Quantum chaotic scattering in graphene systems in the absence of invariant classical dynamics

Guang-Lei Wang*, Lei Ying, Ying-Cheng Lai, Celso Grebogi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
9 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Quantum chaotic scattering is referred to as the study of quantum behaviors of open Hamiltonian systems that exhibit transient chaos in the classical limit. Traditionally a central issue in this field is how the elements of the scattering matrix or their functions fluctuate as a system parameter, e. g., the electron Fermi energy, is changed. A tacit hypothesis underlying previous works was that the underlying classical phase-space structure remains invariant as the parameter varies, so semiclassical theory can be used to explain various phenomena in quantum chaotic scattering. There are, however, experimental situations where the corresponding classical chaotic dynamics can change characteristically with some physical parameter. Multiple-terminal quantum dots are one such example where, when a magnetic field is present, the classical chaotic-scattering dynamics can change between being nonhyperbolic and being hyperbolic as the Fermi energy is changed continuously. For such systems semiclassical theory is inadequate to account for the characteristics of conductance fluctuations with the Fermi energy. To develop a general framework for quantum chaotic scattering associated with variable classical dynamics, we use multi-terminal graphene quantum-dot systems as a prototypical model. We find that significant conductance fluctuations occur with the Fermi energy even for fixed magnetic field strength, and the characteristics of the fluctuation patterns depend on the energy. We propose and validate that the statistical behaviors of the conductance-fluctuation patterns can be understood by the complex eigenvalue spectrum of the generalized, complex Hamiltonian of the system which includes self-energies resulted from the interactions between the device and the semi-infinite leads. As the Fermi energy is increased, complex eigenvalues with extremely smaller imaginary parts emerge, leading to sharp resonances in the conductance.

Original languageEnglish
Article number052908
Number of pages9
JournalPhysical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear and Soft Matter Physics
Volume87
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 May 2013

Keywords

  • fractal conductance fluctuations
  • area-preserving maps
  • statistical properties
  • Hamiltonian-systems
  • Sinai billiard
  • phase-shifts
  • transport
  • eigenfunctions
  • resonances
  • cavities

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Quantum chaotic scattering in graphene systems in the absence of invariant classical dynamics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this