We consider a square lattice configuration of circular gate-defined quantum dots in an unbiased graphene sheet and calculate the electronic, particularly spectral properties of finite albeit actual sample sized systems by means of a numerically exact
kernel polynomial expansion technique. Analyzing the local density of states and the momentum resolved photoemission spectrum we find clear evidence for a series of quasi-bound states at the dots, which can be probed by optical measurements. We further analyze the interplay of the superlattice structure with dot localized modes on the electron energy dispersion. Effects of disordered dot lattices are discussed too.
We study the transport of charge carriers through finite graphene structures. The use of numerical exact kernel polynomial and Green function techniques allows us to treat actual sized samples beyond the Dirac-cone approximation. Particularly we inve
stigate disordered nanoribbons, normal-conductor/graphene interfaces and normal-conductor/graphene/normal-conductor junctions with a focus on the behavior of the local density of states, single-particle spectral function, optical conductivity and conductance. We demonstrate that the contacts and bulk disorder will have a major impact on the electronic properties of graphene-based devices.
To understand how charge transport is affected by a background medium and vice versa we study a two-channel transport model which captures this interplay via a novel, effective fermion-boson coupling. By means of (dynamical) DMRG we prove that this m
odel exhibits a metal-insulator transition at half-filling, where the metal typifies a repulsive Luttinger liquid and the insulator constitutes a charge density wave. The quantum phase transition point is determined consistently from the calculated photoemission spectra, the scaling of the Luttinger liquid exponent, the charge excitation gap, and the entanglement entropy.
We study the quantum dynamics of small polaron formation and polaron transport through finite quantum structures in the framework of the one-dimensional Holstein model with site-dependent potentials and interactions. Combining Lanczos diagonalization
with Chebyshev moment expansion of the time evolution operator, we determine how different initial states, representing stationary ground states or injected wave packets, after an electron-phonon interaction quench, develop in real space and time. Thereby, the full quantum nature and dynamics of electrons and phonons is preserved. We find that the decay out of the initial state sensitively depends on the energy and momentum of the incoming particle, the electron-phonon coupling strength, and the phonon frequency, whereupon bound polaron-phonon excited states may emerge in the strong-coupling regime. The tunneling of a Holstein polaron through a quantum wall/dot is generally accompanied by strong phonon number fluctuations due to phonon emission and re-absorption processes.
We investigate charge transport within some background medium by means of an effective lattice model with a novel form of fermion-boson coupling. The bosons describe fluctuations of a correlated background. By analyzing groundstate and spectral prope
rties of this transport model, we show how a metal-insulator quantum phase transition can occur for the half-filled band case. We discuss the evolution of a mass-asymmetric band structure in the insulating phase and establish connections to the Mott and Peierls transition scenarios.
We consider transport through finite quantum systems such as quantum barriers, wells, dots or junctions, coupled to local vibrational modes in the quantal regime. As a generic model we study the Holstein-Hubbard Hamiltonian with site-dependent potent
ials and interactions. Depending on the barrier height to electron-phonon coupling strength ratio and the phonon frequency we find distinct opposed behaviors: Vibration-mediated tunneling or intrinsic localization of (bi)polarons. These regimes are strongly manifested in the density correlations, mobility, and optical response calculated by exact numerical techniques.
