arXiv subjects

Mildred S. Dresselhaus

Publications and source records attributed to Mildred S. Dresselhaus.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Excitonic effects on coherent phonon dynamics in single wall carbon nanotubes

We discuss how excitons can affect the generation of coherent radial breathing modes in ultrafast spectroscopy of single wall carbon nanotubes. Photoexcited excitons can be localized spatially and give rise to a spatially distributed driving force in real space which involves many phonon wavevectors of the exciton-phonon interaction. The equation of motion for the coherent phonons is modeled phenomenologically by the Klein-Gordon equation, which we solve for the oscillation amplitudes as a function of space and time. By averaging the calculated amplitudes per nanotube length, we obtain time-dependent coherent phonon amplitudes that resemble the homogeneous oscillations that are observed in some pump-probe experiments. We interpret this result to mean that the experiments are only able to see a spatial average of coherent phonon oscillations over the wavelength of light in carbon nanotubes and the microscopic details are averaged out. Our interpretation is justified by calculating the time-dependent absorption spectra resulting from the macroscopic atomic displacements induced by the coherent phonon oscillations. The calculated coherent phonon spectra including excitonic effects show the experimentally observed symmetric peaks at the nanotube transition energies in contrast to the asymmetric peaks that would be obtained if excitonic effects were not included.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Interlayer breathing and shear modes in few-trilayer MoS2 and WSe2

Two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have recently attracted tremendous interest as potential valleytronic and nano-electronic materials, in addition to being well-known as excellent lubricants in the bulk. The interlayer van der Waals (vdW) coupling and low frequency phonon modes, and how they evolve with the number of layers, are important for both the mechanical and electrical properties of 2D TMDs. Here we uncover the ultra-low frequency interlayer breathing and shear modes in few-layer MoS2 and WSe2, prototypical layered TMDs, using both Raman spectroscopy and first principles calculations. Remarkably, the frequencies of these modes can be perfectly described using a simple linear chain model with only nearest-neighbour interactions. We show that the derived in-plane (shear) and out-of-plane (breathing) force constants from experiment remain the same from two-layer 2D crystals to the bulk materials, suggesting that the nanoscale interlayer frictional characteristics of these excellent lubricants should be independent of the number of layers.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Origin of electronic Raman scattering and the Fano resonance in metallic carbon nanotubes

Fano resonance spectra for the G band in metallic carbon nanotubes are calculated as a function of laser excitation energy in which the origin of the resonance is given by an interference between the continuous electronic Raman spectra and the discrete phonon spectra. We found that the second-order scattering process of the non-zero q electron-electron interaction is more relevant to the continuous spectra rather than the q = 0 first-order process because the q = 0 direct Coulomb interaction vanishes due to the symmetry of the two sublattices of a nanotube. We also show that the RBM spectra of metallic carbon nanotubes have an asymmetric line shape which previously had been overlooked.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Phase Diagrams of Bi1-xSbx Thin Films with Different Growth Orientations

A closed-form model is developed to evaluate the band-edge shift caused by quantum confinement for a two-dimensional non-parabolic carrier-pocket. Based on this model, the symmetries and the band-shifts of different carrier-pockets are evaluated for BiSb thin films that are grown along different crystalline axes. The phase diagrams for the BiSb thin film systems with different growth orientations are calculated and analyzed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Constructing a Large Variety of Dirac-Cone Materials in the Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_{x}$ Thin Film System

We theoretically predict that a large variety of Dirac-cone materials can be constructed in Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_{x}$ thin films, and we here show how to construct single-, bi- and tri- Dirac-cone materials with various amounts of wave vector anisotropy. These different types of Dirac cones can be of special interest to electronic devices design, quantum electrodynamics and other fields.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Prediction of Anisotropic Single-Dirac-Cones in Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_{x}$ Thin Films

The electronic band structures of Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_{x}$ thin films can be varied as a function of temperature, pressure, stoichiometry, film thickness and growth orientation. We here show how different anisotropic single-Dirac-cones can be constructed in a Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_{x}$ thin film for different applications or research purposes. For predicting anisotropic single-Dirac-cones, we have developed an iterative-two-dimensional-two-band model to get a consistent inverse-effective-mass-tensor and band-gap, which can be used in a general two-dimensional system that has a non-parabolic dispersion relation as in a Bi${}_{1-x}$Sb${}_{x}$ thin film system.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Observation of Electronic Raman Scattering in Metallic Carbon Nanotubes

We present experimental measurements of the electronic contribution to the Raman spectra of individual metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes (MSWNTs). Photoexcited carriers are inelastically scattered by a continuum of low-energy electron-hole pairs created across the graphenelike linear electronic subbands of the MSWNTs. The optical resonances in MSWNTs give rise to well-defined electronic Raman peaks. This resonant electronic Raman scattering is a unique feature of the electronic structure of these one-dimensional quasimetals.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Soliton Trap in Strained Graphene Nanoribbons

The wavefunction of a massless fermion consists of two chiralities, left-handed and right-handed, which are eigenstates of the chiral operator. The theory of weak interactions of elementally particle physics is not symmetric about the two chiralities, and such a symmetry breaking theory is referred to as a chiral gauge theory. The chiral gauge theory can be applied to the massless Dirac particles of graphene. In this paper we show within the framework of the chiral gauge theory for graphene that a topological soliton exists near the boundary of a graphene nanoribbon in the presence of a strain. This soliton is a zero-energy state connecting two chiralities and is an elementally excitation transporting a pseudospin. The soliton should be observable by means of a scanning tunneling microscopy experiment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Kohn Anomalies in Graphene Nanoribbons

The quantum corrections to the energies of the $Γ$ point optical phonon modes (Kohn anomalies) in graphene nanoribbons are investigated. We show theoretically that the longitudinal optical modes undergo a Kohn anomaly effect, while the transverse optical modes do not. In relation to Raman spectroscopy, we show that the longitudinal modes are not Raman active near the zigzag edge, while the transverse optical modes are not Raman active near the armchair edge. These results are useful for identifying the orientation of the edge of graphene nanoribbons by G band Raman spectroscopy, as is demonstrated experimentally. The differences in the Kohn anomalies for nanoribbons and for metallic single wall nanotubes are pointed out, and our results are explained in terms of pseudospin effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Growth of large-area single- and bi-layer graphene by controlled carbon precipitation on polycrystalline Ni surfaces

We report graphene films composed mostly of one or two layers of graphene grown by controlled carbon precipitation on the surface of polycrystalline Ni thin films during atmospheric chemical vapor deposition(CVD). Controlling both the methane concentration during CVD and the substrate cooling rate during graphene growth can significantly improve the thickness uniformity. As a result, one- or two- layer graphene regions occupy up to 87% of the film area. Single layer coverage accounts for 5-11% of the overall film. These regions expand across multiple grain boundaries of the underlying polycrystalline Ni film. The number density of sites with multilayer graphene/graphite (>2 layers) is reduced as the cooling rate decreases. These films can also be transferred to other substrates and their sizes are only limited by the sizes of the Ni film and the CVD chamber. Here, we demonstrate the formation of films as large as 1 in2. These findings represent an important step towards the fabrication of large-scale high-quality graphene samples.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Selection Rules for One- and Two-Photon Absorption by Excitons in Carbon Nanotubes

Recent optical absorption/emission experiments showed that the lower energy optical transitions in carbon nanotubes are excitonic in nature, as predicted by theory. These experiments were based on the symmetry aspects of free electron-hole states and bound excitonic states. The present work shows, however, that group theory does not predict the selection rules needed to explain the two photon experiments. We obtain the symmetries and selection rules for the optical transitions of excitons in single-wall carbon nanotubes within the approach of the group of the wavevector, thus providing important information for the interpretation of theoretical and experimental optical spectra of these materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗