170 research outputs found
Keijsers, Shklyarevskii and van Kempen Reply
Answer to the Comment on ``Point-Contact Study of Fast and Slow Two-Level
Fluctuators in Metallic Glasses'' by Jan von Delft et al.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, accepted Phys. Rev. Letter
Transport properties and point contact spectra of Ni_xNb_{1-x} metallic glasses
Bulk resistivity and point contact spectra of Ni_xNb_{1-x} metallic glasses
have been investigated as functions of temperature (0.3-300K) and magnetic
field (0-12T). Metallic glasses in this family undergo a superconducting phase
transition determined by the Nb concentration. When superconductivity was
suppressed by a strong magnetic field, both the bulk sample R(T) and the point
contact differential resistance curves of Ni_xNb_{1-x} showed logarithmic
behavior at low energies, which is explained by a strong electron - "two level
system" coupling. We studied the temperature, magnetic field and contact
resistance dependence of Ni_{44}Nb_{56} point-contact spectra in the
superconducting state and found telegraph-like fluctuations superimposed on
superconducting characteristics. These R(V) characteristics are extremely
sensitive detectors for slow relaxing "two level system" motion.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Nonlinear Response of a Kondo system: Direct and Alternating Tunneling Currents
Non - equilibrium tunneling current of an Anderson impurity system subject to
both constant and alternating electric fields is studied. A time - dependent
Schrieffer - Wolff transformation maps the time - dependent Anderson
Hamiltonian onto a Kondo one. Perturbation expansion in powers of the Kondo
coupling strength is carried out up to third order, yielding a remarkably
simple analytical expression for the tunneling current. It is found that the
zero - bias anomaly is suppressed by an ac - field. Both dc and the first
harmonic are equally enhanced by the Kondo effect, while the higher harmonics
are relatively small. These results are shown to be valid also below the Kondo
temperature.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, 3 PS figures attached, the article has been
significantly developed: time - dependent Schrieffer - Wolff transformation
is presented in the full form, the results are applied to the change in the
direct current induced by an alternating field (2 figures are new
Dislocation Kinks in Copper: Widths, Barriers, Effective Masses, and Quantum Tunneling
We calculate the widths, migration barriers, effective masses, and quantum
tunneling rates of kinks and jogs in extended screw dislocations in copper,
using an effective medium theory interatomic potential. The energy barriers and
effective masses for moving a unit jog one lattice constant are close to
typical atomic energies and masses: tunneling will be rare. The energy barriers
and effective masses for the motion of kinks are unexpectedly small due to the
spreading of the kinks over a large number of atoms. The effective masses of
the kinks are so small that quantum fluctuations will be important. We discuss
implications for quantum creep, kink--based tunneling centers, and Kondo
resonances
Dephasing in Metals by Two-Level Systems in the 2-Channel-Kondo Regime
We point out a novel, non-universal contribution to the dephasing rate
1/\tau_\phi \equiv \gamma_\phi of conduction electrons in metallic systems:
scattering off non-magnetic two-level systems (TLSs) having almost degenerate
Kondo ground states. In the regime \Delta_{ren} < T < T_K (\Delta_{ren} =
renormalized level splitting, T_K = Kondo temperature), such TLSs exhibit
non-Fermi-liquid physics that can cause \gamma_\phi, which generally decreases
with decreasing T, to seemingly saturate in a limited temperature range before
vanishing for T \to 0. This could explain the saturation of dephasing recently
observed in gold wires [Mohanty et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3366 (1997)].Comment: Final published version, including minor improvements suggested by
referees. 4 pages, Revtex, 1 figur
Instability of the marginal commutative model of tunneling centers interacting with metallic environment: Role of the electron-hole symmetry breaking
The role of the electron-hole symmetry breaking is investigated for a
symmetrical commutative two-level system in a metal using the multiplicative
renormalization group in a straightforward way. The role of the symmetries of
the model and the path integral technique are also discussed in detail. It is
shown that the electron-hole symmetry breaking may make the model
non-commutative and generate the assisted tunneling process which is, however,
too small itself to drive the system into the vicinity of the two-channel Kondo
fixed point. While these results are in qualitative agreement with those of
Moustakas and Fisher (Phys. Rev. B 51, 6908 (1995), ibid 53, 4300 (1996)) the
scaling equations turn out to be essentially different. We show that the main
reason for this difference is that the procedure for the elimination of the
high energy degrees of freedom used by Moustakas and Fisher leaves only the
free energy invariant, however, the couplings generated are not connected to
the dynamical properties in a straightforward way and should be interpreted
with care. These latter results might have important consequences in other
cases where the path integral technique is used to produce the scaling
equations and calculate physical quantities.Comment: latex, figures in ps file adde
Connective neck evolution and conductance steps in hot point contacts
Dynamic evolution of the connective neck in Al and Pb mechanically
controllable break junctions was studied during continuous approach of
electrodes at bias voltages V_b up to a few hundred mV. A high level of power
dissipation (10^-4 - 10^-3 W) and high current density (j > 10^10 A/cm^2) in
the constriction lead to overheating of the contact area, electromigration and
current-enhanced diffusion of atoms out of the "hot spot". At a low electrode
approach rate (10 - 50 pm/s) the transverse dimension of the neck and the
conductance of the junction depend on V_b and remain nearly constant over the
approach distance of 10 - 30 nm. For V_b > 300 mV the connective neck consists
of a few atoms only and the quantum nature of conductance manifests itself in
abrupt steps and reversible jumps between two or more levels. These features
are related to an ever changing number of individual conductance channels due
to the continuous rearrangement in atomic configuration of the neck, the
recurring motion of atoms between metastable states, the formation and breaking
of isolated one-atom contacts and the switching between energetically
preferable neck geometries.Comment: 21 pages 10 figure
Non-linear response of a Kondo system: Perturbation approach to the time dependent Anderson impurity model
Nonlinear tunneling current through a quantum dot
(an Anderson impurity system) subject to both constant and alternating
electric fields is studied in the Kondo regime. A systematic diagram technique
is developed for perturbation study of the current in physical systems out of
equilibrium governed by time - dependent Hamiltonians of the Anderson and the
Kondo models. The ensuing calculations prove to be too complicated for the
Anderson model, and hence, a mapping on an effective Kondo problem is called
for. This is achieved by constructing a time - dependent version of the
Schrieffer - Wolff transformation. Perturbation expansion of the current is
then carried out up to third order in the Kondo coupling J yielding a set of
remarkably simple analytical expressions for the current. The zero - bias
anomaly of the direct current differential conductance is shown to be
suppressed by the alternating field while side peaks develop at finite source -
drain voltage. Both the direct component and the first harmonics of the time -
dependent response are equally enhanced due to the Kondo effect, while
amplitudes of higher harmonics are shown to be relatively small. A zero
alternating bias anomaly is found in the alternating current differential
conductance, that is, it peaks around zero alternating bias. This peak is
suppressed by the constant bias. No side peaks show up in the differential
alternating - conductance but their counterpart is found in the derivative of
the alternating current with respect to the direct bias. The results pertaining
to nonlinear response are shown to be valid also below the Kondo temperature.Comment: 55 latex pages 11 ps figure
Spin-Orbit-Induced Magnetic Anisotropy for Impurities in Metallic Samples II. Finite Size Dependence in the Kondo Resistivity
The electrical resistivity including the Kondo resistivity increase at low
temperature is calculated for thin films of dilute magnetic alloys. Assuming
that in the non-magnetic host the spin-orbit interaction is strong like in Au
and Cu, the magnetic impurities have a surface anisotropy calculated in part I.
That anisotropy hinders the motion of the spin. Including that anisotropy the
effective electron-impurity coupling is calculated by using the second order
renormalization group equations. The amplitude of the Kondo resistivity
contribution is reduced as the position of the impurity approaches the surface
but the increase occurs approximately at the bulk Kondo temperature. Different
proximity effects observed by Giordano are also explained qualitatively where
the films of magnetic alloys are covered by pure second films with different
mean free path. The theory explains the experimental results in those cases
where a considerable amount of impurities is at the surface inside the
ballistic region.Comment: 39 pages, RevTeX (using epsfig), 15 eps figures included, submitted
to PR
Kondo Effect on Mesoscopic Scale (Review)
Following the discovery of the Kondo effect the bulk transport and magnetic
behavior of the dilute magnetic alloys have been successfully described. In the
last fifteen years new directions have been developed as the study of the
systems of reduced dimensions and the artificial atoms so called quantum dots.
In this review the first subject is reviewed starting with the scanning
tunneling microscope (STM) study of a single magnetic impurity. The next
subject is the reduction of the amplitude of the Kondo effect in samples of
reduced dimension which was explained by the surface magnetic anisotropy which
blocks the motion of the integer spin nearby the surface. The electron
dephasing and energy relaxation experiments are discussed with the possible
explanation including the surface anisotropy, where the situation in cases of
integer and half-integer spins is very different. Finally, the present
situation of the theory of dynamical structural defects is briefly presented
which may lead to two-channel Kondo behavior.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to the JPSJ Special Issue "Kondo effect -- 40
years after the Discovery
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