Single-particle and collective excitations in quantum wires made up of vertically stacked quantum dots: Zero magnetic field

We report on the theoretical investigation of the elementary electronic excitations in a quantum wire made up of vertically stacked self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots. The length scales (of a few nanometers) involved in the experimental setups prompt us to consider an infinitely periodic system of two-dimensionally confined (InAs) quantum dot layers separated by GaAs spacers. The the Bloch functions and the Hermite functions together characterize the whole system. We then make use of the Bohm-Pines' (full) random-phase approximation in order to derive a general nonlocal, dynamic dielectric function. Thus developed theoretical framework is then specified to work within a (lowest miniband and) two-subband model that enables us to scrutinize the single-particle as well as collective responses of the system. We compute and discuss the behavior of the eigenfunctions, band-widths, density of states, Fermi energy, single-particle and collective excitations, and finally size up the importance of studying the inverse dielectric function in relation with the quantum transport phenomena. It is remarkable to notice how the variation in the barrier- and well-widths can allow us to tailor the excitation spectrum in the desired energy range. Given the advantage of the vertically stacked quantum dots over the planar ones and the foreseen applications in the single-electron devices and in the quantum computation, it is quite interesting and important to explore the electronic, optical, and transport phenomena in such systems

Au9+ swift heavy ion irradiation of Zn[CS(NH2)2]3SO4 crystal: Crystalline perfection and optical properties

The single crystal of tris(thiourea)zinc sulphate (Zn[CS(NH2)2]3SO4) was irradiated by 150 MeV Au9+ swift heavy ions and analyzed in comparison with pure crystal for crystalline perfection and optical properties. The Fourier transform infrared and x-ray powder diffraction inferred that swift ions lead the disordering and breaking of molecular bonds in lattice without formation of new structural phases. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) revealed the abundance of point defects, and formation of mosaics and low angle grain boundaries in the irradiated region of crystal. The swift ion irradiation found to affect the lattice vibrational modes and functional groups significantly. The defects induced by heavy ions act as the color centers and resulted in enhance of photoluminescence emission intensity. The optical transparency and band gap found to be decreased.Comment: 7 page

Scattering of elastic waves by periodic arrays of spherical bodies

We develop a formalism for the calculation of the frequency band structure of a phononic crystal consisting of non-overlapping elastic spheres, characterized by Lam\'e coefficients which may be complex and frequency dependent, arranged periodically in a host medium with different mass density and Lam\'e coefficients. We view the crystal as a sequence of planes of spheres, parallel to and having the two dimensional periodicity of a given crystallographic plane, and obtain the complex band structure of the infinite crystal associated with this plane. The method allows one to calculate, also, the transmission, reflection, and absorption coefficients for an elastic wave (longitudinal or transverse) incident, at any angle, on a slab of the crystal of finite thickness. We demonstrate the efficiency of the method by applying it to a specific example.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. B (in press

Magnetic frustration and spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking in PdCrO2

In the triangular layered magnet PdCrO2 the intralayer magnetic interactions are strong, however the lattice structure frustrates interlayer interactions. In spite of this, long-range, 120$^\circ$ antiferromagnetic order condenses at $T_N = 38$~K. We show here through neutron scattering measurements under in-plane uniaxial stress and in-plane magnetic field that this occurs through a spontaneous lifting of the three-fold rotational symmetry of the nonmagnetic lattice, which relieves the interlayer frustration. We also show through resistivity measurements that uniaxial stress can suppress thermal magnetic disorder within the antiferromagnetic phase.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Viscoelastic response of sonic band-gap materials

A brief report is presented on the effect of viscoelastic losses in a high density contrast sonic band-gap material of close-packed rubber spheres in air. The scattering properties of such a material are computed with an on-shell multiple scattering method, properties which are compared with the lossless case. The existence of an appreciable omnidirectional gap in the transmission spectrum, when losses are present, is also reported.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Theoretical analysis of acoustic stop bands in two-dimensional periodic scattering arrays

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the recently reported observation of acoustic stop bands in two-dimensional scattering arrays (Robertson and Rudy, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. {\bf 104}, 694, 1998). A self-consistent wave scattering theory, incorporating all orders of multiple scattering, is used to obtain the wave transmission. The band structures for the regular arrays of cylinders are computed using the plane wave expansion method. The theoretical results compare favorably with the experimental data.Comment: 18 pages, 4 page