Physics of nanostructures

This course presents the physical properties of different nanostructures such as quantum wells, 1D photonic crystals, carbon nanotubes or graphene. Electronic (structure and transport), vibrational and optical properties are discussed as well as radiation-matter interaction.

The aim is to describe the elaboration of low dimensional materials, the associated electronic, photonic and phononic structures, to study the transport phenomena, the electron-photon and electron-phonon couplings, the excitons as well as the absorption, emission and diffusion of light.

Describe physical phenomena occurring at the nanoscale and understand the properties of nanomaterials.

Crystallographic concepts, reciprocal lattice. Band structure. Propagation of electromagnetic waves (Maxwell's equations). Vibrations of a crystal, absorption and dispersion of light.

Recommended Prerequisites:

Excitonic effects, electronic and phononic dispersion curve.

Continuous assessment.

4 written and 1 oral exam.

The final grade is the average of the 5 grades.

Carbon-based nanostructures:

Presentation of carbon-based nanostructures
Structural, electronic and optical properties of graphene and monofoil nanotubes
Raman spectroscopy
Applications to carbon nanostructures

Nano-photonics: 

1D, 2D and 3D photonic crystals

Reflectivity and transmission by transfer matrices

Band diagram

Anisotropic media

Plasmonics

Optical spectroscopy of nanostructures:

 Interaction between light and electrons confined in a nanostructure

Semiconductor quantum wells and boxes: intra-band and inter-band transitions

Quantum" light emitters

Nanotransport:

Semi-Classical Transport Theories
Quantum Transport: Effect of Dimensionality and Band Structure
Landauer Formalism
Transport in Nanotubes and Graphene
Quantum Hall Effect and Metrology
The HEMT