arXiv subjects

Andrei Manolescu

Publications and source records attributed to Andrei Manolescu.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Majorana states in prismatic core-shell nanowires

We consider core-shell nanowires with conductive shell and insulating core, and with polygonal cross section. We investigate the implications of this geometry on Majorana states expected in the presence of proximity-induced superconductivity and an external magnetic field. A typical prismatic nanowire has a hexagonal profile, but square and triangular shapes can also be obtained. The low-energy states are localized at the corners of the cross section, i.e. along the prism edges, and are separated by a gap from higher energy states localized on the sides. The corner localization depends on the details of the shell geometry, i.e. thickness, diameter, and sharpness of the corners. We study systematically the low-energy spectrum of prismatic shells using numerical methods and derive the topological phase diagram as a function of magnetic field and chemical potential for triangular, square, and hexagonal geometries. A strong corner localization enhances the stability of Majorana modes to various perturbations, including the orbital effect of the magnetic field, whereas a weaker localization favorizes orbital effects and reduces the critical magnetic field. The prismatic geometry allows the Majorana zero-energy modes to be accompanied by low-energy states, which we call pseudo Majorana, and which converge to real Majoranas in the limit of small shell thickness. We include the Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a phenomenological manner, assuming a radial electric field across the shell.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Spin-dependent heat and thermoelectric currents in a Rashba ring coupled to a photon cavity

Spin-dependent heat and thermoelectric currents in a quantum ring with Rashba spin-orbit interaction placed in a photon cavity are theoretically calculated. The quantum ring is coupled to two external leads with different temperatures. In a resonant regime, with the ring structure in resonance with the photon field, the heat and the thermoelectric currents can be controlled by the Rashba spin-orbit interaction. The heat current is suppressed in the presence of the photon field due to contribution of the two-electron and photon replica states to the transport while the thermoelectric current is not sensitive to changes in parameters of the photon field. Our study opens a possibility to use the proposed interferometric device as a tunable heat current generator in the cavity photon field.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Current correlations for the transport of interacting electrons through parallel quantum dots in a photon cavity

We calculate the current correlations for the steady-state electron transport through multi-level parallel quantum dots embedded in a short quantum wire, that is placed in a non-perfect photon cavity. We account for the electron-electron Coulomb interaction, and the para- and diamagnetic electron-photon interactions with a stepwise scheme of configuration interactions and truncation of the many-body Fock spaces. In the spectral density of the temporal current-current correlations we identify all the transitions, radiative and non-radiative, active in the system in order to maintain the steady state. We observe strong signs of two types of Rabi oscillations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Reversal of thermoelectric current in tubular nanowires

We calculate the charge current generated by a temperature bias between the two ends of a tubular nanowire. We show that in the presence of a transversal magnetic field the current can change sign, i.e., electrons can either flow from the hot to the cold reservoir, or in the opposite direction, when the temperature bias increases. This behavior occurs when the magnetic field is sufficiently strong, such that Landau and snaking states are created, and the energy dispersion is non-monotonic with respect to the longitudinal wave vector. The sign reversal can survive in the presence of impurities. We predict this result for core/shell nanowires, for uniform nanowires with surface states due to the Fermi level pinning, and for topological insulator nanowires.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Electroluminescence caused by the transport of interacting electrons through parallel quantum dots in a photon cavity

We show that a Rabi-splitting of the states of strongly interacting electrons in parallel quantum dots embedded in a short quantum wire placed in a photon cavity can be produced by either the para- or the dia-magnetic electron-photon interactions when the geometry of the system is properly accounted for and the photon field is tuned close to a resonance with the electron system. We use these two resonances to explore the electroluminescence caused by the transport of electrons through the one- and two-electron ground states of the system and their corresponding conventional and vacuum electroluminescense as the central system is opened up by coupling it to external leads acting as electron reservoirs. Our analysis indicates that high-order electron-photon processes are necessary to adequately construct the cavity-photon dressed electron states needed to describe both types of electroluminescence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Efficient determination of the Markovian time-evolution towards a steady-state of a complex open quantum system

Master equations are commonly used to describe time evolution of open systems. We introduce a general method for calculating a Markovian solution of the Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized master equation. We do so for a time dependent transport of interacting electrons through a complex nano scale system in a photon cavity. The central system, described by 120 many-body states in a Fock space, is weakly coupled to the external leads. The very diverse relaxation times of the open system, reflecting radiative or non-radiative transitions, require information about the time evolution through many orders of magnitude. In our approach, the generalized master equation is mapped from a many-body Fock space of states to a Liouville space of transitions. We show that this results in a linear equation which is solved exactly through an eigenvalue analysis, which supplies information on the steady state and the time evolution of the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Time-dependent current into and through multilevel parallel quantum dots in a photon cavity

We analyze theoretically the charging current into, and the transport current through, a nanoscale two-dimensional electron system with two parallel quantum dots embedded in a short wire placed in a photon cavity. A plunger gate is used to place specific many-body states of the interacting system in the bias window defined by the external leads. We show how the transport phenomena active in the many-level complex central system strongly depend on the gate voltage. We identify a resonant transport through the central system as the two spin components of the one-electron ground state are in the bias window. This resonant transport through the lowest energy electron states seems to a large extent independent of the detuned photon field when judged from the transport current. This could be expected in the small bias regime, but an observation of the occupancy of the states of the system reveals that this picture is not entirely true. The current does not reflect slower photon-active internal transitions bringing the system into the steady state. The number of initially present photons determines when the system reaches the real steady state. With two-electron states in the bias window we observe a more complex situation with intermediate radiative and nonradiative relaxation channels leading to a steady state with a weak nonresonant current caused by inelastic tunneling through the two-electron ground state of the system. The presence of the radiative channels makes this phenomena dependent on the number of photons initially in the cavity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Controlled Coulomb effects in core-shell quantum rings

We analyse theoretically the possibilities of contactless control of in-gap states formed by a pair of electrons confined in a triangular quantum ring. The in-gap states are corner-localized states associated with two electrons occupying the same corner area, and thus shifted to much higher energies than other corner states, but still they are below the energies of corner-side-localized states. We show how the energies, degeneracy and splittings between consecutive levels change with the orientation of an external electric field relatively to the polygonal cross section. We also show how absorption changes in the presence of external electric and magnetic fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Normal and inverted hysteresis in perovskite solar cells

Hysteretic effects are investigated in perovskite solar cells in the standard FTO/TiO$_2$/CH$_3$NH$_3$PbI$_{3-x}$Cl$_x$/spiro-OMeTAD/Au configuration. We report normal (NH) and inverted hysteresis (IH) in the J-V characteristics occurring for the same device structure, the behavior strictly depending on the pre-poling bias. NH typically appears at pre-poling biases larger than the open circuit bias, while pronounced IH occurs for negative bias pre-poling. The transition from NH to IH is marked by a intermediate mixed hysteresis behavior characterized by a crossing point in the J-V characteristics. The measured J-V characteristics are explained quantitatively by the dynamic electrical model (DEM). Furthermore, the influence of the bias scan rate on the NH/IH hysteresis is discussed based on the time evolution of the non-linear polarization. Introducing a three step measurement protocol, which includes stabilization, pre-poling and measurement, we put forward the difficulties and possible solutions for a correct PCE evaluation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

In-gap corner states in core-shell polygonal quantum rings

We study Coulomb interacting electrons confined in polygonal quantum rings. We focus on the interplay of localization at the polygon corners and Coulomb repulsion. Remarkably, the Coulomb repulsion allows the formation of in-gap states, i.e. corner-localized states of electron pairs or clusters shifted to energies that were forbidden for uncoupled electrons, but below the energies of side-localized states. We also specify conditions allowing optical excitation of those states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Field Emission From a Prolate Spheroidal Tip

High resolution molecular dynamics simulations with full Coulomb interactions of electrons are used to investigate field emission from a prolate spheroidal tip. The space charge limited current is several times lower than the current calculated with the Fowler-Nordheim formula. The image-charge is taken into account with a spherical approximation, which is good around the top of the tip, i.e. region where the current is generated.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2016

Electronic and thermal conduction properties of halogenated porous graphene nanoribbons

In the framework of density functional theory (DFT) calculations we investigate the electronic and thermal properties of porous graphene (PG) structures passivated with halogen atoms as possible candidates for efficient thermoelectric devices. Armchair and zig-zag halogenated PG nanoribbons are analyzed comparatively. The electronic properties are consistent with the expected behavior for the two types of terminations, however with marked influences introduced by the different halogen atoms. Depending on the pore sizes and halogen type pseudo-gaps in the phononic band structure are visible in the low frequency range, which are particularly important for the thermal conduction at low temperatures. The gaps are systematically displaced towards lower energies as the atomic number of the halogen increases. At the same time, the electronic gap decreases, which is also essential for attaining a large figure of merit in a thermoelectric device. This indicates the possibility of tuning both electronic and thermal properties of PG structures by halogen passivation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Dynamic electrical behavior of halide perovskite based solar cells

A dynamic electrical model is introduced to investigate the hysteretic effects in the I-V characteristics of perovskite based solar cells. By making a simple ansatz for the polarization relaxation, our model is able to reproduce qualitatively and quantitatively detailed features of measured I-V characteristics. Pre-poling effects are discussed, pointing out the differences between initially over- and under-polarized samples. In particular, the presence of the current over-shoot observed in the reverse characteristics is correlated with the solar cell pre-conditioning. Furthermore, the dynamic hysteresis is analyzed with respect to changing the bias scan rate, the obtained results being consistent with experimentally reported data: the hysteresis amplitude is maximum at intermediate scan rates, while at very slow and very fast ones it becomes negligible. The effects induced by different relaxation time scales are assessed. The proposed dynamic electrical model offers a comprehensive view of the solar cell operation, being a practical tool for future calibration of tentative microscopic descriptions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Regimes of radiative and nonradiative transitions in transport through an electronic system in a photon cavity reaching a steady state

We analyze how a multilevel many-electron system in a photon cavity approaches the steady state when coupled to external leads. When a plunger gate is used to lower cavity photon dressed one- and two-electron states below the bias window defined by the external leads, we can identify one regime with nonradiative transitions dominating the electron transport, and another regime with radiative transitions. Both transitions trap the electrons in the states below the bias bringing the system into a steady state. The order of the two regimes and their relative strength depends on the location of the bias window in the energy spectrum of the system and the initial conditions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Molecular dynamics of halogenated graphene - hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons

The hybrid graphene - hexagonal boron nitride (G-hBN) systems offer new routes in the design of nanoscale electronic devices. Using {\it ab initio} density functional theory calculations we investigate the dynamics of zig-zag nanoribbons a few interatomic distances wide. Several structures are analyzed, namely pristine graphene, hBN and G-hBN systems. By passivating the nanoribbon edges with hydrogen and different halogen atoms, one may tune the electronic and mechanical properties, like the band gap energies and the natural frequencies of vibration.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Multi-domain electromagnetic absorption of triangular quantum rings

We present a theoretical study of the unielectronic energy spectra, electron localization, and optical absorption of triangular core-shell quantum rings. We show how these properties depend on geometric details of the triangle, such as side thickness or corners' symmetry. For equilateral triangles, the lowest six energy states (including spin) are grouped in an energy shell, are localized only around corner areas, and are separated by a large energy gap from the states with higher energy which are localized on the sides of the triangle. The energy levels strongly depend on the aspect ratio of the triangle sides, i.e., thickness/length ratio, in such a way that the energy differences are not monotonous functions of this ratio. In particular, the energy gap between the group of states localized in corners and the states localized on the sides strongly decreases with increasing the side thickness, and then slightly increases for thicker samples. With increasing the thickness the low-energy shell remains distinct but the spatial distribution of these states spreads. The behavior of the energy levels and localization leads to a thickness dependent absorption spectrum where one transition may be tuned in the THz domain and a second transition can be tuned from THz to the infrared range of electromagnetic spectrum. We show how these features may be further controlled with an external magnetic field. In this work the electron-electron Coulomb repulsion is neglected.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Conductance oscillations of core-shell nanowires in transversal magnetic fields

We analyze theoretically electronic transport through a core-shell nanowire in the presence of a transversal magnetic field. We calculate the conductance for a variable coupling between the nanowire and the attached leads and show how the snaking states, which are low-energy states localized along the lines of vanishing radial component of the magnetic field, manifest their existence. In the strong coupling regime they induce Aharonov-Bohm-like conductance oscillations, which, by decreasing the coupling to the leads, evolve into well resolved peaks. These results show that the formation of snaking states in the nanowire affects magnetoconductance measurements irrespective of the strength of the contacts with the leads. We analyze theoretically electronic transport through a core-shell nanowire in the presence of a transversal magnetic field. We calculate the conductance for a variable coupling between the nanowire and the attached leads and show how the snaking states, which are low-energy states localized along the lines of vanishing radial component of the magnetic field, manifest their existence. In the strong coupling regime they induce Aharonov-Bohm-like conductance oscillations, which, by decreasing the coupling to the leads, evolve into well resolved peaks. The flux periodic oscillations arise due to interference of the snaking states, which is a consequence of backscattering at either the contacts with leads or magnetic/potential barriers in the wire.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Optical switching of electron transport in a waveguide-QED system

Electron switching in waveguides coupled to a photon cavity is found to be strongly influenced by the photon energy and polarization. Therefore, the charge dynamics in the system is investigated in two different regimes, for off- and on-resonant photon fields. In the off-resonant photon field, the photon energy is smaller than the energy spacing between the first two lowest subbands of the waveguide system, the charge splits between the waveguides implementing a $\sqrt{\rm NOT}$-quantum logic gate action. In the on-resonant photon field, the charge is totally switched from one waveguide to the other due to the appearance of photon replica states of the first subband in the second subband region instigating a quantum-NOT transition.In addition, the importance of the photon polarization to control the charge motion in the waveguide system is demonstrated.The idea of charge switching in electronic circuits may serve to built quantum bits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗