Ex-ante measure of patent quality reveals intrinsic fitness for citation-network growth.

We have constructed a fitness parameter, characterizing the intrinsic attractiveness for patents to be cited, from attributes of the associated inventions known at the time a patent is granted. This exogenously obtained fitness is shown to determine the temporal growth of the citation network in conjunction with mechanisms of preferential attachment and obsolescence-induced aging that operate without reference to characteristics of individual patents. Our study opens a window to understanding quantitatively the interplay of the rich-gets-richer and fit-gets-richer paradigms that have been suggested to govern the growth dynamics of real-world complex networks.

Fame and obsolescence: Disentangling growth and aging dynamics of patent citations.

We present an analysis of citations accrued over time by patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1998. In contrast to previous studies, a disaggregation by technology category is performed, and exogenously caused citation-number growth is controlled for. Our approach reveals an intrinsic citation rate that clearly separates into an-in the long run, exponentially time-dependent-aging function and a completely time-independent preferential-attachment-type growth kernel. For the general case of such a separable citation rate, we obtain the time-dependent citation distribution analytically in a form that is valid for any functional form of its aging and growth parts. Good agreement between theory and long-time characteristics of patent-citation data establishes our work as a useful framework for addressing still open questions about knowledge-propagation dynamics, such as the observed excess of citations at short times.

Noncollinear paramagnetism of a GaAs two-dimensional hole system.

We have performed transport measurements in tilted magnetic fields in a two-dimensional hole system grown on the surface of a (311)A GaAs crystal. A striking asymmetry of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations occurs upon reversing the in-plane component of the magnetic field along the low-symmetry [2[over ¯]33] axis. As usual, the magnetoconductance oscillations are symmetric with respect to reversal of the in-plane field component aligned with the high-symmetry [011[over ¯]] axis. Our observations demonstrate that an in-plane magnetic field can generate an out-of-plane component of magnetization in a low-symmetry hole system, creating new possibilities for spin manipulation.

Majorana fermions from Landau quantization in a superconductor and topological-insulator hybrid structure.

We show that the interplay of cyclotron motion and Andreev reflection experienced by massless-Dirac-like charge carriers in topological-insulator surface states generates a Majorana-particle excitation. On the basis of an envelope-function description of the Dirac-Andreev edge states, we discuss the kinematic properties of the Majorana mode and find them to be tunable by changing the superconductor's chemical potential and/or the magnitude of the perpendicular magnetic field. Our proposal opens up new possibilities for studying Majorana fermions in a controllable setup.

Carrier-density-controlled anisotropic spin susceptibility of two-dimensional hole systems.

We study quantum-well-confined holes based on the Luttinger-model description for the valence band of typical semiconductor materials. Even when only the lowest quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) subband is populated, the static spin susceptibility turns out to be very different from the universal isotropic Lindhard-function line shape obtained for 2D conduction-electron systems. The strongly anisotropic and peculiarly density-dependent spin-related response of 2D holes at long wavelengths should make it possible to switch between easy-axis and easy-plane magnetization in dilute magnetic quantum wells. An effective g factor for 2D hole systems is proposed.

Tracking the energies of one-dimensional sub-band edges in quantum point contacts using dc conductance measurements.

The semiconductor quantum point contact has long been a focal point for studies of one-dimensional (1D) electron transport. Their electrical properties are typically studied using ac conductance methods, but recent work has shown that the dc conductance can be used to obtain additional information, with a density-dependent Landé effective g-factor recently reported (Chen et al 2009 Phys. Rev. B 79 081301). We discuss previous dc conductance measurements of quantum point contacts, demonstrating how valuable additional information can be extracted from the data. We provide a comprehensive and general framework for dc conductance measurements that provides a path to improving the accuracy of existing data and obtaining useful additional data. A key aspect is that dc conductance measurements can be used to map the energy of the 1D sub-band edges directly, giving new insight into the physics that takes place as the spin-split 1D sub-bands populate. Through a re-analysis of the data obtained by Chen et al, we obtain two findings. The first is that the 2↓ sub-band edge closely tracks the source chemical potential when it first begins populating before dropping more rapidly in energy. The second is that the 2↑ sub-band populates more rapidly as the sub-band edge approaches the drain potential. This second finding suggests that the spin-gap may stop opening, or even begin to close again, as the 2↑ sub-band continues populating, consistent with recent theoretical calculations and experimental studies.

Electron beam annealing of Fe+ implanted Si nanostructures.

Silicon nanostructures (nanowhiskers) have been formed at surface densities approximately 10(9) cm-2 by electron beam annealing (EBA) prior to the implantation of 7 keV Fe+ ions to fluences from 1 x 10(13) - 4 x 10(15) Fe+ cm(-2). A second EBA step is then applied to relieve implantation-induced stresses. RBS analysis shows that the implanted Fe remains close to the surface. AFM characterisations of the implanted nanowhiskers before and after the final EBA step are summarised in graphs of height versus surface density. In a striking result it is shown that the nanowhiskers not only survive processing but also grow significantly. For example, at the highest fluence of 4 x 10(15) Fe+ cm(-2), the average height more than doubles: the increases are from 5.0 nm to 6.5 nm under implantation and from 6.5 nm to 11.8 nm under EBA. In addition there is a significant increase in surface density from an initial value of 1.6 x 10(9) cm(-2) to 4.3 x 10(9) cm(-2). These results highlight the feasibility of doping Si surface nanostructures with magnetic ions to fabricate Si devices for spin-dependent enhanced field emission.

Spin transport and bipolaron density in organic polymers.

We present a theory for spin-polarized transport through a generic organic polymer connected to ferromagnetic leads with arbitrary angle θ between their magnetization directions, taking into account the polaron and bipolaron states as effective charge and spin carriers. Within a diffusive description of polaron-bipolaron transport including polaron-bipolaron conversion, we find that the bipolaron density depends on the angle θ. This is remarkable, given the fact that bipolarons are spinless quasiparticles, and opens a new way to probe spin accumulation in organic polymers.

Zeeman splitting in ballistic hole quantum wires.

We have studied the Zeeman splitting in ballistic hole quantum wires formed in a (311)A quantum well by surface gate confinement. Transport measurements clearly show lifting of the spin degeneracy and crossings of the subbands when an in-plane magnetic field B is applied parallel to the wire. When B is oriented perpendicular to the wire, no spin splitting is discernible up to B = 8.8 T. The observed large Zeeman splitting anisotropy in our hole quantum wires demonstrates the importance of quantum confinement for spin splitting in nanostructures with strong spin-orbit coupling.

Andreev reflection at high magnetic fields: evidence for electron and hole transport in edge states.

We have studied magnetotransport in arrays of niobium filled grooves in an InAs/Al(x)Ga(1-x)Sb heterostructure. The critical field of up to 2.6 T permits one to enter the quantum Hall regime. In the superconducting state, we observe strong magnetoresistance oscillations, whose amplitude exceeds the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations by a factor of about 2, when normalized to the background. Additionally, we find that above a geometry-dependent magnetic field value the sample in the superconducting state has a higher longitudinal resistance than in the normal state. Both observations can be explained with edge channels populated with electrons and Andreev-reflected holes.

Strongly correlated fractional quantum Hall line junctions.

We have studied a clean finite-length line junction between interacting counterpropagating single-branch fractional quantum Hall edge channels. Exact solutions for low-lying excitations and transport properties are obtained when the two edges belong to quantum Hall systems with different filling factors and interact via the long-range Coulomb interaction. Charging effects due to the coupling to external edge-channel leads are fully taken into account. Conductances and power laws in the current-voltage characteristics of tunneling are strongly affected by interedge correlations.

Andreev reflection in strong magnetic fields

We have studied the interplay of Andreev reflection and cyclotron motion of quasiparticles at a superconductor-normal-metal interface with a strong magnetic field applied parallel to the interface. Bound states are formed due to the confinement introduced by both the external magnetic field and the superconducting gap. These bound states are a coherent superposition of electron and hole edge excitations similar to those realized in finite quantum-Hall samples. We find the energy spectrum for these Andreev edge states and calculate transport properties.