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Sergio E. Ulloa

Publications and source records attributed to Sergio E. Ulloa.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Spin polarized photocurrent from quantum dots

In this paper we show that it is possible to switch the spin polarization of the photocurrent signal obtained from a single self-assembled quantum dot photodiode under the effect of elliptically polarized light by just increasing the light intensity. In the nonlinear mechanism treated here, intense elliptically polarized light creates an effective exchange interaction between the exciton spin states through the biexciton state. This effect can be used as a dynamical switch to invert the spin-polarization of the extracted photocurrent. We further show that the effect persists in realistic ensembles of dots, making this a powerful technique to dynamically generate spin-polarized electrons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Crossover from diffusive to ballistic transport in semiconductor nanostructures

We present a detailed microscopic study of quasi-ballistic transport in deep submicron semiconductor channels. In particular, we study the crossover between the diffusive and ballistic regimes of transport and identify signatures in the electrostatic response, electron density, and nonequilibrium electron distribution function that are due to ballistic and diffusive transport, respectively. Our theoretical and computational approach is based on the Boltzmann transport equation for a nondegenerate electron system, together with the Poisson equation, from which we obtain the nonequilibrium electron distribution in a self-consistent way.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Polarization and Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in quantum-ring magnetoexcitons

We study interaction and radial polarization effects on the the absorption spectrum of neutral bound magnetoexcitons confined in quantum-ring structures. We show that the size and orientation of the exciton's dipole moment, as well as the interaction screening, play important roles in the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. In particular, the excitonic absorption peaks display A-B oscillations both in position and amplitude for weak electron-hole interaction and large radial polarization. The presence of impurity scattering induces anticrossings in the exciton spectrum, leading to a modulation in the absorption strength. These properties could be used in experimental investigations of the effect in semiconductor quantum-ring structures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Spin injection and accumulation in inhomogeneous semiconductors

We present a study of spin transport in charge and spin inhomogeneous semiconductor systems. In particular, we investigate the propagation of spin-polarized electrons through a boundary between two semiconductor regions with different doping concentrations. We use a theoretical and numerical method, presented in this paper, based on a self-consistent treatment of a two-component version of the Boltzmann transport equation. We show that space-charge effects strongly influence the spin transport properties, in particular giving rise to pronounced spin accumulation and spin density enhancement.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Decoherence of Rabi oscillations in a single quantum dot

We develop a realistic model of Rabi oscillations in a quantum-dot photodiode. Based in a multi-exciton density matrix formulation we show that for short pulses the two-level models fails and higher levels should be taken into account. This affects some of the experimental conclusions, such as the inferred efficiency of the state rotation (population inversion) and the deduced value of the dipole interaction. We also show that the damping observed cannot be explained using \emph{constant} rates with fixed pulse duration. We demonstrate that the damping observed is in fact induced by an off-resonant excitation to or from the continuum of wetting layer states. Our model describes the nonlinear decoherence behavior observed in recent experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Oscillatory spin relaxation rates in quantum dots

Phonon-induced spin relaxation rates in quantum dots are studied as function of in-plane and perpendicular magnetic fields, temperature and electric field, for different dot sizes. We consider Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit mixing in diferent materials, and show how Zeeman sublevels can relax via piezoelectric and deformation potential coupling to acoustic phonons. We find that strong lateral and vertical confinements may induce minima in the rates at particular values of the magnetic field, where spin relaxation times can reach even seconds. We obtain good agreement with experimental findings in GaAs quantum dots.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Anisotropic electron g-factor in quantum dots with spin-orbit interaction

g-factor tuning of electrons in quantum dots is studied as function of in-plane and perpendicular magnetic fields for different confinements. Rashba and Dresselhaus effects are considered, and comparison is made between wide- and narrow-gap materials. The interplay between magnetic fields and intrinsic spin-orbit coupling is analyzed, with two distinct phases found in the spectrum for GaAs in perpendicular field. The anisotropy of the g-factor is reported, and good agreement with available experimental findings is obtained.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Coherent State Monitoring in Quantum Dots

We study the dynamics of excitonic states in dimer and trimer arrangements of colloidal quantum dots using a density matrix approach. The dots are coupled via a dipole-dipole interaction akin to the Förster mechanism. Coherent oscillations of tuned donor dots are shown to appear as plateaus in the acceptor dot, and therefore in its optical response. This behavior provides one with an interesting and unique handle to monitor the quantum state of the dimer, an "eavesdroping arrangement." A trimer cluster in a symmetrical loop shows steady states in a shorter characteristic time than the typical radiative lifetime of the dots. Breaking the symmetry of the loop results again in damping oscillatory states in the donor dots and plateaus in the eavesdropping/acceptor dot. The use of realistic parameters allows direct comparison with recent experiments and indicates that coherent state monitoring is possible in real experiments.

cond-mat.other↗

Multichannel field-effect spin barrier selector

We have studied spin carrier dynamics under full spin-orbit coupling. The anisotropy of dispersions for independent circular spinor polarizations is explored as a possible vertical multichannel voltage controlled spin-filter. Small voltage variations are found to select the current polarizations in a resonant tunneling geometry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Coherent control of tunneling in a quantum dot molecule

We demonstrate theoretically that it is possible to use Rabi oscillations to coherently control the electron tunneling in an asymmetric double quantum dot system, a quantum dot molecule. By applying an optical pump pulse we can excite an electron in one of the dots, which can in turn tunnel to the second dot, as controlled by an external voltage. Varying the intensity of the pulse one can suppress or enhance the tunneling between the dots for given level resonance conditions. This approach allows substantial flexibility in the control of the quantum mechanical state of the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Selective coherent destruction of tunneling in a quantum-dot array

The coherent manipulation of quantum states is one of the main tasks required in quantum computation. In this paper we demonstrate that it is possible to control coherently the electronic position of a particle in a quantum-dot array. By tuning an external ac electric field we can selectively suppress the tunneling between dots, trapping the particle in a determined region of the array. The problem is treated non-perturbatively by a time-dependent Hamiltonian in the effective mass approximation and using Floquet theory. We find that the quasienergy spectrum exhibits crossings at certain field intensities that result in the selective suppression of tunneling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Extended states in disordered systems: role of off-diagonal correlations

We study one-dimensional systems with random diagonal disorder but off-diagonal short-range correlations imposed by structural constraints. We find that these correlations generate effective conduction channels for finite systems. At a certain golden correlation condition for the hopping amplitudes, we find an extended state for an infinite system. Our model has important implications to charge transport in DNA molecules, and a possible set of experiments in semiconductor superlattices is proposed to verify our most interesting theoretical predictions.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

Impurity-enhanced Aharonov-Bohm effect in neutral quantum-ring magnetoexcitons

We study the role of impurity scattering on the photoluminescence (PL) emission of polarized magnetoexcitons. We consider systems where both the electron and hole are confined on a ring structure (quantum rings) as well as on a type-II quantum dot. Despite their neutral character, excitons exhibit strong modulation of energy and oscillator strength in the presence of magnetic fields. Scattering impurities enhance the PL intensity on otherwise "dark" magnetic field windows and non-zero PL emission appears for a wide magnetic field range even at zero temperature. For higher temperatures, impurity-induced anticrossings on the excitonic spectrum lead to unexpected peaks and valleys on the PL intensity as function of magnetic field. Such behavior is absent on ideal systems and can account for prominent features in recent experimental results.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Delocalization of Wannier-Stark ladders by phonons: tunneling and stretched polarons

We study the coherent dynamics of a Holstein polaron in strong electric fields. A detailed analytical and numerical analysis shows that even for small hopping constant and weak electron-phonon interaction, polaron states can become delocalized if a resonance condition develops between the original Wannier-Stark states and the phonon modes, yielding both tunneling and `stretched' polarons. The unusual stretched polarons are characterized by a phonon cloud that {\em trails} the electron, instead of accompanying it. In general, our novel approach allows us to show that the polaron spectrum has a complex nearly-fractal structure, due to the coherent coupling between states in the Cayley tree which describes the relevant Hilbert space. The eigenstates of a finite ladder are analyzed in terms of the observable tunneling and optical properties of the system.

cond-mat↗

Holstein polarons in a strong electric field: delocalized and stretched states

The coherent dynamics of a Holstein polaron in strong electric fields is considered under different regimes. Using analytical and numerical analysis, we show that even for small hopping constant and weak electron-phonon interaction, the original discrete Wannier-Stark (WS) ladder electronic states are each replaced by a semi-continuous band if a resonance condition is satisfied between the phonon frequency and the ladder spacing. In this regime, the original localized WS states can become {\em delocalized}, yielding both `tunneling' and `stretched' polarons. The transport properties of such a system would exhibit a modulation of the phonon replicas in typical tunneling experiments. The modulation will reflect the complex spectra with nearly-fractal structure of the semi-continuous band. In the off-resonance regime, the WS ladder is strongly deformed, although the states are still localized to a degree which depends on the detuning: Both the spacing between the levels in the deformed ladder and the localization length of the resulting eigenfunctions can be adjusted by the applied electric field. We also discuss the regime beyond small hopping constant and weak coupling, and find an interesting mapping to that limit via the Lang-Firsov transformation, which allows one to extend the region of validity of the analysis.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Polarons with a twist

We consider a polaron model where molecular \emph{rotations} are important. Here, the usual hopping between neighboring sites is affected directly by the electron-phonon interaction via a {\em twist-dependent} hopping amplitude. This model may be of relevance for electronic transport in complex molecules and polymers with torsional degrees of freedom, such as DNA, as well as in molecular electronics experiments where molecular twist motion is significant. We use a tight-binding representation and find that very different polaronic properties are already exhibited by a two-site model -- these are due to the nonlinearity of the restoring force of the twist excitations, and of the electron-phonon interaction in the model. In the adiabatic regime, where electrons move in a {\em low}-frequency field of twisting-phonons, the effective splitting of the energy levels increases with coupling strength. The bandwidth in a long chain shows a power-law suppression with coupling, unlike the typical exponential dependence due to linear phonons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Non-perturbative electron dynamics in crossed fields

Intense AC electric fields on semiconductor structures have been studied in photon-assisted tunneling experiments with magnetic field applied either parallel (B_par) or perpendicular (B_per) to the interfaces. We examine here the electron dynamics in a double quantum well when intense AC electric fields F, and tilted magnetic fields are applied simultaneously. The problem is treated non-perturbatively by a time-dependent Hamiltonian in the effective mass approximation, and using a Floquet-Fourier formalism. For B_par=0, the quasi-energy spectra show two types of crossings: those related to different Landau levels, and those associated to dynamic localization (DL), where the electron is confined to one of the wells, despite the non-negligible tunneling between wells. B_par couples parallel and in-plane motions producing anti-crossings in the spectrum. However, since our approach is non-perturbative, we are able to explore the entire frequency range. For high frequencies, we reproduce the well known results of perfect DL given by zeroes of a Bessel function. We find also that the system exhibits DL at the same values of the field F, even as B_par non-zero, suggesting a hidden dynamical symmetry in the system which we identify with different parity operations. The return times for the electron at various values of field exhibit interesting and complex behavior which is also studied in detail. We find that smaller frequencies shifts the DL points to lower field F, and more importantly, yields poorer localization by the field. We analyze the explicit time evolution of the system, monitoring the elapsed time to return to a given well for each Landau level, and find non-monotonic behavior for decreasing frequencies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Magnetic field effects on quantum ring excitons

We study the effect of magnetic field and geometric confinement on excitons confined to a quantum ring. We use analytical matrix elements of the Coulomb interaction and diagonalize numerically the effective-mass Hamiltonian of the problem. To explore the role of different boundary conditions, we investigate the quantum ring structure with a parabolic confinement potential, which allows the wavefunctions to be expressed in terms of center of mass and relative degrees of freedom of the exciton. On the other hand, wavefunctions expressed in terms of Bessel functions for electron and hole are used for a hard-wall confinement potential. The binding energy and electron-hole separation of the exciton are calculated as function of the width of the ring and the strength of a external magnetic field. The linear optical susceptibility as a function of magnetic fields is also discussed. We explore the Coulomb electron-hole correlation and magnetic confinement for several ring width and size combinations. The Aharanov-Bohm oscillations of exciton characteristics predicted for one-dimensional rings are found to not be present in these finite-width systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗