32 research outputs found
Kondo Temperature for the Two-Channel Kondo Models of Tunneling Centers
The possibility for a two-channel Kondo () non Fermi liquid state to
appear in a metal as a result of the interaction between electrons and movable
structural defects is revisited. As usual, the defect is modeled by a heavy
particle moving in an almost symmetric double-well potential (DWP). Taking into
account only the two lowest states in DWP is known to lead to a Kondo-like
Hamiltonian with rather low Kondo temperature, . We prove that, in
contrast to previous believes, the contribution of higher excited states in DWP
does not enhance . On the contrary, is reduced by three orders of
magnitude as compared with the two-level model: the prefactor in is
determined by the spacing between the second and the third levels in DWP rather
than by the electron Fermi energy. Moreover, , turns out to be
parametrically smaller than the splitting between the two lowest levels.
Therefore, there is no microscopic model of movable defects which may justify
non-Fermi liquid phenomenology.Comment: 5 pages, 4 .eps figure
Kondo Effect in Systems with Spin Disorder
We consider the role of static disorder in the spin sector of the one- and
two-channel Kondo models. The distribution functions of the disorder-induced
effective energy splitting between the two levels of the Kondo impurity are
derived to the lowest order in the concentration of static scatterers. It is
demonstrated that the distribution functions are strongly asymmetric, with the
typical splitting being parametrically smaller than the average rms value. We
employ the derived distribution function of splittings to study the temperature
dependence of the low-temperature conductance of a sample containing an
ensemble of two-channel Kondo impurities. The results are used to analyze the
consistency of the two-channel Kondo interpretation of the zero-bias anomalies
observed in Cu/(Si:N)/Cu nanoconstrictions.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, REVTe
Two-Channel Kondo Physics from Tunnelling Impurities with Triangular Symmetry
Tunnelling impurities in metals have been known for some time to have the
potential for exhibiting Kondo-like physics. However previous models based on
an impurity hopping between two equivalent positions have run into trouble due
to the existence of relevant operators that drive the system away from the
non-Fermi-liquid Kondo fixed point. In the case of an impurity hopping among
positions with higher symmetry, such as triangular symmetry, it is shown here
that the non-Fermi-liquid behavior at low temperatures can be generic. Using
various bosonization techniques, the fixed point is shown to be {\em stable}.
However, unlike the conventional two-channel Kondo (2CK) model, it has {\em
four} leading irrelevant operators, implying that while the form of the
singular temperature dependence of physical quantities is similar to the 2CK
model, there will not be simple universal amplitude ratios. The phase diagram
of this system is analyzed and a critical manifold is found to separate the
non-Fermi-liquid from a conventional Fermi liquid fixed point. Generalization
to higher symmetries, such as cubic, and the possibility of physical
realizations with dynamic Jahn-Teller impurities is discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, RevTex format, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Low energy properties of M-state tunneling systems in metals: New candidates for non-Fermi-liquid systems
We construct a generalized multiplicative renormalization group
transformation to study the low energy dynamics of a heavy particle tunneling
among different positions and interacting with independent conduction
electron channels. Using a -expansion we show that this M-level scales
towards a fixed point equivalent to the channel
Coqblin-Schrieffer model. Solving numerically the scaling equations we find
that a realistic M-level system scales close to this fixed point (FP) and its
Kondo temperature is in the experimentally observable range .Comment: 11 Latex pages, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett, Figures available from
the author by reques
Effect of Finite Impurity Mass on the Anderson Orthogonality Catastrophe in One Dimension
A one-dimensional tight-binding Hamiltonian describes the evolution of a
single impurity interacting locally with electrons. The impurity spectral
function has a power-law singularity
with the same exponent
that characterizes the logarithmic decay of the quasiparticle weight
with the number of electrons , . The exponent
is computed by (1) perturbation theory in the interaction strength and
(2) numerical evaluations with exact results for small systems and variational
results for larger systems. A nonanalytical behavior of is observed in
the limit of infinite impurity mass. For large interaction strength, the
exponent depends strongly on the mass of the impurity in contrast to the
perturbative result.Comment: 26 pages, RevTeX, 7 figures included, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Research Update: Electron beam-based metrology after CMOS
The magnitudes of the challenges facing electron-based metrology for post-CMOS technology are reviewed. Directed self-assembly, nanophotonics/plasmonics, and resistive switches and selectors are examined as exemplars of important post-CMOS technologies. Materials, devices, and architectures emerging from these technologies pose new metrology requirements: defect detection, possibly subsurface, in soft materials, accurate measurement of size, shape, and roughness of structures for nanophotonic devices, contamination-free measurement of surface-sensitive structures, and identification of subtle structural, chemical, or electronic changes of state associated with switching in non-volatile memory elements. Electron-beam techniques are examined in the light of these emerging requirements. The strong electron-matter interaction provides measurable signals from small sample features, rendering electron-beam methods more suitable than most for nanometer-scale metrology, but as is to be expected, solutions to many of the measurement challenges are yet to be demonstrated. The seeds of possible solutions are identified when they are available