No Arabic abstract
General expressions for the electron- and hole-acoustical-phonon deformation potential Hamiltonian (H_{E-DP}) are derived for the case of Ge/Si and Si/Ge core/shell nanowire structures (NWs) with circular cross section. Based on the short-range elastic continuum approach and on derived analytical results, the spatial confined effects on the vector phonon displacement, the phonon dispersion relation and the electron- and hole-phonon scattering amplitudes are analyzed. It is shown that the acoustical vector displacement, phonon frequencies and H_{E-DP} present mixed torsional, axial, and radial components depending on the angular momentum quantum number and phonon wavector under consideration. The treatment shows that bulk group velocities of the constituent materials are renormalized due to the spatial confinement and intrinsic strain at the interface. The role of insulating shell on the phonon dispersion and electron-phonon coupling in Ge/Si and Si/Ge NWs are discussed.
We settle a general expression for the Hamiltonian of the electron-phonon deformation potential (DP) interaction in the case of non-polar core-shell cylindrical nanowires (NWs). On the basis of long range phenomenological continuum model for the optical modes and by taking into account the bulk phonon dispersions, we study the size dependence and strain-induced shift of the electron-phonon coupling strengths for Ge-Si and Si-Ge NWs. We derive analytically the DP electron-phonon Hamiltonian and report some numerical results for the frequency core modes and vibrational amplitudes. Our approach allows for the unambiguous identification of the strain and confinement effects. We explore the dependence of mode frequencies and hole-DP scattering rates on the structural parameters of these core-shell structures, which constitute a basic tool for the characterization and device applications of these novel nanosystems.
We define single quantum dots of lengths varying from 60 nm up to nearly half a micron in Ge-Si core-shell nanowires. The charging energies scale inversely with the quantum dot length between 18 and 4 meV. Subsequently, we split up a long dot into a double quantum dot with a separate control over the tunnel couplings and the electrochemical potential of each dot. Both single and double quantum dot configurations prove to be very stable and show excellent control over the electrostatic environment of the dots, making this system a highly versatile platform for spin-based quantum computing.
Controlling decoherence is the most challenging task in realizing quantum information hardware. Single electron spins in gallium arsenide are a leading candidate among solid- state implementations, however strong coupling to nuclear spins in the substrate hinders this approach. To realize spin qubits in a nuclear-spin-free system, intensive studies based on group-IV semiconductor are being pursued. In this case, the challenge is primarily control of materials and interfaces, and device nanofabrication. We report important steps toward implementing spin qubits in a predominantly nuclear-spin-free system by demonstrating state preparation, pulsed gate control, and charge-sensing spin readout of confined hole spins in a one-dimensional Ge/Si nanowire. With fast gating, we measure T1 spin relaxation times in coupled quantum dots approaching 1 ms, increasing with lower magnetic field, consistent with a spin-orbit mechanism that is usually masked by hyperfine contributions.
We report an ab initio study of the electronic properties of surface dangling-bond (SDB) states in hydrogen-terminated Si and Ge nanowires with diameters between 1 and 2 nm, Ge/Si nanowire heterostructures, and Si and Ge (111) surfaces. We find that the charge transition levels e(+/-) of SDB states behave as a common energy reference among Si and Ge wires and Si/Ge heterostructures, at 4.3 +/- 0.1 eV below the vacuum level. Calculations of e(+/-) for isolated atoms indicate that this nearly constant value is a periodic-table atomic property.
We study theoretically the low-energy hole states of Ge/Si core/shell nanowires. The low-energy valence band is quasidegenerate, formed by two doublets of different orbital angular momenta, and can be controlled via the relative shell thickness and via external fields. We find that direct (dipolar) coupling to a moderate electric field leads to an unusually large spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type on the order of meV which gives rise to pronounced helical states enabling electrical spin control. The system allows for quantum dots and spin qubits with energy levels that can vary from nearly zero to several meV, depending on the relative shell thickness.