Clusters of interstitial carbon atoms near the graphite surface as a possible origin of dome-like features observed by STM

Formation of clusters of interstitial carbon atoms between the surface and second atomic layers of graphite is demonstrated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that interstitial clusters result in the dome-like surface features that may be associated with some of the hillocks observed by STM on the irradiated graphite surface.Comment: 7 pages, 7 eps figures, submitted to Surface Scienc

The effect of interstitial clusters and vacancies on the STM image of graphite

Making use of the tight-binding Green's function technique, we have calculated the STM images of graphite with surface and sub-surface defects, while taking into account the relaxation of the lattice due to defects. We have demonstrated that two different physical mechanisms may result in the formation of hillocks in the STM images: buckling of the graphite surface due to interstitials between the uppermost graphite layers and the enhancement of the electron density of states close to the Fermi energy on the carbon atoms in the vicinity of vacancies. Our results indicate that small hillocks may originate both from the interstitial clusters and from the vacancies. By contrast, however, large hillocks in excess of 10 \AA~ in diameter can be caused only by interstitial clusters.Comment: Submitted to Surface Scienc

Transient response of photoexcited electrons: negative and oscillating current

Time-dependent current of the electrons excited in the conduction band after ultrafast interband photogeneration is studied theoretically. The transient photocurrent is calculated for the nonlinear regime of response to a stationary electric field. The response demonstrates transient absolute negative conductivity when the electrons are excited slightly below the optical phonon energy, while the periodic oscillations of the electric current appear after formation of the streaming distribution. The quenching of these peculiarities by the elastic scattering of electrons is also considered.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Transient magnetoconductivity of photoexcited electrons

Transient magnetotransport of two-dimensional electrons with partially-inverted distribution excited by an ultrashort optical pulse is studied theoretically. The time-dependent photoconductivity is calculated for GaAs-based quantum wells by taking into account the relaxation of electron distribution caused by non-elastic electron-phonon interaction and the retardation of the response due to momentum relaxation and due to a finite capacitance of the sample. We predict large-amplitude transient oscillations of the current density and Hall field (Hall oscillations) with frequencies corresponding to magnetoplasmon range, which are initiated by the instability owing to the absolute negative conductivity effect.Comment: 21 pages, 6 fig

Absolute negative conductivity in two-dimensional electron systems under microwave radiation

We overview mechanisms of absolute negative conductivity in two-dimensional electron systems in a magnetic field irradiated with microwaves and provide plausible explanations of the features observed in recent experiments related to the so-called zero-resistance (zero-conductance) states.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, presented at Internat. Symp. on Functional Semiconductor Nanosystems, Atsugi, Japan, Nov. 12-14, 2003, be published in Physica

Formation of a "Cluster Molecule" (C20)2 and its thermal stability

The possible formation of a "cluster molecule" (C20)2 from two single C20 fullerenes is studied by the tight-binding method. Several (C20)2 isomers in which C20 fullerenes are bound by strong covalent forces and retain their identity are found; actually, these C20 fullerenes play the role of "atoms" in the "cluster molecule". The so-called open-[2+2] isomer has a minimum energy. Its formation path and thermal stability at T = 2000 - 4000 K are analyzed in detail. This isomer loses its molecular structure due to either the decay of one of C20 fullerenes or the coalescence of two C20 fullerenes into a C40 cluster. The energy barriers for the metastable open-[2+2] configuration are calculated to be U = 2 - 5 eV.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure