357 research outputs found
Ground-state energy and spin in disordered quantum dots
We investigate the ground-state energy and spin of disordered quantum dots
using spin-density-functional theory. Fluctuations of addition energies
(Coulomb-blockade peak spacings) do not scale with average addition energy but
remain proportional to level spacing. With increasing interaction strength, the
even-odd alternation of addition energies disappears, and the probability of
non-minimal spin increases, but never exceeds 50%. Within a two-orbital model,
we show that the off-diagonal Coulomb matrix elements help stabilize a ground
state of minimal spin.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Mesoscopic Fluctuations in Quantum Dots in the Kondo Regime
Properties of the Kondo effect in quantum dots depend sensitively on the
coupling parameters and so on the realization of the quantum dot -- the Kondo
temperature itself becomes a mesoscopic quantity. Assuming chaotic dynamics in
the dot, we use random matrix theory to calculate the distribution of both the
Kondo temperature and the conductance in the Coulomb blockade regime. We study
two experimentally relevant cases: leads with single channels and leads with
many channels. In the single-channel case, the distribution of the conductance
is very wide as fluctuates on a logarithmic scale. As the number of
channels increases, there is a slow crossover to a self-averaging regime.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Fano Resonances in Electronic Transport through a Single Electron Transistor
We have observed asymmetric Fano resonances in the conductance of a single
electron transistor resulting from interference between a resonant and a
nonresonant path through the system. The resonant component shows all the
features typical of quantum dots, but the origin of the non-resonant path is
unclear. A unique feature of this experimental system, compared to others that
show Fano line shapes, is that changing the voltages on various gates allows
one to alter the interference between the two paths.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to PR
Singlet-triplet transition in a lateral quantum dot
We study transport through a lateral quantum dot in the vicinity of the
singlet-triplet transition in its ground state. This transition, being sharp in
an isolated dot, is broadened to a crossover by the exchange interaction of the
dot electrons with the conduction electrons in the leads. For a generic set of
system's parameters, the linear conductance has a maximum in the crossover
region. At zero temperature and magnetic field, the maximum is the strongest.
It becomes less pronounced at finite Zeeman splitting, which leads to an
increase of the background conductance and a decrease of the conductance in the
maximum
Quantum phase transition in a two-channel-Kondo quantum dot device
We develop a theory of electron transport in a double quantum dot device
recently proposed for the observation of the two-channel Kondo effect. Our
theory provides a strategy for tuning the device to the non-Fermi-liquid fixed
point, which is a quantum critical point in the space of device parameters. We
explore the corresponding quantum phase transition, and make explicit
predictions for behavior of the differential conductance in the vicinity of the
quantum critical point
Singlet-Triplet Transition in lateral Quantum Dots: A Numerical Renormalization Group Study
We discuss transport through a lateral quantum dot in the vicinity of a
singlet-triplet spin transition in its ground state. Extracting the scattering
phase shifts from the numerical renormalization group spectra, we determine the
linear conductance at zero temperature as a function of a Zeeman field and the
splitting of the singlet and triplet states. We find reduced low-energy
transport, and a non-monotonic magnetic field dependence both in the singlet
and the triplet regime. For a generic set of dot parameters and no Zeeman
splitting, the singlet-triplet transition may be identified with the
conductance maximum. The conductance is least sensitive to the magnetic field
in the region of the transition, where it decreases upon application of a
magnetic field. Our results are in good agreement with recent experimental
data.Comment: 9 pages Revtex, 10 eps figure
Kondo effect induced by a magnetic field
We study peculiarities of transport through a Coulomb blockade system tuned
to the vicinity of the spin transition in its ground state. Such transitions
can be induced in practice by application of a magnetic field. Tunneling of
electrons between the dot and leads mixes the states belonging to the ground
state manifold of the dot. Remarkably, both the orbital and spin degrees of
freedom of the electrons are engaged in the mixing at the singlet-triplet
transition point. We present a model which provides an adequate theoretical
description of recent experiments with semiconductor quantum dots and carbon
nanotubes
A Solvable Regime of Disorder and Interactions in Ballistic Nanostructures, Part I: Consequences for Coulomb Blockade
We provide a framework for analyzing the problem of interacting electrons in
a ballistic quantum dot with chaotic boundary conditions within an energy
(the Thouless energy) of the Fermi energy. Within this window we show that the
interactions can be characterized by Landau Fermi liquid parameters. When ,
the dimensionless conductance of the dot, is large, we find that the disordered
interacting problem can be solved in a saddle-point approximation which becomes
exact as (as in a large-N theory). The infinite theory shows a
transition to a strong-coupling phase characterized by the same order parameter
as in the Pomeranchuk transition in clean systems (a spontaneous
interaction-induced Fermi surface distortion), but smeared and pinned by
disorder. At finite , the two phases and critical point evolve into three
regimes in the plane -- weak- and strong-coupling regimes separated
by crossover lines from a quantum-critical regime controlled by the quantum
critical point. In the strong-coupling and quantum-critical regions, the
quasiparticle acquires a width of the same order as the level spacing
within a few 's of the Fermi energy due to coupling to collective
excitations. In the strong coupling regime if is odd, the dot will (if
isolated) cross over from the orthogonal to unitary ensemble for an
exponentially small external flux, or will (if strongly coupled to leads) break
time-reversal symmetry spontaneously.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures. Very minor changes. We have clarified that we
are treating charge-channel instabilities in spinful systems, leaving
spin-channel instabilities for future work. No substantive results are
change
Effect of surrounding environment on atomic structure and equilibrium shape of growing nanocrystals: gold in/on SiO2
We report on the equilibrium shape and atomic structure of thermally-processed Au nanocrystals (NCs) as determined by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The NCs were either deposited on SiO2surface or embedded in SiO2layer. Quantitative data on the NCs surface free energy were obtained via the inverse Wulff construction. Nanocrystals inside the SiO2layer are defect-free and maintain a symmetrical equilibrium shape during the growth. Nanocrystals on SiO2surface exhibit asymmetrical equilibrium shape that is characterized by the introduction of twins and more complex atomic defects above a critical size. The observed differences in the equilibrium shape and atomic structure evolution of growing NCs in and on SiO2is explained in terms of evolution in isotropic/anisotropic environment making the surface free energy function angular and/or radial symmetric/asymmetric affecting the rotational/translational invariance of the surface stress tensor
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