Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 15
  • Item
    Towards deterministically controlled InGaAs/GaAs lateral quantum dot molecules
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Wang, L.; Rastelli, A.; Kiravittaya, S.; Atkinson, P.; Ding, F.; Bof Bufon, C.C.; Hermannstädter, C.; Witzany, M.; Beirne, G.J.; Michler, P.; Schmidt, O.G.
    We report on the fabrication, detailed characterization and modeling of lateral InGaAs quantum dot molecules (QDMs) embedded in a GaAs matrix and we discuss strategies to fully control their spatial configuration and electronic properties. The three-dimensional morphology of encapsulated QDMs was revealed by selective wet chemical etching of the GaAs top capping layer and subsequent imaging by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM investigation showed that different overgrowth procedures have a profound consequence on the QDM height and shape. QDMs partially capped and annealed in situ for micro- photoluminescence spectroscopy consist of shallow but well-defined quantum dots (QDs) in contrast to misleading results usually provided by surface morphology measurements when they are buried by a thin GaAs layer. This uncapping approach is crucial for determining the QDM structural parameters, which are required for modeling the system. A single-band effective-mass approximation is employed to calculate the confined electron and heavy-hole energy levels, taking the geometry and structural information extracted from the uncapping experiments as inputs. The calculated transition energy of the single QDM shows good agreement with the experimentally observed values. By decreasing the edge-to-edge distance between the two QDs within a QDM, a splitting of the electron (hole) wavefunction into symmetric and antisymmetric states is observed, indicating the presence of lateral coupling. Site control of such lateral QDMs obtained by growth on a pre-patterned substrate, combined with a technology to fabricate gate structures at well-defined positions with respect to the QDMs, could lead to deterministically controlled devices based on QDMs. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Particles as probes for complex plasmas in front of biased surfaces
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2009) Basner, R.; Sigeneger, F.; Loffhagen, D.; Schubert, G.; Fehske, H.; Kersten, H.
    An interesting aspect in the research of complex (dusty) plasmas is the experimental study of the interaction of micro-particles with the surrounding plasma for diagnostic purposes. Local electric fields can be determined from the behaviour of particles in the plasma, e.g. particles may serve as electrostatic probes. Since in many cases of applications in plasma technology it is of great interest to describe the electric field conditions in front of floating or biased surfaces, the confinement and behaviour of test particles is studied in front of floating walls inserted into a plasma as well as in front of additionally biased surfaces. For the latter case, the behaviour of particles in front of an adaptive electrode, which allows for an efficient confinement and manipulation of the grains, has been experimentally studied in terms of the dependence on the discharge parameters and on different bias conditions of the electrode. The effect of the partially biased surface (dc and rf) on the charged micro-particles has been investigated by particle falling experiments. In addition to the experiments, we also investigate the particle behaviour numerically by molecular dynamics, in combination with a fluid and particle-in-cell description of the plasma. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Engineering the semiconductor/oxide interaction for stacking twin suppression in single crystalline epitaxial silicon(111)/insulator/Si(111) heterostructures
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Schroetter, T.; Zaumseil, P.; Seifarth, O.; Giussani, A.; Müssig, H.-J.; Storck, P.; Geiger, D.; Lichte, H.; Dabrowski, J.
    The integration of alternative semiconductor layers on the Si material platform via oxide heterostructures is of interest to increase the performance and/or functionality of future Si-based integrated circuits. The single crystalline quality of epitaxial (epi) semiconductor-insulator-Si heterostructures is however limited by too high defect densities, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about the fundamental physics of the heteroepitaxy mechanisms at work. To shed light on the physics of stacking twin formation as one of the major defect mechanisms in (111)-oriented fcc-related heterostructures on Si(111), we report a detailed experimental and theoretical study on the structure and defect properties of epi-Si(111)/Y2O 3/Pr2O3/Si(111) heterostructures. Synchrotron radiation-grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (SR-GIXRD) proves that the engineered Y2O3/Pr2O3 buffer dielectric heterostructure on Si(111) allows control of the stacking sequence of the overgrowing single crystalline epi-Si(111) layers. The epitaxy relationship of the epi-Si(111)/insulator/Si(111) heterostructure is characterized by a type A/B/A stacking configuration. Theoretical ab initio calculations show that this stacking sequence control of the heterostructure is mainly achieved by electrostatic interaction effects across the ionic oxide/covalent Si interface (IF). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies detect only a small population of misaligned type B epi-Si(111) stacking twins whose location is limited to the oxide/epiSi IF region. Engineering the oxide/semiconductor IF physics by using tailored oxide systems opens thus a promising approach to grow heterostructures with well-controlled properties. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Nonequilibrium phase transitions in finite arrays of globally coupled Stratonovich models: Strong coupling limit
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2009) Senf, F.; Altrock, P.M.; Behn, U.
    A finite array of N globally coupled Stratonovich models exhibits a continuous nonequilibrium phase transition. In the limit of strong coupling, there is a clear separation of timescales of centre of mass and relative coordinates. The latter relax very fast to zero and the array behaves as a single entity described by the centre of mass coordinate. We compute analytically the stationary probability distribution and the moments of the centre of mass coordinate. The scaling behaviour of the moments near the critical value of the control parameter ac(N) is determined. We identify a crossover from linear to square root scaling with increasing distance from ac. The crossover point approaches ac in the limit N →∞ which reproduces previous results for infinite arrays. Our results are obtained in both the Fokker-Planck and the Langevin approach and are corroborated by numerical simulations. For a general class of models we show that the transition manifold in the parameter space depends on N and is determined by the scaling behaviour near a fixed point of the stochastic flow. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Imaging of carrier-envelope phase effects in above-threshold ionization with intense few-cycle laser fields
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Kling, M.F.; Rauschenberger, J.; Verhoef, A.J.; Hasović, E.; Uphues, T.; Milošević, D.B.; Muller, H.G.; Vrakking, M.J.J.
    Sub-femtosecond control of the electron emission in above-threshold ionization of the rare gases Ar, Xe and Kr in intense few-cycle laser fields is reported with full angular resolution. Experimental data that were obtained with the velocity-map imaging technique are compared to simulations using the strong-field approximation (SFA) and full time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) calculations. We find a pronounced asymmetry in both the energy and angular distributions of the electron emission that critically depends on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the laser field. The potential use of imaging techniques as a tool for single-shot detection of the CEP is discussed. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Attosecond electron thermalization in laser-induced nonsequential multiple ionization: Hard versus glancing collisions
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Liu, X.; De Morisson Faria, C.F.; Becker, W.
    A recollision-based largely classical statistical model of laser-induced nonsequential multiple (N-fold) ionization of atoms is further explored. Upon its return to the ionic core, the first-ionized electron interacts with the other N - 1 bound electrons either through a contact or a Coulomb interaction. The returning electron may leave either immediately after this interaction or join the other electrons to form a thermalized complex which leaves the ion after the delay Δt, which is the sum of a thermalization time and a possible additional dwell time. Good agreement with the available triple and quadruple ionization data in neon and argon is obtained with the contact scenario and delays of Δt = 0.17 T and 0.265 T, respectively, with T the laser period. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Towards time resolved core level photoelectron spectroscopy with femtosecond x-ray free-electron lasers
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Pietzsch, A.; Föhlisch, A.; Beye, M.; Deppe, M.; Hennies, F.; Nagasono, M.; Suljotil, E.; Wurth, W.; Gahl, C.; Dörich, K.; Melnikov, A.
    We have performed core level photoelectron spectroscopy on a W(110) single crystal with femtosecond XUV pulses from the free-electron laser at Hamburg (FLASH). We demonstrate experimentally and through theoretical modelling that for a suitable range of photon fluences per pulse, time-resolved photoemission experiments on solid surfaces are possible. Using FLASH pulses in combination with a synchronized optical laser, we have performed femtosecond time-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy and observed sideband formation on the W 4f lines indicating a cross correlation between femtosecond optical and XUV pulses. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Epitaxial growth and stress relaxation of vapor-deposited Fe-Pd magnetic shape memory films
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2009) Kühnemund, L.; Edler, T.; Kock, I.; Seibt, M.; Mayr, S.G.
    To achieve maximum performance in microscale magnetic shape memory actuation devices epitaxial films several hundred nanometers thick are needed. Epitaxial films were grown on hot MgO substrates (500 °C and above) by e-beam evaporation. Structural properties and stress relaxation mechanisms were investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, in situ substrate curvature measurements and classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The high misfit stress incorporated during Vollmer-Weber growth at the beginning was relaxed by partial or perfect dislocations depending on the substrate temperature. This relaxation allowed the avoidance of a stressinduced breakdown of epitaxy and no thickness limit for epitaxy was found. For substrate temperatures of 690 °C or above, the films grew in the fee austenite phase. Below this temperature, iron precipitates were formed. MD simulations showed how these precipitates influence the movements of partial dislocations, and can thereby explain the higher stress level observed in the experiments in the initial stage of growth for these films. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Interference in strong-field ionization of a two-centre atomic system
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2008) Ansari, Z.; Böttcher, M.; Manschwetus, B.; Rottke, H.; Sandner, W.; Verhoef, A.; Lezius, M.; Paulus, G.G.; Saenz, A.; Milošević, D.B.
    Strong-field photoionization of argon dimers by a few-cycle laser pulse is investigated using electron-ion coincidence momentum spectroscopy. The momentum distribution of the photoelectrons exhibits interference due to the emission from the two atomic argon centres, in analogy with a Young's doubleslit experiment. However, a simulation of the dimer photoelectron momentum spectrum based on the atomic spectrum supplemented with a theoretically derived interference term leads to distinct deviations from the experimental result. The deviations may have their origin in a complex electron dynamics during strong-field ionization of the Ar2 dimer. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
  • Item
    Triggered polarization-entangled photon pairs from a single quantum dot up to 30 K
    (College Park, MD : Institute of Physics Publishing, 2007) Hafenbrak, R.; Ulrich, S.M.; Michler, P.; Wang, L.; Rastelli, A.; Schmidt, O.G.
    The radiative biexciton-exciton decay in a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) has the potential of being a source of triggered polarization-entangled photon pairs. However, in most cases the anisotropy-induced exciton fine structure splitting destroys this entanglement. Here, we present measurements on improved QD structures, providing both significantly reduced inhomogeneous emission linewidths and near-zero fine structure splittings. A high-resolution detection technique is introduced which allows us to accurately determine the fine structure in the photoluminescence emission and therefore select appropriate QDs for quantum state tomography. We were able to verify the conditions of entangled or classically correlated photon pairs in full consistence with observed fine structure properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate reliable polarization-entanglement for elevated temperatures up to 30 K. The fidelity of the maximally entangled state decreases only a little from 72% at 4 K to 68% at 30 K. This is especially encouraging for future implementations in practical devices. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.