Jesse M. Kinder

Single-walled carbon nanotubes as excitonic optical wires

Although metallic nanostructures are useful for nanoscale optics, all of their key optical properties are determined by their geometry. This makes it difficult to adjust these properties independently, and can restrict applications. Here we use the absolute intensity of Rayleigh scattering to show that single-walled carbon nanotubes can form ideal optical wires. The spatial distribution of the radiation scattered by the nanotubes is determined by their shape, but the intensity and spectrum of the scattered radiation are determined by exciton dynamics, quantum-dot-like optical resonances and other intrinsic properties. Moreover, the nanotubes display a uniform peak optical conductivity of approximately 8 e(2)/h, which we derive using an exciton model, suggesting universal behaviour similar to that observed in nanotube conductance. We further demonstrate a radiative coupling between two distant nanotubes, with potential applications in metamaterials and optical antennas.

On-Chip Rayleigh Imaging and Spectroscopy of Carbon Nanotubes

We report a novel on-chip Rayleigh imaging technique using wide-field laser illumination to measure optical scattering from individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on a solid substrate with high spatial and spectral resolution. This method in conjunction with calibrated AFM measurements accurately measures the resonance energies and diameters for a large number of SWNTs in parallel. We apply this technique for fast mapping of key SWNT parameters, including the electronic-types and chiral indices for individual SWNTs, position and frequency of chirality-changing events, and intertube interactions in both bundled and distant SWNTs.

Approximating strongly correlated wave functions with correlator product states

We describe correlator product states, a class of numerically efficient many-body wave functions to describe strongly correlated wave functions in any dimension. Correlator product states introduce direct correlations between physical degrees of freedom in a simple way, yet provide the flexibility to describe a wide variety of systems. We show that many interesting wave functions can be mapped exactly onto correlator product states, including Laughlin’s quantum Hall wave function, Kitaev’s toric code states, and Huse and Elser’s frustrated spin states. We also outline the relationship between correlator product states and other common families of variational wave functions such as matrix product states, tensor product states, and resonating valence-bond states. Variational calculations for the Heisenberg and spinless Hubbard models demonstrate the promise of correlator product states for describing both two-dimensional and fermion correlations. Even in one-dimensional systems, correlator product states are competitive with matrix product states for a fixed number of variational parameters.

Perfect reflection of chiral fermions in gated graphene nanoribbons.

We describe the results of a theoretical study of transport through gated metallic graphene nanoribbons using a nonequilibrium Green function method. Although analogies with quantum field theory predict perfect transmission of chiral fermions through gated regions in one dimension, we find perfect reflection of chiral fermions in armchair ribbons for specific configurations of the gate. This effect should be measurable in narrow graphene constrictions gated by a charged carbon nanotube.

Nonstochastic algorithms for Jastrow-Slater and correlator product state wave functions

Correlator product states (CPS) are a class of tensor network wavefunctions applicable to strongly correlated problems in arbitrary dimensions. Here, we present a method for optimizing and evaluating the energy of the CPS wavefunction that is non-variational but entirely deterministic. The fundamental assumption underlying our technique is that the CPS wavefunction is an exact eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, allowing the energy to be obtained approximately through a projection of the Schrödinger equation. The validity of this approximation is tested on two dimensional lattices for the spin1 2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, the spinless Hubbard model, and the full Hubbard model. In each of these models, the projected method reproduces the variational CPS energy to within 1%. For fermionic systems, we also demonstrate the incorporation of a Slater determinant reference into the ansatz, which allows CPS to act as a generalization of the Jastrow-Slater wavefunction.

Uniform peak optical conductivity in single-walled carbon nanotubes

Recent measurements in single-walled carbon nanotubes show that, on resonance, all nanotubes display the same peak optical conductivity of approximately 8

Striped Spin Liquid Crystal Ground State Instability of Kagome Antiferromagnets

e^2/h

Analytic Time Evolution, Random Phase Approximation, and Green Functions for Matrix Product States

, independent of radius or chirality [Joh \emph{et al.}, \emph{Nature Nanotechnology} \textbf{6}, 51 (2011)]. We show that this uniform peak conductivity is a consequence of the relativistic band structure and strength of the Coulomb interaction in carbon nanotubes. We further construct a minimalist model of exciton dynamics that describes the general phenomenology and provides an accurate prediction of the numerical value of the peak optical conductivity. The work illustrates the need for careful treatment of relaxation mechanisms in modeling the optoelectronic properties of carbon nanotubes.