2D superconductivity with strong spin-orbit interaction

We consider superconductivity confined at a two-dimensional interface with a strong surface spin-orbit (Rashba) interaction. Some peculiar properties of this system are investigated. In particular, we show that an in-plane Zeeman field can induce a supercurrent flow.Comment: latex, 1 figure in ep

Enhancing Tc in field-doped Fullerenes by applying uniaxial stress

Capitalizing on the two-dimensional nature of superconductivity in field-effect doped C60, we show that it should be possible to increase the transition temperature Tc by applying uniaxial stress perpendicular to the gate electrode. This method not only holds the promise of substantially enhancing Tc (by about 30 K per GPa), but also provides a sensitive check of the current understanding of superconductivity in the doped Fullerenes.Comment: 3 pages RevTe

Crystal Structures and Electronic Properties of Haloform-Intercalated C60

Using density functional methods we calculated structural and electronic properties of bulk chloroform and bromoform intercalated C60, C60 2CHX3 (X=Cl,Br). Both compounds are narrow band insulator materials with a gap between valence and conduction bands larger than 1 eV. The calculated widths of the valence and conduction bands are 0.4-0.6 eV and 0.3-0.4 eV, respectively. The orbitals of the haloform molecules overlap with the $\pi$ orbitals of the fullerene molecules and the p-type orbitals of halogen atoms significantly contribute to the valence and conduction bands of C60 2CHX3. Charging with electrons and holes turns the systems to metals. Contrary to expectation, 10 to 20 % of the charge is on the haloform molecules and is thus not completely localized on the fullerene molecules. Calculations on different crystal structures of C60 2CHCl3 and C60 2CHBr3 revealed that the density of states at the Fermi energy are sensitive to the orientation of the haloform and C60 molecules. At a charging of three holes, which corresponds to the superconducting phase of pure C60 and C60 2CHX3, the calculated density of states (DOS) at the Fermi energy increases in the sequence DOS(C60) < DOS(C60 2CHCl3) < DOS(C60 2CHBr3).Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Two-Dimensional Wigner Crystal in Anisotropic Semiconductor

We investigate the effect of mass anisotropy on the Wigner crystallization transition in a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas. The static and dynamical properties of a 2D Wigner crystal have been calculated for arbitrary 2D Bravais lattices in the presence of anisotropic mass, as may be obtainable in Si MOSFETs with (110) surface. By studying the stability of all possible lattices, we find significant change in the crystal structure and melting density of the electron lattice with the lowest ground state energy.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 4 figure

Sensitivity of the Mott Transition to Non-cubic Splitting of the Orbital Degeneracy: Application to NH3 K3C60

Within dynamical mean-field theory, we study the metal-insulator transition of a twofold orbitally degenerate Hubbard model as a function of a splitting \Delta of the degeneracy. The phase diagram in the U-\Delta plane exhibits two-band and one-band metals, as well as the Mott insulator. The correlated two-band metal is easily driven to the insulator state by a strikingly weak splitting \Delta << W of the order of the Kondo-peak width zW, where z << 1 is the metal quasiparticle weight. The possible relevance of this result to the insulator-metal transition in the orthorhombic expanded fulleride NH3 K3C60 is discussed.Comment: revtex, 15 pages including 6 ps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Small Fermi energy and phonon anharmonicity in MgB_2 and related compounds

The remarkable anharmonicity of the E_{2g} phonon in MgB_2 has been suggested in literature to play a primary role in its superconducting pairing. We investigate, by means of LDA calculations, the microscopic origin of such an anharmonicity in MgB_2, AlB_2, and in hole-doped graphite. We find that the anharmonic character of the E_{2g} phonon is essentially driven by the small Fermi energy of the sigma holes. We present a simple analytic model which allows us to understand in microscopic terms the role of the small Fermi energy and of the electronic structure. The relation between anharmonicity and nonadiabaticity is pointed out and discussed in relation to various materials.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures replaced with final version, accepted on Physical Review

Mesoscopic fluctuations of the Density of States and Conductivity in the middle of the band of Disordered Lattices

The mesoscopic fluctuations of the Density of electronic States (DoS) and of the conductivity of two- and three- dimensional lattices with randomly distributed substitutional impurities are studied. Correlations of the levels lying above (or below) the Fermi surface, in addition to the correlations of the levels lying on opposite sides of the Fermi surface, take place at half filling due to nesting. The Bragg reflections mediate to increase static fluctuations of the conductivity in the middle of the band which change the distribution function of the conductivity at half- filling.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Anderson localization of polaron states

Using the vanishing of the typical polaron tunneling rate as an indicator of the breakdown of itinerancy, we study the localization of polaron states in a generic model for a disordered polaronic material. We find that extremely small disorder causes an Anderson localization of small polaron states. However, the ratio between the critical disorder strength needed to localize all states in the polaron band and the renormalized bandwidth is not necessarily smaller than for a bare electron.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Criticality in coupled quantum spin-chains with competing ladder-like and two-dimensional couplings

Motivated by the geometry of spins in the material CaCu$_2$O$_3$, we study a two-layer, spin-half Heisenberg model, with nearest-neighbor exchange couplings J and \alpha*J along the two axes in the plane and a coupling J_\perp perpendicular to the planes. We study these class of models using the Stochastic Series Expansion (SSE) Quantum Monte Carlo simulations at finite temperatures and series expansion methods at T=0. The critical value of the interlayer coupling, J_\perp^c, separating the N{\'e}el ordered and disordered ground states, is found to follow very closely a square root dependence on $\alpha$. Both T=0 and finite-temperature properties of the model are presented.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figs., 1 tabl

Two-electron elastic tunneling in low-dimensional conductors

This article was published in the journal, Physical Review B [© American Physical Society]. It is also available at: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v65/e155209.We solve the Lippmann-Schwinger equation describing one-dimensional elastic scattering of preformed pairs (e.g., bipolarons) off a short-range scattering center, and find the two-particle transmission through a thin potential barrier. While the pair transmission is smaller than the single-electron transmission in the strong-coupling limit, it is remarkably larger in the weak-coupling limit. We also calculate current-voltage characteristics of a molecule-barrier-molecule junction. They show unusual temperature and voltage behaviors which are experimentally verifiable at low temperatures in bulk and nanoscale molecular conductors