Phonon-assisted and magnetic field induced Kondo tunneling in single molecular devices

We consider the Kondo tunneling induced by multiphonon emission/absorption processes in magnetic molecular complexes with low-energy singlet-triplet spin gap and show that the number of assisting phonons may be changed by varying the Zeeman splitting of excited triplet state. As a result, the structure of multiphonon Kondo resonances may be scanned by means of magnetic field tuning.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. Shortened version of this paper will be published in the Proceedings of the International Conference "Phonons2007" (J. Phys: Conf. Series

Spatially dependent Kondo effect in Quantum Corrals

We study the Kondo screening of a single magnetic impurity inside a non-magnetic quantum corral located on the surface of a metallic host system. We show that the spatial structure of the corral's eigenmodes lead to a spatially dependent Kondo effect whose signatures are spatial variations of the Kondo temperature, $T_K$. Moreover, we predict that the Kondo screening is accompanied by the formation of multiple Kondo resonances with characteristic spatial patterns. Our results open new possibilities to manipulate and explore the Kondo effect by using quantum corrals.Comment: 4 pages 5 figure

Strongly Inhomogeneous Phases and Non-Fermi Liquid Behavior in Randomly Depleted Kondo Lattices

We investigate the low-temperature behavior of Kondo lattices upon random depletion of the local $f$-moments, by using strong-coupling arguments and solving SU($N$) saddle-point equations on large lattices. For a large range of intermediate doping levels, between the coherent Fermi liquid of the dense lattice and the single-impurity Fermi liquid of the dilute limit, we find strongly inhomogeneous states that exhibit distinct non-Fermi liquid characteristics. In particular, the interplay of dopant disorder and strong interactions leads to rare weakly screened moments which dominate the bulk susceptibility. Our results are relevant to compounds like Ce_{x}La_{1-x}CoIn_5 and Ce_{x}La_{1-x}Pb_3Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Defects in Heavy-Fermion Materials: Unveiling Strong Correlations in Real Space

Complexity in materials often arises from competing interactions at the atomic length scale. One such example are the strongly correlated heavy-fermion materials where the competition between Kondo screening and antiferromagnetic ordering is believed to be the origin of their puzzling non-Fermi-liquid properties. Insight into such complex physical behavior in strongly correlated electron systems can be gained by impurity doping. Here, we develop a microscopic theoretical framework to demonstrate that defects implanted in heavy-fermion materials provide an opportunity for unveiling competing interactions and their correlations in real space. Defect-induced perturbations in the electronic and magnetic correlations possess characteristically different spatial patterns that can be visualized via their spectroscopic signatures in the local density of states or non-local spin susceptibility. These real space patterns provide insight into the complex electronic structure of heavy-fermion materials, the light or heavy character of the perturbed states, and the hybridization between them. The strongly correlated nature of these materials also manifests itself in highly non-linear quantum interference effects between defects that can drive the system through a first-order phase transition to a novel inhomogeneous ground state.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Kondo behavior in the asymmetric Anderson model: Analytic approach

The low-temperature behavior of the asymmetric single-impurity Anderson model is studied by diagrammatic methods resulting in analytically controllable approximations. We first discuss the ways one can simplify parquet equations in critical regions of singularities in the two-particle vertex. The scale vanishing at the critical point defines the Kondo temperature at which the electron-hole correlation function saturates. We show that the Kondo temperature exists at any filling of the impurity level. A quasiparticle resonance peak in the spectral function, however, forms only in almost electron-hole symmetric situations. We relate the Kondo temperature with the width of the resonance peak. Finally we discuss the existence of satellite Hubbard bands in the spectral function.Comment: REVTeX4, 11 pages, 5 EPS figure

The Strong Coupling Fixed-Point Revisited

In recent work we have shown that the Fermi liquid aspects of the strong coupling fixed point of the s-d and Anderson models can brought out more clearly by interpreting the fixed point as a renormalized Anderson model, characterized by a renormalized level $\tilde\epsilon_d$, resonance width, $\tilde\Delta$, and interaction $\tilde U$, and a simple prescription for their calculation was given using the numerical renormalization group (NRG). These three parameters completely specify a renormalized perturbation theory (RPT) which leads to exact expressions for the low temperature behaviour. Using a combination of the two techniques, NRG to determine $\tilde\epsilon_d$, $\tilde\Delta$, and $\tilde U$, and then substituting these in the RPT expressions gives a very efficient and accurate way of calculating the low temperature behaviour of the impurity as it avoids the necessity of subtracting out the conduction electron component. Here we extend this approach to an Anderson model in a magnetic field, so that $\tilde\epsilon_d$, $\tilde\Delta$, and $\tilde U$ become dependent on the magnetic field. The de-renormalization of the renormalized quasiparticles can then be followed as the magnetic field strength is increased. Using these running coupling constants in a RPT calculation we derive an expression for the low temperature conductivity for arbitrary magnetic field strength.Comment: Contribution to JPSJ volume commemorating the 40th anniversary of the publication of Kondo's original pape

Phase diagram, energy scales and nonlocal correlations in the Anderson lattice model

We study the Anderson lattice model with one f-orbital per lattice site as the simplest model which describes generic features of heavy fermion materials. The resistivity and magnetic susceptibility results obtained within dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) for a nearly half-filled conduction band show the existence of a single energy scale $T^*$ which is similar to the single ion Kondo temperature $T_K^o$. To determine the importance of inter-site correlations, we have also solved the model within cellular DMFT (CDMFT) with two sites in a unit cell. The antiferromagnetic region on the phase diagram is much narrower than in the single-site solution, having a smaller critical hybridization $V_c$ and N\'eel temperature $T_N$. At temperatures above $T_N$ the nonlocal correlations are small, and the DMFT paramagnetic solution is in this case practically exact, which justifies the ab initio LDA+DMFT approach in theoretical studies of heavy fermions. Strong inter-site correlations in the CDMFT solution for $T<T_N$, however, indicate that they have to be properly treated in order to unravel the physical properties near the quantum critical point.Comment: 10 page

Two-channel Kondo physics in two-impurity Kondo models

We consider the non-Fermi liquid quantum critical state of the spin-S two-impurity Kondo model, and its potential realization in a quantum dot device. Using conformal field theory (CFT) and the numerical renormalization group (NRG), we show the critical point to be identical to that of the two-channel Kondo model with additional potential scattering, for any spin-S. Distinct conductance signatures are shown to arise as a function of device asymmetry; with the `smoking gun' square-root behavior, commonly believed to arise at low-energies, dominant only in certain regimes.Comment: 4.5 pages (with 3 figures) + 9 pages (with 4 figures) supplementary materia

Entanglement of an impurity and conduction spins in the Kondo model

Based on Yosida's ground state of the single-impurity Kondo Hamiltonian, we study three kinds of entanglement between an impurity and conduction electron spins. First, it is shown that the impurity spin is maximally entangled with all the conduction electrons. Second, a two-spin density matrix of the impurity spin and one conduction electron spin is given by a Werner state. We find that the impurity spin is not entangled with one conduction electron spin even within the Kondo screening length $\xi_K$, although there is the spin-spin correlation between them. Third, we show the density matrix of two conduction electron spins is nearly same to that of a free electron gas. The single impurity does not change the entanglement structure of the conduction electrons in contrast to the dramatic change in electrical resistance.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Non-equilibrium Differential Conductance through a Quantum Dot in a Magnetic Field

We derive an exact expression for the differential conductance for a quantum dot in an arbitrary magnetic field for small bias voltage. The derivation is based on the symmetric Anderson model using renormalized perturbation theory and is valid for all values of the on-site interaction $U$ including the Kondo regime. We calculate the critical magnetic field for the splitting of the Kondo resonance to be seen in the differential conductivity as function of bias voltage. Our calculations for small field show that the peak position of the component resonances in the differential conductance are reduced substantially from estimates using the equilibrium Green's function. We conclude that it is important to take the voltage dependence of the local retarded Green's function into account in interpreting experimental resultsComment: 8 pages, 4 figures; Replaced by a fully revised version with minor corrections in the tex