the visibility of the interference pattern under the condition of nearly collinear light and degenerate phase matching.

Spatial interference effect of two-photon in femtosecond-pulse pumped spontaneous parametric down-conversion

We have used the transverse correlated properties of the entangled photon pairs generated in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion, which is pumped by a femtosecond pulse laser, to perform Young's interference experiment. Unlike the case of a continuous wave laser pump, a broadband pulse laser pump can submerge an interference pattern. In order to obtain a high visibility interference pattern, we used a lens with a tunable focal length and two interference filters to eliminate the effects of the broadband pump laser. It is proven that the process of two-photon direct interference is a post-selection process.

Tunneling transmission in two quantum wires coupled by a magnetically defined barrier

A numerical analysis of an electron waveguide coupler based on two quantum wires coupled by a magnetically defined barrier is presented with the use of the scattering-matrix method. For different geometry parameters and magnetic fields, tunneling transmission spectrum is obtained as a function of the electron energy. Different from that of conventional electron waveguide couplers, the transmission spectrum of the magnetically coupled quantum wires does not have the symmetry with regard to those geometrically symmetrical ports, It was found that the magnetic field in the coupling region drastically enhances the coupling between the two quantum wires for one specific input port while it weakens the coupling for the other input port. The results can be well understood by the formation of the edge states in the magnetically defined barrier region. Thus, whether these edge states couple or decouple to the electronic propagation modes in the two quantum wires, strongly depend on the relative moving directions of electrons in the propagating mode in the input port and the edge states in the magnetic region. This leads to a big difference in transmission coefficients between two quantum wires when injecting electrons via different input ports. Two important coupler specifications, the directivity and uniformity, are calculated which show that the system we considered behaves as a good quantum directional coupler. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.

X-ray diffraction study of GaAs/InAs/GaAs ultrathin single quantum well

Ultrathin single quantum well (about one monolayer) grown on GaAs(001) substrate with GaAs cap layer has been studied by high resolution x-ray diffractometer on a beamline of the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The interference fringes on both sides of the GaAs(004) Bragg peak are asymmetric and a range of weak fringes in the higher angle side of the Bragg peak is observed. The simulated results by using the kinematical diffraction method shows that the weak fringe range appears in the higher angle side when the phase shift introduced by the single quantum well is very slightly smaller than m pi (m:integer), and vice versa. After introducing a reasonable model of single quantum well, the simulated pattern is in good agreement with the experiment. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Transmission through a Quantum Dot Embedded in a Double-slit-like Aharonov-Bohm Ring

We investigate the electron transport through a double-slit-like Aharonov-Bohm (AB) ring with a quantum dot (QD) embedded in one of its arms. Considering both the resonance of the dot and interference effect, the magnitude and phase of the transmission amplitude through the QD are calculated using Green's function approach. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental observations.

Effect of phase relaxation on quantum superpositions in complex collisions

We study the effect of phase relaxation on coherent superpositions of rotating clockwise and anticlockwise wave packets in the regime of strongly overlapping resonances of the intermediate complex. Such highly excited deformed complexes may be created in binary collisions of heavy ions, molecules, and atomic clusters. It is shown that phase relaxation leads to a reduction of the interference fringes, thus mimicking the effect of decoherence. This reduction is crucial for the determination of the phase-relaxation width from the data on the excitation function oscillations in heavy-ion collisions and bimolecular chemical reactions. The difference between the effects of phase relaxation and decoherence is discussed.

Quantum Monte Carlo study of the CO interaction with a dimer model surface for Cr(110)

The chemisorption of CO on a Cr( 110) surface is investigated using the quantum Monte Carlo method in the diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) variant and a model Cr2CO cluster. The present results are consistent with the earlier ab initio HF study with this model that showed the tilted/ near-parallel orientation as energetically favoured over the perpendicular arrangement. The DMC energy difference between the two orientations is larger (1.9 eV) than that computed in the previous study. The distribution and reorganization of electrons during CO adsorption on the model surface are analysed using the topological electron localization function method that yields electron populations, charge transfer and clear insight on the chemical bonding that occurs with CO adsorption and dissociation on the model surface.

Quantum and variational monte-carlo interaction potentials for li2 (x1-sigma-g+)

Optimized trial functions are used in quantum Monte Carlo and variational Monte Carlo calculations of the Li₂(X ¹Σ⁺_g) potential curve. The trial functions used are a product of a Slater determinant of molecular orbitals multiplied by correlation functions of electron—nuclear and electron—electron separation. The parameters of the determinant and correlation functions are optimized simultaneously by reducing the deviations of the local energy E_L (E_L  Ψ⁻¹_THΨ_T, where Ψ_T denotes a trial function) over a fixed sample. At the equilibrium separation, the variational Monte Carlo and quantum Monte Carlo methods recover 68% and 98% of the correlation energy, respectively. At other points on the curves, these methods yield similar accuracies.

Optimization of tried wave-function in quantum monte-carlo method

A method for optimizing tried wave functions in quantum Monte Carlo method has been found and used to calculate the energies of molecules, such as H-2, Li-2, H-3+, H-3 and H-4. Good results were obtained.

Quantum Efficiency And Temperature Coefficients Of Gainp/Gaas Dual-Junction Solar Cell

GaInP/GaAs dual-junction solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 25.2% has been fabricated using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique. Quantum efficiencies of the solar cell were measured within a temperature range from 25 to 160A degrees C. The results indicate that the quantum efficiencies of the subcells increase slightly with the increasing temperature. And red-shift phenomena of absorption limit for all subcells are observed by increasing the cell's work temperature, which are consistent with the viewpoint of energy gap narrowing effect. The short-circuit current density temperature coefficients dJ (sc)/dT of GaInP subcell and GaAs subcell are determined to be 8.9 and 7.4 mu A/cm(2)/A degrees C from the quantum efficiency data, respectively. And the open-circuit cell voltage temperature coefficients dV (oc)/dT calculated based on a theoretical equation are -2.4 mV/A degrees C and -2.1 mV/A degrees C for GaInP subcell and GaAs subcell.

Coherent quantum control of atomic and molecular processes by using the technique of laser pulses

Several schemes for coherent quantum control of atomic and molecular processes have been proposed and investigated by using the techniques of adiabatic passage and ultrashort pulses, respectively. Some interesting results have been found.

Polaronic correction to the first excited electronic energy level in an anisotropic semiconductor quantum dot

Within the framework of second-order Rayleigh-Schrodinger perturbation theory, the polaronic correction to the first excited state energy of an electron in an quantum dot with anisotropic parabolic confinements is presented. Compared with isotropic confinements, anisotropic confinements will make the degeneracy of the excited states to be totally or partly lifted. On the basis of a three-dimensional Frohlich's Hamiltonian with anisotropic confinements, the first excited state properties in two-dimensional quantum dots as well as quantum wells and wires can also be easily obtained by taking special limits. Calculations show that the first excited polaronic effect can be considerable in small quantum dots.