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S. E. Ulloa

Publications and source records attributed to S. E. Ulloa.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2011

Helicoidal Fields and Spin Polarized Currents in CNT-DNA Hybrids

We report on theoretical studies of electronic transport in the archetypical molecular hybrid formed by DNA wrapped around single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Using a Green's function formalism in a $π$-orbital tight-binding representation, we investigate the role that spin-orbit interactions play on the CNT in the case of the helicoidal electric field induced by the polar nature of the adsorbed DNA molecule. We find that spin polarization of the current can take place in the absence of magnetic fields, depending strongly on the direction of the wrapping and length of the helicoidal field. These findings open new routes for using CNTs in spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2010

Suppression of Kondo screening by the Dicke effect in multiple quantum dots

The interplay between the coupling of an interacting quantum dot to a conduction band and its connection to localized levels has been studied in a triple quantum dot arrangement. The electronic Dicke effect, resulting from quasi-resonant states of two side-coupled non-interacting quantum dots, is found to produce important effects on the Kondo resonance of the interacting dot. We study in detail the Kondo regime of the system by applying a numerical renormalization group analysis to a finite-U multi-impurity Anderson Hamiltonian model. We find an extreme narrowing of the Kondo resonance, as the single-particle levels of the side dots are tuned towards the Fermi level and "squeeze" the Kondo resonance, accompanied by a strong drop in the Kondo temperature, due to the presence of a supertunneling state. Further, we show that the Kondo temperature vanishes in the limit of the Dicke effect of the structure. By analyzing the magnetic moment and entropy of the three-dot cluster versus temperature, we identify a different local singlet that competes with the Kondo state, resulting in the eventual suppression of the Kondo temperature and strongly affecting the spin correlations of the structure. We further show that system asymmetries in couplings, level structure or due to Coulomb interactions, result in interesting changes in the spectral function near the Fermi level. These strongly affect the Kondo temperature and the linear conductance of the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2009

Kondo screening suppression by spin-orbit interaction in quantum dots

We study the transport properties of a quantum dot embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm ring in the presence of spin-orbit interactions. Using a numerical renormalization group analysis of the system in the Kondo regime, we find that the competition of Aharonov-Bohm and spin-orbit dynamical phases induces a strong suppression of the Kondo state singlet, somewhat akin to an effective intrinsic magnetic field in the system. This effective field breaks the spin degeneracy of the localized state and produces a finite magnetic moment in the dot. By introducing an {\em in-plane} Zeeman field we show that the Kondo resonance can be fully restored, reestablishing the spin singlet and a desired spin filtering behavior in the Kondo regime, which may result in full spin polarization of the current through the ring.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2009

Kondo regime in triangular arrangements of quantum dots: Molecular orbitals, interference and contact effects

Transport properties of an interacting triple quantum dot system coupled to three leads in a triangular geometry has been studied in the Kondo regime. Applying mean-field finite-U slave boson and embedded cluster approximations to the calculation of transport properties unveils a set of rich features associated to the high symmetry of this system. Results using both calculation techniques yield excellent overall agreement and provide additional insights into the physical behavior of this interesting geometry. In the case when just two current leads are connected to the three-dot system, interference effects between degenerate molecular orbitals are found to strongly affect the overall conductance. An S=1 Kondo effect is also shown to appear for the perfect equilateral triangle symmetry. The introduction of a third current lead results in an `amplitude leakage' phenomenon, akin to that appearing in beam splitters, which alters the interference effects and the overall conductance through the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2008

Spin-orbit effects on two-electron states in nanowhisker double quantum dots

We investigate theoretically the combined effects of the electron-electron and the Rashba spin-orbit interactions on two electrons confined in quasi-one-dimensional AlInSb-based double quantum dots. We calculate the two-electron wave functions and explore the interplay between these two interactions on the energy levels and the spin of the states. The energy spectrum as a function of an applied magnetic field shows crossings and anticrossings between triplet and singlet states, associated with level mixing induced by the spin-orbit coupling. We find that the fields at which these crossings occur can be naturally controlled by the interdot barrier width, which controls the exchange integral in the structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2007

Phonon-assisted tunneling regimes in diatomic molecules

Electronic transport in diatomic molecules (two-level systems) connected to metallic contacts is analyzed in the presence of competing electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. We show that phonon emission and absorption processes are strongly modified when a Coulomb energy $U$ is included, as the phonons open channels that can result in destructive or constructive interference effects. Resonance conditions for these processes produce dramatic effects both in the density of states at the molecular sites, as well as in the conductance through the system. We find in particular an enhanced {\it Rabi-assisted tunneling} due to phonons, as the resonance conditions are met, which is made more evident for increasing temperatures. These effects are controllable by voltage gating of the molecular sites, and should be accessible in current experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2006

Tunability of qubit Coulomb interaction: Numerical analysis of top gate depletion in two-dimensional electron systems

We investigate the tunability of electrostatic coupling between solid state quantum dots as building blocks for quantum bits. Specifically, our analysis is based upon two-dimensional electron systems (2DEG) and depletion by top gates. We are interested in whether the Coulomb interaction between qubits can be tuned by electrical means using screening effects. The systems under investigation are analyzed numerically solving the Poisson equation in 3D via relaxation techniques with optimized algorithms for an extended set of boundary conditions. These include an open outer boundary, simulation of 2DEG systems and dielectric boundaries like the surface of a physical sample. The results show that for currently lithographically available feature sizes, the Coulomb interaction between the quantum bits is weak in general due to efficient screening in the planar geometry of 2DEG and top gates. The evaluated values are on the order of 1 $μ$eV. Moreover, while it is not possible to turn off the qubit interaction completely, an effective tunability on the order of 50% is clearly realizable while maintaining an intact quantum bit structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2006

Bipolar spin filter in a quantum dot molecule

We show that the tunable hybridization between two lateral quantum dots connected to non-magnetic current leads in a `hanging-dot' configuration that can be used to implement a bipolar spin filter. The competition between Zeeman, exchange interaction, and interdot tunneling (molecular hybridization) yields a singlet-triplet transition of the double dot {\it ground state} that allows spin filtering in Coulomb blockade experiments. Its generic nature should make it broadly useful as a robust bidirectional spin polarizer.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2006

Two-subband quantum Hall effect in parabolic quantum wells

The low-temperature magnetoresistance of parabolic quantum wells displays pronounced minima between integer filling factors. Concomitantly the Hall effect exhibits overshoots and plateau-like features next to well-defined ordinary quantum Hall plateaus. These effects set in with the occupation of the second subband. We discuss our observations in the context of single-particle Landau fan charts of a two-subband system empirically extended by a density dependent subband separation and an enhanced spin-splitting g*.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2005

Kondo Regime of a Quantum Dot Molecule: A Finite-U Slave-Boson Approach

We study the electronic transport in a double quantum dot structure connected to leads in the Kondo regime for both series and parallel arrangements. By applying a finite-U slave boson technique in the mean field approximation we explore the effect of level degeneracy in the conductance through the system. Our results show that for the series connection, as the energy difference of the localized dot levels increases, the tunneling via the Kondo state is destroyed. For the parallel configuration, we find an interesting interplay of state symmetry and conductance. Our results are in good agrement with those obtained with other methods, and provide additional insights into the physics of the Kondo state in the double dot system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2005

Phonon Rabi-assisted tunneling in diatomic molecules

We study electronic transport in diatomic molecules connected to metallic contacts in the regime where both electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions are important. We find that the competition between these interactions results in unique resonant conditions for interlevel transitions and polaron formation: the Coulomb repulsion requires additional energy when electrons attempt phonon-assisted interlevel jumps between fully or partially occupied levels. We apply the equations of motion approach to calculate the electronic Green's functions. The density of states and conductance through the system are shown to exhibit interesting Rabi-like splitting of Coulomb blockade peaks and strong temperature dependence under the it interacting resonant conditions.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2005

Spin relaxation rates in quasi-one-dimensional coupled quantum dots

We study theoretically the spin relaxation rate in quasi-one-dimensional coupled double semiconductor quantum dots. We consider InSb and GaAs-based systems in the presence of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction, which causes mixing of opposite-spin states, and allows phonon-mediated transitions between energy eigenstates. Contributions from all phonon modes and coupling mechanisms in zincblende semiconductors are taken into account. The spin relaxation rate is shown to display a sharp, cusp-like maximum as function of the interdot-barrier width, at a value of the width which can be controlled by an external magnetic field. This remarkable behavior is associated with the symmetric-antisymmetric level splitting in the structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2005

AC-Stark effect in a semi-spherical quantum dot

We present a theoretical approach to study the effects of an ac-field applied to quantum dots with semi-spherical symmetry. Using the Floquet formalism for this periodically driven system, the time-dependent Hamiltonian in the effective mass approximation is solved. We show that the Hilbert space of solutions is separated into orthogonal subspaces with different $z$-component of the angular momentum. We give an explicit analytical representation for electronic states as a function of the intensity and frequency of the electric field. Under the two level approximation, two particular cases are studied: the low- and high-frequency regimes, which result of comparing the ac-field frequency to the characteristic level splitting at zero field.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2005

Quasi-ballistic, nonequilibrium electron distribution in inhomogeneous semiconductor structures

We report on a study of quasi-ballistic transport in deep submicron, inhomogeneous semiconductor structures, focusing on the analysis of signatures found in the full nonequilibrium electron distribution. We perform self-consistent numerical calculations of the Poisson-Boltzmann equations for a model n(+)-n(-)-n(+) GaAs structure and realistic, energy-dependent scattering. We show that, in general, the electron distribution displays significant, temperature dependent broadening and pronounced structure in the high-velocity tail of the distribution. The observed characteristics have a strong spatial dependence, related to the energy-dependence of the scattering, and the large inhomogeneous electric field variations in these systems. We show that in this quasi-ballistic regime, the high-velocity tail structure is due to pure ballistic transport, whereas the strong broadening is due to electron scattering within the channel, and at the source(drain) interfaces.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2004

Modeling of transport through submicron semiconductor structures: A direct solution to the Poisson-Boltzmann equations

We report on a computational approach based on the self-consistent solution of the steady-state Boltzmann transport equation coupled with the Poisson equation for the study of inhomogeneous transport in deep submicron semiconductor structures. The nonlinear, coupled Poisson-Boltzmann system is solved numerically using finite difference and relaxation methods. We demonstrate our method by calculating the high-temperature transport characteristics of an inhomogeneously doped submicron GaAs structure where the large and inhomogeneous built-in fields produce an interesting fine structure in the high-energy tail of the electron velocity distribution, which in general is very far from a drifted-Maxwellian picture.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2004

Spatially resolved manipulation of single electrons in quantum dots using a scanned probe

The scanning metallic tip of a scanning force microscope was coupled capacitively to electrons confined in a lithographically defined gate-tunable quantum dot at a temperature of 300 mK. Single electrons were made to hop on or off the dot by moving the tip or by changing the tip bias voltage owing to the Coulomb-blockade effect. Spatial images of conductance resonances map the interaction potential between the tip and individual electronic quantum dot states. Under certain conditions this interaction is found to contain a tip-voltage induced and a tip-voltage independent contribution.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2004

Level structure and spin-orbit effects in semiconductor nanorod dots

We investigate theoretically how the spin-orbit Dresselhaus and Rashba effects influence the electronic structure of quasi-one-dimensional semiconductor quantum dots, similar to those that can be formed inside semiconductor nanorods. We calculate electronic energy levels, eigen-functions, and effective g-factors for coupled, double dots made out of different materials, especially GaAs and InSb. We show that by choosing the form of the lateral confinement, the contributions of the Dresselhaus and Rashba terms can be tuned and suppressed, and we consider several possible cases of interest. We also study how, by varying the parameters of the double-well confinement in the longitudinal direction, the effective g-factor can be controlled to a large extent.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗