Browsing by Subject "Tunneling (Physics)."

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Open Access
Atomic theory of the scanning tunneling microscope
(1988) Tekman, Ahmet Erkan
The Scanning Tunneling Microscope is proven to be one of the most powerful tools for surface structure determination. Present theories are able to explain the operation of the microscope when the tip is far from the surface. For the small tip height case the atomic-scale interaction of the tip and the surface has to be included in the theory. The electronic structure of the combined system of the tip and the surface is calculated with an Empirical Tight Binding approach for graphite. It is found that in the vicinity of the tip some Tip Induced Localized States are formed. These states play an important role in the tunneling phenomenon. The contribution of these states to the tunneling current is calculated.
Open Access
Ballistic transport and tunneling in small systems
(1990) Tekman, A Erkan
Ballistic transport and tunneling of electrons in mesoscopic systems have become one of the most important subjects of condensed matter physics. The quantum point contacts and scanning tunneling microscope form the basic experimental tools in this area and have been used for understanding many features of small systems. In this work ballistic transport and tunneling in small systems are investigated theoretically. Ballistic transport through narrow constrictions is investigated for a variety of configurations. It is found that for a uniform constriction the conductance is quantized in units of the quantum of conductance (2e^/A) for long channels. The interference of waves in the constriction gives rise to the resonance structure superimposed on the quantized steps. The lack of the resonance structure in the experimental results are attributed to temperature effects and/or adiabatic transport due to tapering of the constriction. It is shown that elastic scattering by an impurity distorts the quantization of conductance. Novel resonant tunneling effects due to formation of bound states are predicted for an attractive impurity or a local widening at the center of the constriction. It is shown that the probing in scanning tunneling microscopy have very much in common with narrow constrictions. The transition from tunneling to point contact regime is explained by the vanishing effective potential barrier as a result of tip-sample interaction. For noble and simple metals it is conjectured that lateral position dependent interaction between the tip and sample leads to corrugation of the potential barrier and in turn to atomic corrugation observed by scanning tunneling microscopy. The focused field emission of electrons from point sources is analyzed in a systematical way. The effective barrier due to the lateral confinement and nonadiabatic transport through the horn-like opening are found to be responsible for focusing. The nonequilibrium nature of transport is investigated by use of Keldysh Green’s function technique. The effects of elastic and inelastic scattering are analyzed in a strictly one-dimensional geometry. The features of voltage and current probes are studied and the Landauer formulae are examined for multiprobe measurements.
Open Access
Construction of a scanning tunneling microscope and first results
(1990) Oral, Ahmet
In this thesis, construction of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope in air is explained. A step motor sample approach mechanism and a tripod scanner are used in the construction. Atomic resolution images of graphite samples are obtained in both constant current and constant height modes. Loss of trigonal symmetry in some Graphite images are also observed. This anomaly is attributed to the multiple atom tip or slipped top layer of Graphite.
Open Access
A time-dependent study of bistability in resonant tunneling structures
(1997) Keçecioğlu, Ersin
A comjDutational time-dependent study of the bistability in resonant tunneling structures including the electron-electron interactions is presented. A new computational method for the investigation of many jDarticle interacting systems for the study of quantum transport in small systems is introduced. The timedependence of the wave-function in the Schrödinger equation is studied by discretizing the energy spectrum and the time steps. A simple model for a double barrier resonant tunneling structure is introduced. The method is then applied to this simple model of double barrier resonant tunneling structure, and this geometry is investigated systematically in terms of inter-pcirticle interaction strength and number of particles. By applying the method to this simple geometry it is shown that there exists instabilities which occur a.s oscillcitions in the current-voltage characteristics of the model geometry.