Reversible nanoscale switching of polytwin orientation in a ferroelectric thin film induced by a local electric field

The response to a local, tip-induced electric field of ferroelastic domains in thin polycrystalline lead zirconate titanate films with predominantly (110) orientation has been studied using Enhanced Piezoresponse Force Microscopy. Two types of reversible polytwin switching between well-defined orientations have been observed. When a-c domains are switched to other forms of a-c domains, the ferroelastic domain walls rotate in-plane by 109.5°, and when a-c domains are switched to c-c domains (or vice-versa), the walls rotate by 54.75°. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Tuning photoluminescence of single InAs quantum dot by electric field

By using photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL spectra, the optical properties of single InAs quantum dot (QD) embedded in the p-1-n structure have been studied under an applied electric field With the increasing of electric field, the exciton lifetime increases due to the Stark effect. We noticed that the decrease or quenching of PL intensity with increasing the electric field is mainly due to the decrease of the carriers captured by QD.

The effect of an electric field on the nonlinear response of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

The refractive nonlinearities of InAs/GaAs quantum dots under a dc electric field at photon energies above its band gap energy have been studied using the reflection Z-scan technique. The effect of the dc electric field on the nonlinear response of InAs/GaAs quantum dots showed similar linear and quadratic electro-optic effects as in the linear response regime at low fields. This implies that the electro-optic effect in the nonlinear regime is analogous to the response in the linear regime for semiconductor quantum dots. Our experimental results show the potential for voltage tunability in InAs quantum dot-based nonlinear electro-optic devices.

Electric-field switching of exciton spin splitting in coupled quantum dots

We investigate theoretically the spin splitting of the exciton states in semiconductor coupled quantum dots (CQDs) containing a single magnetic ion. We find that the spin splitting can be switched on/off in the CQDs via the sp-d exchange interaction using the electric field. An interesting bright-to-dark exciton transition can be found and it significantly affects the photoluminescence spectrum. This phenomenon is induced by the transition of the ground exciton state, arising from the hole mixing effect, between the bonding and antibonding states. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Highly anisotropic and electric field tunable Zeeman splittings in Mn-doped CdS nanowires

The electronic structure, Zeeman splitting, and g factor of Mn-doped CdS nanowires are studied using the k center dot p method and the mean field model. It is found that the Zeeman splittings of the hole ground states can be highly anisotropic, and so can their g factors. The hole ground states vary a lot with the radius. For thin wire, g(z) (g factor when B is along the z direction or the wire direction) is a little smaller than g(x). For thick wire, g(z) is mcuh larger than g(x) at small magnetic field, and the anisotropic factor g(z)/g(x) decreases as B increases. A small transverse electric field can change the Zeeman splitting dramatically, so tune the g(x) from nearly 0 to 70, in thick wire. The anisotropic factor decreases rapidly as the electric field increases. On the other hand, the Zeeman splittings of the electron ground states are always isotropic.

Electric-field tuning s-d exchange interaction in quantum dots

We investigate theoretically the electron-hole pair states in CdTe quantum dot (QD) containing a single Mn2+ ion by the magneto-optical spectrum tuned by the electric field. It is shown that the electric field does not only tune the spin splitting via the sp-d exchange interaction but also affect significantly the anticrossing behavior in the photoluminescence spectrum. This anticrossing is caused by the s-d exchange interaction and/or the hole mixing effect, which depends sensitively on the shape of the QD. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Hole-mediated electric field tunable high Curie temperature in Mn-doped wurtzite ZnO nanowires

The hole-mediated Curie temperature in Mn-doped wurtzite ZnO nanowires is investigated using the k center dot p method and mean field model. The Curie temperature T-C as a function of the hole density has many peaks for small Mn concentration (x(eff)) due to the density of states of one-dimensional quantum wires. The peaks of T-C are merged by the carriers' thermal distribution when x(eff) is large. High Curie temperature T-C > 400 K is found in (Zn,Mn)O nanowires. A transverse electric field changes the Curie temperature a lot. (Zn,Mn)O nanowires can be tuned from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic by a transverse electric field at room temperature. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Electric Field Control of Interface Related Spin Splitting in Step Quantum Wells

Spin splitting of the AlyGa1-yAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs/AlyGa1-yAs (x not equal y) step quantum wells (QWs) has been theoretically investigated with a model that includes both the interface and the external electric field contribution. The overall spin splitting is mainly determined by the interface contribution, which can be well manipulated by the external electric field. In the absence of the electric field, the Rashba effect exists due to the internal structure inversion asymmetry (SIA). The electric field can strengthen or suppress the internal SIA, resulting in an increase or decrease of the spin splitting. The step QW, which results in large spin splitting, has advantages in applications to spintronic devices compared with symmetrical and asymmetrical QWs. Due to the special structure design, the spin splitting does not change with the external electric field.

Electric field driven quantum phase transition between band insulator and topological insulator

We demonstrate theoretically that electric field can drive a quantum phase transition between band insulator to topological insulator in CdTe/HgCdTe/CdTe quantum wells. The numerical results suggest that the electric field could be used as a switch to turn on or off the topological insulator phase, and temperature can affect significantly the phase diagram for different gate voltage and compositions. Our theoretical results provide us an efficient way to manipulate the quantum phase of HgTe quantum wells.

High and electric field tunable Curie temperature in diluted magnetic semiconductor nanowires and nanoslabs

The Curie temperature of diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) nanowires and nanoslabs is investigated using the mean-field model. The Curie temperature in DMS nanowires can be much larger than that in corresponding bulk material due to the density of states of one-dimensional quantum wires, and when only one conduction subband is filled, the Curie temperature is inversely proportional to the carrier density. The T-C in DMS nanoslabs is dependent on the carrier density through the number of the occupied subbands. A transverse electric field can change the DMS nanowires from the paramagnet to ferromagnet, or vice versae. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Electric field tunable electron g factor and high asymmetrical Stark effect in InAs1-xNx quantum dots

The electronic structure, electron g factor, and Stark effect of InAs1-xNx quantum dots are studied by using the ten-band k center dot p model. It is found that the g factor can be tuned to be zero by the shape and size of quantum dots, nitrogen (N) doping, and the electric field. The N doping has two effects on the g factor: the direct effect increases the g factor and the indirect effect decreases it. The Stark effect in quantum ellipsoids is high asymmetrical and the asymmetry factor may be 319. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

The wave function evolution of an exciton in a bilayer system: Turning on a static in-plane electric field

The time evolution of the ground state wave function of an exciton in an ideal bilayer system is investigated within the framework of the effective-mass approximation. All of the moduli squared of the ground state wave functions evolve with time as cosine functions after an in-plane electric field is applied to the bilayer system. The variation amplitude and period of the modulus squared of the ground state wave function increase with the in-plane electric field F-r for a fixed in-plane relative coordinate r and fixed separation d between the electron and hole layers. Moreover, the variation amplitude and period of the modulus squared of the ground state wave function increase with the separation d for a fixed r and fixed in-plane electric field. Additionally, the modulus squared of the ground state wave function decreases as r increases at a given time t for fixed values of d and F-r. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Semiconductor-metal transition in InSb nanowires and nanofilms under external electric field

The electronic structures, Rashba spin-orbit couplings, and transport properties of InSb nanowires and nanofilms are investigated theoretically. When both the radius of the wire (or the thickness of the film) and the electric field are large, the electron bands and hole bands overlap, and the Fermi level crosses with some bands, which means that the semiconductors transit into metals. Meanwhile, the Rashba coefficients behave in an abnormal way. The conductivities increase dramatically when the electric field is larger than a critical value. This semiconductor-metal transition is observable at the room temperature. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Rashba spin-orbit coupling in InSb nanowires under transverse electric field

We investigate the Rashba spin-orbit coupling brought by transverse electric field in InSb nanowires. In small k(z) (k(z) is the wave vector along the wire direction) range, the Rashba spin-orbit splitting energy has a linear relationship with k(z), so we can define a Rashba coefficient similarly to the quantum well case. We deduce some empirical formulas of the spin-orbit splitting energy and Rashba coefficient, and compare them with the effective-mass calculating results. It is interesting to find that the Rashba spin-orbit splitting energy decreases as k(z) increases when k(z) is large due to the k(z)-quadratic term in the band energy. The Rashba coefficient increases with increasing electric field, and shows a saturating trend when the electric field is large. As the radius increases, the Rashba coefficient increases at first, then decreases. The effects of magnetic fields along different directions are discussed. The case where the magnetic field is along the wire direction or the electric field direction are similar. The spin state in an energy band changes smoothly as k(z) changes. The case where the magnetic field is perpendicular to the wire direction and the electric field direction is quite different from the above two cases, the k(z)-positive and negative parts of the energy bands are not symmetrical, and the energy bands with different spins cross at a k(z)-nonzero point, where the spin splitting energy and the effective g factor are zero.

Influence of longitudinal electric field on the hot-phonon effect in quantum wells

Using the Huang-Zhu model [K. Huang and B.-F. Zhu, Phys. Rev. B 38, 13377 (1988)] for the optical phonons and associated carrier-phonon interactions in semiconductor superlattices, the effects of longitudinal electric field on the energy-loss rates (ELRs) of hot carriers as well as on the hot-phonon effect (HPE) in GaAs/AlAs quantum wells (QWs) are studied systematically. Contributions of various bulklike and interface phonons to the hot-carrier relaxation are compared in detail, and comprehensively analyzed in relation to the intrasubband and intersubband scatterings for quantum cascade lasers. Due to the broken parity of the electron (hole) states in the electric field, the bulklike modes with antisymmetric potentials are allowed in the intrasubband relaxation processes, as well as the modes with symmetric potentials. As the interface phonon scattering is strong only in narrow wells, in which the electric field affects the electron (hole) states little, the ELRs of hot carriers through the interface phonon scattering are not sensitive to the electric field. The HPE on the hot-carrier relaxation process in the medium and wide wells is reduced by the electric field. The influence of the electric field on the hot-phonon effect in quantum cascade lasers is negligible. When the HPE is ignored, the ELRs of hot electrons in wide QWs are decreased noticeably by the electric field, but slightly increased by the field when considering the HPE. In contrast with the electrons, the ELRs of hot holes in wide wells are increased by the field, irrespective of the HPE. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.