No Arabic abstract
We theoretically study quantum size effects in the magnetic response of a spherical metallic nanoparticle (e.g. gold). Using the Jellium model in spherical coordinates, we compute the induced magnetic moment and the magnetic susceptibility for a nanoparticle in the presence of a static external magnetic field. Below a critical magnetic field the magnetic response is diamagnetic, whereas above such field the magnetization is characterized by sharp, step-like increases of several tenths of Bohr magnetons, associated with the Zeeman crossing of energy levels above and below the Fermi sea. We quantify the robustness of these regimes against thermal excitations and finite linewidth of the electronic levels. Finally, we propose two methods for experimental detection of the quantum size effects based on the coupling to superconducting quantum interference devices.
The investigation of curved low-dimensional systems is a topic of great research interest. Such investigations include two-dimensional systems with cylindrical symmetry. In this work, we present a numerical study of the electronic transport properties of metallic nanotubes deviating from the cylindrical form either by having a bump or a depression, and under the influence of a magnetic field. Under these circumstances, it is found that the nanotube may be used as an energy high-pass filter for electrons. It is also shown that the device can be used to tune the angular momentum of transmitted electrons.
The superposition principle is one of the bizarre predictions of quantum mechanics. Nevertheless, it has been experimentally verified using electrons, photons, atoms, and molecules. In this article, using a $20~$nm levitated ferromagnetic FePt nanoparticle, an exotic all optical spin polarization technique and the matter-wave interferometry, we show that a mesoscopic spatial Schrodinger cat can be created. Additionally, we argue that the maximum spatial separation between the delocalized wavepackets can be $25~mu m$ and is significantly larger than the object itself.
We investigate the role of quantum confinement on the performance of gas sensors based on two-dimensional InAs membranes. Pd-decorated InAs membranes configured as H2 sensors are shown to exhibit strong thickness dependence, with ~100x enhancement in the sensor response as the thickness is reduced from 48 to 8 nm. Through detailed experiments and modeling, the thickness scaling trend is attributed to the quantization of electrons which favorably alters both the position and the transport properties of charge carriers; thus making them more susceptible to surface phenomena.
Through magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy, the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes has been extracted and found to be 2-4 times greater than values for semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes. This large anisotropy is consistent with our calculations and can be understood in terms of large orbital paramagnetism of electrons in metallic nanotubes arising from the Aharonov-Bohm-phase-induced gap opening in a parallel field. We also compare our values with previous work for semiconducting nanotubes, which confirm a break from the prediction that the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy increases linearly with the diameter.
We present a theoretical study of the resonance fluorescence spectra of an optically driven quantum dot placed near a single metal nanoparticle. The metallic reservoir coupling is calculated for an 8-nm metal nanoparticle using a time-convolutionless master equation approach where the exact photon reservoir function is included using Green function theory. By exciting the system coherently near the nanoparticle dipole mode, we show that the driven Mollow spectrum becomes highly asymmetric due to internal coupling effects with higher-order plasmons. We also highlight regimes of resonance squeezing and broadening as well as spectral reshaping through light propagation. Our master equation technique can be applied to any arbitrary material system, including lossy inhomogeneous structures, where mode expansion techniques are known to break down.