Quantum tunneling sensitivity

In this work, we present a brief introduction to the nonequilibrium Green s function method and discuss two important examples in which nonequli-brium Green s functions can be employed (1) electric current calculations in molecular tunneling devices and (2) in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells. 

Our interest in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSC) is motivated by recent experiments in the Parkinson group (UW), where a two-electron transfer from excitonic states of a QD to a semiconductor was observed [32]. The main goal of this section is to understand a fundamental mechanism of electron transfer in solar cells. An electron transfer scheme in a QDSSC is illustrated in Figure 5.22. As discussed in introduction, quantum correlations play a crucial role in electron transfer. Thus, we briefly describe the theory [99] in which different correlation mechanisms such as e-ph and e-e interactions in a QD and e-ph interactions in a SM are considered. A time-dependent electric field of an arbitrary shape interacting with QD electrons is described in a dipole approximation. The interaction between a SM and a QD is presented in terms of the tunneling Hamiltonian, that is, in... 

When the H- H dipole-dipole interaction can be measured for a specific pair of H nuclei, studies of the temperature dependence of both the H NMR line-shape and the H NMR relaxation provide a powerful way of probing the molecular dynamics, even in very low temperature regimes at which the dynamics often exhibit quantum tunnelling behaviour. In such cases, H NMR can be superior to quasielastic neutron scattering experiments in terms of both practicality and resolution. The experimental analysis can be made even more informative by carrying out H NMR measurements on single crystal samples. In principle, studies of both the H NMR lineshape and relaxation properties can be used to derive correlation times (rc) for the motion in practice, however, spin-lattice relaxation time (T measurements are more often used to measure rc as they are sensitive to the effects of motion over considerably wider temperature ranges. 

For the partially deuterated benzoic acid (C6D5COOH), the solid state H NMR spectrum is dominated by the intra-dimer H- H dipole-dipole interaction. In a single crystal, both tautomers A and B are characterised by a well-defined interproton vector with respect to the direction of the magnetic field (Fig. 1). Proton motion modulates the H- H dipole-dipole interactions, which in turn affects the H NMR lineshape and the spin-lattice relaxation time. It has been shown that spin-lattice relaxation times are sensitive to the proton dynamics over the temperature range from 10 K to 300 K, and at low temperatures incoherent quantum tunnelling characterises the proton dynamics. A dipolar splitting of about 16 kHz is observed at 20 K. From the orientation dependence of the dipolar splitting, the... 

This effect can in principle be measured by any technique that is sensitive to the magnetisation dynamics and in addition to the SQUID measurements above quantum tunnelling of magnetisation (QTM) has been observed for Mni2 by, for example, torque magnetometry, and Mn nuclear relaxation rates in and specific heat. ... 

Josephson110 Effect. If two superconductors are separated by a thin layer (<3 nm for an insulator, several micrometers for a metal), then both a DC Josephson effect and an AC Josephson effect can occur. In the DC Josephson effect, a supercurrent can bridge the layer by quantum-mechanical tunneling, but there is a change in phase, which can be detected. It is very sensitive to magnetic fields indeed the supercurrent has the form f = f0 sin (O/O0)/ 7i(/0), where I0 depends on the temperature and the structure of the junction. If a DC potential V is applied across a Josephson junction, then the AC Josephson effect creates a response at a frequency... 

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