A RESONANT RAMAN-STUDY ON PHONONS IN GAINAS/ALINAS MULTIPLE-QUANTUM WELLS

The LO phonon modes in the barrier layers of a GaInAs/AlInAs multiple quantum well structure are investigated by resonance Raman scattering (RRS), the excitation laser photon energy tuned to resonate with the above barrier interband transition energy. The resonance enhancement of LO phonon peaks are shown to be caused by Frohlich electron-phonon interaction. The pressure-dependent profiles for both AlAs-like (LO(2) mode) and InAs-like (LO(1) mode) Raman peak intensities are well fitted by the Gaussian lineshape. The shift between these two profiles can be explained by the outgoing RRS mechanism, providing information on the pressure-induced shift of the excitonic transition energy. The amplitude ratios of the two profiles are close to 1, showing a well defined two-mode behavior and the nearly equal polarizability for Al-As and In-As bonds in AlInAs alloy.

Studies on High- Tc Superconductors with Inequivalent Conducting Layers

The thesis deals with the study of super conducting properties of layered cuprates within the frame work of a modified Lawrence-Doniach (LD) model. The thesis is organized in seven chapters. Chapter I is a survey of the phenomena and theories of conventional superconductivity which can serve as a springboard for launching the study of the new class of oxide superconductors and it also includes a chronological description of the efforts made to overcome the temperature barrier. Chapter II deals with the structure and properties of the copper oxide superconductors and also the experimental constraints on the theories of high te:::nperature superconductivity. A modified Lawrence-Doniach type of phenomenological model which forms the basis of the presnt study is also discussed. In chapter III~ the temperature dependence of the upper critical field both parallel and perpendicular to the layers is determined and the results are compared with d.c. magnetization measurements on different superconducting compoilllds. The temperature and angular dependence of the lower critical field both parallel and perpendicular to the layers is also discussed. Chapters IV, V and VI deal with thermal fluctuation effects on superconducting properties. Fluctuation specific heat is studied in chapter IV. Paraconductivity both parallel and perpendicular to the layers is discussed in chapter V. Fluctuation diamagnetism is dealt with in chapter VI. Dimensional cross over in the fluctuation regime of all these quantities is also discussed. Chapter VII gives a summary of the results and the conclusions arrived at.

CALCULATION OF MAGNETODONOR STATES IN InP AND POLARON EFFECTS

Far-infrared transitions in polar semiconductors are known to be affected by the presence of shallow donor impurities, external magnetic fields and the electron-LO-phonon interaction. We calculate the magnetodonor states in indium phosphide by a diagonalization procedure, and introduce the electron-phonon interaction by the Frohlich term. The main effects of this perturbation are calculated by a multi-level version of the Wigner-Brillouin theory. We determine the transition energies, from the ground state to excited states, and find good qualitative agreement with recently reported absorption-spectroscopy measurements in the 100-800 cm(-1) range, with applied magnetic fields up to 30 T. Our calculations suggest that experimental peak splittings in the 400-450 cm(-1) range are due to the electron-phonon interaction.

Propriedades física de molécilas orgânicas e compostos do tipo perovskita CdSiO3 e CaPbO3

In the first part of this work our concern was to investigate the thermal effects in organic crystals using the theory of the polarons. To analyse such effect, we used the Fröhlich s Hamiltonian, that describes the dynamics of the polarons, using a treatment based on the quantum mechanics, to elucidate the electron-phonon interaction. Many are the forms to analyzing the polaronic phenomenon. However, the measure of the dielectric function can supply important information about the small polarons hopping process. Besides, the dielectric function measures the answer to an applied external electric field, and it is an important tool for the understanding of the many-body effects in the normal state of a polaronic system. We calculate the dielectric function and its dependence on temperature using the Hartree-Fock decoupling method. The dieletric function s dependence on the temperature is depicted by through a 3D graph. We also analyzed the so called Arrhenius resistivity, as a functionof the temperature, which is an important tool to characterize the conductivity of an organic molecule. In the second part we analyzed two perovskita type crystalline oxides, namely the cadmium silicate triclinic (CdSiO3) and the calcium plumbate orthorhombic (CaPbO3), respectively. These materials are normally denominated ABO3 and they have been especially investigated for displaying ferroelectric, piezoelectric, dielectrics, semiconductors and superconductors properties. We found our results through ab initio method within the functional density theory (DFT) in the GGA-PBE and LDA-CAPZ approximations. After the geometry optimization for the two structure using the in two approximations, we found the structure parameters and compared them with the experimental data. We still determined further the angles of connection for the two analyzed cases. Soon after the convergence of the energy, we determined their band structures, fundamental information to characterize the nature of the material, as well as their dielectrics functions, optical absorption, partial density of states and effective masses of electrons and holes

High-energy transitions of shallow magnetodonors in a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As multiple quantum well

The high-energy states of a shallow donor in a GaAs/Ga0.7Al0.3As multiple-quantum-well structure subjected to a magnetic field in the growth direction are studied both theoretically and experimentally. Effects due to higher confinement subbands as well as due to the electron-phonon interaction are investigated. We show that most of the peaks in the infrared photoconductivity spectrum are due to direct transitions from the ground state to the m = +/-1 magnetodonor states associated with the first subband, but transitions to the m = +/-1 states of the third subband are also apparent. The remaining photoconductivity peaks are explained by phonon-assisted impurity transitions.

Field-dependent conductivity at low electric fields in pressed pellets of doped poly (3-methylthiophene): evidence of charge-density wave depinning

Field-dependent conductivity at low electric fields was observed from low to room temperature in pressed pellets of doped poly(3-methylthiophene). The room temperature data showed good agreement with Bardeen's theory of charge-density wave depinning and the values of the parameters obtained are consistent with a strong electron-phonon interaction as expected for quasi-one dimensional systems. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temperature and wavelength dependence of the thermo-optical properties of tellurite and chalcogenide glasses

The refractive index and the temperature coefficient of the optical path length change of tellurite (80TeO(2):20Li(2)O) and chalcogenide glasses (72.5Ga(2)S(3):27.5La(2)O(3)) were determined as a function of temperature (up to 150 degrees C) and wavelength (in the range between 454 and 632.8 nm). The tellurite glass exhibits the usual refractive index dispersion in the wavelength range analyzed, while anomalous refractive index dispersion was observed for the chalcogenide glass between 454 and 530 nm. The dispersion parameters were determined by means of the single-effective oscillator model. In addition, a strong dependence of the temperature coefficient of the optical path length on the photon energy and temperature was found for the chalcogenide glass. The latter was correlated to the shift of the optical band gap (or electronic edge) with temperature, which was interpreted by the electron-phonon interaction model. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

CALCULATION of MAGNETODONOR STATES IN InP and POLARON EFFECTS

Far-infrared transitions in polar semiconductors are known to be affected by the presence of shallow donor impurities, external magnetic fields and the electron-LO-phonon interaction. We calculate the magnetodonor states in indium phosphide by a diagonalization procedure, and introduce the electron-phonon interaction by the Frohlich term. The main effects of this perturbation are calculated by a multi-level version of the Wigner-Brillouin theory. We determine the transition energies, from the ground state to excited states, and find good qualitative agreement with recently reported absorption-spectroscopy measurements in the 100-800 cm(-1) range, with applied magnetic fields up to 30 T. Our calculations suggest that experimental peak splittings in the 400-450 cm(-1) range are due to the electron-phonon interaction.

The Holstein-Anderson impurity model

A Holstein-Anderson impurity model is presented. Both the electronic states and the vibrational mode associated to the impurity are treated within a novel 'entangled' effective medium approach (a non-perturbative, self-consistent method). Vibronic spectra and susceptibilities are readily computed for the symmetric, half-filled case. As expected, charge fluctuations (electron-phonon interactions) depletes the magnetic response (susceptibility) when compared to the no-phonon case. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Study of the Influence of Localized Vibrational Modes in Charge Transport Properties at Nanoscale Systems.

In molecular and atomic devices the interaction between electrons and ionic vibrations has an important role in electronic transport. The electron-phonon coupling can cause the loss of the electron's phase coherence, the opening of new conductance channels and the suppression of purely elastic ones. From the technological viewpoint phonons might restrict the efficiency of electronic devices by energy dissipation, causing heating, power loss and instability. The state of the art in electron transport calculations consists in combining ab initio calculations via Density Functional Theory (DFT) with Non-Equilibrium Green's Function formalism (NEGF). In order to include electron-phonon interactions, one needs in principle to include a self-energy scattering term in the open system Hamiltonian which takes into account the effect of the phonons over the electrons and vice versa. Nevertheless this term could be obtained approximately by perturbative methods. In the First Born Approximation one considers only the first order terms of the electronic Green's function expansion. In the Self-Consistent Born Approximation, the interaction self-energy is calculated with the perturbed electronic Green's function in a self-consistent way. In this work we describe how to incorporate the electron-phonon interaction to the SMEAGOL program (Spin and Molecular Electronics in Atomically Generated Orbital Landscapes), an ab initio code for electronic transport based on the combination of DFT + NEGF. This provides a tool for calculating the transport properties of materials' specific system, particularly in molecular electronics. Preliminary results will be presented, showing the effects produced by considering the electron-phonon interaction in nanoscale devices.

Numerical Modelling of Graphene Nanoribbon-fets for Analog and Digital Applications

Graphene, that is a monolayer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice, has been isolated only recently from graphite. This material shows very attractive physical properties, like superior carrier mobility, current carrying capability and thermal conductivity. In consideration of that, graphene has been the object of large investigation as a promising candidate to be used in nanometer-scale devices for electronic applications. In this work, graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), that are narrow strips of graphene, for which a band-gap is induced by the quantum confinement of carriers in the transverse direction, have been studied. As experimental GNR-FETs are still far from being ideal, mainly due to the large width and edge roughness, an accurate description of the physical phenomena occurring in these devices is required to have valuable predictions about the performance of these novel structures. A code has been developed to this purpose and used to investigate the performance of 1 to 15-nm wide GNR-FETs. Due to the importance of an accurate description of the quantum effects in the operation of graphene devices, a full-quantum transport model has been adopted: the electron dynamics has been described by a tight-binding (TB) Hamiltonian model and transport has been solved within the formalism of the non-equilibrium Green's functions (NEGF). Both ballistic and dissipative transport are considered. The inclusion of the electron-phonon interaction has been taken into account in the self-consistent Born approximation. In consideration of their different energy band-gap, narrow GNRs are expected to be suitable for logic applications, while wider ones could be promising candidates as channel material for radio-frequency applications.

Fonctionnalisation covalente de monocouches et bicouches de graphène

Le graphène est une nanostructure de carbone hybridé sp2 dont les propriétés électroniques et optiques en font un matériau novateur avec un très large potentiel d’application. Cependant, la production à large échelle de ce matériau reste encore un défi et de nombreuses propriétés physiques et chimiques doivent être étudiées plus en profondeur pour mieux les exploiter. La fonctionnalisation covalente est une réaction chimique qui a un impact important dans l’étude de ces propriétés, car celle-ci a pour conséquence une perte de la structure cristalline des carbones sp2. Néanmoins, la réaction a été très peu explorée pour ce qui est du graphène déposé sur des surfaces, car la réactivité chimique de ce dernier est grandement dépendante de l’environnement chimique. Il est donc important d’étudier la fonctionnalisation de ce type de graphène pour bien comprendre à la fois la réactivité chimique et la modification des propriétés électroniques et optiques pour pouvoir exploiter les retombées. D’un autre côté, les bicouches de graphène sont connues pour avoir des propriétés très différentes comparées à la monocouche à cause d’un empilement des structures électroniques, mais la croissance contrôlée de ceux-ci est encore très difficile, car la cinétique de croissance n’est pas encore maîtrisée. Ainsi, ce mémoire de maîtrise va porter sur l’étude de la réactivité chimique du graphène à la fonctionnalisation covalente et de l’étude des propriétés optiques du graphène. Dans un premier temps, nous avons effectué des croissances de graphène en utilisant la technique de dépôt chimique en phase vapeur. Après avoir réussi à obtenir du graphène monocouche, nous faisons varier les paramètres de croissance et nous nous rendons compte que les bicouches apparaissent lorsque le gaz carboné nécessaire à la croissance reste présent durant l’étape de refroidissement. À partir de cette observation, nous proposons un modèle cinétique de croissance des bicouches. Ensuite, nous effectuons une étude approfondie de la fonctionnalisation du graphène monocouche et bicouche. Tout d’abord, nous démontrons qu’il y a une interaction avec le substrat qui inhibe grandement le greffage covalent sur la surface du graphène. Cet effet peut cependant être contré de plusieurs façons différentes : 1) en dopant chimiquement le graphène avec des molécules réductrices, il est possible de modifier le potentiel électrochimique afin de favoriser la réaction; 2) en utilisant un substrat affectant peu les propriétés électroniques du graphène; 3) en utilisant la méthode d’électrogreffage avec une cellule électrochimique, car elle permet une modulation contrôlée du potentiel électrochimique du graphène. De plus, nous nous rendons compte que la réactivité chimique des bicouches est moindre dû à la rigidité de structure due à l’interaction entre les couches. En dernier lieu, nous démontrons la pertinence de la spectroscopie infrarouge pour étudier l’effet de la fonctionnalisation et l’effet des bicouches sur les propriétés optiques du graphène. Nous réussissons à observer des bandes du graphène bicouche dans la région du moyen infrarouge qui dépendent du dopage. Normalement interdites selon les règles de sélection pour la monocouche, ces bandes apparaissent néanmoins lorsque fonctionnalisée et changent grandement en amplitude dépendamment des niveaux de dopage et de fonctionnalisation.

Fonctionnalisation covalente de monocouches et bicouches de graphène

Le graphène est une nanostructure de carbone hybridé sp2 dont les propriétés électroniques et optiques en font un matériau novateur avec un très large potentiel d’application. Cependant, la production à large échelle de ce matériau reste encore un défi et de nombreuses propriétés physiques et chimiques doivent être étudiées plus en profondeur pour mieux les exploiter. La fonctionnalisation covalente est une réaction chimique qui a un impact important dans l’étude de ces propriétés, car celle-ci a pour conséquence une perte de la structure cristalline des carbones sp2. Néanmoins, la réaction a été très peu explorée pour ce qui est du graphène déposé sur des surfaces, car la réactivité chimique de ce dernier est grandement dépendante de l’environnement chimique. Il est donc important d’étudier la fonctionnalisation de ce type de graphène pour bien comprendre à la fois la réactivité chimique et la modification des propriétés électroniques et optiques pour pouvoir exploiter les retombées. D’un autre côté, les bicouches de graphène sont connues pour avoir des propriétés très différentes comparées à la monocouche à cause d’un empilement des structures électroniques, mais la croissance contrôlée de ceux-ci est encore très difficile, car la cinétique de croissance n’est pas encore maîtrisée. Ainsi, ce mémoire de maîtrise va porter sur l’étude de la réactivité chimique du graphène à la fonctionnalisation covalente et de l’étude des propriétés optiques du graphène. Dans un premier temps, nous avons effectué des croissances de graphène en utilisant la technique de dépôt chimique en phase vapeur. Après avoir réussi à obtenir du graphène monocouche, nous faisons varier les paramètres de croissance et nous nous rendons compte que les bicouches apparaissent lorsque le gaz carboné nécessaire à la croissance reste présent durant l’étape de refroidissement. À partir de cette observation, nous proposons un modèle cinétique de croissance des bicouches. Ensuite, nous effectuons une étude approfondie de la fonctionnalisation du graphène monocouche et bicouche. Tout d’abord, nous démontrons qu’il y a une interaction avec le substrat qui inhibe grandement le greffage covalent sur la surface du graphène. Cet effet peut cependant être contré de plusieurs façons différentes : 1) en dopant chimiquement le graphène avec des molécules réductrices, il est possible de modifier le potentiel électrochimique afin de favoriser la réaction; 2) en utilisant un substrat affectant peu les propriétés électroniques du graphène; 3) en utilisant la méthode d’électrogreffage avec une cellule électrochimique, car elle permet une modulation contrôlée du potentiel électrochimique du graphène. De plus, nous nous rendons compte que la réactivité chimique des bicouches est moindre dû à la rigidité de structure due à l’interaction entre les couches. En dernier lieu, nous démontrons la pertinence de la spectroscopie infrarouge pour étudier l’effet de la fonctionnalisation et l’effet des bicouches sur les propriétés optiques du graphène. Nous réussissons à observer des bandes du graphène bicouche dans la région du moyen infrarouge qui dépendent du dopage. Normalement interdites selon les règles de sélection pour la monocouche, ces bandes apparaissent néanmoins lorsque fonctionnalisée et changent grandement en amplitude dépendamment des niveaux de dopage et de fonctionnalisation.

Photon-Induced Electron Pairing

The earlier work on the possibility of interband electron pairing in the presence of a strong radiation field has been further extended. Some additional terms, neglected earlier, have been taken into account and generalized to a situation where the electron-phonon coupling coefficients for the two conduction bands (valleys) are different. It is found that the pairing interaction is attractive and the strength depends on the photon density.