Objective A theoretical study of the quantum Wigner phase of electrons confined in semiconductor quantum dots (and related confined systems, e.g. rings and wires) will be performed.The objectives of the project are:- Determination of the mechanism for breakdown of the maximum density droplet and for the formation of the Wigner phase in quantum dots, quantum rings and wires. The aim is to solve the controversy between the proposed edge reconstruction and an intermediate stage of crystallization where a hole in the centre of the electron charge density appears;- Study of the Wigner phase in systems with broken symmetry (and with anharmonic confinement). In this case the rotational invariance is broken and most of the available approaches fail to describe such systems;- Study of the Wigner phase in large quantum dots with disorder induced by the local fluctuations of the confinement potential.Phase diagrams for the quantum dot ground state will be constructed as function of the relevant parameters, e.g. magnetic field, confinement strength, anharmonicity and disorder. The theoretical results obtained during the realization of the project will be compared with the experimental data of transport and capacitance spectroscopy [e.g. Oosterkamp et al., Phys. Rev. Lett 82, 2931 (1999), Zhitenev et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 2308 (1997).The project will be realized using the unrestricted Hartree-Fock method and a novel configuration interaction scheme with a multi-centre basis. This novel method of solution of the Schroedinger equation yields exact results in the high- magnetic field limit, in which the quantum system reproduces the classical configurations.Furthermore, this approach is well suited to tackle systems with broken symmetry and disorder. The Antwerp research group is an international leading group in the study of the classical Wigner solid and the equivalent systems in confined geometries. Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencesquantum physicsnatural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivitynatural sciencesmathematicspure mathematicsgeometrynatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopy Keywords Fock and exact diagonalization Hartree Semiconductor quantum dots Wigner phase method Programme(s) FP6-MOBILITY - Human resources and Mobility in the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration "Structuring the European Research Area" under the Sixth Framework Programme 2002-2006 Topic(s) MOBILITY-2.1 - Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships (EIF) Call for proposal FP6-2002-MOBILITY-5 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme EIF - Marie Curie actions-Intra-European Fellowships Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Address Prinsstraat 13 Antwerpen Belgium See on map EU contribution € 0,00
