Adiabatic Pumping Research Articles

Quantum charge pumping in graphene-based devices: When lattice defects do help

Quantum charge pumping, the quantum coherent generation of a dc current at zero bias through time-dependent potentials, provides outstanding opportunities for metrology and the development of nanodevices. The long electronic coherence times and high quality of the crystal structure of graphene may provide suitable building blocks for such quantum pumps. Here, we focus in adiabatic quantum pumping through graphene nanoribbons in the Fabry-Pérot regime highlighting the crucial role of defects by using atomistic simulations. We show that even a single defect added to the pristine structure may produce a two orders of magnitude increase in the pumped charge.

Electrohydrodynamic Conduction Driven Single- and Two-Phase Flow in Microchannels With Heat Transfer

Microchannels have well-known applications in cooling because of their ability to handle large quantities of heat from small areas. Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pumping at the microscale has previously been demonstrated to effectively pump dielectric liquids through adiabatic microchannels by using electrodes that are flushed against the walls of the channel. In this study, an EHD micropump is used to pump liquid within a two-phase loop that contains a microchannel evaporator. Additional EHD electrodes are embedded within the evaporator, which can be energized separately from the adiabatic pump. The effect of these embedded electrodes on the heat transport process, flow rate, and pressure in the micro-evaporator and on the two-phase loop system is characterized. Local enhancements are found to be up to 30% at low heat fluxes. The reverse effect that phase-change has on the EHD conduction pumping phenomenon is also quantified.

Adiabatic quantum pumping in graphene with magnetic barriers

We study an adiabatic quantum pump effect in a two terminal graphene device with two oscillating square electric barriers and a stationary magnetic barrier using the scattering matrix approach. The model employs the low-energy Dirac approximation and incorporates the possible existence of a finite band gap in graphene spectrum. We show that in this case valley-polarized and pure valley currents can be pumped due to the valley symmetry breaking. For a \delta-function magnetic barrier we present analytical expressions for bilinear total and valley pumping responses. These results are compared to numerical ones for a double \delta-function, a square and a triple square magnetic barriers.

Adiabatic pumping through an interacting quantum dot with spin-orbit coupling

We study adiabatic pumping through a two-level quantum dot with spin-orbit coupling. Using a diagrammatic real-time approach, we calculate both the pumped charge and spin for a periodic variation of the dot's energy levels in the limit of weak tunnel coupling. Thereby, we compare the two limits of vanishing and infinitely large charging energy on the quantum dot. We discuss the dependence of the pumped charge and pumped spin on gate voltages, the symmetry in the tunnel-matrix elements and spin-orbit coupling strength. We identify the possibility to generate pure spin currents in the absence of charge currents.

Quantum pump in a system with both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit couplings

Abstract We investigate the adiabatic quantum pump phenomena in a semiconductor with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin–orbit couplings (SOCs). Although it is driven by applying spin-independent potentials, the system can pump out spin-dependent currents, i.e., generate nonzero charge and spin currents at the same time. The SOC can modulate both the magnitude and the direction of currents, exhibiting an oscillating behavior. Moreover, it is shown that the spin current has different sensitivities to two types of the SOC. These results provide an alternative method to adjust pumped current and might be helpful for designing spin pumping devices.

Adiabatic pumping in the quasi-one-dimensional triangle lattice

We analyze the properties of the quasi-one-dimensional triangle lattice emphasizing the occurrence of flat bands and band touching via the tuning of the lattice hopping parameters and on-site energies. The spectral properties of the infinite system will be compared with the transmission through a finite piece of the lattice with attached semi-infinite leads. Furthermore, we investigate the adiabatic pumping properties of such a system: depending on the transmission through the lattice, this results in nonzero integer charge transfers or transfers that increase linearly with the lattice size.

绝热量子泵浦的参数优化

量子泵浦是在无偏压的输运器件中通过调控系统参数随时间周期性变化而产生直流电流的物理过程。根据绝热量子泵浦理论，计算散射矩阵元及其对调控参数的导数在参数空间的面积分可以简单地得到泵浦过程的直流电流或泵浦电量。本文针对一维含时缓变双势垒驱动的量子泵浦模型，采用Berry曲率函数具体计算了不同的系统参数对泵浦电流大小取值的影响。以双参数线性驱动和简谐驱动为例，得到了产生最大泵浦电流的参数变化形式。另外，我们采用的理论方法既可以统一地处理多光子吸收和发射过程，又可以完全包涵泵浦电流随双势垒驱动参数相位差变化的所有高阶谐波项，加深对量子泵浦过程的非简谐效应的认识。 The quantum pump phenomenon is that a dc current can be generated at zero bias in the transport device through regulation of system parameters that change periodically with time. According to the adiabatic quantum pump theory, the quantum pumping process of dc current or pump power can be got by using the area integral of the scattering matrix derivatives to the control parameters in the parameter space. In the present work, the quantum pump through a one-dimensional system with time-dependent double-δ-barrier potentials is considered. By introducing the Berry cur-vature function, we calculated the influence of the different system parameters to the pump current. Taking two linear and harmonic drivers as two examples, we achieved the parameter variation pattern to generate maximum pump current. In addition, our theoretical approach not only can analysis one-photon and multi-photon absorption and emission proc- esses within one framework, but also can be completely inclusion the higher order harmonics terms of pumped current as a function of the driving phase difference in double barrier, i.e. the anharmonic effects of quantum pump, are totally included in the parameter space integral.

A dynamical probe of superfluidity in one-dimension: The adiabatic quantum pump

Quantum pumping as a dynamical probe of the superfluid response of a one-dimensional (1D) quantum fluid is discussed. It is shown that a spatially periodic potential, oscillating adiabatically in time with frequency ω0, acts as a quantum pump inducing a continuous momentum current from broken spatiotemporal symmetries of the driven potential. The momentum current generated by the pump is strongly affected by the interactions. It has a power-law dependence on the frequency and the temperature with the exponent determined by the interaction. It depends on the phase difference between two umklapp terms of the drive, providing indication for the effect of quantum phase slips on the decay of superflow. Application of the results in understanding the superfluid properties of helium confined in nanometer-size pores or of laser-cooled atoms is briefly discussed.

Entanglement spectrum and Wannier center flow of the Hofstadter problem

We examine the quantum entanglement spectra and Wannier functions of the square lattice Hofstadter model. Consistent with previous work on entanglement spectra of topological band structures, we find that the entanglement levels exhibit a spectral flow similar to that of the full system's energy spectrum. While the energy spectra are continuous, with open boundary conditions the entanglement spectra exhibit discontinuities associated with the passage of an energy edge state through the Fermi level. We show how the entanglement spectrum can be understood by examining the band projectors of the full system and their behavior under adiabatic pumping. In so doing we make connections with the original TKNN work on topological two-dimensional band structures and their Chern numbers. Finally we consider Wannier states and their adiabatic flows, and draw connections to the entanglement properties.

Magnetoelectric Effects in Superconducting Nanowires with Rashba Spin-Orbit Coupling

Recent experiments in semiconductor nanowires with a spin-orbit coupling and proximity-induced superconductivity exhibit signatures of Majorana bound states predicted to exist in the topological phase. In this Letter we predict that these nanowire systems exhibit unconventional magnetoelectric effects showing a sharp crossover behavior at the topological phase transition. We find that magnetic fields with a component parallel to the spin-orbit field can give rise to currents in equilibrium. Surprisingly, also fields perpendicular to the spin-orbit field may induce currents and can be employed in adiabatic charge pumping. The perpendicular field magnetoelectric effect may be regarded as a manifestation of the anomalous Hall effect in one dimension. We discuss how the predicted phenomena could be observed in experiments and employed in probing the topological phase transition.

Adiabatic quantum pumping through surface states in 3D topological insulators

We investigate adiabatic quantum pumping of ballistic Dirac fermions on the surface of a strong three-dimensional topological insulator. Two different geometries are studied in detail, a normal metal–ferromagnetic–normal metal (NFN) junction and a ferromagnetic–normal metal–ferromagnetic (FNF) junction. Using a scattering matrix approach, we show that each time a new resonant mode appears in the transport window the pumped current exhibits a maximum and provide a detailed analysis of the position of these maxima. We also predict a characteristic difference between the pumped current in NFN- and FNF-junctions: whereas the former vanishes for carriers at normal incidence, the latter is finite due to the different nature of wavefunction interference in the junctions. Finally, we predict an experimentally distinguishable difference between the pumped current and the conductance.

Generation of large spin currents in graphene using adiabatic quantum pumping

We study adiabatic quantum pumping of Dirac fermions in a monolayer graphene in the large pumping amplitude regime in order to study how to generate a large spin polarized current. Spin current is generated by applying two periodic oscillating gate voltages to a monolayer graphene with exchange splitting induced by ferromagnetic proximity. We find that pumped charge and spin currents are sensitive functions of the Fermi energy and pure spin current and spin current with different degrees of polarization and large magnitudes are obtained in our scheme. We also study the effects of parameters of the system, such as the barrier separation and the exchange splitting, on the pumped currents. The spin current generated by this method can be as high as 80-100 nA. This shows the method can be used in the study of spin physics in graphene and the realization of graphene spintronic devices.

Rashba spin-orbit-interaction-based quantum pump in graphene

We present a proposal for an adiabatic quantum pump based on a graphene monolayer patterned by electrostatic gates and operated in the low-energy Dirac regime. The setup under investigation works in the presence of inhomogeneous spin-orbit interactions of intrinsic- and Rashba-type and allows to generate spin polarized coherent currents. A local spin polarized current is induced by the pumping mechanism assisted by the spin-double refraction phenomenon.

Topological States and Adiabatic Pumping in Quasicrystals

The unrelated discoveries of quasicrystals and topological insulators have in turn challenged prevailing paradigms in condensed-matter physics. We find a surprising connection between quasicrystals and topological phases of matter: (i) quasicrystals exhibit nontrivial topological properties and (ii) these properties are attributed to dimensions higher than that of the quasicrystal. Specifically, we show, both theoretically and experimentally, that one-dimensional quasicrystals are assigned two-dimensional Chern numbers and, respectively, exhibit topologically protected boundary states equivalent to the edge states of a two-dimensional quantum Hall system. We harness the topological nature of these states to adiabatically pump light across the quasicrystal. We generalize our results to higher-dimensional systems and other topological indices. Hence, quasicrystals offer a new platform for the study of topological phases while their topology may better explain their surface properties.

Adiabatic charge and spin pumping through interacting quantum dots

In this paper we investigate adiabatic charge and spin pumping through interacting quantum dots using non-equilibrium Green’s function techniques and the equation-of-motion method. We treat the electronic correlations inside the dot using a Hartree–Fock approximation and succeed in obtaining closed analytic expressions for the Keldysh Green’s functions. These allow us to compute charge and spin currents through the quantum dot. Depending on the parameters of the quantum dot and its coupling to the reservoirs, we show that it can be found in two different regimes: the magnetic regime and the non-magnetic regime. In the magnetic regime we find a non-vanishing spin current in addition to the charge current present in both cases.

Pure spin current generation in monolayer graphene by quantum pumping

We study a method to generate pure spin current in monolayer graphene over a wide range of Fermi energy by adiabatic quantum pumping. The device consists of three gate electrodes and two ferromagnetic strips, which induce a spin-splitting in the graphene through the proximity effect. A pure spin current is generated by applying two periodic oscillating gate voltages. We find that the pumped pure spin current is a sensitive oscillatory function of the Fermi energy. Large spin currents can be found at Fermi energies where there are Fabry–Perot resonances in the barriers. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of the parameters of the system on the pumped currents. Our predicted pumped spin current can be of the order of 100 nA which is measurable using the current technology. The proposed method is useful in the realization of graphene spintronic devices.

Nonadiabatic electron pumping through interacting quantum dots

We study non-adiabatic charge pumping through single-level quantum dots taking into account Coulomb interactions. We show how a truncated set of equations of motion can be propagated in time by means of an auxiliary-mode expansion. This formalism is capable of treating the time-dependent electronic transport for arbitrary driving parameters. We verify that the proposed method describes very precisely the well-known limit of adiabatic pumping through quantum dots without Coulomb interactions. As an example we discuss pumping driven by short voltage pulses for various interaction strengths. Such finite pulses are particular suited to investigate transient non-adiabatic effects, which may be also important for periodic drivings, where they are much more difficult to reveal.

Topological classification of adiabatic processes

Certain band insulators allow for the adiabatic pumping of quantized charge or spin for special time-dependences of the Hamiltonian. These "topological pumps" are closely related to two dimensional topological insulating phases of matter upon rolling the insulator up to a cylinder and threading it with a time dependent flux. In this article we extend the classification of topological pumps to the Wigner Dyson and chiral classes, coupled to multi-channel leads. The topological index distinguishing different topological classes is formulated in terms of the scattering matrix of the system. We argue that similar to topologically non-trivial insulators, topological pumps are characterized by the appearance of protected gapless end states during the course of a pumping cycle. We show that this property allows for the pumping of quantized charge or spin in the weak coupling limit. Our results may also be applied to two dimensional topological insulators, where they give a physically transparent interpretation of the topologically non-trivial phases in terms of scattering matrices.

Electron and spin transport in adiabatic quantum pump based on armchair graphene nanoribbons

The phenomenon of adiabatic quantum pump in double-barrier structures based on armchair graphene nanoribbons has been theoretically analyzed within the framework of the tight binding approximation. An analytical expression for a bilinear response is obtained that is valid at small Fermi energies. Using the effect of proximity to a ferromagnetic dielectric, it is possible to obtain both electron and pure spin currents. Dependences of the generated electron and spin currents on the Fermi energy have been numerically calculated. The validity of the adiabatic approximation is assessed based on the dwell time for electron travelling through the system.

Adiabatic pumping in a double-dot Cooper-pair beam splitter

We study adiabatic pumping through a double quantum dot coupled to normal and superconducting leads. For this purpose a perturbation expansion in the tunnel coupling between the dots and the normal leads is performed and processes underlying the pumping current are discussed. Features of crossed Andreev reflection are investigated in the average pumped charge and related to local Andreev reflection in a single quantum dot. In order to distinguish Cooper-pair splitting from quasiparticle pumping, we compare the properties of Cooper-pair pumping with single-electron pumping in a system with only normal leads. The dependence on the average dot level and the coupling asymmetry turn out to be the main distinguishing features. This is contrasted with the linear conductance for which it is more difficult to distinguish single-particle from Cooper-pair transport.