Two-dimensional Periodic Potential Research Articles

Driven particle in a two-dimensional periodic substrate: Nonmonotonic dependence of drift velocity on temperature.

Motion of a driven particle in a two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential of square symmetry is studied by means of Brownian dynamics simulations. The average drift velocity and long time diffusion coefficients are obtained as a function of driving force and temperature. For driving forces above the critical depinning force, a reduction of drift velocity is observed as temperature is increased. The drift velocity reaches a minimum for temperatures at which k_{B}T is of the order of the barrier height of the substrate potential and then increases and saturates to the value of drift velocity for the substrate free case. Depending on the driving force, the drop in drift velocity can be as large as 36% of its value at low temperatures. While this phenomenon is observed in 2D for different types of substrate potentials studied and for various drive directions, studies using the exact result show no such dip in drift velocity in one dimension (1D). As in the case of 1D, a peak is observed in the longitudinal diffusion coefficient as the driving force is varied at a fixed temperature. But unlike in 1D, the location of the peak is temperature dependent. Approximate analytical expressions for the average drift velocity and the longitudinal diffusion coefficient are formulated using the exact results in 1D by finding a temperature dependent effective 1D potential to model the motion in the presence of a 2D substrate. This approximate analysis is successful in qualitatively predicting the observations.

Diffusion in a two-dimensional energy landscape in the presence of dynamical correlations and validity of random walk model.

Diffusion in a multidimensional energy surface with minima and barriers is a problem of importance in statistical mechanics and it also has wide applications, such as protein folding. To understand it in such a system, we carry out theory and simulations of a tagged particle moving on a two-dimensional periodic potential energy surface, both in the presence and absence of noise. Langevin dynamics simulations at multiple temperatures are carried out to obtain the diffusion coefficient of a solute particle. Friction is varied from zero to large values. Diffusive motion emerges in the limit of a long time, even in the absence of noise. Noise destroys the correlations and increases diffusion at small friction. Diffusion thus exhibits a nonmonotonic friction dependence at the intermediate value of the damping, ultimately converging to our theoretically predicted value. The latter is obtained using the well-established relationship between diffusion and random walk. An excellent agreement is obtained between theory and simulations in the high-friction limit but not so in the intermediate regime. We explain the deviation in the low- to intermediate-friction regime using the modified random walk theory. The rate of escape from one cell to another is obtained from the multidimensional rate theory of Langer. We find that enhanced dimensionality plays an important role. To quantify the effects of noise on the potential-imposed coherence on the trajectories, we calculate the Lyapunov exponent. At small friction values, the Lyapunov exponent mimics the friction dependence of the rate.

Band conductivity oscillations in a gate-tunable graphene superlattice

Electrons exposed to a two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential and a uniform, perpendicular magnetic field exhibit a fractal, self-similar energy spectrum known as the Hofstadter butterfly. Recently, related high-temperature quantum oscillations (Brown-Zak oscillations) were discovered in graphene moiré systems, whose origin lies in the repetitive occurrence of extended minibands/magnetic Bloch states at rational fractions of magnetic flux per unit cell giving rise to an increase in band conductivity. In this work, we report on the experimental observation of band conductivity oscillations in an electrostatically defined and gate-tunable graphene superlattice, which are governed both by the internal structure of the Hofstadter butterfly (Brown-Zak oscillations) and by a commensurability relation between the cyclotron radius of electrons and the superlattice period (Weiss oscillations). We obtain a complete, unified description of band conductivity oscillations in two-dimensional superlattices, yielding a detailed match between theory and experiment.

Statistics of Sliding on Periodic and Atomically Flat Surfaces

Among the so-called analytical models of friction, the most popular and widely used one, the Prandtl-Tomlinson model in one and two dimensions is considered here to numerically describe the sliding of the tip within an atomic force microscope over a periodic and atomically flat surface. Because in these PT-models, the Newtonian equations of motion for the AFM-tip are Langevin-type coupled stochastic differential equations the resulting friction and reaction forces must be statistically correctly determined and interpreted. For this, it is firstly shown that the friction and reaction forces as averages of the time-resolved ones over the sliding part, are normally (Gaussian) distributed. Then based on this, an efficient numerical scheme is developed and implemented to accurately estimate the means and standard deviations of friction and reaction forces without performing too many repetitions for the same sliding experiments. The used corrugation potential is the simplest one obtained from the Fourier series expansion of the two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential, e.g., for an fcc(111) surface, which permits sliding on both commensurate and incommensurate paths. In this manner, it is proven that the PT-models predict both frictional regimes, namely the structural superlubricity and stick-slip along (in)commensurate sliding paths, if the ratio of mean corrugation and elastic energies is properly set.

Crystals of gauged solitons, force-free plasma, and resurgence

We show that the (3+1)-dimensional gauged non-linear sigma model minimally coupled to a U(1) gauge field possesses analytic solutions representing gauged solitons at finite Baryon density whose electromagnetic field is a Force Free Plasma. These gauged solitons manifest a crystalline structure and generate in a very natural way persistent currents able to support Force Free Plasma electromagnetic fields. The trajectories of charged test particles moving within these configurations can be characterized. Quite surprisingly, despite the non-integrable nature of the theory, some of the perturbations of these gauged solitons allow to identify a proper resurgent parameter. In particular, the perturbations of the solitons profile are related to the Lam\'e operator. On the other hand, the electromagnetic perturbations on the configurations satisfy a two-dimensional effective Schrodinger equation, where the soliton background interacts with the electromagnetic perturbations through an effective two-dimensional periodic potential. We studied numerically the band energy spectrum for different values of the free parameters of the theory and we found that bands-gaps are modulated by the potential strength. Finally we compare our crystal solutions with those of the (1+1)- dimesional Gross-Neveu model.

Study of entropy-diffusion relation in deterministic Hamiltonian systems through microscopic analysis.

Although an intimate relation between entropy and diffusion has been advocated for many years and even seems to have been verified in theory and experiments, a quantitatively reliable study and any derivation of an algebraic relation between the two do not seem to exist. Here, we explore the nature of this entropy-diffusion relation in three deterministic systems where an accurate estimate of both can be carried out. We study three deterministic model systems: (a) the motion of a single point particle with constant energy in a two-dimensional periodic potential energy landscape, (b) the same in the regular Lorentz gas where a point particle with constant energy moves between collisions with hard disk scatterers, and (c) the motion of a point particle among the boxes with small apertures. These models exhibit diffusive motion in the limit where ergodicity is shown to exist. We estimate the self-diffusion coefficient of the particle by employing computer simulations and entropy by quadrature methods using Boltzmann's formula. We observe an interesting crossover in the diffusion-entropy relation in some specific regions, which is attributed to the emergence of correlated returns. The crossover could herald a breakdown of the Rosenfeld-like exponential scaling between the two, as observed at low temperatures. Later, we modify the exponential relation to account for the correlated motions and present a detailed analysis of the dynamical entropy obtained via the Lyapunov exponent, which is rather an important quantity in the study of deterministic systems.

Parity-time symmetry light bullets in a cold Rydberg atomic gas.

A scheme is proposed to generate stable light bullets (LBs) in a cold Rydberg atomic system with a parity-time (PT) symmetric potential, by utilizing electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Using an incoherent population pumping between two low-lying levels and spatial modulations of control and auxiliary laser fields, we obtain a two-dimensional (2D) periodic optical potential with PT symmetry. Based on PT symmetry potential and the long-range Rydberg-Rydberg atomic interaction, the system may support slow LBs with low light intensity. Further, it is found that the local and non-local nonlinear coefficients and PT-symmetric potential can be tuned and used to manipulate the behavior of LBs.

Thermoelectric properties of Wigner crystal in two-dimensional periodic potential

We study numerically transport and thermoelectric properties of electrons placed in a two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential. Our results show that the transition from sliding to pinned phase takes place at a certain critical amplitude of lattice potential being similar to the Aubry transition for the one-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova model. We show that the 2D Aubry pinned phase is characterized by high values of Seebeck coefficient S = 12. At the same time we find that the value of Seebeck coefficient is significantly influenced by the geometry of periodic potential. We discuss possibilities to test the properties of 2D Aubry phase with electrons on a surface of liquid helium.

Nests and chains of Hofstadter butterflies

The ‘Hofstadter butterfly’, a plot of the spectrum of an electron in a two-dimensional periodic potential with a uniform magnetic field, contains subsets which resemble small, distorted images of the entire plot. We show how the sizes of these sub-images are determined, and calculate scaling factors describing their self-similar nesting, revealing an un-expected simplicity in the fractal structure of the spectrum. We also characterise semi-infinite chains of sub-images, showing one end of the chain is a result of gap closure, and the other end is at an accumulation point.

The superlubricity of the special material with hexagonal symmetry in a two-dimensional Frenkel–Kontorova model

Based on a two-dimensional Frenkel–Kontorova model, the interacting atoms arranged on a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice are studied. It is made to slide by the application of an external driving force in the presence of dissipation over a two-dimensional periodic substrate potential with the hexagonal symmetry. A critical depinning force is defined. It depends on the direction and the magnitude of external driving force, the adhesive force from the substrate, the interaction strength between atoms in the upper layer and especially the misfit angle $$\theta $$ between two layers. The dependence of the state transition from the lock to sliding on the driving force is studied. For the special case of zero misfit angle, the analytical expressions for the critical depinning force are obtained which are in a good agreement with numerical ones. It seems that the superlubricity can appear.

Transport properties of a Wigner crystal in one- and two-dimensional asymmetric periodic potentials: Wigner crystal diode

We study the transport properties of a Wigner crystal in one- and two-dimensional asymmetric periodic potential. We show that the Aubry transition takes place above a certain critical amplitude of potential with the sliding and pinned phase below and above the transition. Due to the asymmetry the Aubry pinned phase is characterized by the diode charge transport of the Wigner crystal. We argue that the recent experimental observations of Aubry transition with cold ions and colloidal monolayers can be extended to asymmetric potentials making possible to observe Wigner crystal diode with these physical systems and electrons on liquid helium.

High harmonic generation from a two-dimensional square lattice by a circularly polarized laser pulse

We investigate the high harmonic generation from a two-dimensional square lattice driven by a circularly polarized laser field. The harmonic spectra with 4k±1 orders are obtained by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equations with a two-dimensional periodic potential. It is found that the resulting harmonics are (nearly) circularly polarized in the low orders and are elliptically polarized in the plateau. The helicities of neighboring-order harmonics are alternant. By varying the wavelength and field strength of the driving laser pulse, we find that the cutoff energy of the harmonic spectrum from solids in a circularly polarized laser field exhibits a linear dependence on both the wavelength and field strength, which is similar to the conclusion obtained from the linearly polarized laser field. Our results deepen the understanding of ultrafast electron dynamics in solids driven by circularly polarized laser fields.

Parity-time symmetry along with nonlocal optical solitons and their active controls in a Rydberg atomic gas

We propose a scheme to realize parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry and nonlocal optical solitons in a cold Rydberg atomic system with electromagnetically induced transparency. We show that a two-dimensional (2D) periodic optical potential with $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry can be obtained for the propagation of probe laser field by using an incoherent population pumping between two low-lying levels and spatial modulations of control and assistant laser fields. We also show that, based on the giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity originated from the strong, long-range atom-atom interaction, the system supports 2D nonlocal gap solitons with very low light intensity. In particular, we find that the degree of the nonlocality of the Kerr nonlinearity, which can be actively tuned in our system, can be used to manipulate the phase transition of the $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry and the behavior of the nonlocal optical solitons. Our study opens a route for developing non-Hermitian nonlinear optics, especially for realizing and controlling high-dimensional weak-light optical solitons through adjustable $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry and giant nonlocal optical nonlinearity.

Investigation on the enhancement phenomenon of biased-diffusion in periodic potential

The noise-induced diffusion of a particle in a two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential is studied by simulating a general-damping Langevin equation, where the particle is subjected especially to both a constant force along a direction and an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (OU) colored noise. The effective diffusion coefficient is determined by the envelope width of the spatial distribution of the particle. The enhancement phenomenon of diffusion from fluctuation-controlled one to bias-plus-correlation-controlled one is investigated. A scheme of local harmonic approximation for the OU colored noise is used to analyze our numerical findings, showing that the correlation effect of noise is beneficial to biased diffusion. Moreover, the dimensional effect is discussed by comparing the 1D and 2D treatments. The prominent result is demonstrated in the tilted periodic potential, namely, the motion of particle exhibits two modes: the locked state and the running state, thus the effective diffusion coefficient can be enhanced if the probability of a particle locked in local minima of the potential increases or the space distribution of the particle can be disintegrated into many small pieces.

Phase diagrams for quantum Brownian motion on two-dimensional Bravais lattices

We study quantum Brownian motion (QBM) models for a particle in a dissipative environment coupled to a periodic potential. We review QBM for a particle in a one-dimensional periodic potential and extend the study to that for a particle in two-dimensional (2D) periodic potentials of four Bravais lattice types: square, rectangular, triangular (hexagonal), and centered rectangular. We perform perturbative renormalization group analyses to derive the zero temperature flow diagrams and phase boundaries for a particle in these potentials, and observe localization behavior dependent on the anisotropy of the lattice parameters.

Sensitive linear response of an electron-hole superfluid in a periodic potential

We consider excitons in a two-dimensional periodic potential and study the linear response of the excitonic superfluid to an electromagnetic wave at low and high densities. It turns out that the static structure factor for small wavevectors is very sensitive to a change of density and temperature. It is a consequence of the fact that thermal fluctuations play a crucial role at small wavevectors, since exchanging the order of the two limits, zero temperature and vanishing wavevector, leads to different results for the structure factor. This effect could be used for high accuracy measurements in the superfluid exciton phase, which might be realized by a gated electron-hole gas, for instance, in coupled quantum wells or double layer materials. The transition of the exciton system from the superfluid state to a non-superfluid state and its manifestation by light scattering are discussed.

Influence of the 2D periodic potential shape on the jump diffusion in the strong collision limit

In this paper, the dynamic properties of a single adatom subject to a two-dimensional periodic potential of square symmetry are investigated. This problem is addressed through the strong-collision model, where the dynamical interaction of the adatom with the substrate is modeled by well-separated collisions that thermalize the velocity. By means of molecular dynamics simulations, we calculate the jump-length probability distribution and the diffusion coefficient as a function of x–y coupling term and of the collision frequency [Formula: see text]. Our numerical results show that the x–y coupling always suppresses a large proportion of long jumps, inducing thus a decrease of the diffusion coefficient for all values of [Formula: see text]. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

Rotational effect in two-dimensional cooperative directed transport

In this review we investigate the rotation effect in the motion of coupled dimer in a two-dimensional asymmetric periodic potential. Free rotation does not generate directed transport in translational direction, while we find it plays an critical role in the motors motility when the dimer moves under the effect of asymmetry ratchet potential. In the presence of external force, we study the relation between the average current and the force numerically and theoretically. The numerical results show that only appropriate driving force could produce nonzero current and there are current transitions when the force is large enough. An analysis of stability analysis of limit cycles is applied to explain the occurrence of these transitions. Moreover, we numerically simulate the transport of this coupled dimer driven by the random fluctuations in the rotational direction. The existence of noise smooths the current transitions induced by the driving force and the resonance-like peaks which depend on the rod length emerge in small noise strength. Thanks to the noise in the rotational direction, autonomous motion emerges without the external force and large noise could make the current reversal happen. Eventually, the new mechanism to generate directed transport by the rotation is studied.

Diffusion and mobility of anisotropic particles in tilted periodic structures.

We numerically investigated the transport of anisotropic particles in tilted periodic structures. The diffusion and mobility of the particles demonstrate distinct behaviors dependence on the shape of the particles. In two-dimensional (2D) periodic potentials, we find that the mobility is influenced a little by the anisotropy of the particle, while the diffusion increases monotonically with the increasing of the particle anisotropy for large enough biased force. However, due to the sensitivity of the channels for the particle anisotropy, the transport in smooth channels is obviously different from that in energy potentials. The mobility decreases monotonically with the increasing of the particle anisotropy, while the diffusion can be a non-monotonic function of the particle anisotropy with a peak under appropriate biased force.

Hamiltonian of a many-electron system with single-electron and electron-pair states in a two-dimensional periodic potential

Based on the metastable electron-pair energy band in a two-dimensional (2D) periodic potential obtained previously by Hai and Castelano [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 26, 115502 (2014)], we present in this work a Hamiltonian of many electrons consisting of single electrons and electron pairs in the 2D system. The electron-pair states are metastable of energies higher than those of the single-electron states at low electron density. We assume two different scenarios for the single-electron band. When it is considered as the lowest conduction band of a crystal, we compare the obtained Hamiltonian with the phenomenological model Hamiltonian of a boson-fermion mixture proposed by Friedberg and Lee [Phys. Rev. B 40, 6745 (1989)]. Single-electron-electron-pair and electron-pair-electron-pair interaction terms appear in our Hamiltonian and the interaction potentials can be determined from the electron-electron Coulomb interactions. When we consider the single-electron band as the highest valence band of a crystal, we show that holes in this valence band are important for stabilization of the electron-pair states in the system.