Conductance Quantization Research Articles

Ab initio study of quantized conduction mechanism in trilayered heterostructure for scaled down memory device applications

Interface of the layered heterostructure revealing the quantized conductance phenomena which cannot be achieved with either semiconducting layer alone in absence of externally applied electric field has wide range of applications in electronic industry of RRAM devices. A comprehensive analysis of electronic properties of CeO2/Ta2O5/CeO2 trilayered heterostructure has been carried out using first principle calculation employing VASP to explore the state of art of RRAM including barrier height, barrier width, conducting filament width and shape. For better understanding of conduction mechanism involved in RS, the influence of crystalline and amorphous phase of Ta2O5 sandwiched between CeO2 layers is analyzed by potential energy lineups, DOS, isosurface and integrated charge density plots. Origin of quantized states formed near the Fermi level in DOS is provided physically by growth of charge conducting filaments in isosurface charge density plots, and charge redistribution from Bader charge analysis. Outcomes of this study confirmed that with more quantized charge, crystalline Ta2O5 is better for interfacial RRAM devices. Apart from previously available findings, results of this study will provide new route to the potential application of this layered material in electronics especially storage devices.

Nanoribbons of large-gap quantum spin Hall insulator: electronic structures and transport properties

Two-dimensional Bi grown on semiconductor substrate, a large-gap quantum spin Hall insulator characterized by a (p x , p y )-orbital hexagonal lattice, has been theoretically proposed and experimentally confirmed. Here, by combining tight-binding modeling with first-principles calculations, we investigate the electronic structures and quantum transport properties of Bi nanoribbons (NRs), focusing on the topological edge states for nanoelectronics. We reveal that band gap emerges due to the quantum confinement, and the gaps size depends crucially on the width and edge shape: for zigzag NRs, the gap decreases monotonically with the increase of width; while for armchair NRs, it can be categorized into three subgroups with band-gap hierarchies of Eg(3p−1)>Eg(3p)>Eg(3p+1) , so that the overall relation is an oscillating dependence dumped by 1/width decay. Quantum transport calculations demonstrate that the conductance is quantized to 2 e2/h , and an applied gate voltage can efficiently regulate the conductance plateau, originating from the interplay between gate voltage and topological gaps. Furthermore, the quantized conductance remains robust against strong disorder, suggesting the unique advantage of topological states for electronic transport. This work not only provides fundamental insights into the electronic properties of topological insulator nanostructures, but also sheds light on the potential applications of exotic states for quantum devices compatible with semiconductor technology.

Transport Study of Charge-Carrier Scattering in Monolayer WSe_{2}.

Employing flux-grown single crystal WSe_{2}, we report charge-carrier scattering behaviors measured in h-BN encapsulated monolayer field effect transistors. We observe a nonmonotonic change of transport mobility as a function of hole density in the degenerately doped sample, which can be explained by energy dependent scattering amplitude of strong defects calculated using the T-matrix approximation. Utilizing long mean-free path (>500 nm), we also demonstrate the high quality of our electronic devices by showing quantized conductance steps from an electrostatically defined quantum point contact, showing the potential for creating ultrahigh quality quantum optoelectronic devices based on atomically thin semiconductors.

Quantum Conductance in Vertical Hexagonal Boron Nitride Memristors with Graphene-Edge Contacts.

Two-dimensional materials (2DMs) have gained significant interest for resistive-switching memory toward neuromorphic and in-memory computing (IMC). To achieve atomic-level miniaturization, we introduce vertical hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) memristors with graphene edge contacts. In addition to enabling three-dimensional (3D) integration (i.e., vertical stacking) for ultimate scalability, the proposed structure delivers ultralow power by isolating single conductive nanofilaments (CNFs) in ultrasmall active areas with negligible leakage thanks to atomically thin (∼0.3 nm) graphene edge contacts. Moreover, it facilitates studying fundamental resistive-switching behavior of single CNFs in CVD-grown 2DMs that was previously unattainable with planar devices. This way, we studied their programming characteristics and observed a consistent single quantum step in conductance attributed to unique atomically constrained nanofilament behavior in CVD-grown 2DMs. This resistive-switching property was previously suggested for h-BN memristors and linked to potential improvements in stability (robustness of CNFs), and now we show experimental evidence including superior retention of quantized conductance.

Revealing the quantum nature of the voltage-induced conductance changes in oxygen engineered yttrium oxide-based RRAM devices

In this work, the quasi-analog to discrete transition occurring in the current–voltage characteristic of oxygen engineered yttrium oxide-based resistive random-access memory (RRAM) devices is investigated in detail. In particular, the focus of our research is not on the absolute conductance values of this characteristic but on the magnitude of its conductance changes occurring during the reset process of the device. It is found that the detected changes correspond to conductance values predominantly of the order of the quantum unit of conductance G0 = 2e2/h, where e is the electron charge and h the Planck constant. This feature is observed even at conductance levels far above G0, i.e. where electron transport is seemingly diffusive. It is also observed that such behavior is reproducible across devices comprising yttrium oxide layers with different oxygen concentrations and measured under different voltage sweep rates. While the oxygen deficiency affects the total number of quantized conductance states, the magnitude of the changes in conductance, close to 1 G0, is invariant to the oxygen content of the functional layer.

Nanoionics enabled atomic point contact construction and quantum conductance effects.

The miniaturization of electronic devices is important for the development of high-density and function-integrated information devices. Atomic-point-contact (APC) structures refer to narrow contact areas formed by one or more atoms between two conductive electrodes that produce quantum conductance effects when the electrons pass through the APC channel, providing a new development path for the miniaturization of information devices. Recently, nanoionics has enabled the electric field reconfiguration of APC structures in solid-state electrolytes, offering new approaches to controlling the quantum conductance states, which may lead to the development of emerging information technologies with low power consumption, high speed, and high density. This review provides an overview of APC structures with a focus on the fabrication methods enabled by nanoionics technology. In particular, the advantages of electric field-driven nanoionics in the construction of APC structures are summarized, and the influence of external fields on quantum conductance effects is discussed. Recent studies on electric field regulation of APC structures to achieve precise control of quantum conductance states are also reviewed. The potential applications of quantum conductance effects in memory, computing, and encryption-related information technologies are further explored. Finally, the challenges and future prospects of quantum conductance effects in APC structures are discussed.

Quantum Conductivity in Single and Coupled Quantum-Dimensional Particles of Narrow-Gap Semiconductors

Quantum Conductivity in Single and Coupled Quantum-Dimensional Particles of Narrow-Gap Semiconductors

Quantum Conductance within Luttinger Liquid from Parity Inversion and Time Rversal Symmetryic Interaction

Quantum Conductance within Luttinger Liquid from Parity Inversion and Time Rversal Symmetryic Interaction

Effect of interfacial electronic structure on conductivity and space charge characteristics of core-shell quantum dots/polyethylene nanocomposite insulation

To investigate the effect of the interface electronic structure of core-shell quantum dots on the conductivity and space charge characteristics of polyethylene insulation, nanocomposite insulations, namely CdSe@ZnS/LDPE and ZnSe@ZnS/LDPE, are synthesized. The study focuses on elucidating the evolution patterns of DC conductivity and space charge in the nanocomposite insulation, and analyzing the effect of the interfacial electronic structure of core-shell quantum dots on the distribution of charge traps. Comparative analysis reveals that in contrast to LDPE insulation, ZnSe@ZnS/LDPE nanocomposite insulation demonstrates a substantial reduction in DC conductivity by 47.2% and a decrease in space charge accumulation by 40.3% under the conditions of elevated temperature and strong electric field. The increase of trap energy level means an enhanced trap effect on charger carriers. According to density functional theory, the band structure characteristics of core-shell quantum dots integrated with polyethylene are computationally assessed. The findings underscore that the band misalignment at the core-shell interface and the shell-insulation interface induces shifts in the conduction band bottom and at the valence band top, respectively. These shifts impose a confinement effect on electrons and holes, with the extent of this effect escalating with the augment of the difference in band gap between the core layer and the shell layer. Consequently, this phenomenon curtails carrier migration, thereby inhibiting space charge accumulation under the conditions of elevated temperature and strong electric fields.

Gate-defined quantum point contacts in a germanium quantum well.

We report an experimental study of quantum point contacts defined in a high-quality strained germanium quantum well with layered electric gates. At a zero magnetic field, we observed quantized conductance plateaus in units of 2e2/h. Bias-spectroscopy measurements reveal that the energy spacing between successive one-dimensional subbands ranges from 1.5 to 5 meV as a consequence of the small effective mass of the holes and the narrow gate constrictions. At finite magnetic fields perpendicular to the device plane, the edges of the conductance plateaus get split due to the Zeeman effect and Landé g factors were estimated to be ∼6.6 for the holes in the germanium quantum well. We demonstrate that all quantum point contacts in the same device have comparable performances, indicating a reliable and reproducible device fabrication process. Thus, our work lays a foundation for investigating multiple forefronts of physics in germanium-based quantum devices that require quantum point contacts as building blocks.

Electrochemical rewiring through quantum conductance effects in single metallic memristive nanowires.

Memristive devices have been demonstrated to exhibit quantum conductance effects at room temperature. In these devices, a detailed understanding of the relationship between electrochemical processes and ionic dynamic underlying the formation of atomic-sized conductive filaments and corresponding electronic transport properties in the quantum regime still represents a challenge. In this work, we report on quantum conductance effects in single memristive Ag nanowires (NWs) through a combined experimental and simulation approach that combines advanced classical molecular dynamics (MD) algorithms and quantum transport simulations (DFT). This approach provides new insights on quantum conductance effects in memristive devices by unravelling the intrinsic relationship between electronic transport and atomic dynamic reconfiguration of the nanofilment, by shedding light on deviations from integer multiples of the fundamental quantum of conductance depending on peculiar dynamic trajectories of nanofilament reconfiguration and on conductance fluctuations relying on atomic rearrangement due to thermal fluctuations.

Topological phases, local magnetic moments, and spin polarization triggered by C558-line defects in armchair graphene nanoribbons.

The topological and magnetic properties induced by topological defects in graphene have attracted attention. Here, we study a novel topological defect structure for graphene nanoribbons interspersed with C558-line defects along the armchair boundary, which possesses topological properties and is tritopic. Using strain engineering to regulate the magnitude of hopping at defects, the position of the energy level can be easily changed to achieve a topological phase transition. We also discuss the local magnetic moment and the ferromagnetic ground state in the context of line defects. This leads to spin polarization of the whole system. Finally, when C558 graphene nanoribbons are controlled by a nonlocal exchange magnetic field, spin-polarized quantum conductivity occurs near the Fermi level. Consequently, spin filtering can be achieved by varying the incident energy of the electrons. Our results provide new insights into realizing topological and spin electronics in low-dimensional quantum devices.

Plunger gate effects on magneto transport in double-top gate spin-orbit devices

A propagation matrix method is used to investigate the quantum conductance of an n-type double-top gate device under a strong Rashba-Zeeman coupling interaction. The effects of a plunger gate potential and the total top gate length on the magneto conduction properties are investigated. Transcendental equations and analytical formulas are derived to accurately predict the resonance state and hole-like bound state structures. Furthermore, the effect of the distance of the two top gates from the plunger gate is examined for both symmetric and asymmetric structures. The analytical technique employed in this study provides an accurate and reliable approach for calculating the conductance of the quantum transport and is therefore beneficial for the design of n-type semiconductor devices.

HfO2-Based Switching Devices with Nitridation of the Bottom Electrode

HfO2 -based Resistive Switching devices are a promising candidate for in-memory computing due to their lowpower consumption, good endurance, reliability, and compatibility with CMOS technology [1]. Controlling theoxygen vacancy (Vo) distribution near the top and bottom electrodes by selecting proper metal-dielectric-metalstack materials has impact on the performance of the device [2-3]. Significant improvement in switching poweris achieved when Vo distribution is higher near the top electrode (TE) and lower near the bottom electrode [4].Introducing nitridation treatment to the TiN bottom electrode shows a significant reduction in switching powerand superior conductance quantization with nanosecond pulse width of programing pulsed operation [5].In this work we studied different TiN bottom electrode (BE) films in the TiN/HZO/TiN MIM toinvestigate its impact of BE TiN on the switching characteristics. Fig. 1 shows schematic for the two differentswitching devices with identical top electrodes (10 nm PVD TiN) and same switching dielectric (10 nm HZO) butwith different N2 levels of 30 nm TiN at the BE. Device-B has higher level of N2 compared to device-A. Formingprocess was performed by applying DC voltage sweep with 1nA compliance current. The device-A has the lowestforming power (0.86nW) as shown in Fig. 2(a). An increase in the forming power consumption was observed fordevice-B (2.45nW) as shown in Fig. 2(b). We carried out the carrier transport characterization at the highresistance state (HRS) prior to forming process. Fig. 2(c)&(d) shows the conduction process in both devices. Indevice-A, the current conduction mechanism followed the hopping conduction in the dielectric as shown in Fig.2(c). The hopping conduction is a bulk-limited conduction mechanism depends on the electrical properties of thedielectric itself such as the trap energy level [6]. The conduction mechanism in device-B (high N2) (Fig. 2(d)) andwas dominated by the Schottky conduction in the HZO layer, which is an electrode-limited conduction thatdepends on the electrical properties at the electrode-dielectric interface [6]. When the active nitrogen atoms areintroduced to the BE, it diffuses to the dielectric due to increased concentration, then connect to the hafnium iondangling bonds as their lone-pair electrons, since the bonding energy of the Hf–N bond is very low (535eV)compared with that of the Hf–O bond (801eV) [7]. This allows a migration of Vo towards TE and reducing the Voconcentration near the BE for device-A leading to carrier hopping. On the other hand, Vo concentration near theBE is completely purged because of high nitrogen concentration (device-B) leading to Schottky conduction. Thisexplains the reduction of forming power in device-A. Fig. 3 shows the resistance distribution after applying 30DC sweeps with reading voltage of 0.1V after each sweep. The device-B (high N2) shows the largest windowbetween HRS and LRS compared to the other devices. That further confirms the forming process in these devices.In summary, low level of N2 reduces the forming power while higher level of N2 enhances the resistance windowbetween LRS and HRS because of Vo concentration variation near BE.

Synthesizing 2h/e2 resistance plateau at the first Landau level confined in a quantum point contact

A comprehensive understanding of quantum Hall edge transmission, especially a hole-conjugate of a Laughlin state such as a 2/3 state, is critical for advancing fundamental quantum Hall physics and enhancing the design of quantum Hall edge interferometry. In this study, we show a robust intermediate 2h/e2 resistance quantization in a quantum point contact (QPC) when the bulk is set at the fractional filling 2/3 quantum Hall state. Our results suggest the occurrence of two equilibration processes. First, the co-propagating 1/3 edges moving along a soft QPC arm confining potential fully equilibrate and act as a single 2/3 edge mode. Second, the 2/3 edge mode is further equilibrated with an integer 1 edge mode formed in the QPC. The complete mixing between them results in a diagonal resistance value quantized at 2h/e2. Similar processes occur for a bulk filling 5/3, leading to an intermediate (2/3)h/e2 resistance quantization. This finding highlights the importance of understanding the equilibration mechanisms that occur between different edge modes, offering insights into the processes of edge equilibration.

Enhanced optical conductivity and many-body effects in strongly-driven photo-excited semi-metallic graphite

The excitation of quasi-particles near the extrema of the electronic band structure is a gateway to electronic phase transitions in condensed matter. In a many-body system, quasi-particle dynamics are strongly influenced by the electronic single-particle structure and have been extensively studied in the weak optical excitation regime. Yet, under strong optical excitation, where light fields coherently drive carriers, the dynamics of many-body interactions that can lead to new quantum phases remain largely unresolved. Here, we induce such a highly non-equilibrium many-body state through strong optical excitation of charge carriers near the van Hove singularity in graphite. We investigate the system’s evolution into a strongly-driven photo-excited state with attosecond soft X-ray core-level spectroscopy. We find an enhancement of the optical conductivity of nearly ten times the quantum conductivity and pinpoint it to carrier excitations in flat bands. This interaction regime is robust against carrier-carrier interaction with coherent optical phonons acting as an attractive force reminiscent of superconductivity. The strongly-driven non-equilibrium state is markedly different from the single-particle structure and macroscopic conductivity and is a consequence of the non-adiabatic many-body state.

Correction: Investigation of Quantum Conductance in Silicon Nanowire Doped with Boron in the Presence and Absence of (3-Aminopropyl) Triethoxysilane Molecule

Correction: Investigation of Quantum Conductance in Silicon Nanowire Doped with Boron in the Presence and Absence of (3-Aminopropyl) Triethoxysilane Molecule

Theoretical occurrence of quantized chemistry of conduction mechanism in layered perovskite for the application of Resistive Random Access Memory devices

AbstractThe Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations interpreted the electronic and optical alteration of Ruddlesden–Popper layered perovskite (Sr3Zr2O7) with substitutional doping of Ti‐, Hf‐, and Ti+Hf‐ atoms in place of Zr‐atoms by generating the oxygen vacancies (Vos) defect. Formation energy and phonon calculations confirmed that the studied composites are dynamically stable, and the lattice parameters of the considered RP perovskite with and without vacancy defects did not change by introducing a small concentration of doped elements. The doped Sr3Zr2O7 composites show band gap tuning in the presence and absence of Vos, which was 3.31 eV in pristine form, and localized states near the Fermi line due to dopant and Vos, which confirmed the quantized conductance in all composites and may be beneficial for overcoming uniformity issues in nonvolatile memory devices. Isosurface charge density calculations also verified this result by depicting the physical mechanism of charge accumulation and depletion in the layers of RP perovskite in the vicinity of defects, resulting in residual conducting filaments guiding its growth and leading it to a low resistance state. The photosensitive response of this layered perovskite also confirmed its use for memory storage applications. The valuable outcomes of this study predicted that Sr3Zr2O7+Ti+Hf is the most stable and, hence, the best composite for nonvolatile RRAM device applications.

Two-dimensional topological insulators: past, present and future

Two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators (TIs) are special quantum conductors that possess an insulating bulk but metallic edge with quantized charge and spin conductance protected by electron band topology. The concept of topology and TI has not only renewed our fundamental understanding of electronic properties of solid materials, but also opened an exciting avenue towards potential applications of topological quantum devices with minimized heat dissipation and robustness against disorder. In this video article, I will first introduce and review the concept of TIs within the context of transport properties of solid-state materials. I will then use two examples, the organic 2D TIs and the surface-based 2D topological states, to recap the rapid theoretical and experimental developments made in this emerging field. The existence of quantized edge conductance and topological edge states of 2D TIs has been so far confirmed experimentally in several systems, such as semiconductor quantum wells, 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, metallic overlayer of bismuth on a semiconductor surface. However, discovery of high-temperature 2D TIs and construction of functional TI-based quantum devices remain largely elusive. At the end of this video article, I will offer briefly my personal perspective and possible future directions in low-dimensional topological materials.

QUANTIZATION OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTANCE IN LAYERED Zr/ZrO<sub>2</sub>/Au MEMRISTIVE STRUCTURES

Anodic zirconia nanotubes are a promising functional medium for the formation of non-volatile resistive memory cells. The current-voltage characteristics in the region of low conductivity of the fabricated Zr/ZrO2/Au memristor structures have been studied in this work. For the first time, the reversible mechanisms of formation/destruction of single quantum conductors based on oxygen vacancies, which participate in processes of multiple resistive switching between low- and high-resistance states in a nanotubular dioxide layer, have been analyzed. An equivalent electrical circuit of a parallel resistor connection have been proposed and discussed to describe the observed memristive behavior of the studied layered structures.