L'électrodynamique quantique en cavité, c'est-à-dire l'étude du couplage lumière-matière en géométries confinées, a permis d'observer, grâce à des cavités de plus en plus performantes, le régime de couplage fort lumière-matière.<br />Dans ce régime, le temps de vie d'un photon est plus long que le temps caractéristique de l'interaction avec la matière ; un seul photon subit donc plusieurs cycles d'absorption et de réémission avant de s'échapper de la cavité.<br />Les premières expériences dans ce régime, effectuées avec des atomes dans des cavités supraconductrices, ont été suivies par des réalisations en matière condensée, utilisant des excitons dans des microcavités planaires, des boites de Cooper couplées à des résonateurs unidimensionnels ou bien des transitions intersousbandes dans des puits quantiques dopés, couplées à un mode de microcavité. Le couplage fort dans ce dernier système donne naissance à des excitations mixtes, moitié lumière et moitié matière, nommées polaritons intersousbandes.<br />Ma thèse s'attache à plusieurs aspects de la physique de ces excitations, qui se caractérisent par la force extrême du couplage, qui a poussé les chercheurs à introduire le terme couplage ultra-fort.<br /><br />Dans la première partie de ma thèse, après avoir donné un aperçu général des différents concepts théoriques engagés, j'étudie les conséquences de ce couplage ultra-fort en présence d'une modulation externe appliquée au système. Je montre, en utilisant une théorie de Langevin quantique, qu'une radiation peut être émise à partir du vide, effet qui rappelle de près l'effet Casimir dynamique. L'intensité de cette radiation est assez forte pour pouvoir être mesurée et je reporte ici les résultats de deux expériences préliminaires menées en vue de l'observation d'un tel effet, auxquelles j'ai participé pour la partie théorique.<br /><br />J'étudie ensuite la manière dont le couplage fort lumière-matière peut influencer le transport électronique et les expériences d'électroluminescence. Dans ce but j'ai développé des méthodes analytiques et numériques que j'ai exploitées pour montrer qu'il est possible d'augmenter grandement l'efficacité quantique des LEDs basées sur des transitions intersousbandes. J'ai aussi donné une première preuve d'extension de l'effet Purcell au régime de couplage fort.<br />Enfin, dans ma dernière partie, j'ai développé la théorie du scattering stimulé entre polaritons intersousbandes dû au couplage avec des phonons optiques. Je montre que ce mécanisme peut être exploité afin d'obtenir des lasers sans inversion de population avec un seuil extrêmement bas.

<p>This thesis addresses electron spin phenomena in semi-conductor quantum dots/anti-dots from a computational perspective. In the first paper (paper I) we have studied spin-dependent transport through open quantum dots, i.e., dots strongly coupled to their leads, within the Hubbard model. Results in this model were found consistent with experimental data and suggest that spin-degeneracy is lifted inside the dot – even at zero magnetic field.</p><p>Similar systems were also studied with electron-electron effects incorporated via Density Functional Theory (DFT) in paper III. Within DFT we found a significant spin-polarisation in the dot at low electron densities. As the electron density increases the spin polarisation in the dot gradually diminishes. These findings are consistent with available experimental observations. Notably, the polarisation is qualitatively different from the one found in the Hubbard model – this indicates that the simplified approach to electronelectron interaction in the Hubbard model might not always be reliable.</p><p>In paper II we propose a spin-filter device based on resonant backscattering of edge states against a quantum anti-dot embedded in a quantum wire. A magnetic field is applied and the spin up/spin down states are separated through Zeeman splitting. Their respective resonant states may be tuned so that the device can be used to filter either spin in a controlled way.</p> / Report code: LIU-Tek-Lic 2005:65

This thesis studies electron spin phenomena in lateral semi-conductor quantum dots/anti-dots and electron conductance in graphene nanoribbons by numerical modelling. In paper I we have investigated spin-dependent transport through open quantum dots, i.e., dots strongly coupled to their leads, within the Hubbard model. Results in this model were found consistent with experimental data and suggest that spin-degeneracy is lifted inside the dot – even at zero magnetic field. Similar systems were also studied with electron-electron effects incorporated via Density Functional Theory (DFT) in the Local Spin Density Approximation (LSDA) in paper II and III. In paper II we found a significant spin-polarisation in the dot at low electron densities. As the electron density increases the spin polarisation in the dot gradually diminishes. These findings are consistent with available experimental observations. Notably, the polarisation is qualitatively different from the one found in the Hubbard model. Paper III investigates spin polarisation in a quantum wire with a realistic external potential due to split gates and a random distribution of charged donors. At low electron densities we recover spin polarisation and a metalinsulator transition when electrons are localised to electron lakes due to ragged potential profile from the donors. In paper IV we propose a spin-filter device based on resonant backscattering of edge states against a quantum anti-dot embedded in a quantum wire. A magnetic field is applied and the spin up/spin down states are separated through Zeeman splitting. Their respective resonant states may be tuned so that the device can be used to filter either spin in a controlled way. Paper V analyses the details of low energy electron transport through a magnetic barrier in a quantum wire. At sufficiently large magnetisation of the barrier the conductance is pinched off completely. Furthermore, if the barrier is sharp we find a resonant reflection close to the pinch off point. This feature is due to interference between a propagating edge state and quasibond state inside the magnetic barrier. Paper VI adapts an efficient numerical method for computing the surface Green’s function in photonic crystals to graphene nanoribbons (GNR). The method is used to investigate magnetic barriers in GNR. In contrast to quantum wires, magnetic barriers in GNRs cannot pinch-off the lowest propagating state. The method is further applied to study edge dislocation defects for realistically sized GNRs in paper VII. In this study we conclude that even modest edge dislocations are sufficient to explain both the energy gap in narrow GNRs, and the lack of dependance on the edge structure for electronic properties in the GNRs.

Au cours de cette thèse nous avons étudié les effets des interactions entre électrons dansles contacts ponctuels quantiques (QPCs). Les contacts ponctuels quantiques sont des petitscanaux quasi-unidimensionnels, définis à partir de gaz électroniques bidimensionnelsde haute mobilité (2DEG). Une tension négative appliquée sur des grilles métalliques audessus de la surface permet d’ouvrir ou fermer le QPC. Lorsqu’un QPC s’ouvre, de plusen plus de modes électroniques peuvent traverser le QPC, et sa conductance augmente parpas discrets, séparés par un quantum de conductance 2e2/h. On peut le comprendre parle transport unidimensionnel d’une seule particule, car chaque mode transverse contribuepour un quantum de conductance.Mais depuis leurs premières réalisations, les QPCs ont montré des déviations par rapportà ce modèle à une particule. Les plus connues sont un épaulement sous le premier plateau,autour de 0.7×2e2/h, appelé "l’anomalie 0.7", et un pic dans la conductance différentiellequi apparaît à basse température: l’anomalie à zéro polarisation (ZBA).L’instrument que nous avons utilisé pour étudier ces effets d’interactions est un microscopeà effet de grille local (SGM). Cette technique consiste à modifier localement le potentield’un dispositif à l’aide d’une pointe de microscope à force atomique (AFM) chargée négativement,et enregistrer les modifications de la conductance en fonction de la position dela pointe. En utilisant cette technique à très basse température, nous avons montré quenous pouvons moduler les anomalies de conductance du QPC. Nous avons interprété nosrésultats comme la signature d’un cristal d’électrons se formant spontanément à bassedensité dans le QPC à cause de la répulsion Coulombienne: un cristal de Wigner. Onpeut modifier le nombre d’électrons cristallisés en approchant la pointe, et obtenir dessignatures de la parité du nombre d’électrons localisés dans le transport électronique.En fonction de cette parité, le cristal de Wigner présente un état de spin différent, etl’écrantage de ce spin par les électrons de conduction au travers d’un mécanisme appeléeffet Kondo donne une anomalie à zéro polarisation formant alternativement un simplepic ou un double pic. Cette découverte apporte une avancée significative à ce domaine,qui a concentré les efforts de plusieurs groupes importants ces 15 dernières années.Nous avons ensuite réalisé des mesures interférométriques à l’aide du microscope SGM,en créant in situ des interféromètres dans le gaz 2D. Nous avons obtenu les signaturesd’un déphasage supplémentaire dans le régime de la ZBA. Nous attribuons cet effet audéphasage universel accumulé par les électrons à la traversée d’un singulet Kondo, ce quirenforce le fait que la ZBA trouve son origine dans les phénomènes Kondo.Enfin, nous avons adapté la technique SGM au transport thermoélectrique dans les QPCs,et avons imagé pour la première fois les interférences d’électrons se déplaçant sous l’effetd’une différence de température. / In this thesis, we studied the effect of electron electron interactions in quantum pointcontacts (QPCs). Quantum point contacts are small quasi-one dimensional channels,designed on a high mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). A negative voltageapplied on a pair of metallic split gates above the sample surface allows to open or closethe QPC. As a QPC opens, more and more electronic modes are allowed to cross theQPC, and its conductance increases by discrete steps, separated by a conductance quantum2e2/h. This can be understood from a single-particle picture in one-dimensionaltransport, as each transverse mode carries a conductance quantum.But from their first realization 25 years ago, quantum point contacts have shown deviationsfrom this picture, attributed to electron electron interactions. The most well knownare a shoulder below the first plateau, around 0.7×2e2/h, called the "0.7 anomaly", and apeak in the differential conductance that arises at low temperature: the zero bias anomaly(ZBA).The tool we used to study these interaction effects is a scanning gate microscope (SGM).It consists by changing locally the device’s potential with the polarized tip of an atomicforce microscope (AFM), and record the changes in conductance as a function of the tipposition. By performing this technique at very low temperature, we showed that we canmodulate the conductance anomalies of QPCs. We interpret our result as the signatureof a small electrons crystal forming spontaneously at low density in the QPC due to theCoulomb repulsion: a Wigner crystal. We can modify the number of crystallized electronsby approaching the tip, and obtain signatures of the parity of the localized electrons numberin transport features. Depending on this parity, the Wigner crystal has a differentspin state, and screening of this spin by the surrounding electrons through the so-calledKondo effect leads alternatively to a single peak or a split ZBA. This discovery bringsa significant advance in this field, that has attracted research efforts of many importantgroups in the world over the past 15 years.We then performed interferometric measurements thanks to the scanning gate microscopeby creating in-situ interferometers in the 2DEG. We obtained signatures of an additionalphase shift accumulated by the electrons in the ZBA regime. We attribute this effect tothe universal phase shift that electrons accumulate when crossing a Kondo singlet, reinforcingthat the debated origin of the ZBA lies in Kondo physics.Finally, we adapted the SGM technique to the study of thermoelectric transport in QPCs,and for the first time imaged interferences of electrons driven by a temperature difference.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is known to be the most powerful radio telescope of its type. In support of its high observational power, it is estimated that thousands of antenna unit equipped with millions of LNA (low noise amplifier) will be deployed over a large area (radius>3000km). The stringent requirements for high performance and low cost LNA design bring about many challenges in terms of material growth, device fabrication and low noise circuit designs. For the past decade, the Manchester group has been wholeheartedly committed to the research and development of high performance, low cost Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) LNA with high breakdown (15V) and low noise characteristics (1.2dB to 1.5dB) for the SKA mid-frequency application (0.4GHz to 1.4GHz). The on-going optimisation of current design is hindered by the restriction of standard i-line 1µm gate lithography. The primary focus of this work is on the design and fabrication of new, submicron gate InGaAs/InAlAs/InP pHEMTs for high frequency applications and future SKA high frequency bands. The study starts with the design and fabrication of InGaAs-InAlAs pHEMT sub-100nm gate structure using E-Beam lithography. To address the problems of short channel effect and parasitic components, devices with 128nm T-gate structure, and with optimised device geometries and enhanced material growth, having fT of 162GHz and fmax of 183GHz are demonstrated, outlining the importance of device scaling for high speed operation. In addition, a gate-sinking technique using Pd/Ti/Au metallisation scheme was investigated to meet the requirement for single voltage supply in circuit design. Device with Pd-buried gate exhibits enhanced DC and RF characteristics and showed no degradation over 5 hours’ annealing at 230˚C. The implementation of this highly thermal stable Pd Schottky gate is key to improving the device’s long-term reliability at high-temperature operation. To solve the problem of low productivity in E-Beam lithography, a simple, low cost, technique termed soft reflow was introduced by utilising the principle of solvent vaporisation in a closed chamber. It provides a hybrid solution for the fabrication of submicron device using low cost i-line lithography. The integration of this new soft reflow process with the Pd-gate sinking technique has enabled the large-scale fabrication of 250nm T-gate pHEMTs, with excellent fT of 108GHz and a fmax of 119GHz and with device yields exceeding 80%. This novel soft reflow technique provides a high yield, fast throughput, solution for the fabrication of submicron gate pHEMT and other ultra-high frequency nanoscale devices.

No description available.

<p dir="ltr">Improvement in state-of-the-art molecular beam epitaxy has led to the growth of ultra-high-quality GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. Two-dimensional electron systems in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures have provided a platform for investigating numerous phenomena in condensed matter physics.</p><p dir="ltr">In Chapter 2, we study low-frequency charge noise in shallow GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures using quantum point contacts as charge sensors. We observe that devices with an Al$_2$O$_33$ dielectric between the metal gates and semiconductor exhibit significantly lower charge noise than devices with only Schottky gates and no dielectric. The improvement in device stability allows the application of shallow structures for spin qubit projects, making gate potential sharply defined.</p><p dir="ltr">In Chapter 3, we investigated the impact of edge-edge interaction on an electronic Fabry-P\'erot interferometer in the quantum Hall regime. Recently, experimental observations of periodicity $\phi_0/2$ in the integer</p><p dir="ltr">quantum Hall regime has been attributed to an exotic electron pairing mechanism. We present measurements of a Fabry-P\'erot interferometer operated in the integer quantum Hall regime at filling factor $1\leq \nu \leq 3$. Like previous experimental reports, under specific conditions we observe oscillations with flux periodicity $\phi_{0}/2$. However, our data and analysis indicate that period-halving is not driven by electron pairing, as has previously been claimed in the literature, but rather, is the result of electrostatic coupling between multiple independent edge modes.</p><p dir="ltr">In Chapter 4, we demonstrated our attempts in realizing stable {\it in-situ} gating for probing the possible non-Abelian state $\nu=5/2$. Utilizing a trench gate technique on a doped AlGaAs sample exhibits reasonable gating in a standard experiment time scale. Introducing AlAs screening wells further enhances the stability; it also significantly improves the coherence of interference at both integer and fractional states. In the future work section, we propose possible heterostructure modifications to improve contact performance, 2DEG quality, and the coherence of the interference.</p>

The unique properties, such as large direct bandgap, excellent thermal stability, high μH × ns, of III-nitrides make them ideal candidates for both optoelectronic and high-speed electronic devices. In the past decades, great success has been achieved in commercialization of GaN based light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs). However, due to the lack of native substrates, thin films grown on sapphire or SiC substrates have high defect densities that degrade the device performance and reliability. Conventional epitaxy lateral overgrowth (ELO) can reduce dislocation densities down to ∼10-6 cm-2 in the lateral growth area, but requires ex situ photolithography steps. Hence, an in situ method using a SiNx interlayer (nano-scale ELOG) has emerged as a promising technique. The GaN templates prepared by this method exhibit a very low dislocation density (low-10-7 cm-2) and excellent optical and electrical properties. As a cost, such high quality GaN templates containing SiN, nanonetworks are not suitable for heterojunction field effect transistor (HFET) applications due to degenerate GaN:Si layer which serves as parallel conduction channel. This dissertation discusses the growth of low dislocation density GaN templates, by using the in situ SiNx nanonetwork for conductive templates, and the AIN buffer for semi-insulating templates. On SiN x nanonetwork templates, double-barrier RTD and superlattice (SL) exhibited negative differential resistances. Moreover, the injection current of Blue LEDs (450 nm) was improved ∼30%. On semi-insulating GaN templates, nearly lattice matched AlInN/AIN/GaN HFETs were successfully demonstrated and exhibited ∼ 1600 cm2/Vs and 17 600 cm2/Vs Hall mobilities at 300 K and 10 K, respectively. Those mobility values are much higher than literature reports and indicate that high quality HFETs can be realized in lattice matched AlInN/AIN/GaN, thereby solving the strain related issue. The attempt to use InGaN as the 2DEG channel has also been successfully implemented. A Hall mobility (1230 cm2/Vs) was achieved in a 12 nm InGaN channel HFET with AlInGaN barrier, which demonstrates the viability of InGaN channel HFETs.

Electron transport in mesoscopic systems, such as quantum point contacts and Aharonov-Bohm rings are investigated numerically in a tight-binding language with a recursive Green's function algorithm. The simulation reveals among other things the quantized nature of the conductance in point contacts, the Hall conductance, the decreasing sensitivity to scattering impurities in a magnetic field, and the periodic magnetoconductance in an Aharonov-Bohm ring. Furthermore, the probability density distributions for some different setups are mapped, making the transmission coefficients, the quantum Hall effect, and the cyclotron radius visible, where the latter indicates the correspondance between quantum mechanics and classical physics on the mesoscopic scale.

L'émergence d'une une nouvelle classe de matériaux, des isolants topologiques, a stimulé un vaste champ de recherche. Bismuth, un élément du groupe V du tableau périodique, est un des ingrédients clé d'une famille d'isolants topologiques. Pour des applications dans la technologie des composants électroniques, il est essentiel de maîtriser la préparation des matériaux en couches minces. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons étudié la croissance et la structure électronique de bismuth sur les surfaces (100) et (111) de semi-conducteur III-V InAs.Déposition de Bi sur la surface InAs(100) résulte en une auto-organisation de Bi qui forme des lignes de taille atomique. On montre que le bismuth interagit extrêmement faiblement avec la surface car la structure d'origine de la surface propre de l'InA(100) reste intacte. L'étude de la bande valence montre la présence d'états résonants fortement dépendants de l'énergie de photons et de la polarisation de la lumière, en cohérence avec la structure quasi unidimensionnelle de la surface.La spécificité de la surface InAs(111) est qu'elle a deux terminaisons différentes: par In, (face A) et par As, (face B). Les deux faces présentent des reconstructions différentes. Par la photoémission des niveaux de coeur nous avons montré une différence de réactivité chimique entre les faces A et B. La croissance de Bi sur la face A résulte en un monocristal de haute qualité pour les films à partir de 10 monocouches. Par contre, lors du dépôt de premières couches, la face B montre une croissance en îlots et un bon monocristal est obtenu seulement pour des films d'au moins de 50 monocouches.Pour la même face, A ou B, nous avons observé des différences de croissance plus subtiles entre les surfaces préparées soit par le bombardement ionique et des recuits soit par l'épitaxie par jets moléculaires.La photoémission résolue en angle a permit de caractériser la dispersion des bandes dans les films de Bi. La dispersion est tout à fait comparable au cristal massif de Bi. La dernière étape consistait à étudier la structure électronique d'un monocristal de Sb déposé sur le film de Bi.Les surfaces propres de InAs(111)A et InAs(111)B présentent une courbure de bande qui résulte en formation d'une couche d'accumulation d'électrons. En déposant le Bi sur ces surfaces, la couche d'accumulation est préservée, elle est même amplifié, car Bi agit comme le donneur dans l'InAs.La couche d'accumulation se traduit par un confinement quantique des électrons, mesurable par la photoémission résolue en angle.Mots clés :Structure électronique de surface, ARPES, semimétal, courbure de bande, Gaz-2D, Bismuth, Sb, InAs(111)A, InAs(111)B, puits quantique, surface Fermi, couches minces. / A new class of material is coming up, Topological Insulators, have opened a wide field of research. Bismuth, an element of group V of periodic table, is one of the key ingredient of this Topological Insulators family. With the aim of improving technological applications, especially the electronic compounds, it is of most importance to control the preparation of thin films materials. Within this Phd work, we studied the growth and Bismuth electronic structure on (100) and (111) semiconductor III-V InAs surfaces.Bi deposition on InAs(100) surface result of a Bi self-assembly which forms lines at atomic scale. We show Bi interact extremely weakly with the surface because the beginning structure of clean InAs(100) surface stay unharmed. The study of valence band sheds light on the existence of resonant states strongly photon energy dependent and also depend on the light polarization, consistent with almost one dimensional structure surface.InAs(111) surface specific feature is that it has both surface ending different : In ending, (face A) and As ending, (face B). The both faces pointed out distinguishable reconstructions. By the core-level photoemission we identified a chemical reactivity difference taking place between A and B faces. Bi growth on A-face tend to be a high quality monocrystal for those films from a thickness of 10 monolayers. On the other hand, during the deposition of first layers, the B-face show an island growth and a good monocrystal is obtained only available for films with 50 monolayers at least.For the same face, A or B, we have seen some growth discrepancies more subtle between prepared surfaces either by ionic bombardment and annealing (IBA) either by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).The angular resolved photoemission allowed to identify the band dispersion inside of this Bi films. The dispersion is absolutely relative to the bulk Bi crystal. The final step involved the study of Sb monocrystal electronic structure deposited onto Bi film.Clean InAs(111)A and InAs(111)B surfaces indicate a band bending which result in the accumulation electron charge formation. With depositing Bi onto these surfaces, the accumulation layer would be kept, it is also increased, given that Bi acts as a donor-like in InAs. The accumulation layer is characterized by an electron quantum confinement, measurable by angle resolved photoemission.Keywords:Electronic structure surface, ARPES, semimetal, band bending effect, 2DEG, Bismuth, Sb, InAs(111)A, InAs(111)B, quatum wells, Fermi surface, thin films.