Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is being investigated as a possible alternative for encoding and processing binary information in an attempt to realize dramatic improvements in device density and processing speed over conventional CMOS design. The binary information is encoded in the locations of two excess electrons in a system of four quantum dots. The dots are arranged with each on a corner of a square, and electrons are able to quantum-mechanically tunnel between dots. Each set of four dots and two excess electrons constitutes a QCA cell. Coulomb repulsion ensures that the electrons will tend to occupy antipodal sites, giving two possible polarizations, or lowest energy ground states for a QCA cell. The electrons would tend to align along one diagonal or the other. Arrangements of QCA cells can be used to pass along input binary information and perform necessary logic operations on the input signal.When electrons tunnel back and forth between dots, it is possible they will occupy excited states in the dots. Two undesirable effects result from this: 1) Energy will be dissipated to the environment and cause thermal heating, and 2) it is possible a cell could become locked in a metastable state, which may be a local energy minimum, but is not one of the ground state polarizations we desire. Through the modulation of the heights of the inter-dot potential barriers, it would be possible to allow electrons to more easily tunnel between dots. This would help prevent the system from reaching excited states. The time variance in the heights of the potential barriers must be greater than the time it takes for the electrons to tunnel between dots, thus, effectively clocking the QCA device.We present theoretical studies of controlling the inter-dot potential barriers in a QCA device using an electric field due to electrostatically charged rods. The amount of charge on the rods is varied in time to increase and decrease the electric field, which will raise and lower the inter-dot potential barriers as desired. Different arrangements of rods provide different time-dependent behavior in the electric field, which may be useful depending on the arrangements of QCA cells required to make a logic device. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

O estudo da adição de dopantes pentavalentes é uma das principais linhas de pesquisas em eletrocerâmicas para varistores de TiO2. Diversos autores têm buscado entender os efeitos destes dopantes nas propriedades elétricas e microestruturais destas cerâmicas eletrônicas. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo do comportamento eletrônico do TiO2 frente a adição de Ta2O5 em concentrações maiores das já estudas, buscando obter varistores binários para aplicação em baixa tensão. Sistemas a base de TiO2 dopados com Ta2O5 foram preparados por mistura convencional de óxidos e conformados na forma de disco. A microestrutura dos compactos contendo 0,5, 1,0, 1,5 e 2,0% em mol de Ta2O5, sinterizados a uma taxa de aquecimento de 5°C/min. em 1300°, 1350° e 1400°C por 1 hora, foram analisadas, apresentando a evolução da microestrutura frente a temperatura de sinterização. Os valores da densidade das amostras foram obtidos através do método de Arquimedes, demonstrando a contribuição do Ta2O5 na densificação dos sistemas, e através de difração de raios X, foi possível determinar a fase presente nestas cerâmicas. Para avaliar as propriedades elétricas, realizou-se medidas de tensão-corrente (CC) em temperatura ambiente e em função da temperatura, obtendo coeficiente não-linear, altura e largura da barreira de potencial. Utilizando a espectroscopia de impedância avaliou-se o comportamento dos sistemas, medindo a contribuição do grão e do contorno de grão, calculando a energia de ativação. As medidas Mott-Schottky foram obtidas, possibilitando estimar a concentração de doadores e densidade de estados eletrônico. Na temperatura mais elevada de sinterização, 1400°C, melhorou-se as características varistoras, ocorrendo aumento da densificação e redução do campo elétrico de ruptura, apresentando com um nível ideal do dopante, 1% em mol de Ta2O5, varistores com coeficiente não-linear de 5,3 e baixo campo elétrico de ruptura de 38,4 V/cm. / The study of additional pentavalent dopants is one of the main research lines in electroceramics for TiO2 varistors. Several authors have sought to understand the effect this dopants in eletrical and microstructural properties of these electronic ceramics. This work presents a study of the electronic behavior of TiO2 versus the addition of Ta2O5 in higher concentrations of those already studied, in order to obtain binary varistors for low voltage application. TiO2 based systems doped with Ta2O5 were prepared by the conventional mixture of oxides and shaped in the disk form. The microstructure of the composites containing 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mol% of Ta2O5, sintered at a heating rate of 5°C/min. at temperatures of 1300°, 1350° and 1400°C for 1 hour were analyzed, showing a development of the microstructure against a sintering temperature. The density values of the samples were obtained by the Archimedes method, demonstrating a contribution of Ta2O5 in the densification of the systems; and, by means of X-ray diffraction, it was possible to determine a phase present in these ceramics. In order to evaluate electrical properties, voltage-current (DC) measurements were performed at room temperature and changing the temperature, obtaining nonlinear coefficient, height and width of the potential barrier. Using impedance spectroscopy, evaluate the behavior of the systems by measuring a contribution of the grain and the grain boundary, calculating an activation energy. As Mott-Schottky measurements were obtained, making it possible to estimate a concentration of donors and density of electronic states. At the higher sintering temperature, 1400°C, varistor characteristics were improved, increasing densification and reduction of the break down electric field, showing with the ideal level of dopant, 1.0 mol% of Ta2O5, varistors with nonlinear coefficient of 5.3 and low break down electric field of 38.4 V/cm.

In this doctoral thesis the two dimensional material graphene has been studied in depth with particular respect to Zener tunnelling devices. From the hexagonal structure the Hamiltonian at a Dirac point was derived with the option of including an energy gap. This Hamiltonian was then used to obtain the tunnelling properties of various graphene nano-devices; the devices studied include Zener tunnelling potential barriers such as single and double graphene potential steps. A form of the Landauer formalism was obtained for graphene devices. Combined with the scattering properties of potential barriers the current and conductance was found for a wide range of graphene nano-devices. These results were then compared to recently obtained experimental results for graphene nano-ribbons, showing many similarities between nano-ribbons and infinite sheet graphene. The methods studied were then applied to materials which have been shown to possess three dimensional Dirac cones known as topological insulators. In the case of Cd3As2 the Dirac cone is asymmetrical with respect to the z-direction, the effect of this asymmetry has been discussed with comparison to the symmetrical case.

Orientador: Stefano de Leo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matematica, Estatistica e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T11:34:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_KeniaCristinaPereira_M.pdf: 5917573 bytes, checksum: 689b0e6d7c10b6ea1e4524486138cc7e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: O objetivo principal deste trabalho é estudar a equação de Schrödinger para um potencial quaterniônico tipo barreira. A solução analítica encontrada permite comparar qualitativamente as diferenças entre a mecânica quântica complexa e a mecânica quântica quaterniônica. Antes de apresentar a solução analítica da barreira, para um melhor entendimento da motivação que leva ao estudo de uma mecânica quântica quaterniônica, será analisado em detalhes (ondas planas e pacotes de onda) o potencial tipo degrau / Abstract: The main objective of this research is to study the Schrödinger equation for a quaternionic potential barrier. The analytical solution found allow us to compare qualitatively the differences between the complex quantum mechanics and the quaternionic quantum mechanics. Before presenting the barrier analytical solution, to a better understanding of the motivation that leads us to the study of quaternionic quantum mechanics, the potencial step will be discussed in detail (plane waves and wave packets) / Mestrado / Fisica-Matematica / Mestre em Matemática Aplicada