Metamaterials for Ballistic Electrons

The paper presents a metamaterial for ballistic electrons, which consists of a quantum barrier formed in a semiconductor with negative effective electron mass. This barrier is the analogue of a metamaterial for electromagnetic waves in media with negative electrical permittivity and magnetic permeability. Besides applications similar to those of optical metamaterials, a nanosized slab of a metamaterial for ballistic electrons, sandwiched between quantum wells of positive effective mass materials, reveals unexpected conduction properties, e.g. single or multiple room temperature negative differential conductance regions at very low voltages and with considerable peak-to-valley ratios, while the traversal time of ballistic electrons can be tuned to larger or smaller values than in the absence of the metamaterial slab. Thus, slow and fast electrons, analogous to slow and fast light, occur in metamaterials for ballistic electrons

Real-Time Detection of Deoxyribonucleic Acid Bases via their Negative Differential Conductance Signature

In this paper we present a method for the real-time detection of the bases of the deoxyribonucleic acid using their signatures in negative differential conductance measurements. The present methods of electronic detection of deoxyribonucleic acid bases are based on a statistical analysis because the electrical currents of the four bases are weak and do not differ significantly from one base to another. In contrast, we analyze a device that combines the accumulated knowledge in nanopore and scanning tunneling detection, and which is able to provide very distinctive electronic signatures for the four bases

Phase Space Formulation of Filtering. Insight into the Wave-Particle Duality

A phase space formulation of the filtering process upon an incident quantum state is developed. This formulation can explain the results of both quantum interference and delayed-choice experiments without making use of the controversial wave-particle duality. Quantum particles are seen as localized and indivisible concentrations of energy and/or mass, their probability amplitude in phase space being described by the Wigner distribution function. The wave or particle nature appears in experiments in which the interference term of the Wigner distribution function is present or absent, respectively, the filtering devices that modify the quantum wavefunction throughout the set-up, from its generation to its final detection, being responsible for the modification of the Wigner distribution function.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figure

Berry Phase and Traversal Time in Asymmetric Graphene Structures

The Berry phase and the group-velocity-based traversal time have been calculated for an asymmetric non-contacted or contacted graphene structure, and significant differences have been observed compared to semiconductor heterostructures. These differences are related to the specific, Dirac-like evolution law of charge carriers in graphene, which introduces a new type of asymmetry. When contacted with electrodes, the symmetry of the Dirac equation is broken by the Schrodinger-type electrons in contacts, so that the Berry phase and traversal time behavior in contacted and non-contacted graphene differ significantly

Negative Differential Resistance of Electrons in Graphene Barrier

The graphene is a native two-dimensional crystal material consisting of a single sheet of carbon atoms. In this unique one-atom-thick material, the electron transport is ballistic and is described by a quantum relativistic-like Dirac equation rather than by the Schrodinger equation. As a result, a graphene barrier behaves very differently compared to a common semiconductor barrier. We show that a single graphene barrier acts as a switch with a very high on-off ratio and displays a significant differential negative resistance, which promotes graphene as a key material in nanoelectronics

The Interference Term in the Wigner Distribution Function and the Aharonov-Bohm Effect

A phase space representation of the Aharonov-Bohm effect is presented. It shows that the shift of interference fringes is associated to the interference term of the Wigner distribution function of the total wavefunction, whereas the interference pattern is defined by the common projections of the Wigner distribution functions of the interfering beamsComment: 10 pages, 4 figure