Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Hui Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to Hui Zhao.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Hot carrier diffusion in graphene

We report an optical study of charge transport in graphene. Diffusion of hot carriers in epitaxial graphene and reduced graphene oxide samples are studied using an ultrafast pump-probe technique with a high spatial resolution. Spatiotemporal dynamics of hot carriers after a point-like excitation are monitored. Carrier diffusion coefficients of 11,000 and 5,500 squared centimeters per second are measured in epitaxial graphene and reduced graphene oxide samples, respectively, with a carrier temperature on the order of 3,600 K. The demonstrated optical techniques can be used for non-contact and non-invasive in-situ detection of transport properties of graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Interaction of Atomic and Molecular Hydrogen with Tholin Surfaces at Low Temperatures

We study the interaction of atomic and molecular hydrogen with a surface of tholin, a man-made polymer considered to be an analogue of aerosol particles present in Titan's atmosphere, using thermal programmed desorption at low temperatures below 30 K. The results are fitted and analyzed using a fine-grained rate equation model that describes the diffusion, reaction and desorption processes. We obtain the energy barriers for diffusion and desorption of atomic and molecular hydrogen. These barriers are found to be in the range of 30 to 60 meV, indicating that atom/molecule-surface interactions in this temperature range are dominated by weak adsorption forces. The implications of these results for the understanding of the atmospheric chemistry of Titan are discussed.

astro-ph.EP↗

Femtosecond Pump-Probe Studies of Reduced Graphene Oxide Thin Films

The dynamics of photocarriers in reduced graphene oxide thin films is studied by using ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy. Time dependent differential transmissions are measured with sample temperatures ranging from 9 to 300 K. At each sample temperature and probe delay, the sign of differential transmission remains positive. A fast energy relaxation of hot carriers is observed, and is found to be independent of sample temperature. Our experiments show that the carrier dynamics in reduced graphene oxide is similar to other types of graphene, and that the differential transmission is caused by phase-state filling of carriers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Power dependence of pure spin current injection by quantum interference

We investigate the power dependence of pure spin current injection in GaAs bulk and quantum-well samples by a quantum interference and control technique. Spin separation is measured as a function of the relative strength of the two transition pathways driven by two laser pulses. By keeping the relaxation time of the current unchanged, we are able to relate the spin separation to the injected average velocity. We find that the average velocity is determined by the relative strength of the two transitions in the same way as in classical interference. Based on this, we conclude that the density of injected pure spin current increases monotonically with the excitation laser intensities. The experimental results are consistent with theoretical calculations based on Fermi's golden rule.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Ambipolar spin diffusion and D'yakonov-Perel' spin relaxation in GaAs quantum wells

We report theoretical and experimental studies of ambipolar spin diffusion in a semiconductor. A circularly polarized laser pulse is used to excite spin-polarized carriers in a GaAs multiple quantum well sample at 80 K. Diffusion of electron and spin densities is simultaneously measured using a spatially and temporally resolved pump-probe technique. Two regimes of diffusion for spin-polarized electrons are observed. Initially, the rate of spin diffusion is similar to that of density diffusion and is controlled by the ambipolar diffusion coefficient. At later times, the spin diffusion slows down considerably relative to the density diffusion and appears to be controlled by a non-constant (decreasing) spin diffusion coefficient. We suggest that the long-time behavior of the spin density can be understood in terms of an inhomogeneous spin relaxation rate, which grows with decreasing density. The behavior of the spin relaxation rate is consistent with a model of D'yakonov-Perel' relaxation limited by the Coulomb scattering between carriers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Controllable spin-current blockade in a Hubbard chain

We investigate the spin/charge transport in a one-dimensional strongly correlated system by using the adaptive time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group method. The model we consider is a non-half-filled Hubbard chain with a bond of controllable spin-dependent electron hoppings, which is found to cause a blockade of spin current with little influence on charge current. We have considered (1) the spread of a wave packet of both spin and charge in the Hubbard chain and (2) the spin and charge currents induced by a spin-dependent voltage bias that is applied to the ideal leads attached at the ends of this Hubbard chain. It is found that the spin-charge separation plays a crucial role in the spin-current blockade, and one may utilize this phenomenon to observe the spin-charge separation directly.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Temperature dependence of ambipolar diffusion in silicon-on-insulator

Spatiotemporal dynamics of electron-hole pairs locally excited in a silicon-on-insulator structure by indirect interband absorption are studied by measuring differential transmission caused by free-carrier absorption of a probe pulse tuned below the bandgap, with 200-fs temporal and 3-micrometer spatial resolution. From sample temperatures of 250 K to 400 K, the ambipolar diffusivity decreases, and is similar to reported values of bulk silicon. Cooling the sample from 250 K to 90 K, a decrease of ambipolar diffusivity is observed, indicating important influences of defects and residual stress on carrier diffusion. No detectable density dependence of ambipolar diffusivity is observed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

All-optical generation and detection of sub-picosecond ac spin current pulses in GaAs

Sub-picosecond ac spin current pulses are generated optically in GaAs bulk and quantum wells at room temperature and 90K through quantum interference between one-photon and two-photon absorptions driven by two phase-locked ultrafast laser pulses that are both circularly polarized. The dynamics of the current pulses are detected optically by monitoring in real time and real space nanoscale motion of electrons with high-resolution pump-probe techniques.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Determination of Topology Skeleton of Magnetic Fields in a Solar Active Region

The knowledge of magnetic topology is the key to understand magnetic energy release in astrophysics. Based on observed vector magnetograms, we have determined threedimensional (3D) topology skeleton of the magnetic fields in active region NOAA 10720. The skeleton consists of six 3D magnetic nulls and a network of corresponding spines, fans, and null-null lines. For the first time, we have identified a spiral magnetic null in Sun's corona. The magnetic lines of force twisted around the spine of the null, forming a 'magnetic wreath' with excess of free magnetic energy and resembling observed brightening structures at extraultraviolet (EUV) wavebands. We found clear evidence of topology eruptions which are referred to as the catastrophic changes of topology skeleton associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME) and an explosive X-ray flare. These results shed new lights in exploring the structural complexity and its role in explosive magnetic activity. In solar astrophysics and space science, the concept of flux rope has been widely used in modelling explosive magnetic activity, although their observational identity is obscure or, at least, lacking of necessary details. The current work suggests that the magnetic wreath associated with the 3D spiral null is likely an important class of the physical entity of flux ropes.

astro-ph↗

Phonon Effects on Spin-Charge Separation in One Dimension

Phonon effects on spin-charge separation in one dimension are investigated through the calculation of one-electron spectral functions in terms of the recently developed cluster perturbation theory together with an optimized phonon approach. It is found that the retardation effect due to the finiteness of phonon frequency suppresses the spin-charge separation and eventually makes it invisible in the spectral function. By comparing our results with experimental data of TTF-TCNQ, it is observed that the electron-phonon interaction must be taken into account when interpreting the ARPES data.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Correlations of spin-polarized and entangled electrons with Berry phase

The correlation and fluctuation of both entangled electrons and spin-polarized pairs affected by two rotating magnetic fields in a setup proposed by J. Carlos Egues etc. (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 89}(2002) 176401) are studied theoretically by using scattering approach. Differing from polarized pair, the entangled electron pairs are shown to behave like a composite particle with the total spins and its $z$ components. The singlet and triplet states exhibit different bunching and antibunching features, which can be easily adjusted by the magnetic fields. The correlations and variances can show up distinguish output signals for the four incident states. Our results are expected to be tested by using coincident technique.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Shot Noise for Entangled Electrons with Berry Phase

We study shot noise for entangled electrons in a 4-lead beam-splitter with one incoming lead driven by adiabatically rotating magnetic fields. We propose a setup of an adiabatically rotating magnetic field therefor, which is appropriate for an electron beam to transport through. Using the scattering matrix approach, we find that shot noise for the singlet and that for the entangled triplet oscillates between bunching and antibunching due to the influence of the Berry phase. It provides us a new approach for testing the Berry phase in electron transport on the basis of entanglement.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

A Note on Entanglement of Formation and Generalized Concurrence

We discuss a kind of generalized concurrence for a class of high dimensional quantum pure states such that the entanglement of formation is a monotonically increasing convex function of the generalized concurrence. An analytical expression of the entanglement of formation for a class of high dimensional quantum mixed states is obtained.

quant-ph↗

Spatio-temporal dynamics of quantum-well excitons

We investigate the lateral transport of excitons in ZnSe quantum wells by using time-resolved micro-photoluminescence enhanced by the introduction of a solid immersion lens. The spatial and temporal resolutions are 200 nm and 5 ps, respectively. Strong deviation from classical diffusion is observed up to 400 ps. This feature is attributed to the hot-exciton effects, consistent with previous experiments under cw excitation. The coupled transport-relaxation process of hot excitons is modelled by Monte Carlo simulation. We prove that two basic assumptions typically accepted in photoluminescence investigations on excitonic transport, namely (i) the classical diffusion model as well as (ii) the equivalence between the temporal and spatial evolution of the exciton population and of the measured photoluminescence, are not valid for low-temperature experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Hot exciton transport in ZnSe quantum wells

The in-plane transport of excitons in ZnSe quantum wells is investigated directly by microphotoluminescence in combination with a solid immersion lens. Due to the strong Froehlich coupling, the initial kinetic energy of the excitons is well controlled by choosing the excess energy of the excitation laser. When increasing the laser excess energy, we find a general trend of increasing transport length and more importantly a pronounced periodic quenching of the transport length when the excess energy corresponds to multiples of the LO-phonon energy. Such features show the dominant role of the kinetic energy of excitons in the transport process. Together with the excitation intensity dependence of the transport length, we distinguish the phonon wind driven transport of cold excitons and defect-limited hot exciton transport.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Energy relaxation during hot-exciton transport in quantum wells: Direct observation by spatially resolved phonon-sideband spectroscopy

We investigate the energy relaxation of excitons during the real-space transport in ZnSe quantum wells by using microphotoluminescence with spatial resolution enhanced by a solid immersion lens. The spatial evolution of the LO-phonon sideband, originating from the LO-phonon assisted recombination of hot excitons, is measured directly. By calculating the LO-phonon assisted recombination probability, we obtain the nonthermal energy distribution of excitons and observe directly the energy relaxation of hot excitons during their transport. We find the excitons remain hot during their transport on a length scale of several micrometers. Thus, the excitonic transport on this scale cannot be described by classical diffusion.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Effect of quantum confinement on exciton-phonon interactions

We investigate the homogeneous linewidth of localized type-I excitons in type-II GaAs/AlAs superlattices. These localizing centers represent the intermediate case between quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) and quasi-zero-dimensional localizations. The temperature dependence of the homogeneous linewidth is obtained with high precision from micro-photoluminescence spectra. We confirm the reduced interaction of the excitons with their environment with decreasing dimensionality except for the coupling to LO-phonons. The low-temperature limit for the linewidth of these localized excitons is five times smaller than that of Q2D excitons. The coefficient of exciton-acoustic-phonon interaction is 5 ~ 6 times smaller than that of Q2D excitons. An enhancement of the average exciton-LO-phonon interaction by localization is found in our sample. But this interaction is very sensitive to the detailed structure of the localizing centers.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Coherence Length of Excitons in a Semiconductor Quantum Well

We report on the first experimental determination of the coherence length of excitons in semiconductors using the combination of spatially resolved photoluminescence with phonon sideband spectroscopy. The coherence length of excitons in ZnSe quantum wells is determined to be 300 ~ 400 nm, about 25 ~ 30 times the exciton de Broglie wavelength. With increasing exciton kinetic energy, the coherence length decreases slowly. The discrepancy between the coherence lengths measured and calculated by only considering the acoustic phonon scattering suggests an important influence of static disorder.

cond-mat.str-el↗