arXiv subjects

Jaroslav Fabian

Publications and source records attributed to Jaroslav Fabian.

191 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2000

Issues, Concepts, and Challenges in Spintronics

We review from a theoretical perspective the emerging field of spintronics where active control of spin transport and dynamics in electronic materials may provide novel device application possibilities. In particular, we discuss the quantum mechanical principles underlying spintronics applications, emphasizing the formidable challenges involving spin decoherence and spin injection facing any eventual device fabrication. We provide a critical assessment of the current status of the field with special attention to possible device applications.

cond-mat↗

arXiv2000

Spintronics: electron spin coherence, entanglement, and transport

Prospect of building spintronic devices in which electron spins store and transport information has attracted strong attention in recent years. Here we present some of our representative theoretical results on three fundamental aspects of spintronics: spin coherence, spin entanglement, and spin transport. In particular, we discuss our detailed quantitative theory for spin relaxation and coherence in electronic materials, resolving in the process a long-standing puzzle of why spin relaxation is extremely fast in Al (compared with other simple metals). In the study of spin entanglement, we consider two electrons in a coupled GaAs double-quantum-dot structure and explore the Hilbert space of the double dot. The specific goal is to critically assess the quantitative aspects of the proposed spin-based quantum dot quantum computer architecture. Furthermore, we discuss our theory of spin-polarized transport across a semiconductor-metal interface. In particular, we study Andreev reflection, which enables us to quantify the degree of carrier spin polarization and the strength of interfacial scattering.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2000

Theoretical Perspectives on Spintronics and Spin-Polarized Transport

Selected problems of fundamental importance for spintronics and spin-polarized transport are reviewed, some of them with a special emphasis on their applications in quantum computing and coherent control of quantum dynamics. The role of the solid-state environment in the decoherence of electron spins is discussed. In particular, the limiting effect of the spin-orbit interaction on spin relaxation of conduction electrons is carefully examined in the light of recent theoretical and experimental progress. Most of the proposed spintronic devices involve spin-polarized transport across interfaces in various hybrid structures. The specific example discussed here, of a magnetic semiconductor/superconductor interface, displays many intricacies which a complex spin-dependent interface introduces in the spin-polarized transport. It is proposed that pairs of entangled electrons in a superconductor (Cooper pairs) can be transfered to a non-superconducting region, and consequently separated for a transport study of the spin entanglement. Several important theoretical proposals for quantum computing are based on electronic and nuclear spin entanglement in a solid. Physical requirements for these proposals to be useful are discussed and some alternative views are presented. Finally, a recent discovery of optical control of nuclear spins in semiconductors is reviewed and placed in the context of a long-standing search for electronic control of nuclear dynamics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv1999

Diffusons, Locons, Propagons: Character of Atomic Vibrations in Amorphous Si

Numerical studies of amorphous silicon show that the lowest 4% of vibrational modes are plane-wave like ("propagons") and the highest 3% of modes are localized ("locons"). The rest are neither plane-wave like nor localized. We call them "diffusons." Since diffusons are by far the most numerous, we try to characterize them by calculating such properties as wavevector and polarization (which seem not to be useful), "phase quotient" (a measure of the change of vibrational phase on between first neighbor atoms), spatial polarization memory, and diffusivity. Localized states are characterized by finding decay lengths, inverse participation ratios, and coordination numbers of the atoms participating.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1999

Phonon-induced spin relaxation of conduction electrons in aluminum

Spin-flip Eliashberg function $α_S^2F$ and temperature-dependent spin relaxation time $T_1(T)$ are calculated for aluminum using realistic pseudopotentials. The spin-flip electron-phonon coupling constant $λ_S$ is found to be $2.5\times 10^{-5}$. The calculations agree with experiments validating the Elliott-Yafet theory and the spin-hot-spot picture of spin relaxation for polyvalent metals.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1999

Spin relaxation of conduction electrons

Prospect of building electronic devices in which electron spins store and transport information has revived interest in the spin relaxation of conduction electrons. Since spin-polarized currents cannot flow indefinitely, basic spin-electronic devices must be smaller than the distance electrons diffuse without losing its spin memory. Some recent experimental and theoretical effort has been devoted to the issue of modulating the spin relaxation. It has been shown, for example, that in certain materials doping, alloying, or changing dimensionality can reduce or enhance the spin relaxation by several orders of magnitude. This brief review presents these efforts in the perspective of the current understanding of the spin relaxation of conduction electrons in nonmagnetic semiconductors and metals.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1999

Theory of sound attenuation in glasses: The role of thermal vibrations

Sound attenuation and internal friction coefficients are calculated for a realistic model of amorphous silicon. It is found that, contrary to previous views, thermal vibrations can induce sound attenuation at ultrasonic and hypersonic frequencies that is of the same order or even larger than in crystals. The reason is the internal-strain induced anomalously large Grüneisen parameters of the low-frequency resonant modes.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

Thermal Expansion and Gruneisen Parameters of Amorphous Silicon: A Realistic Model Calculation

Using a realistic model, the mode Gruneisen parameters and the temperature dependent coefficient of linear thermal expansion are calculated for amorphous silicon. The resulting values of the Gruneisen parameters differ from the crystalline case in having all diversity suppressed, except for a minority of high-frequency localized and low-frequency resonance modes. The latter have very large, mostly negative Gruneisen parameters (up to -31), caused by volume driven internal strain. As a result, the values for thermal expansivity are lower than those of crystalline silicon and are sample dependent.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1996

On the Decay of Localized Vibrational States in Glasses: a one-dimensional example

The interaction between three localized vibrational modes is shown to be as relevant for the lifetimes of localized modes as the interaction involving two localized and one extended, and one localized and two extended modes. This contrasts with previous views. I support my arguments by a numerical study of a strongly disordered linear atomic chain.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1996

Anharmonic Decay of Vibrational States in Amorphous Silicon

Anharmonic decay rates are calculated for a realistic atomic model of amorphous silicon. The results show that the vibrational states decay on picosecond timescales and follow the two-mode density of states, similar to crystalline silicon, but somewhat faster. Surprisingly little change occurs for localized states. These results disagree with a recent experiment.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

Theoretical Investigation of C_60 IR Spectrum

A semi-empirical model of the infrared (IR) spectrum of the C$_{60}$ molecule is proposed. The weak IR-active modes seen experimentally in a C$_{60}$ crystalline sample are argued to be combination modes caused by anharmonicity. The origin of these 2-mode excitations can be either mechanical (anharmonic interatomic forces) or electrical (nonlinear dipole-moment expansion in normal modes coordinates). It is shown that the electrical anharmonicity model exhibits basic features of the experimental spectrum while nonlinear dynamics would lead to a qualitatively different overall picture.

cond-mat↗