Kondo effect in a quantum dot coupled to ferromagnetic leads and side-coupled to a nonmagnetic reservoir

Equilibrium transport properties of a single-level quantum dot tunnel-coupled to ferromagnetic leads and exchange-coupled to a side nonmagnetic reservoir are analyzed theoretically in the Kondo regime. The equilibrium spectral functions and conductance through the dot are calculated using the numerical renormalization group (NRG) method. It is shown that in the antiparallel magnetic configuration, the system undergoes a quantum phase transition with increasing exchange coupling $J$, where the conductance drops from its maximum value to zero. In the parallel configuration, on the other hand, the conductance is generally suppressed due to an effective spin splitting of the dot level caused by the presence of ferromagnetic leads, irrespective of the strength of exchange constant. However, for $J$ ranging from J=0 up to the corresponding critical value, the Kondo effect and quantum critical behavior can be restored by applying properly tuned compensating magnetic field.Comment: (8 pages, 8 figs) to appear in PR

Kondo screening cloud in a one dimensional wire: Numerical renormalization group study

We study the Kondo model --a magnetic impurity coupled to a one dimensional wire via exchange coupling-- by using Wilson's numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique. By applying an approach similar to which was used to compute the two impurity problem we managed to improve the bad spatial resolution of the numerical renormalization group method. In this way we have calculated the impurity spin - conduction electron spin correlation function which is a measure of the Kondo compensation cloud whose existence has been a long standing problem in solid state physics. We also present results on the temperature dependence of the Kondo correlations.Comment: published versio

Fano-Kondo effect in side-coupled double quantum dots at finite temperatures and the importance of the two-stage Kondo screening

We study the zero-bias conductance through the system of two quantum dots, one of which is embedded directly between the source and drain electrodes, while the second dot is side-coupled to the first one through a tunneling junction. Modeling the system using the two-impurity Anderson model, we compute the temperature-dependence of the conductance in various parameter regimes using the numerical renormalization group. We consider the non-interacting case, where we study the extent of the departure from the conventional Fano resonance line shape at finite temperatures, and the case where the embedded and/or the side-coupled quantum dot is interacting, where we study the consequences of the coexistence of the Kondo and Fano effects. If the side-coupled dot is very weakly interacting, the occupancy changes by two when the on-site energy crosses the Fermi level and a Fano-resonance-like shape is observed. If the interaction on the side-coupled dot is sizeable, the occupancy changes only by one and a very different line-shape results, which is strongly and characteristically temperature dependent. These results suggest an intriguing alternative interpretation of the recent experimental results study of the transport properties of the side-coupled double quantum dot [Sasaki et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 266806 (2009)]: the observed Fano-like conductance anti-resonance may, in fact, result from the two-stage Kondo effect in the regime where the experimental temperature is between the higher and the lower Kondo temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. In V2: updated references, 3 new figures, additional discussio

Quantum size effects in Pb layers with absorbed Kondo adatoms: Determination of the exchange coupling constant

We consider the magnetic interaction of manganese phtalocyanine (MnPc) absorbed on Pb layers which were grown on a Si substrate. We perform an ab-initio calculation of the density of states and Kondo temperature as function of the number of Pb monolayers. Comparison to experimental data [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 256601 (2007)] then allows us to determine the exchange coupling constant J between the spins of the adsorbed molecules and those of the Pb host. This approach gives rise to a general and reliable method for obtaining J, by combining experimental and numerical results.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B as Brief Repor

Valence-band satellite in the ferromagnetic nickel: LDA+DMFT study with exact diagonalization

The valence-band spectrum of the ferromagnetic nickel is calculated using the LDA+DMFT method. The auxiliary impurity model emerging in the course of the calculations is discretized and solved with the exact diagonalization, or, more precisely, with the Lanczos method. Particular emphasis is given to spin dependence of the valence-band satellite that is observed around 6 eV below the Fermi level. The calculated satellite is strongly spin polarized in accord with experimental findings.Comment: REVTeX 4, 8 pages, 5 figure

Mixed-state aspects of an out-of-equilibrium Kondo problem in a quantum dot

We reexamine basic aspects of a nonequilibrium steady state in the Kondo problem for a quantum dot under a bias voltage using a reduced density matrix, which is obtained in the Fock space by integrating out one of the two conduction channels. The integration has been carried out by discretizing the conduction channels preserving the two-fold degeneracy due to the left-going and right-going scattering states. The remaining subspace is described by a single-channel Anderson model, and the statistical weight is determined by the reduced density matrix. In the noninteracting case, it can be constructed as the mixed states that show a close similarity to the high-temperature distribution in equilibrium. Specifically, if the system has an inversion symmetry, the one-particle states in an energy window between the two chemical potentials \mu_R and \mu_L are occupied, or unoccupied, completely at random with an equal weight. The Coulomb interaction preserves these aspects, and the correlation functions can be expressed in a Lehmann-representation form using the mixed-state statistical weight.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Suppression of Kondo-assisted co-tunneling in a spin-1 quantum dot with Spin-Orbit interaction

Kondo-type zero-bias anomalies have been frequently observed in quantum dots occupied by two electrons and attributed to a spin-triplet configuration that may become stable under particular circumstances. Conversely, zero-bias anomalies have been so far quite elusive when quantum dots are occupied by an even number of electrons greater than two, even though a spin-triplet configuration is more likely to be stabilized there than for two electrons. We propose as an origin of this phenomenon the spin-orbit interaction, and we show how it profoundly alters the conventional Kondo screening scenario in the simple case of a laterally confined quantum dot with four electrons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted 05May201

Non-equilibrium Transport in the Anderson model of a biased Quantum Dot: Scattering Bethe Ansatz Phenomenology

We derive the transport properties of a quantum dot subject to a source-drain bias voltage at zero temperature and magnetic field. Using the Scattering Bethe Anstaz, a generalization of the traditional Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz to open systems out of equilibrium, we derive exact results for the quantum dot occupation out of equilibrium and, by introducing phenomenological spin- and charge-fluctuation distribution functions in the computation of the current, obtain the differential conductance for large U/\Gamma. The Hamiltonian to describe the quantum dot system is the Anderson impurity Hamiltonian and the current and dot occupation as a function of voltage are obtained numerically. We also vary the gate voltage and study the transition from the mixed valence to the Kondo regime in the presence of a non-equilibrium current. We conclude with the difficulty we encounter in this model and possible way to solve them without resorting to a phenomenological method.Comment: 20 pages, 20 figures, published versio