Axial p-n-junctions in nanowires.

The charge distribution and potential profile of p-n-junctions in thin semiconductor nanowires (NWs) were analyzed. The characteristics of screening in one-dimensional systems result in a specific profile with large electric field at the boundary between the n- and p- regions, and long tails with a logarithmic drop in the potential and charge density. As a result of these tails, the junction properties depend sensitively on the geometry of external contacts and its capacity has an anomalously large value and frequency dispersion. In the presence of an external voltage, electrons and holes in the NWs can not be described by constant quasi-Fermi levels, due to small values of the average electric field, mobility, and lifetime of carriers. Thus, instead of the classical Sah-Noice-Shockley theory, the junction current-voltage characteristic was described by an alternative theory suitable for fast generation-recombination and slow diffusion-drift processes. For the non-uniform electric field in the junction, this theory predicts the forward branch of the characteristic to have a non-ideality factor η several times larger than the values 1 < η < 2 from classical theory. Such values of η have been experimentally observed by a number of researchers, as well as in the present work.

Time-resolved diffraction and interference: Young's interference with photons of different energy as revealed by time resolution.

We present time-resolved diffraction and two-slit interference experiments using a streak camera as a detector for femtosecond pulses of photons. These experiments show how the diffraction pattern is built by adding frames of a few photons to each frame. It is estimated that after 300 photons the diffraction pattern emerges. With time resolution we can check the speed of light and put an upper limit of 2 ps at our resolution to the time for wave function collapse in the quantum measurement process. We then produce interference experiments with photons of different energies impinging on the slits, i.e. we know which photon impinges on each slit. We show that for poor time resolution, no interference is observed, but for high time resolution, we have interference that is revealed as beats of 100 GHz frequency. The condition for interference is that the two pulses should overlap spatially at the detector, even if the pulses have different energies but are generated from the same pulse of the laser. The interference seems to be in agreement with classical theory at first sight. However, closer study and analysis of the data show deviations in the visibility of the interference fringes and of their phase. These experiments are discussed in connection with quantum mechanics and it may be concluded that the time resolution provides new data for understanding the longstanding and continuing arguments on wave-particle duality initiated by Newton, Young, Fresnel, Planck and others. A thought experiment is presented in the appendix to try to distinguish the photons at the detector by making it sensitive to colour.

Negative and positive magnetoresistance manipulation in an electrodeposited nanometer Ni contact.

We show that, in a nanometric size stable electrodeposited Ni contact, it is possible to modify the magnetoresistance by applying current pulses and external magnetic fields whereby the same current path is used for detection and modification. We can pass from positive to negative magnetoresistance with values as large as 25% at room temperature, all in the same contact. We propose that the effect may be due to switching and moving domain walls in the contact region under the combination of current effects and external fields.