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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Full control of quadruple quantum dot circuit charge states in the single electron regime

We report the realization of an array of four tunnel coupled quantum dots in the single electron regime, which is the first required step toward a scalable solid state spin qubit architecture. We achieve an efficient tunability of the system but also find out that the conditions to realize spin blockade readout are not as straightforwardly obtained as for double and triple quantum dot circuits. We use a simple capacitive model of the series quadruple quantum dots circuit to investigate its complex charge state diagrams and are able to find the most suitable configurations for future Pauli spin blockade measurements. We then experimentally realize the corresponding charge states with a good agreement to our model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Image Processing Algorithms for Tuning Quantum Devices and Nitrogen-Vacancy Imaging

Semiconductor quantum dot devices can be challenging to configure into a regime where they are suitable for qubit operation. This challenge arises from variations in gate control of quantum dot electron occupation and tunnel coupling between quantum dots on a single device or across several devices. Furthermore, a single control gate usually has capacitive coupling to multiple quantum dots and tunnel barriers between dots. If the device operator, be it human or machine, has quantitative knowledge of how gates control the electrostatic and dynamic properties of multiqubit devices, the operator can more quickly and easily navigate the multidimensional gate space to find a qubit operating regime. We have developed and applied image analysis techniques to quantitatively detect where charge offsets from different quantum dots intersect, so called anticrossings. In this document we outline the details of our algorithm for detecting single anticrossings, which has been used to fine-tune the inter-dot tunnel rates for a three quantum dot system. Additionally, we show that our algorithm can detect multiple anticrossings in the same dataset, which can aid in the coarse tuning the electron occupation of multiple quantum dots. We also include an application of cross correlation to the imaging of magnetic fields using nitrogen vacancies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Giant Molecular Magnetocapacitance

Capacitance of a nanoscale system is usually thought of having two contributions, a classical electrostatic contribution and a quantum contribution dependent on the density of states and/or molecular orbitals close to the Fermi energy. In this letter we demonstrate that in molecular nano-magnets and other magnetic nanoscale systems, the quantum part of the capacitance becomes spin-dependent, and is tunable by an external magnetic field. This molecular magnetocapacitance can be realized using single molecule nano-magnets and/or other nano-structures that have antiferromagnetic ground states. As a proof of principle, first-principles calculation of the nano-magnet [Mn3O(sao)3(O2CMe)(H2O)(py)3] shows that the charging energy of the high-spin state is 260 meV lower than that of the low-spin state, yielding a 6% difference in capacitance. A magnetic field of ~40T can switch the spin state, thus changing the molecular capacitance. A smaller switching field may be achieved using nanostructures with a larger moment. Molecular magnetocapacitance may lead to revolutionary device designs, e.g., by exploiting the Coulomb blockade magnetoresistance whereby a small change in capacitance can lead to a huge change in resistance.

Wu, Yuning↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dielectric Relaxation by Quantum Critical Magnons

We report the experimental observation of dielectric relaxation by quantum critical magnons. Complex capacitance measurements reveal a dissipative feature with a temperature-dependent amplitude due to low-energy lattice excitations and an activation behavior of the relaxation time. The activation energy softens close to a field-tuned magnetic quantum critical point at H = H c and follows single-magnon energy for H > H c , showing its magnetic origin. Furthermore, our study demonstrates the electrical activity of coupled low-energy spin and lattice excitations, an example of quantum multiferroic behavior.

1-dimensional spin chains↗
DOE OSTI2015

High-efficiency, flexible CdTe solar cells on ultra-thin glass substrates

Flexible, high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells can enable applications that take advantage of high specific power, flexible form factors, lower installation and transportation costs. Here, we report a certified record efficiency of 16.4% for a flexible CdTe solar cell that is a marked improvement over the previous standard (14.05%). The improvement was achieved by replacing chemical-bath-deposited CdS with sputtered CdS:O and also replacing the high-temperature sputtered ZnTe:Cu back contact layer with co-evaporated and rapidly annealed ZnTe:Cu. We use quantum efficiency and capacitance-voltage measurements combined with device simulations to identify the reasons for the increase in efficiency. Both device simulations and experimental results show that higher carrier density can quantitatively account for the increased open circuit voltage (V{sub OC}) and Fill Factor (FF), and likewise, the increase in short circuit current density (J{sub SC}) can be attributed to the more transparent CdS:O.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Inversion gate capacitance of undoped single-gate and double-gate field-effect transistor geometries in the extreme quantum limit

We present first-principle analytical derivations and numerically modeled data to show that the gate capacitance per unit gate area C{sub G} of extremely thin undoped-channel single-gate and double-gate field-effect transistor geometries in the extreme quantum limit with single-subband occupancy can be written as 1/C{sub G} = 1/C{sub OX} + N{sub G}/C{sub DOS} + N{sub G}/ηC{sub WF}, where N{sub G} is the number of gates, C{sub OX} is the oxide capacitance per unit area, C{sub DOS} is the density-of-states capacitance per unit area, C{sub WF} is the wave function spreading capacitance per unit area, and η is a constant on the order of 1.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Photovoltaic Properties of Selenized CuGa/In Films with Varied Compositions

Thin CuGa/In films with varied compositions were deposited by co-evaporation and then selenized in situ with evaporated selenium. The selenized Cu(In, Ga)Se2 absorbers were used to fabricate 390 solar cells. Cu/(Ga+In) and Ga/(Ga+In) (Cu/III and Ga/III) were independently varied, and photovoltaic performance was optimal at Cu/III of 77-92% for all Ga/III compositions studied (Ga/III ~ 30, 50, and 70%). The best absorbers at each Ga/III composition were characterized with time-resolved photoluminescence, scanning electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry, and devices were studied with temperature-dependent current density-voltage, light and electrical biased quantum efficiency, and capacitance-voltage. The best cells with Ga/III ~ 30, 50, and 70% had efficiencies of 14.5, 14.4, and 12.2% and maximum power temperature coefficients of -0.496, -0.452, and -0.413%/degrees C, respectively. This resulted in the Ga/III ~ 50% champion having the highest efficiency at temperatures greater than 40 degrees C, making it the optimal composition for practical purposes. This optimum is understood as a result of the absorber's band gap grading- where minimum band gap dominates short-circuit current density, maximum space charge region band gap dominates open-circuit voltage, and average absorber band gap dominates maximum power temperature coefficient.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Negative capacitance switching via VO{sub 2} band gap engineering driven by electric field

We report the negative capacitance behavior of an energy band gap modulation quantum well with a sandwich VO{sub 2} layer structure. The phase transition is probed by measuring its capacitance. With the help of theoretical calculations, it shows that the negative capacitance changes of the quantum well device come from VO{sub 2} band gap by continuously tuning the temperature or voltage. Experiments reveal that as the current remains small enough, joule heating can be ignored, and the insulator-metal transition of VO{sub 2} can be induced by the electric field. Our results open up possibilities for functional devices with phase transitions induced by external electric fields other than the heating or electricity-heat transition.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

QCAD Simulation and Optimization of Semiconductor Double Quantum Dots

We present the Quantum Computer Aided Design (QCAD) simulator that targets modeling quantum devices, particularly silicon double quantum dots (DQDs) developed for quantum qubits. The simulator has three differentiating features: (i) its core contains nonlinear Poisson, effective mass Schrodinger, and Configuration Interaction solvers that have massively parallel capability for high simulation throughput, and can be run individually or combined self-consistently for 1D/2D/3D quantum devices; (ii) the core solvers show superior convergence even at near-zero-Kelvin temperatures, which is critical for modeling quantum computing devices; (iii) it couples with an optimization engine Dakota that enables optimization of gate voltages in DQDs for multiple desired targets. The Poisson solver includes MaxwellBoltzmann and Fermi-Dirac statistics, supports Dirichlet, Neumann, interface charge, and Robin boundary conditions, and includes the effect of dopant incomplete ionization. The solver has shown robust nonlinear convergence even in the milli-Kelvin temperature range, and has been extensively used to quickly obtain the semiclassical electrostatic potential in DQD devices. The self-consistent Schrodinger-Poisson solver has achieved robust and monotonic convergence behavior for 1D/2D/3D quantum devices at very low temperatures by using a predictor-correct iteration scheme. The QCAD simulator enables the calculation of dot-to-gate capacitances, and comparison with experiment and between solvers. It is observed that computed capacitances are in the right ballpark when compared to experiment, and quantum confinement increases capacitance when the number of electrons is fixed in a quantum dot. In addition, the coupling of QCAD with Dakota allows to rapidly identify which device layouts are more likely leading to few-electron quantum dots. Very efficient QCAD simulations on a large number of fabricated and proposed Si DQDs have made it possible to provide fast feedback for design comparison and optimization.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Reconfigurable quadruple quantum dots in a silicon nanowire transistor

We present a reconfigurable metal-oxide-semiconductor multi-gate transistor that can host a quadruple quantum dot in silicon. The device consists of an industrial quadruple-gate silicon nanowire field-effect transistor. Exploiting the corner effect, we study the versatility of the structure in the single quantum dot and the serial double quantum dot regimes and extract the relevant capacitance parameters. We address the fabrication variability of the quadruple-gate approach which, paired with improved silicon fabrication techniques, makes the corner state quantum dot approach a promising candidate for a scalable quantum information architecture.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fabrication and evaluation of series-triple quantum dots by thermal oxidation of silicon nanowire

Series-connected triple quantum dots were fabricated by a simple two-step oxidation technique using the pattern-dependent oxidation of a silicon nanowire and an additional oxidation of the nanowire through the gap of the fine gates attached to the nanowire. The characteristics of multi-dot single-electron devices are obtained. The formation of each quantum dot beneath an attached gate is confirmed by analyzing the electrical characteristics and by evaluating the gate capacitances between all pairings of gates and quantum dots. Because the gate electrode is automatically attached to each dot, the device structure benefits from scalability. This technique promises integrability of multiple quantum dots with individual control gates.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Enhancing photoluminescence of graphene quantum dots by thermal annealing of the graphite precursor

Highlights: • The enhancement of GQD photoluminescence by precursor modification is proposed. • GQD photoluminescence 4 times increased with doubled quantum yield. • Higher content of peroxyl, aldehyde and epoxy groups results in better capacitance. - Abstract: Different approaches for enhancement of the graphene quantum dots (GQDs) photoluminescence have been developed lately. We report modified electrochemical procedure for GQDs synthesis. Graphitic rods were thermal annealing at 1700 °C in vacuum and used for electrochemical quantum dots synthesis. We found that the modified GQDs (GQDs-1700) consist of two while in the structure of pristine (p-GQDs) three graphene layers are measured. The main structural difference between GQDs is the increased structural disorder, caused by a higher amount of the oxygen containing functional groups in the structure of GQDs-1700. The photoluminescence of GQDs-1700 is 4 times more intense, red shifted and with doubled Quantum Yield compared to p-GQDs. In addition, the changes in electrochemical behavior of GQDs are observed: the higher capacitance was noticed if GQDs posses more reducible functional groups, such as peroxyl, aldehyde and epoxy groups while increase in keto functional groups leads to the lower capacitance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

State-conditional coherent charge qubit oscillations in a Si/SiGe quadruple quantum dot

Universal quantum computation requires high-fidelity single-qubit rotations and controlled two-qubit gates. Along with high-fidelity single-qubit gates, strong efforts have been made in developing robust two-qubit logic gates in electrically gated quantum dot systems to realise a compact and nanofabrication-compatible architecture. Here we perform measurements of state-conditional coherent oscillations of a charge qubit. Using a quadruple quantum dot formed in a Si/SiGe heterostructure, we show the first demonstration of coherent two-axis control of a double quantum dot charge qubit in undoped Si/SiGe, performing Larmor and Ramsey oscillation measurements. We extract the strength of the capacitive coupling between a pair of double quantum dots by measuring the detuning energy shift (≈75 μeV) of one double dot depending on the excess charge configuration of the other double dot. Finally, we further demonstrate that the strong capacitive coupling allows fast, state-conditional Landau–Zener–Stückelberg oscillations with a conditional π phase flip time of about 80 ps, showing a promising pathway towards multi-qubit entanglement and control in semiconductor quantum dots.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Chemically assembled double-dot single-electron transistor analyzed by the orthodox model considering offset charge

We present the analysis of chemically assembled double-dot single-electron transistors using orthodox model considering offset charges. First, we fabricate chemically assembled single-electron transistors (SETs) consisting of two Au nanoparticles between electroless Au-plated nanogap electrodes. Then, extraordinary stable Coulomb diamonds in the double-dot SETs are analyzed using the orthodox model, by considering offset charges on the respective quantum dots. We determine the equivalent circuit parameters from Coulomb diamonds and drain current vs. drain voltage curves of the SETs. The accuracies of the capacitances and offset charges on the quantum dots are within ±10%, and ±0.04e (where e is the elementary charge), respectively. The parameters can be explained by the geometrical structures of the SETs observed using scanning electron microscopy images. Using this approach, we are able to understand the spatial characteristics of the double quantum dots, such as the relative distance from the gate electrode and the conditions for adsorption between the nanogap electrodes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Silver-epoxy microwave filters and thermalizers for millikelvin experiments

We present silver-epoxy filters combining excellent microwave attenuation with efficient wire thermalization, suitable for low temperature quantum transport experiments. Upon minimizing parasitic capacitances, the attenuation reaches ≥100 dB above ≈150 MHz and—when capacitors are added—already above ≈30 MHz. We measure the device electron temperature with a GaAs quantum dot and demonstrate excellent filter performance. Upon improving the sample holder and adding a second filtering stage, we obtain electron temperatures as low as 7.5 ± 0.2 mK in metallic Coulomb blockade thermometers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Generating single photons at gigahertz modulation-speed using electrically controlled quantum dot microlenses

We report on the generation of single-photon pulse trains at a repetition rate of up to 1 GHz. We achieve this speed by modulating the external voltage applied on an electrically contacted quantum dot microlens, which is optically excited by a continuous-wave laser. By modulating the photoluminescence of the quantum dot microlens using a square-wave voltage, single-photon emission is triggered with a response time as short as (281 ± 19) ps, being 6 times faster than the radiative lifetime of (1.75 ± 0.02) ns. This large reduction in the characteristic emission time is enabled by a rapid capacitive gating of emission from the quantum dot, which is placed in the intrinsic region of a p-i-n-junction biased below the onset of electroluminescence. Here, since our circuit acts as a rectifying differentiator, the rising edge of the applied voltage pulses triggers the emission of single photons from the optically excited quantum dot. The non-classical nature of the photon pulse train generated at GHz-speed is proven by intensity autocorrelation measurements with g{sup (2)}(0) = 0.3 ± 0.1. Our results combine optical excitation with fast electrical gating and thus show promise for the generation of indistinguishable single photons at rates exceeding the limitations set by the intrinsic radiative lifetime.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Experimental verification of effects of barrier dopings on the internal electric fields and the band structure in InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes

We experimentally clarify the effects of barrier dopings on the polarization induced electric fields and the band structure in InGaN/GaN blue light emitting diodes. Both effects were independently verified by using electric field modulated reflectance and capacitance-voltage measurement. It is shown that the Si barrier doping does reduce the polarization induced electric field in the quantum wells. But the benefit of Si-doping is nullified by modification of the band structure and depletion process. With increased number of doped barriers, smaller number of quantum wells remains in the depletion region at the onset of the diffusion process, which can reduce the effective active volume and enhance the electron overflow.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Electrochemical capacitance-voltage profiling of the free-carrier concentration in HEMT heterostructures based on InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs compounds

The depth distribution of free carriers over the HEMT structures with quantum-well layers is studied by electrochemical capacitance-voltage profiling. It is shown that the actual distribution of the concentration of free carriers and their energy spectrum in the HEMT structure channel can be obtained by numerical simulation of the results of profiling based on the self-consistent solution of one-dimensional Schroedinger and Poisson equations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗