No Arabic abstract
An easy to implement and powerful method for the solution of 3D scattering problems that can be well described by Helmholtz equation is presented. The matrix algebra used provides excellent stability versus the number of junctions as well as great computational speed. The matrix truncation method yields an easy single-parameter convergence procedure. Subsequently, some aspects of the electronic transport through metal nanowires are studied by the use of Landauers scattering approach to the conductance. We predict the existence of current vortex-rings patterns due to sharp enough narrow-wide connections in atomic size point contacts. Longitudinal resonances between scattering centers provide a simple physical picture for the understanding of negative differential resistance in ideal monoatomic contacts. Relatively long nanowires with high geometrical perfection -like those recently observed by Transmission Electron Microscopy- are modelled exhibiting resonant tunnelling and total reflection at given incident energy intervals.
The shape of metallic constrictions of nanoscopic dimensions (necks) formed using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is shown to depend on the fabrication procedure. Submitting the neck to repeated plastic deformation cycles makes possible to obtain long necks or nanowires. Point-contact spectroscopy results show that these long necks are quite crystalline, indicating that the repeated cycles of plastic deformation act as a mechanical annealing of the neck.
Andos model provides a rigorous quantum-mechanical framework for electron-surface roughness scattering, based on the detailed roughness structure. We apply this method to metallic nanowires and improve the model introducing surface roughness distribution functions on a finite domain with analytical expressions for the average surface roughness matrix elements. This approach is valid for any roughness size and extends beyond the commonly used Prange-Nee approximation. The resistivity scaling is obtained from the self-consistent relaxation time solution of the Boltzmann transport equation and is compared to Prange-Nees approach and other known methods. The results show that a substantial drop in resistivity can be obtained for certain diameters by achieving a large momentum gap between Fermi level states with positive and negative momentum in the transport direction.
The electronic properties and nanostructure of InAs nanowires are correlated by creating multiple field effect transistors (FETs) on nanowires grown to have low and high defect density segments. 4.2 K carrier mobilities are ~4X larger in the nominally defect-free segments of the wire. We also find that dark field optical intensity is correlated with the mobility, suggesting a simple route for selecting wires with a low defect density. At low temperatures, FETs fabricated on high defect density segments of InAs nanowires showed transport properties consistent with single electron charging, even on devices with low resistance ohmic contacts. The charging energies obtained suggest quantum dot formation at defects in the wires. These results reinforce the importance of controlling the defect density in order to produce high quality electrical and optical devices using InAs nanowires.
Networks of silicon nanowires possess intriguing electronic properties surpassing the predictions based on quantum confinement of individual nanowires. Employing large-scale atomistic pseudopotential computations, as yet unexplored branched nanostructures are investigated in the subsystem level, as well as in full assembly. The end product is a simple but versatile expression for the bandgap and band edge alignments of multiply-crossing Si nanowires for various diameters, number of crossings, and wire orientations. Further progress along this line can potentially topple the bottom-up approach for Si nanowire networks to a top-down design by starting with functionality and leading to an enabling structure.
In the effective mass approximation, electronic property in graphene can be characterized by the relativistic Dirac equation. Within such a continuum model we investigate the electronic transport through graphene waveguides formed by connecting multiple segments of armchair-edged graphene nanoribbons of different widths. By using appropriate wavefunction connection conditions at the junction interfaces, we generalize the conventional transfer matrix approach to formulate the linear conductance of the graphene waveguide in terms of the structure parameters and the incident electron energy. In comparison with the tight-binding calculation, we find that the generalized transfer matrix method works well in calculating the conductance spectrum of a graphene waveguide even with a complicated structure and relatively large size. The calculated conductance spectrum indicates that the graphene waveguide exhibits a well-defined insulating band around the Dirac point, even though all the constituent ribbon segments are gapless. We attribute the occurrence of the insulating band to the antiresonance effect which is intimately associated with the edge states localized at the shoulder regions of the junctions. Furthermore, such an insulating band can be sensitively shifted by a gate voltage, which suggests a device application of the graphene waveguide as an electric nanoswitch.