On the Magnetic Nature of Quantum Point Contacts

We present results for a model that describes a quantum point contact. We show how electron-electron correlations, within the unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation, generate a magnetic moment in the point contact. Having characterized the magnetic structure of the contact, we map the problem onto a simple one-channel model and calculate the temperature dependence of the conductance for different gate voltages. Our results are in good agreement with experimental results obtained in GaAs devices and support the idea of Kondo effect in these systems.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Theory of Core-Level Photoemission and the X-ray Edge Singularity Across the Mott Transition

The zero temperature core-level photoemission spectrum is studied across the metal to Mott insulator transition using dynamical mean-field theory and Wilson's numerical renormalization group. An asymmetric power-law divergence is obtained in the metallic phase with an exponent alpha(U,Q)-1 which depends on the strength of both the Hubbard interaction U and the core-hole potential Q. For Q <~ U_c/2 alpha decreases with increasing U and vanishes at the transition (U -> U_c) leading to a symmetric peak in the insulating phase. For Q >~ U_c/2, alpha remains finite close to the transition, but the integrated intensity of the power-law vanishes and there is no associated peak in the insulator. The weight and position of the remaining peaks in the spectra can be understood within a molecular orbital approach.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Localized Spins on Graphene

The problem of a magnetic impurity, atomic or molecular, absorbed on top of a carbon atom in otherwise clean graphene is studied using the numerical renormalization group. The spectral, thermodynamic, and scattering properties of the impurity are described in detail. In the presence of a small magnetic field, the low energy electronic features of graphene make possible to inject spin polarized currents through the impurity using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Furthermore, the impurity scattering becomes strongly spin dependent and for a finite impurity concentration it leads to spin polarized bulk currents and a large magnetoresistance. In gated graphene the impurity spin is Kondo screened at low temperatures. However, at temperatures larger than the Kondo temperature, the anomalous magnetotransport properties are recovered.Comment: 4+ pages, 4 figures. Added reference

Magnetoconductance through a vibrating molecule in the Kondo regime

The effect of a magnetic field on the equilibrium spectral and transport properties of a single-molecule junction is studied using the numerical renormalization group method. The molecule is described by the Anderson-Holstein model in which a single vibrational mode is coupled to the electron density. The effect of an applied magnetic field on the conductance in the Kondo regime is qualitatively different in the weak and strong electron-phonon coupling regimes. In the former case, the Kondo resonance is split and the conductance is strongly suppressed by a magnetic field $g mu_B B \gtrsim k_BT_K$, with $T_K$ the Kondo temperature. In the strong electron-phonon coupling regime a charge analog of the Kondo effect develops. In this case the Kondo resonance is not split by the field and the conductance in the Kondo regime is enhanced in a broad range of values of $B$.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Electronic Transport through Magnetic Molecules with Soft Vibrating Modes

The low-temperature transport properties of a molecule are studied in the field-effect transitor geometry. The molecule has an internal mechanical mode that modulates its electronic levels and renormalizes both the interactions and the coupling to the electrodes. For a soft mechanical mode the spin fluctuations in the molecule are dominated by the bare couplings while the valence changes are determined by the dressed energies. In this case, the transport properties present an anomalous behavior and the Kondo temperature has a weak gate voltage dependence. These observations are in agreement with recent experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted in PRB R

Transport through quantum dots in mesoscopic circuits

We study the transport through a quantum dot, in the Kondo Coulomb blockade valley, embedded in a mesoscopic device with finite wires. The quantization of states in the circuit that hosts the quantum dot gives rise to finite size effects. These effects make the conductance sensitive to the ratio of the Kondo screening length to the wires length and provide a way of measuring the Kondo cloud. We present results obtained with the numerical renormalization group for a wide range of physically accessible parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Quantum Transport Through a Stretched Spin--1 Molecule

We analyze the electronic transport through a model spin-1 molecule as a function of temperature, magnetic field and bias voltage. We consider the effect of magnetic anisotropy, which can be generated experimentally by stretching the molecule. In the experimentally relevant regime the conductance of the unstretched molecule reaches the unitary limit of the underscreened spin- 1 Kondo effect at low temperatures. The magnetic anisotropy generates an antiferromagnetic coupling between the remaining spin 1/2 and a singular density of quasiparticles, producing a second Kondo effect and a reduced conductance. The results explain recent measurements in spin-1 molecules [Science 328 1370 (2010)].Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, accepted for publication in EP

Thermopower of an SU(4) Kondo resonance under an SU(2) symmetry-breaking field

We calculate the thermopower of a quantum dot described by two doublets hybridized with two degenerate bands of two conducting leads, conserving orbital (band) and spin quantum numbers, as a function of the temperature $T$ and a splitting $\delta$ of the quantum dot levels which breaks the SU(4) symmetry. The splitting can be regarded as a Zeeman (spin) or valley (orbital) splitting. We use the non-crossing approximation (NCA), the slave bosons in the mean-field approximation (SBMFA) and also the numerical renormalization group (NRG) for large $\delta$. The model describes transport through clean C nanotubes %with weak disorder and in Si fin-type field effect transistors, under an applied magnetic field. The thermopower as a function of temperature $S(T)$ displays two dips that correspond to the energy scales given by the Kondo temperature $T_K$ and $\delta$ and one peak when $k_BT$ reaches the charge-transfer energy. These features are much more pronounced than the corresponding ones in the conductance, indicating that the thermopower is a more sensitive probe of the electronic structure at intermediate or high energies. At low temperatures ($T \ll T_K$) $T_K S(T)/T$ is a constant that increases strongly near the degeneracy point $\delta=0$. We find that the SBMFA fails to provide an accurate description of the thermopower for large $\delta$. Instead, a combination of Fermi liquid relations with the quantum-dot occupations calculated within the NCA gives reliable results for $T \ll T_K$.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure