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# Readout Concepts for DEPFET Pixel Arrays

## 1 Introduction

Silicon sensors are widely used for the detection of visible photons, soft x-rays and ionizing particles in many industrial and medical applications as well as in particle physics. An important figure of merit is the noise of the sensor. It should be as low as possible to improve the spectroscopic performance, to increase the spatial resolution and to be able to detect low charge depositions for instance from low energetic $`\gamma `$-rays (e.g. $`{}_{}{}^{3}T`$) or from minimum ionizing particles in thin sensors ($`<50\mu \mathrm{m}`$) as they are required in the innermost layers of vertex detectors for particle physics . A very low noise of $`5\mathrm{e}^{}`$ rms has been demonstrated  with single DEPFET devices which integrate a p-channel field effect transistor into a fully depleted bulk . Electron-hole pairs generated by photon absorption or by ionizing radiation are separated in the electric field of a sidewards-depleted bulk. The electrons drift to a region under the transistor channel, the internal gate, where they modulate the drain current of the FET according to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{I}_\mathrm{D}=\mathrm{g}_\mathrm{q}\mathrm{\Delta }Q`$ for small charges. In addition to the modulation through the internal gate, the drain current can be switched off by a positive potential at the external gate. This makes it possible to arrange several square, rectangular or hexagonal DEPFET devices in an array made out of columns and rows as explained in the next section.

The charges accumulated in the internal gate remain in the local potential minimum so that multiple non-destructive readout is possible. They must be removed regularly to avoid saturation and to prepare a well defined initial condition. The clearing of charges from the internal gate can be achieved with positive signals on separate clear contacts. The design of these structures is difficult because no charges should be lost into the clear contacts in normal operation mode while all charges should be removed from the internal gate while clearing. A complete clearing could not be achieved on existing DEPFET devices even with voltages of up to $`20\mathrm{V}`$ so that the fill state of the internal gate has to be measured and memorized after the clear pulse by suited readout electronics. A new generation of DEPFET devices  should provide a complete clear so that different readout concepts become possible.

After an introduction of the matrix arrangement and the time sequence of the readout, we describe existing readout electronics for devices with incomplete clear. We then propose a concept for the fast drain readout of devices with complete clear.

## 2 Readout of DEPFET arrays

The arrangement of many DEPFET devices in a two dimensional array is schematically shown in Fig. 1 for the case of a current readout at the drain. The external gates and the clear contacts (not shown for simplicity) are connected horizontally in rows while the drains are connected in columns. The drain current in all devices except in one row is switched off by applying a positive voltage to the external gates. The external gates of the p-channel DEPFETs in the active row are connected to a more negative voltage to enable a current flow in the drain. This current, which is accessible at the column contacts, depends on $`\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{gs}}`$ and on the charge accumulated in the internal gate. Any noise on the external gate is amplified by the transconductance of the transistor so that a low noise voltage source is required. This problem is avoided by connecting the gate row directly to source potential so that $`\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{gs}}=0`$. The drain current is then mainly determined by the geometry and doping profiles of the DEPFET devices. The drain current is often converted to a voltage for instance with the simple $`UI`$ converter sketched in Fig. 1. The offset current $`\mathrm{I}_0`$, which is not carrying any information, can be subtracted immediately by a constant current source $`\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{fix}}`$ so that the dynamic range of the converter is not wasted.

### 2.1 Readout sequences for incomplete and complete clear

The switching sequence of the various gate and clear rows and the processing of the currents at the bottom of the columns depends very much on the characteristics of the clearing procedure.

For devices with incomplete clear, the charge left in the internal gates must be determined after every clear pulse by turning on the row as indicated in Fig. 2. The row is then re-measured after the frame interval. The charge accumulated during the integration time in the internal gate is calculated as the difference of these two drain currents divided by the $`\mathrm{g}_\mathrm{q}`$ of the device. The other rows must be processed between the pedestal- and the signal measurement so that many different currents are present in a column before the signal measurement can be done. The pedestal values of the complete array must therefore be memorized during the frame interval with an absolute precision of less than the targeted pixel noise. The required relative precision is very high due to the large standing pedestal current in the DEPFET device. For a current of $`100\mu \mathrm{A}`$ and devices with $`\mathrm{g}_\mathrm{q}=200\mathrm{pA}/\mathrm{e}^{}`$ for instance, a relative precision of $`2\times 10^5`$ is required for a fluctuation of $`10\mathrm{e}^{}`$. Note that this requirement concerns mainly the noise introduced in the sampling procedure while systematic errors (for instance due to charge injection) cancel out in the subtraction. The requirement can be relaxed by an order of magnitude if a large fraction ($`90\%`$) of the pedestal current is subtracted with a low noise current source prior to the $`UI`$ conversion as shown in Fig. 1. The temporary storage of the pedestal values could be done on a readout chip at the bottom of small arrays, but it is not feasible for large structures. The data must therefore be processed by the full readout system which must provide a large dynamic range to cope with fluctuations of the standing drain current in the order of $`510\%`$ for existing arrays.

For devices with complete clear, a unique pedestal value per pixel measured just after the clear pulses for instance at the beginning of the run could be used. This approach would, however, still require the measurements of large signals and an ’off-line’ subtraction. The readout sequence shown in Fig. 3 avoids this by comparing the signal current with the pedestal value after the next clear pulse. Note that this is only possible because the complete clearing leaves the internal gate in the same well defined (empty) state. Because signal and pedestal measurements are following each other immediately, the subtraction can be easily done on the readout chip and no long time storage of large signals with high precision is required. The noise performance could be degraded in this scheme if the clear pulse introduces additional noise contributions, for instance by changing the state of traps in the transistor channel. This must be further studied in the future.

### 2.2 Drain and source readout

The vertical busses of the array can be connected to the drains or to the sources of the individual DEPFET devices. In the practical design of the array, however, other considerations can impose one or the other type of readout. (If the vertical bus is, for instance, implemented by connecting the outer implants of the individual DEPFETs, the more negative potential must be used there to push the electrons towards the internal gate at the inside of the annular structure. The bus must therefore be connected to the drains in this case.) The two readout types are sketched in the simplifying schematic of Fig. 4 which shows the DEPFET together with the parasitic capacitances from drain and source to the internal gate.

For readout at the source (Fig. 4A), a current is forced through the device by an external current source. The voltage change at the source in this follower configuration is measured. It is given approximatively by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }U\frac{\mathrm{Q}_{\mathrm{in}}}{\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gd}}}$$
(1)
as long as the transconductance of the device is large. $`\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gs}}`$ does not play a role in this expression because $`\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{gs}}`$ remains constant due to the unity gain of the arrangement. The rise time of the voltage signal is severely degraded by the bus capacitance $`\mathrm{C}_\mathrm{L}`$ which must be charged by the current change in the DEPFET. This current change is small, however, due to $`\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{gs}}`$ being nearly constant. One finds

$$t_r=2.2\frac{\mathrm{C}_\mathrm{L}\left(1+\frac{\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gs}}}{\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gd}}}\right)+\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gs}}}{\mathrm{g}_\mathrm{m}}.$$
(2)
This settling time constant can easily reach several microseconds so that the source follower readout is not suited for very high speed applications.

For readout at the drain, the charge in the internal gate leads to a current change which can be converted to a voltage by a simple $`IU`$ converter as indicated in Fig. 4B. The converter can hold the bus at a constant potential so that the bus capacitance $`\mathrm{C}_\mathrm{L}`$ does not affect the speed anymore. The gain is given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }I\frac{\mathrm{g}_\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gs}}+\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gd}}}\mathrm{Q}_{\mathrm{in}}.$$
(3)
A drawback of this readout scheme is the sensitivity to fluctuations in the device threshold and to voltage drops on the source traces which are amplified by the DEPFET so that fairly large current fluctuations from pixel to pixel must be coped with.

## 3 Examples of chips for steering and readout

The central elements of several different chips suited for the readout of DEPFET arrays are presented in this section. As discussed above, a distinction between readout at source/drain and for devices with complete/incomplete clearing of the internal gate can be made.

### 3.1 Control of gate and clear voltages

The gates of the DEPFET rows must be activated consecutively during the readout cycle. Furthermore, the row-wise clear signals and, in more advanced DEPFET structures, a clear-control signal must be driven. The voltage swings of these signals of up to $`20\mathrm{V}`$ exceed the supply voltages of ’standard’ CMOS technologies, so that a ’high voltage’ technology with an allowed supply range of above $`20\mathrm{V}`$ has been used for the implementation of the simple ’SWITCHER’ gate/clear steering chip. As indicated in Fig. 5, it consists of a shift register to select one out of 64 channels and of analog switches to connect one of 4 voltages to the selected output. The shift register can be operated in both directions. This is required if two chips are used on opposite sides of a DEPFET array for the gates and the clear signals. The shift register can be switched to ’loop’-mode after initialization so that no further control signals are required. The analog switches are implemented with paralleled NMOS and PMOS devices to keep the resistance low for all voltages. A low switch resistance is important to allow for fast settling of the gate voltage and to keep the noise on the sensitive gates low. (This also requires very low noise power supplies for the gate voltages.) Reducing the switch resistance by using wider devices adds a significant capacitive load to the gate rows which slows down the setting unnecessarily so that a compromise must be found. The present SWITCHER chip has 4 available voltages to allow for more complicated switching sequences for detailed studies of the DEPFET characteristics in the array. A next generation SWITCHER chip with increased functionality (on-chip biases, simple multi-chip operation, internal sequencer) is presently being developed.

### 3.2 Drain readout for DEPFETs with incomplete clear

The block diagram of the first drain readout chip for DEPFET arrays with incomplete clear is sketched in Fig. 6. The drain current, which is fixed by the voltage of the gate rows, is converted into a voltage and sent to an ADC. The subtraction of the currents just after the clearing of the internal gate and at the end of the frame is done off-line using the ADC values. As motivated above, the voltages at the drains are kept nearly constant by means of a regulated cascode circuit. A constant current is subtracted from the drain current by a $`60\mathrm{k}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ polysilicon resistor connected to the negative pull-down voltage. This voltage can be set well below the chip ground because no other components are connected to this node and no input protection is used. A large value for the pull-down voltage ($`15\mathrm{V}`$) and for the resistor was chosen to reduce its thermal noise below the thermal noise in the DEPFET device. The remaining current is converted into a voltage simply by means of a large value resistor. The value of this resistor is a compromise between high gain (reducing noise contributions of following stages) and dynamic range. Measurements of fabricated DEPJFET arrays showed that the drain currents for a fixed gate voltage varied by more than $`10\%`$. This is due to inhomogeneities in the doping profiles and due to IR-voltage drops on source and drain signals. An individual adjustment of the subtracted current was therefore implemented to be able to keep the gain resistor high. The digital correction values are stored in a $`64\times 64\times 4\mathrm{bit}`$ on-chip memory. They are used to increase or decrease the value of the pull-down resistor in 16 steps. Using this readout chip, a DEPFET array can be operated fully read out within the dynamic range at a gain of $`60\mu \mathrm{V}/\mathrm{e}^{}`$. The chip has been successfully used in the ’Bioscope’ system to operate a $`64\times 64`$ matrix of DEPJFETs  with an intrinsic speed of up to 1000 frames per second.

### 3.3 Source follower readout for DEPFETs with complete clear

The source readout of a matrix with complete clear can be achieved by a voltage amplifier with a reset switch. As indicated in Fig. 7, the voltage amplifier (in this case implemented with a capacitive feedback) is set to a known state while the activated DEPFET row outputs the ’signal’ voltage. The change in the DEPFET output voltage after clearing the row (according to Eq. 1) is then amplified by the gain of the voltage amplifier. Note that large spikes on the source bus during the application of the clear pulse could drive the amplifier into saturation and degrade the output signal.

### 3.4 Fast drain readout for DEPFETs with complete clear

The block diagram of a chip for a fast drain readout assuming complete clear is sketched in Fig. 8. A regulated cascode circuit in every channel is used to keep the DEPFET drains at constant potential in order to decrease the influence of the drain bus capacitance. After selecting a DEPFET row for readout, the signal current is stored in a fast current memory cell (see below). The row is then cleared and the pedestal currents are subtracted from the stored signal current simply by summing currents (the current memory cell outputs the negative of its input current). A simple, fast current comparator is used to find the interesting hits, i.e. channels with a sufficiently large signal. A neighbor logic (not shown) could also select channels in the vicinity of hits for readout. When there is at least one hit in the row, the analog signal current and the binary hit flag of every channel are stored in a FIFO - like structure which consists of current memory cells and digital storage bits. Only the currents which are stored in hit cells are needed later so that all others cells can be turned off to save static power. The FIFO is thus filled permanently with events containing at least one hit. It serves as a buffer to cope with statistical fluctuations in the number of hits.

The second part of the chip empties the FIFO row by row. A fast binary hit scanner  can find up to two hits per clock cycle. The selected current values are digitized on-chip or sent off-chip together with their addresses. The scanner can process the FIFO row until no more hits are found so that there is no limitation on the number of hits per row as long as the average hit rate can be coped with.

Several other required circuit elements (row counting, time stamping of events) are not shown in Fig. 8. The proposed concept can be easily further improved if required. It is for instance possible to memorize the signal currents during several clock cycles in a bank of memory cells at the input and perform the subtraction of the pedestal current several clock cycles later. This could be advantageous if the clearing of the internal gate is not fast enough.

One of the crucial building blocks in this concept is the current memory cell  used for pedestal subtraction and for temporary analog storage in the FIFO-like structure. The basic concept of such cells is shown in Fig. 9. When switches $`\mathrm{S}_1`$ and $`\mathrm{S}_2`$ are closed, the gate voltage of the NMOS transistor settles to such a value that the sum of the input current $`\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{in}}`$ and the bias current $`\mathrm{I}_\mathrm{B}`$ flow through the device. When $`\mathrm{S}_2`$ is opened, this voltage is stored on the (parasitic) gate-source capacitance $`\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gs}}`$. The current through the device remains unchanged ideally. $`\mathrm{S}_1`$ can now be opened without affecting the stored gate voltage. The current can be retrieved by closing $`\mathrm{S}_3`$. In the ideal case one gets $`\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{out}}=\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{in}}`$. This is however not perfectly true due to charge injection onto $`\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{gs}}`$ when opening $`\mathrm{S}_2`$ and due to the finite output conductance of the storage device and the current source. The devices have therefore been cascoded and two stages have been used to cancel charge injection. Preliminary measurements from a test chip designed in a $`0.24\mu \mathrm{m}`$ technology using radiation tolerant layout techniques  have shown that shifting of currents is possible in less than $`50\mathrm{ns}`$ with a precision of well below $`1\%`$.

## 4 Summary

The intrinsic advantages of DEPFET devices like low noise, thin entrance window and non-destructive readout can be exploited on large areas by constructing DEPFET arrays. Gate and clear contacts are connected in rows while the drains or sources are connected in columns. Several chips to steer the array and to read out the voltages or currents at the bottom have been presented in this paper. The readout sequence is considerably simplified if the charge in the internal gate can be completely removed with a suited clear mechanism so that every pixel can be reset to a well defined state. The study of the clearing properties of new devices is therefore crucial.

## 5 Acknowledgements

The presented work has been carried out in collaboration with the Semiconductor Laboratory in Munich. The authors would like to thank the DEPFET team for their support.


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# Effect of a magnetic field on the spin- and charge-density wave order in La1.45Nd0.4Sr0.15CuO4

## I Introduction

Incommensurate (IC) magnetic correlations are one of the fascinating characteristics of the hole-doped high-$`T_c`$ superconducting material La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) and related compounds. M.A.Kastner\_98  Dynamic IC correlations in superconducting LSCO have been observed using neutron scattering techniques near the optimal doping concentration $`x=0.15`$Yoshizawa\_88 ; Bob\_89 ; S.W.Cheong\_91  It was later established that the IC spatial modulation period is inversely proportional to the optimized superconducting transition temperature at a given Sr (hole) concentration $`x`$K.Yamada\_98  suggesting that the incommensurability and superconductivity are closely related with each other. On the other hand, static IC spin correlations have been extensively studied in La2-x-yNdySrxCuO4 (LNSCO). This was initially because of interest in the so-called 1/8 anomaly, which refers to the suppression of superconductivity in La2-xBaxCuO4 (LBCO) at $`x=1/8`$, that is accompanied by the appearance of the low-temperature tetragonal (LTT) $`P4_2/ncm`$ structure. Axe\_89

Nd-doping in LSCO stabilizes the LTT structure over a wide range of $`x`$, and significantly suppresses $`T_c`$. During neutron scattering experiments on LNSCO with $`0.08x0.20`$ and $`y=0.4`$, Tranquada et al. Tra\_nature ; Tra\_prb ; Tra\_prl\_97 ; Ichikawa\_00  observed elastic magnetic peaks at tetragonal positions $`(1/2\pm ϵ,1/2\pm ϵ,0)`$ that are almost identical to those of the inelastic IC peaks found in superconducting LSCO. They explained this static feature in terms of a two dimensional stripe model in which hole-free antiferromagnetic (AF) regions are separated by one-dimensional stripes of hole-rich regions. Thus, their model places both spin-density-wave (SDW) and charge-density-wave (CDW) order on the CuO2 planes. Since the charge stripes become the anti-phase boundaries of the AF regions, the magnetic modulation period is twice that of the charge density modulation. In fact, additional satellite peaks were observed by both neutron Tra\_prb ; Ichikawa\_00  and X-ray Zimmermann\_98 ; Niemoller\_99  diffraction techniques in LNSCO around the nuclear Bragg peaks at $`(2\pm 2ϵ,0,l)`$ due to the charge density modulation, consistent with the stripe model as well as with more general coupled SDW and CDW models. Following these experiments, the same type of SDW order has been observed by neutron scattering in LSCO samples with $`x=0.12`$ Suzuki\_98 ; Kimura\_99  and in oxygen-doped stage-4 La2CuO4+δ (LCO($`\delta `$)) YSLee\_99 . Surprisingly, no charge order peaks have been detected yet in these materials. In all of the above cases, the between-plane correlation length of the SDW order is of order or less than one lattice constant.

Since the stripe structure contains magnetic order, the effect of an external magnetic field on the stripe should provide important information about its nature. To date, a few neutron scattering experiments have been carried out under magnetic field to investigate the effects on the SDW order in LSCO with $`x=0.12`$Katano\_00  and $`x=0.10`$,Lake\_02  and in stage-4 LCO($`\delta `$).Khaykovich\_02 ; Khaykovich\_02b  All of these measurements show qualitatively consistent behavior, with the SDW peaks being substantially enhanced by applying a field perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. Possible explanations of the enhancement of the SDW peaks have involved suppression of spin fluctuations or competing superconducting and AF order Arovas\_97 ; Demler\_01 ; Zhang\_02 ; Kivelson\_02 ; Zhu\_02 ; Chen\_02  whose physical origin is the suppressed superconductivity together with the enhanced AF order in the vortex cores. However, the effects of a magnetic field on the stripe order itself remain unclarified.

In the present experiment, we have studied the effect of an applied magnetic field on the stripe order in superconducting La1.45Nd0.4Sr0.15CuO4. The stripe order at this particular composition has previously been characterized by neutronTra\_prl\_97  and X-rayNiemoller\_99  diffraction and by the zero-field muon-spin-relaxation ($`\mu `$SR) technique,Nachumi\_98  and the superconductivity has been characterized by high-field magnetization measurementsOstensen\_97  and by transverse-field $`\mu `$SR.Nachumi\_98  We find that while an applied magnetic field of $`<1`$ T is sufficient to suppress the parasitic ordering of Nd3+ moments at the SDW wave vector, it has essentially no impact on the stripe order associated with the doped holes and copper spins.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. After describing the experimental details in the following section, the neutron and X-ray scattering results are presented in Sec. III. These results are discussed in Sec. IV. There we first explain the response of the Nd moments in the magnetic field. Then we consider the lack of effect on the charge and Cu-spin stripes in the present sample, together with the field-induced response in LSCO and LCO($`\delta `$). Collectively, these results can be understood in terms of the ideas 1) that there is little coupling of a uniform magnetic field to the locally antiferromagnetic correlations of the stripe phase and 2) that the suppression of superconductivity in magnetic vortex cores results in the nucleation of patches of stripe order.

## II Experimental details

The single crystal of LNSCO ($`x=0.15`$ and $`y=0.4`$) used in this study is the same one used in Ref. Tra\_prl\_97, . The sample was grown using the travelling-solvent floating-zone method and is 5 mm in diameter and 20 mm in length. The sample exhibits a structural transition from a low-temperature orthorhombic structure to a LTT structure at $`80`$ K; the lattice constants at 5 K are $`a=b=3.80`$ Å and $`c=13.1`$ Å, corresponding to reciprocal lattice units of $`a^{}=b^{}=1.65`$ Å-1 and $`c^{}=0.48`$ Å-1.

The superconducting transition has been characterized on pieces of crystal grown in the same fashion as the neutron sample. From previously reported measurements of the magnetic susceptibilityTra\_prl\_97  and the thermodynamic critical field,Ostensen\_97  the transition temperature is approximately 10 K. To characterize the effect of a magnetic field applied along the $`c`$ axis on the transition, the resistivity was measured, as shown in Fig. 1. As is frequently observed, the zero-field resistivity measurement indicates a higher transition temperature than does the susceptibility. We note the relatively large difference between $`T_c`$ values of the susceptibility and resistivity measurements in this system compared to the LSCO and LCO(d) systems. Since the superconductivity in LNSCO is strongly suppressed by the CuO6 octahedral tilt of the LTT structure which pins the stripes, the local $`T_c`$ is very sensitive to the local fluctuation in Sr and/or Nd concentration that cause the local fluctuation of the octahedral tilts. Bulk resistivity shows higher $`T_c`$ if there are small patches with higher $`T_c`$ that percolate through the sample. On the other hand, if they have a small volume fraction, the magnetization will not be affected. Thus, the relatively large difference of $`T_c`$ values may be a characteristic feature in LNSCO. However, this effect has no impact on the conclusions that we will reach based on the neutron and X-ray measurements.

The neutron scattering experiments were performed using the triple axis spectrometer SPINS installed on the cold neutron guide NG5 located at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. Highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite crystals were used as monochromator and analyzer. An incident neutron energy of 5 meV with a horizontal collimation sequence $`32^{}`$-$`80^{}`$-S-$`80^{}`$-open (S : sample) was utilized. Higher order neutrons were removed from the beam by a cold Be-filter located after the sample. The crystal was fixed to an Al holder by Gd cement and Al wire, and mounted in a cryostat equipped with a superconducting magnet. The $`a`$ and $`b`$ crystallographic axes were oriented in the horizontal plane to allow access to $`(h,k,0)`$ type reflections. With this configuration, the magnetic field was aligned perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. During the experiments, we verified that the nuclear Bragg intensities did not change with field, thereby confirming that the sample was properly mounted, that is, the sample position was field-independent.

The X-ray scattering experiments were carried out at the BW5 beam line at HASYLAB in Hamburg, Germany. The incident photon energy of 100 keV was selected by a Si1-xGex gradient crystal monochromator and analyzed by the same type of crystal. The sample was mounted in a superconducting magnet with the $`c`$-axis oriented perpendicular to the scattering plane and the field aligned perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. The momentum resolution (FWHM) measured at the $`(2,0,0)`$ Bragg position was 0.015 Å-1 along  and 0.0014 Å-1 along .

## III Neutron and X-ray cross-sections

### III.1 SDW order

In zero magnetic field, SDW IC peaks are observed at $`(1/2\pm ϵ,1/2\pm ϵ,0)`$, where $`ϵ=0.134`$. The temperature dependence of the SDW peak intensity is plotted in Fig. 2 using open circles. The peaks first appear at 40 K, which agrees with the results of Ref. Tra\_prl\_97, . The peak intensity increases rapidly with deceasing temperature below 8 K; this is due to the ordering of the Nd3+ spins. Tra\_prb  Hereafter, we refer to this Nd ordering temperature as $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}=8`$ K. On the other hand, the temperature dependence under magnetic field below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ is significantly different. The squares in Fig. 2 represent the peak intensities measured under a 7 T magnetic field. Although there seems to be a small reduction of intensity, the temperature dependence above $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ is quite similar to that in zero field. Importantly, however, there is no longer a rapid increase in intensity below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ at 7 T.

These features are more clearly shown in Fig. 3, which shows peak profiles measured along $`(1/2,1/2+q,0)`$ at 4.3 K and 20 K. At 4.3 K (below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$), the peak intensity at 7 T is reduced to half of that in zero field, while there is no significant change with field in the peak profile at 20 K (above $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$). For all profiles, the peak widths are slightly larger than the instrumental resolution width which is represented by the thick horizontal bars. The solid lines in Fig. 3 are the results of fits to a resolution-convoluted two-dimensional (2D) Lorentzian function of $`q`$. These fits show that the correlation length of the SDW order is $`200`$ Å for all profiles, that is, only the intensity changes with temperature and magnetic field.

The intensity of the SDW peak in zero field increases by more than an order of magnitude below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ as indicated in Fig. 2. We find that the field-induced suppression of the SDW peaks is especially significant at the lowest temperatures. Figure 4(a) shows the field dependence of the SDW peak measured at $`(1/2,1/2ϵ,0)`$ at 0.1 K. In contrast to the factor of 2 reduction caused by 7 T at 4.3 K, the peak intensity is almost completely suppressed by a field of less than 1 T. The solid lines are the results of fits to a resolution-convoluted 2D Lorentzian squared function of $`q`$. The peak width is almost resolution-limited and does not change with field. The field dependence of the peak intensity is shown in Fig. 4(b). The intensity decreases rapidly with increasing field and almost reaches the background at $`H=0.7`$ T. Although the intensity appears to be completely suppressed at $`H0.7`$ T, there is still a small remaining signal that is comparable to that observed just above $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$. This intensity is shown in Fig. 2 by the solid square at the lowest temperature.

### III.2 CDW order

The temperature dependence shown in Fig. 2 naturally suggests that the applied field primarily suppresses the Nd spin contribution to the SDW peaks. In particular, the temperature dependence at 7 T above $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ is very close to that in zero field, and the drastic increase of the SDW peak intensity below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ disappears at 7 T. The next question is then how does the field affect the CDW peaks? To study this, we performed X-ray scattering experiments in an applied magnetic field. Figure 5 shows the temperature dependence of the CDW peak intensity measured at $`(1.74,0,0.5)`$. Circles and diamonds correspond to data taken in zero field and 4 T, respectively. The choice of $`L=0.5`$ was made because the structure factor has a maximum at that position. Zimmermann\_98  The onset temperature is $`60`$ K which is consistent with the previous measurement for $`x=0.15`$ in Ref. Zimmermann\_98, , and is same as that reported for the $`x=0.12`$ sample. Tra\_prb ; Zimmermann\_98  As shown in Fig. 5, the temperature dependences with and without field are completely identical. The inset shows the field dependence of the intensity at 1.9 K and 4 K. We find, therefore, that while the SDW peak is strongly suppressed by application of a magnetic field below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$, the CDW peak intensity is independent of field.

## IV Discussion

### IV.1 Nd response

From these results, it appears that the magnetic field perpendicular to the CuO2 planes inhibits the Nd3+ spin ordering, but has at most a weak effect on the stripe structure itself. This picture confirms that the Nd spins simply follow the stripe order of the Cu spins and not the other way around. It also suggests that the correlation between Cu and Nd spins is weak as observed previously in the related material Nd2CuO4Matsuda\_90  Below we discuss the Nd response in more detail.

The Nd spin contribution to the SDW peak intensity is dominant at the lowest temperaturesTra\_prb ; therefore, the field dependence in Fig. 4(b) should relate to the magnetic response of the Nd ions. The magnetic fluctuations of the Nd ions in La2-x-yNdySrxCuO4 have been studied with neutron scattering by Roepke et al. Roepke\_99  For a sample with $`y=0.3`$ and $`x=0`$ measured at low temperature, they resolved an excitation at 0.25 meV which they attributed to a splitting of the Kramers-doublet ground state of Nd3+ by an exchange interaction with ordered Cu moments. In a sample with $`y=0.6`$ and $`x=0.15`$, the magnetic fluctuations appeared as quasi-elastic scattering with a half-width of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }/2=0.1`$ meV. If we take this energy width to represent the effective exchange interaction appropriate for our sample ($`y=0.4`$), then the external field that is required to give an equal Zeeman energy is $`H_0=\mathrm{\Gamma }/2m_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$, where $`m_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ is the magnetic moment of a Nd ion. From the magnetization measurements of Ostenson et al.Ostensen\_97  on a crystal identical to ours, $`m_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ is 3.2 $`\mu _\mathrm{B}`$, which finally gives $`H_0=0.54`$ T. This estimate is in good agreement with the field at which the peak intensity drops, as shown in Fig. 4. We conclude that a modest uniform magnetic field is sufficient to align the Nd moments uniformly, thus removing their contribution from the SDW superlattice peaks.

The dominant part of the Nd contribution to the SDW peaks appears below $`T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$; however, there may also be a small contribution from Nd moments at higher temperatures.Tra\_prb  The small decrease of the SDW peak intensity caused by the 7 T field for $`T>T_{\mathrm{Nd}}`$ (see Fig. 2) is likely due to the elimination of the Nd component. Note that the CDW intensity shows no significant change for applied fields up to 4 T.

### IV.2 Magnetic field, superconductivity, and stripes

In a recent $`\mu `$SR studySavici\_02  on LSCO with $`x=0.12`$ and stage-4 LCO($`\delta `$), it was found that local magnetic (SDW) order occurred in only a fraction of the volume, 20% and 40%, respectively. Within that volume fraction, the average local hyperfine field is the same as in a uniformly stripe-ordered sample, La1.48Nd0.4Sr0.12CuO4Nachumi\_98  Based on neutron diffraction studies,Lake\_02 ; Kimura\_99  the volume fraction exhibiting SDW order in LSCO with $`x=0.10`$ should be much smaller. LSCOKatano\_00 ; Lake\_02  and LCO($`\delta `$)Khaykovich\_02  show a clear enhancement of the SDW peaks in the presence of a field applied perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. This enhancement could result from a coupling of the magnetic field to the SDW order parameter, or from growth of the SDW volume fraction by suppression of the superconductivity.

A direct coupling to the SDW order has recently been observed in LSCO with $`x=0.024`$ by Matsuda et al.Matsuda\_02  This sample is insulating at low temperatures and exhibits diagonal IC SDW order. A small reduction of the SDW peak intensity was found in an applied magnetic field. The effect was explained in terms of the reorientation of spins in half of the CuO2 layers in order to align the canted spin components that result from the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction. In the case of the parallel (vertical) stripes present in the superconducting phase, we would expect the orientation of the canted spin components to alternate in neighboring magnetic domains so that there would be no net coupling to a uniform field. The long correlation length observed in LNSCO vitiates the mechanism of Matsuda et al.Matsuda\_02  Furthermore, such a mechanism would not explain the field-induced enhancement in LSCO and LCO($`\delta `$).

The present results indicate that there is no significant direct coupling between a uniform magnetic field and the stripe order. This is consistent with expectations, given that the magnetic order is locally antiferromagnetic. It follows then that the field-induced growth of SDW order in LSCO and LCO($`\delta `$) must be due to suppression of the superconductivity. The superconductivity may coexist with SDW order in regions of these samples, but the $`\mu `$SR results indicate that there must be a significant volume fraction where there is superconductivity without SDW order. It is presumably in these latter regions that new SDW order is generated by the applied field.Khaykovich\_02b  It is then understandable that the largest SDW growth with field occurs in LSCO with $`x=0.10`$Lake\_02  where the zero-field SDW volume fraction is quite small. It is also reasonable that there is no significant enhancement in the present crystal which is reported to be unifirmly SDW ordered by $`\mu `$SR. Nachumi\_98

The applied field penetrates the sample in quantized vortices, with the superconducting order parameter going to zero within each vortex core. The possibility that Néel order might appear in the vortex cores was considered by Arovas et al.Arovas\_97  A more relevant model, in which SDW and superconducting order can coexist, was analyzed by Demler et al.,Demler\_01 ; Zhang\_02  with some refinements proposed later by Kivelson et al.Kivelson\_02  (see also Refs. Zhu\_02, ; Chen\_02, ). In this model, SDW order can be induced in a region extending beyond the vortex core, similar to the “halo” effect observed by scanning tunneling microscopyHoffman\_02  on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. The long magnetic correlation lengths observed at high field in LSCOKatano\_00 ; Lake\_02  and LCO($`\delta `$)Khaykovich\_02  indicate that the halo radius may be $`>100`$ Å. It seems likely that weak Ising anisotropy, which is known to be present at low doping,Matsuda\_02  is important for establishing static order in domains of finite extent. Based on the present results, we would expect the SDW order to saturate when the vortex spacing is comparable to the halo diameter.

Finally, continuing with the same argument, the lack of a significant change in the stripe order in our LNSCO sample provides further confirmation that the stripe order is uniform in the sample consistent with the $`\mu `$SR measurement. Nachumi\_98  If it were not, then there should be regions with superconductivity and no SDW order, and we would expect to see an increase in the SDW order as vortices are induced in those regions. This result also confirms that the bulk superconductivityOstensen\_97 ; Nachumi\_98  must coexist with stripe order. This is also supported by the fact that there is no significant anomaly in SDW and CDW orders at $`T_c`$ in this material.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank P. M. Gehring, B. Khaykovich, S. Park, G. Shirane, J. R. Schneider, M. Matsuda, and C. Broholm for invaluable discussions. We also acknowledge Thomas Brückel for allowing us to use his magnet during the X-ray scattering experiment. The work at the University of Toronto is part of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Research at Brookhaven National Laboratory was carried out under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886, Division of Materials Sciences, U. S. Department of Energy, while research at the University of Tokyo was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan. Finally the work at SPINS in National Institute of Standards and Technology is based upon activities supported by the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-9986442.


text:
# A comparative study of some models of incoherence at the mesoscopic scale.

## I Introduction

Absorption of particles has been long studied in quantum mechanicsgas . In many quantum mechanical scattering experiments there is absorption of the incident beam; the target particle may get excited, or change it’s state or another particle may emerge (if it isn’t a fundamental particle). Here Absorption implies inelastic scattering which can be simulated phenomenologically in the Schroedinger equation by means of a complex potential, sometimes called optical potential in nuclear physics literatureschiff ; ferry ; stone . The Hamiltonian becomes non-hermitian and there is no particle number conservation. Hence forth known as Coherent Absorption. The method of Coherent Absorption has also been utilized to study the localization of waves in a random media in presence of absorbing/amplifying mediumpradhan . It should be noted that absorption should not be confused with disappearance of particles, which is unacceptable. However absorption should be treated as particles that have entered into different inelastic channels, or loss of particles from the coherent channel. This is not the only way in which absorption induced inelastic scattering can be simulated. The other method is Wave Attenuation, which has been earlier utilized to study problems relating to 1D localizationjoshi  and dephasing of Aharonov-Bohm oscillationscolin . Both of these models have been used to calculate quantum mechanically the conditional sojourn times taken by a particle to traverse a region of interestsoj1 ; soj2 . In the not so distant past, some experimental studiesneutron  were performed on neutron interferometry to bring out the effect of different types of absorption. In section II, we give brief definitions and also bring out the differences in the above phenomenological models of incoherence.

The reason we are interested in absorption in mesoscopic systems is due to the fact that incoherent transport plays an important role in these systems. Of course, Landauer has demonstratedland  since long that the conductance of these systems, with elastic scattering alone, can be obtained from the transmission probability of the sample, that is it’s overall scattering matrix. In a realistic model, however, phase breaking processes have to be taken into account which destroy the quantum coherence and lead to dissipationimry . Such effects can be phenomenologically included into the Landauer picture by the models of absorption considered above.

## II Models of Incoherence

Incoherence in particle transport can be modeled in several ways. Among the first was by Büttiker buti ; buti1  who considered an electron reservoir coupled by a lead to a mesoscopic system as a phase breaker or inelastic scatterer (voltage probe). This approach has been widely used to investigate the effect of incoherence or dephasing on the conductance. This method which uses voltage probes as dephasor’s is interesting because of it’s conceptual clarity and it’s close relation to experiments. It provides a useful trick to simulate lack of full coherence in transport properties. This method of addressing the problem of dephasing has the advantage that inelastic phase randomizing processes can be incorporated by solving an elastic time independent scattering problem. Beyond Büttiker’s model, Coherent Absorption ferry ; jayan  and Wave Attenuation models colin ; joshi  have also been used to simulate dephasing. However, in the aforesaid models energy relaxation and thermal effectsmortensen  are ignored. Thermal effects can be incorporated by taking into account thermal distribution (Fermi-Dirac function) of electrons. In mesoscopic systems, transmission functions are more often than not constant over the energy range wherein transport occurs (at low temperatures) and one can ignore energy relaxation or “vertical flow”datta  of electron carrier’s in these systems. Brouwer and Beenakker have corrected some of the problems associated with voltage probe and Coherent Absorption models, (see Refs.\[brouwer, ; colin, \] for details), and given a general formalism for calculating the conductance(G) in the presence of inelastic scattering. Furthermore, methods based on Coherent Absorption and Wave Attenuation can make use of this above formalism.

In this work we compare the method of Coherent Absorption and Wave Attenuation models. For this we study some topics in mesoscopic physics wherein to model inelastic scattering recourse to such models of absorption is often implied. Two representative topics wherein we apply these absorptive models are Resonant tunneling diodes(RTD) and Aharonov-Bohm(AB) rings. In RTD’s, the discrepancy between experimental and theoretical peak to valley ratios has often been attributed to incoherent or sequential transportgaston ; rubio . We model incoherent transport through both of these models of absorption and point out certain problems with the Coherent Absorption model as compared to the Wave Attenuation model. In AB rings also the same anomalies with regard to the Coherent Absorption model are put forth through some representative plots of conductance. Some aspects of dephasing on AB oscillations are discussed. Further we utilize the method of Wave Attenuation to model incoherent transport and explain the transition of Fano to Lorentzian line shapes obtained in the Conductance of an Aharonov-Bohm ring with a symmetrically placed quantum dot on it’s upper arm.

## III Resonant tunneling diodes

Technological progress in semiconductor fabrication has led to the possibility of devices which are based on quantum effects. A simple such device is the double barrier diodeesaki ; chang ; sollner , analogous to the model of a Fabry-Perot interferometer as in FIG. 1. It consists of two potential barriers separated by a thin quantum well. The transmission of electrons across this diode shows sharp resonances when energy of incident electrons are close to that of a quasi bound state. FIG. 2 shows a double barrier diode wherein a quantum well (region III) is sandwiched between two equal barrier’s II and IV. Region’s I and V denote electrodes. Here incident electrons are described by plane waves. They tunnel through the left and right barrier’s via the quantum well. The potential felt by the electron in various regions is depicted in FIG. 2. A finite voltage bias $`V`$ is applied across the system. The electron wave in the well experiences multiple reflections due to the presence of barriers (see FIG. 1) and then tunnels out through the right barrier. To calculate the transmission and reflection coefficients we use the transfer matrix methodYu . The transfer matrices of either of the barrier’s are calculated by matching the wave functions and their derivatives at the boundaries. To calculate the transfer matrices we choose the II/III interface as the origin of the coordinate system, and the transfer matrix of the first barrier is given by-

$$M=\left(\begin{array}{cc}w& z^{}\\ z& w^{}\end{array}\right)$$

with $`w=\frac{e^{ik_1a}}{2}((1+f_{13})cosh(K_2a)i(f_{23}f_{12})sinh(K_2a))`$, and $`z=\frac{e^{ik_1a}}{2}((1f_{13})cosh(K_2a)i(f_{23}+f_{12})sinh(K_2a))`$, wherein $`f_{13}=k_3/k_1`$, $`f_{23}=k_3/K_2`$, $`f_{12}=K_2/k_1`$, $`K_2=\sqrt{2m^{}(V_0E)/\mathrm{}^2}`$, and $`k_1=\sqrt{2m^{}E/\mathrm{}^2}`$. We model incoherent transport only in the well. In the method of Wave Attenuation $`k_3=\sqrt{2m^{}(E+V/2)/\mathrm{}^2}`$ and we use wave attenuation factor to simulate dephasing as explained below. In the case of Coherent Absorption, the potential in the well is complex and $`k_3=k_p+ik_m=\sqrt{2m^{}(E+V/2iV_i)/\mathrm{}^2}`$. Here $`V_i`$ is the imaginary part of the potential which is characterized as an incoherent parameter. After obtaining the transfer matrix the S-Matrix griffith of the barrier is calculated by using the formula-

$$S=(\frac{1}{M_{11}})\left(\begin{array}{cc}M_{21}& detM\\ 1& M_{12}\end{array}\right)$$

wherein M is the transfer matrix of the barrier and indices denote row and column.

The S-Matrix of the second barrier is analogously written. The S-Matrix of the well is -

$$S_w=\left(\begin{array}{cc}e^{ik_3b}e^{\alpha b}& 0\\ 0& e^{ik_3b}e^{\alpha b}\end{array}\right)$$

in presence of Wave Attenuation, while in presence of coherent absorption jayan the S-Matrix of the well is -

$$S_w=\left(\begin{array}{cc}e^{ik_3b}& 0\\ 0& e^{ik_3b}\end{array}\right)$$

with $`k_3=k_p+ik_m=\sqrt{2m^{}(E+V/2iV_i)/\mathrm{}^2}`$, and $`k_p,k_m`$ are defined as above. In the Wave Attenuation method, an attenuation constant per unit length is introduced in the well, i.e., the factor $`e^{\alpha b}`$ in the free propagator amplitudes, every time the electroncolin ; datta  traverses the well of the RTD (see Fig. 1). $`b`$ is the length of the quantum well. This attenuation factor does not affect the scattering properties of the two neighboring scatterer’s as opposed to the Coherent Absorption model. The attenuation constant $`\alpha `$ represents the incoherence parameter.

Physically the model structure depicted in FIG. 2, shows sharp resonances when the energy of the incident particles is close to that of the quasi-bound stateazbel . In practice the barrier’s are usually of $`Al_xGa_{1x}As`$ and well is of $`GaAs`$. The important thing realized in such structures is the concept of negative differential resistance(NDR). This is of significance in making oscillator components. But, theoretical models which have tried to model experimental curves have had limited success. Two problems which have hitherto still remained unexplained are - (1). The experimental peak to valley ratios are far below the expected values even in good materials, and (2). time required to store enough carrier’s in the well to reach resonant regime seems too long to be compatible with high frequency NDR actually observedgaston .

To explain these differences recourse has been made to the effects of inelastic scatteringstone ; grincwajg . Inelastic scattering is inherent in these structures such as due to phonons, interfaces and other impurities. Modeling inelastic scattering by the models considered above is a convenient way out from the many body treatment needed to explain fully the differences. In case of Wave Attenuation colin  the absorption coefficient $`\alpha `$ acts as a parameter of incoherent scattering while in case of Coherent Absorptionzohta  the absorptive potential $`V_i`$ plays such a role. However, it should be noted that unlike in optics where the number of photons is not conserved so that photons can be truly absorbed and converted into heat. In case of electrons the number of particles has to be conserved, so $`\alpha /V_i0`$ does not mean that electrons are absorbed but that they are scattered into different energy channels. Thus the way these are re-injected back into the system so as to preserve current conservation becomes important. The coherent transmission in presence of both Coherent Absorption and Wave Attenuation can be calculated with ease using the S-Matrices depicted above. To calculate the incoherent contribution there are two methods. In the method due to Zohta and Ezawazohta  the total transmission is defined after re-injection as the sum of two contributions, one due to the coherent part and the other due to the incoherent part, i.e., $`T_{tot}=T_{coh}+T_{incoh}`$. The incoherent part is calculated as $`T_{incoh}=\frac{T_r}{T_l+T_r}A`$, herein $`T_r`$ and $`T_l`$ are the probabilities for right and left transmission from the region of inelastic scattering and $`A`$ is the absorbed part which is given by $`A=1T_{coh}R_{coh}`$. The quantities $`T_{coh}`$ and $`R_{coh}`$ are the coherent transmission and reflection probabilities, respectively. This model has been used by several other authors as well to simulate inelastic scatteringYu ; ferry ; stone . However, modeling electron transport by this method did not lead to satisfactory answers as the Onsager’s symmetry is shown to be violatedpareek  for the two probe conductance. In the second method due to Brouwer and Beenakkerbrouwer , the incoherent transmission is calculated from Büttiker’s voltage probe modelbuti , by mapping the three probe Büttiker’s method into a two terminal geometry, and then eliminating the transmission coefficients which explicitly depend on the third probe with the help of unitarity of the S-matrix. They considered a three terminal geometry in which one of the probes is used as a voltage probe. A current $`I=I_1=I_2`$ flows from source to drain. In this model, a fictitious third lead connects the system to a reservoir at chemical potential $`\mu _3`$ in such a way that no current is drawn $`(I_3=0)`$. The $`3X3`$ unitary S-matrix of the entire system can be written as-

$$S=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}r_{11}& t_{12}& t_{13}\\ t_{21}& r_{22}& t_{23}\\ t_{31}& t_{32}& r_{33}\end{array}\right)$$

Application of the relationsbuti ; brouwer ; datta \- $`I_p=_qG_{pq}[\mu _p\mu _q],p=1,2,3`$ and $`G_{pq}=(2e^2/h)T_{pq}`$. yields the (dimensionless) two probe conductance $`G=\frac{h}{2e^2}\frac{I}{\mu _1\mu _2}`$,

$`G=T_{21}+{\displaystyle \frac{T_{23}T_{31}}{T_{31}+T_{32}}}`$ (1)
The transmission coefficients $`T_{pq}`$ are related to the elements of the S-Matrix, $`T_{pq}=|t_{pq}|^2`$.

On elimination of the transmission coefficients which involve the voltage probe using the unitarity of the S - Matrix leads tobrouwer

$`G=T_{21}+{\displaystyle \frac{(1R_{11}T_{21})(1R_{22}T_{21})}{1R_{11}T_{21}+1R_{22}T_{12}}}.`$ (2)
Here, $`G`$ in dimensionless form just denotes the total transmission $`T_{tot}`$ in accordance with Landauer’s formalism, which views Conductance as Transmissionlan\_romp . $`T_{12}`$ and $`R_{22}`$ are coherent transmission and reflection when carrier’s are incident from the right. Now all the above coefficients are built from the 2X2 S-Matrix.

$$S^{}=\left(\begin{array}{cc}r_{11}& t_{12}\\ t_{21}& r_{22}\end{array}\right)$$

The above matrix $`S^{}`$ is a sub matrix of the 3X3 unitary S-Matrix of the three port system. Hence matrix $`S^{}`$ needn’t be unitary, i.e., it can represent the matrix of the non-hermitian or absorbing system. The first term in Eq. 2 represents the conductance contribution from the phase coherent part. The second term accounts for electrons that are re-injected from the phase breaking reservoir, thereby ensuring particle conservation. This part also can be identified as a contribution to the conductance arising from the incoherent processes. Eq. 2 has been obtained by a simple model for reinjecting carrier’s which conserves current only in a global way. Another interesting approach may be to reinject carrier’s based on the local density of statesbutiparama . For this one has to attach a voltage probe at every point of the system wherein we want to depict incoherent processes. This local approach will be more realistic and will be dealt with in future.

Having defined the total transmission as in Eq. 2, we now focus on the resonant tunneling seen in such devices and the effect of absorption on it. We first look into the effect of incoherence on the total transmission (conductance in the linear response regime) in both models of incoherence in the absence of finite bias. We see with increase in incoherence in both models the width of transmission peak increases (see FIG. 3) and height decreases. Also the transmission in the valley region increases in qualitative agreement with prevalent notions of decoherence. In this figure and in all subsequent figures $`\alpha =1e+05`$ implies $`1.0X10^5`$. We next focus on the total transmission $`G`$, coherent transmission $`T_{21}`$, coherent reflection $`R_{11}`$ and absorption defined as $`A=1T_{21}R_{11}`$, for both Coherent and Wave Attenuation models of absorption. These are plotted in FIG. 4. We show that in contrast to Coherent Absorption wherein absorption increases and then continuously decreases to zerorubio (in the extreme limit of $`V_i\mathrm{}`$ the absorber acts as a perfect reflector), in case of Wave Attenuation $`A`$ increases and then saturates. One of the problems associated with a coherent absorber is that absorption without reflection is not possible and it introduces spurious scattering. A note to be added is that for wider barriers $`A`$ increases and then decreases (of course saturating) with further increase in incoherence in case of Wave Attenuation also, but this is due to the fact that the prompt part in the reflection amplitude $`r_1`$ (see Fig. 1) which is unaffected by dephasing is large, and this interferes with other waves which leads to the non-monotonic behavior seen. This prompt part is also present in case of Coherent Absorption, but unlike Wave Attenuation the $`A`$ goes to zero in the asymptotic regime($`V_i\mathrm{}`$, while in case of Wave Attenuation $`A`$ always saturates at a value however small. Apart from absorption the true character of these models will be revealed in a comparison of there conductance properties. In case of imaginary potential the total conductance $`(G)`$ continuously decreases and as $`V_i\mathrm{}`$, $`G0`$ (this limit is not shown in the graph as it goes beyond the scale used), while in-case of Wave Attenuation as $`\alpha \mathrm{}`$, $`G`$ goes to a constant value which depends on the Fermi-energy and other system parameters. Thus we see that the modeling of incoherence by Wave Attenuation is indeed justified as we want the conductance to go to a classical value and not that the conductance itself should vanish, as in the case of Coherent Absorption model. This limiting case clearly indicates that the Wave Attenuation model is more physical than the Coherent Absorption model. In the above analysis it should be noted that, the conductance formula used is valid in the linear response regime.

Another important quantity relevant to the study of electron transport in these double barrier heterostructures is the tunneling current as a function of bias. To determine the tunneling current we follow the procedure adopted by Tsu and Esakiesaki ; gaston , who have obtained in the zero temperature limit the following expressions for tunneling current as a function of the applied bias- (i)for $`VE_f`$

$`I_t={\displaystyle \frac{em^{}}{2\pi ^2\mathrm{}^3}}{\displaystyle _0^{E_f}}𝑑E(E_fE)T_{tot}`$ (3)
and (ii)for $`V<E_f`$-

$`I_t={\displaystyle \frac{em^{}}{2\pi ^2\mathrm{}^3}}[V{\displaystyle _0^{E_fV}}𝑑ET_{tot}+{\displaystyle _{E_fV}^{E_f}}𝑑E(E_fE)T_{tot}]`$ (4)
In FIG. 5, we plot the tunneling current in terms of (I=$`I_t/\frac{em^{}}{2\pi ^2\mathrm{}^3}`$)versus applied bias for both Coherent Absorption as well as Wave Attenuation models of absorption. We see that Wave Attenuation models sequential transport in a much better manner than Coherent Absorption. Whereas in case of Coherent Absorption we see that for small increase in $`V_i`$ sequential contribution (the valley current) increases but for large values of $`V_i`$ we see that the sequential contribution (or the valley current) actually decreases. This is not so in-case of Wave Attenuation, as sequential transport increases to a defined limit and then saturates as expected.

With this affirmation of the suitability of Wave Attenuation to express sequential transport in RTD’s. We now use this model and compare it with some experimental results, and check how far it is accurate. In the paper of Sollner, et.al.sollner  wherein the peak to valley ratio 6:1 was obtained, the experiment was performed at 25K with system barrier(AlGaAs) height and length of 230.0 mev and $`50\AA `$, while well(GaAs) width is also $`50\AA `$. We can approximate the relaxation time at 25K to be $`10^{13}`$ secs and Fermi energy for GaAs concentration of $`1.0X10^{18}m^3`$ is $`18.67mev`$. Thus electron mean free path defined to be $`V_f`$ the Fermi velocity multiplied by the relaxation time is $`10^8m`$. $`2\alpha `$ defined as inverse of mean free path is thus $`0.5X10^8m^1`$. We find from Eq. 4, the peak to valley ratio to be 3.5:1. Thus our model although, not quite close to experimental results, nevertheless reflects qualitatively the negative differential resistance in Resonant tunneling diodes quite well. This peak-valley ratio is sensitive to the relaxation time and in our analysis we have used the value as quoted in Ref.Yu, .

## IV Mesoscopic Rings

In this section we report on the extensively studied non-local phenomena of Aharonov-Bohm oscillationswebb ; imry . The system under consideration is shown in FIG. 6. It is an asymmetric loop with upper and lower arm lengths $`l_1`$ and $`l_2`$ and circumference $`L=l_1+l_2`$, coupled to two leads which in turn are connected to two reservoirs at chemical potentials $`\mu _1`$ and $`\mu _2`$. Inelastic scattering is assumed to be absent in the leads while it is present in the reservoirs, and in the loop we introduce incoherence via Wave Attenuation or Coherent Absorption to simulate inelastic scattering. The S matrix for the left coupler yields the amplitudes $`O_1=(\alpha _1^{},\beta _1^{},\gamma _1^{})`$ emanating from the coupler in terms of the incident waves $`I_1=(\alpha _1,\beta _1,\gamma _1)`$, and for the right coupler yields the amplitudes $`O_2=(\delta _2^{},\beta _2^{},\gamma _2^{})`$ emanating from the coupler in terms of the incident waves $`I_2=(\delta _2,\beta _2,\gamma _2)`$. The S-matrix for either of the couplersbutipra  is given by-

$$S=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}(a+b)& \sqrt{ϵ}& \sqrt{ϵ}\\ \sqrt{ϵ}& a& b\\ \sqrt{ϵ}& b& a\end{array}\right)$$

with $`a=\frac{1}{2}(\sqrt{(12ϵ)}1)`$ and $`b=\frac{1}{2}(\sqrt{(12ϵ)}+1)`$. Herein, $`ϵ`$ plays the role of a coupling parameter. The maximum coupling between reservoir and loop is $`ϵ=\frac{1}{2}`$, and for $`ϵ=0`$, the coupler completely disconnects the loop from the reservoir. We first consider Wave Attenuation in which inelastic scattering in the arms of the AB interferometer is taken into account by introducing an attenuation constant per unit length in the two arms of the ring, i.e., the factors $`e^{\alpha l_1}`$ (or $`e^{\alpha l_2}`$) in the free propagator amplitudes, every time the electroncolin ; datta  traverses the upper (or lower) arms of the loop (see Fig. 1), as discussed earlier.

The waves incident into the branches of the loop are related by the S Matrices cahay for upper branch by-

$$\left(\begin{array}{c}\beta _1\\ \beta _2\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& e^{ikl_1}e^{\alpha l_1}e^{\frac{i\theta l_1}{L}}\\ e^{ikl_1}e^{\alpha l_1}e^{\frac{i\theta l_1}{L}}& 0\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}\beta _1^{}\\ \beta _2^{}\end{array}\right)$$

and for lower branch-

$$\left(\begin{array}{c}\gamma _1\\ \gamma _2\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& e^{ikl_2}e^{\alpha l_2}e^{\frac{i\theta l_2}{L}}\\ e^{ikl_2}e^{\alpha l_2}e^{\frac{i\theta l_2}{L}}& 0\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}\gamma _1^{}\\ \gamma _2^{}\end{array}\right)$$

These S matrices of course are not unitary $`S(\alpha )S(\alpha )^{}1`$ but they obey the dualitybeen  relation $`S(\alpha )S(\alpha )^{}=1`$. Here $`kl_1`$ and $`kl_2`$ are the phase increments of the wave function in absence of flux. $`\frac{\theta l_1}{L}`$ and $`\frac{\theta l_2}{L}`$ are the phase shifts due to flux in the upper and lower branches. Clearly, $`\frac{\theta l_1}{L}+\frac{\theta l_2}{L}=\frac{2\pi \mathrm{\Phi }}{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}`$, where $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is the flux piercing the loop and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ is the flux quantum$`\frac{hc}{e}`$. The transmission and reflection coefficients are given as follows- $`T_{21}=|\frac{\delta _2^{}}{\alpha _1}|^2`$, $`R_{11}=|\frac{\alpha _1^{}}{\alpha _1}|^2`$, $`R_{22}=|\frac{\delta _2^{}}{\delta _2}|^2`$, $`T_{12}=|\frac{\alpha _1^{}}{\delta _2}|^2`$ wherein wave amplitudes $`\delta _2^{},\delta _2,\alpha _1^{},\alpha _1`$ are as depicted in FIG. 6.

The coherent transmission coefficient $`T_{21}`$ from reservoir 1 to 2 is not symmetric under flux reversal and is due to the fact that unitarity has been violated. For calculating the total conductance in case of Coherent Absorption we use Eq. 2, and potential across the ring is imaginary $`V_1`$ but we follow the wave guide methodxia ; deo\_stub . The waveguide and S-Matrix methods are not exclusive, in fact the waveguide method is just a special case of the S-Matrix, corresponding to a coupling constant $`ϵ=4/9`$.

In this method (see FIG. 6) the wave functions in the leads are- $`\mathrm{\Psi }_1=e^{ikx}+re^{ikx}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Psi }_2=te^{ikx}`$ for left and right leads respectively. The wavefunctions in the upper and lower arms of the loop are $`\mathrm{\Psi }_u=a_ue^{ik_1^{}x}+b_ue^{ik_2^{}x}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Psi }_l=a_le^{ik_2^{}x}+b_le^{ik_1^{}x}`$. Here $`k_1^{}=k^{}\frac{\varphi }{L},k_2^{}=k^{}+\frac{\varphi }{L}`$, with $`k^{}=k_p+ik_m`$ and $`k_p=\frac{k}{\sqrt{2}}\sqrt{1+\zeta },k_m=\frac{k}{\sqrt{2}}\sqrt{\zeta 1}`$, where $`\zeta =\sqrt{1+(\frac{V_i}{k^2})^2}`$.

Thus we have $`R_{11}=|r|^2,T_{21}=|t|^2`$. For electrons incident from the right lead we adopt a similar procedure to calculate $`R_{22}`$ and $`T_{12}`$. Substituting these coefficients in Eq. 2, we get the total conductance in case of Coherent Absorption. The total conductance (G) in both the cases of absorption obeys Onsager’s symmetry while the coherent transmission contribution isn’t. The conductance shows flux periodicity of period $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ as expected for ballistic ringsbuti ; webb ; gia . In the ballistic and asymmetric rings for certain values of the physical parameters $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$ periodicity has also been seen experimentally and explained using the single channel coherent transport model without dephasing. In our present case as we scan the range of Fermi wavevector then in some regions we observe $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$ periodicities a much explored phenomena in these systems as shown in Fig. 7. In both cases, i.e., Coherent Absorption as well as Wave Attenuation, we see that increase in incoherence leads to shifts of exact fermi wavevector wherein $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$ periodicities occur. Also the visibility defined as the ratio of the difference between maximum and minimum conductances to the sum of maximum and minimum conductances shows similar behavior in either case. In both these cases visibility decreases as a function of incoherence parameter signalling dephasing. Moreover it has been shown thatcondmat  $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$ periodicity can also be observed in the presence of incoherence which is of-course true for $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ periodicity. To truly bring out the differences between these models of incoherence one has to study the total conductance and absorption as a function of the incoherence parameters.

To this end, in FIG. 8 we plot the total conductance $`(G)`$ for both the cases. In the case of Coherent Absorption we see that the total conductance $`(G)`$ continuously decreases and as $`V_i\mathrm{}`$, $`G0`$ (this limit is not shown in the graph as it goes beyond the scale used), while in-case of Wave Attenuation as $`\alpha \mathrm{}`$, $`G`$ goes to a constant value which depends on the Fermi-energy and other system parameters. Thus we see that the modeling of dephasing by Wave Attenuation is indeed justified as we want the AB oscillations to die out and not that the conductance itself should vanish, and this is where Wave Attenuation scores over the Coherent Absorption model. In the figure inset we have depicted the behavior of total absorption in the system $`A`$ for both the cases for the same physical parameters. As $`\alpha \mathrm{}`$ there is a finite absorption in the system as the electron propagates in the medium in this limit whereas absorption in the imaginary potential model is non-monotonic and in the limit $`V_i\mathrm{}`$ absorption vanishes. This is due to the fact that in the Coherent Absorption model as $`V_i\mathrm{}`$ absorber acts as a perfect reflector as mentioned before. There is no absorption in the medium as the particles do not enter the medium (and hence $`G=0`$) obviously which is an unrealistic situation for real systems.

With our model for inelastic scattering we can also study theoretically the effect of incoherence on Fano resonant line shapes. This effect has earlier been seen in various contexts in mesoscopic systems. A recent example being, Fano effect through a quantum dot in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer by Kobayashi, et.alkobay , wherein they see this effect in the nature of the conductance as a function of the gate voltage (Fermi energy). Fano resonances (i.e., asymmetric line shapes) arise when a discrete set of states are coupled to the continuum, these were first proposed by Ugo Fano to explain the characteristic asymmetric line shapes in nuclear scattering phenomenafano . Basically it is the effect of interference between two alternatives in which an electron can emerge via resonant localized state or through the continuum. Earlier, in an analysis of a simple quantum dot system taking into account the contribution from direct(non-resonant) path and resonant path the form of the Fano resonance was shown to be clerk

$`G(E)=G_d{\displaystyle \frac{|2E+q\mathrm{\Gamma }|^2}{4E^2+\mathrm{\Gamma }^2}}`$ (5)
In the above Eq. 5, $`G=|t_d+t_r|^2`$ is the conductance with $`t_d=e^{i\beta _d}\sqrt{G_d}`$ and $`t_r(E)=z_r\mathrm{\Gamma }/(2E+i\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ describing the direct and resonant transmission amplitudes, E the energy, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ the resonance width, $`G_d`$ the non-resonant conductance, and $`q=i+z_re^{i\beta _d}/\sqrt{G_d}`$ the complex Fano parameter. It must be remembered that the above form of the Fano line-shape is valid in the absence of dephasing. In the presence of dephasing the form of the total conductance $`G`$ is as given in Eq. 2. It is claimed earlier clerk  that the second part of Eq. 2 will lead to a Breit-Wigner line-shape in the presence of dephasing. We will study this above assertion in our present study of quantum dot in an Aharonov-Bohm ring geometry which is different from that considered earlierclerk  using Wave Attenuation method.

In the model we consider, a quantum dot placed on the upper arm of an open Aharonov-Bohm ring. The quantum dot has resonant discrete levels, the interplay of these states with the continuous levels in the Aharonov-Bohm ring gives rise to Fano resonances. We assume the discrete levels of the quantum dot to be having Breit-Wigner forms. Following the formalism of Sun and Lin lin , one can write the $`pq^{th}`$ element of the 2 X 2 S-Matrix of the quantum dot as-

$`S_{pq}=\delta _{pq}{\displaystyle \frac{i/2}{\left[_j\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_j}{EE_j}\right]^1+i/2}}`$ (6)
wherein $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_j`$ and $`E_j`$ represent the width and energy of the $`j^{th}`$ resonant level of the quantum dot while $`E`$ denotes the Fermi energy and $`p,q`$ take on values $`1`$ and $`2`$. It should, however, be noted that unlike Sun and Lin, we neglect the intra-dot Coulomb interaction as in Eq. 6 and solve the scattering problem by placing the quantum dot symmetrically in the upper arm of the original Aharonov-Bohm ring(FIG. 6).

In FIG. 9 we plot the Conductance as a function of incident electron energy(in a narrow range) using Eq. 2 for various values of incoherent parameter $`\alpha `$. The Conductance shows Fano line-shapes as one varies the incident electron energy. In this figure the physical parameters are as mentioned in the figure caption. As inelastic scattering parameter $`\alpha `$ is increased Fano line-shapes broaden and their peak values are reduced. Subtracting the continuum background of the Conductance, we see that the asymmetric Fano line-shapes evolve to symmetric line-shapes corresponding to Lorentzian or Breit-Wigner forms in similarity with experimental observations and also consistent with the treatment of Ref.clerk, . The incoherence parameter $`2\alpha `$ is defined as equal to inverse of the mean free path as in the previous section. A representative value of $`\alpha `$ in FIG. 9, for example $`1X10^4`$ corresponds to a mean free path of $`5X10^5m`$ which is in conformity with the millikelvin temperature range at which the experiment has been performed. The complete understanding requires details of physical parameters associated with the real experiment. The complex Fano parameter as defined above also changes with increase in dephasing strength, as seen in Ref.clerk, . Another feature as seen in the experiment is the transition as a function of applied flux, of an asymmetric line-shape to symmetric and then back to asymmetric, further work on these is currently on and will be reported elsewhere.

## V Conclusions

In this work we have brought out some of the unphysical characteristics associated with the Coherent Absorption model as compared to the Wave Attenuation model which have been used earlier to study dephasing in mesoscopic systems. Both these models are phenomenological in nature and are applied to study transport across Resonant tunneling diodes and Aharonov-Bohm rings. Further we have studied the peak to valley ratios in case of Resonant tunneling diodes, dephasing of magneto-conductance oscillations and Fano resonances. We have shown that the Wave-Attenuation model is consistent with prevalent notions of decoherence.