163 research outputs found
Kondo physics in carbon nanotubes
The connection of electrical leads to wire-like molecules is a logical step
in the development of molecular electronics, but also allows studies of
fundamental physics. For example, metallic carbon nanotubes are quantum wires
that have been found to act as one-dimensional quantum dots, Luttinger-liquids,
proximity-induced superconductors and ballistic and diffusive one-dimensional
metals. Here we report that electrically-contacted single-wall nanotubes can
serve as powerful probes of Kondo physics, demonstrating the universality of
the Kondo effect. Arising in the prototypical case from the interaction between
a localized impurity magnetic moment and delocalized electrons in a metallic
host, the Kondo effect has been used to explain enhanced low-temperature
scattering from magnetic impurities in metals, and also occurs in transport
through semiconductor quantum dots. The far higher tunability of dots (in our
case, nanotubes) compared with atomic impurities renders new classes of
Kondo-like effects accessible. Our nanotube devices differ from previous
systems in which Kondo effects have been observed, in that they are
one-dimensional quantum dots with three-dimensional metal (gold) reservoirs.
This allows us to observe Kondo resonances for very large electron number (N)
in the dot, and approaching the unitary limit (where the transmission reaches
its maximum possible value). Moreover, we detect a previously unobserved Kondo
effect, occurring for even values of N in a magnetic field.Comment: 7 pages, pdf onl
Nonequilibrium Singlet-Triplet Kondo Effect in Carbon Nanotubes
The Kondo-effect is a many-body phenomenon arising due to conduction
electrons scattering off a localized spin. Coherent spin-flip scattering off
such a quantum impurity correlates the conduction electrons and at low
temperature this leads to a zero-bias conductance anomaly. This has become a
common signature in bias-spectroscopy of single-electron transistors, observed
in GaAs quantum dots as well as in various single-molecule transistors. While
the zero-bias Kondo effect is well established it remains uncertain to what
extent Kondo correlations persist in non-equilibrium situations where inelastic
processes induce decoherence. Here we report on a pronounced conductance peak
observed at finite bias-voltage in a carbon nanotube quantum dot in the spin
singlet ground state. We explain this finite-bias conductance anomaly by a
nonequilibrium Kondo-effect involving excitations into a spin triplet state.
Excellent agreement between calculated and measured nonlinear conductance is
obtained, thus strongly supporting the correlated nature of this nonequilibrium
resonance.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figure
Resonance Kondo Tunneling through a Double Quantum Dot at Finite Bias
It is shown that the resonance Kondo tunneling through a double quantum dot
(DQD) with even occupation and singlet ground state may arise at a strong bias,
which compensates the energy of singlet/triplet excitation. Using the
renormalization group technique we derive scaling equations and calculate the
differential conductance as a function of an auxiliary dc-bias for parallel DQD
described by SO(4) symmetry. We analyze the decoherence effects associated with
the triplet/singlet relaxation in DQD and discuss the shape of differential
conductance line as a function of dc-bias and temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 6 eps figures include
Kondo tunneling through real and artificial molecules
When a cerocene molecule is chemisorbed on metallic substrate, or when an
asymmetric double dot is hybridized with itinerant electrons, its singlet
ground state crosses its lowly excited triplet state, leading to a competition
between the Zhang-Rice mechanism of singlet-triplet splitting in a confined
cluster and the Kondo effect (which accompanies the tunneling through quantum
dot under a Coulomb blockade restriction). The rich physics of an underscreened
S=1 Kondo impurity in the presence of low-lying triplet/singlet excitations is
exposed. Estimates of the magnetic susceptibility and the electric conductance
are presented.Comment: 4 two-column revtex pages including 1 eps figur
Kondo effect in systems with dynamical symmetries
This paper is devoted to a systematic exposure of the Kondo physics in
quantum dots for which the low energy spin excitations consist of a few
different spin multiplets . Under certain conditions (to be
explained below) some of the lowest energy levels are nearly
degenerate. The dot in its ground state cannot then be regarded as a simple
quantum top in the sense that beside its spin operator other dot (vector)
operators are needed (in order to fully determine its quantum
states), which have non-zero matrix elements between states of different spin
multiplets . These "Runge-Lenz"
operators do not appear in the isolated dot-Hamiltonian (so in some sense they
are "hidden"). Yet, they are exposed when tunneling between dot and leads is
switched on. The effective spin Hamiltonian which couples the metallic electron
spin with the operators of the dot then contains new exchange terms,
beside the ubiquitous ones . The operators and generate a
dynamical group (usually SO(n)). Remarkably, the value of can be controlled
by gate voltages, indicating that abstract concepts such as dynamical symmetry
groups are experimentally realizable. Moreover, when an external magnetic field
is applied then, under favorable circumstances, the exchange interaction
involves solely the Runge-Lenz operators and the corresponding
dynamical symmetry group is SU(n). For example, the celebrated group SU(3) is
realized in triple quantum dot with four electrons.Comment: 24 two-column page
Electric-field controlled spin reversal in a quantum dot with ferromagnetic contacts
Manipulation of the spin-states of a quantum dot by purely electrical means
is a highly desirable property of fundamental importance for the development of
spintronic devices such as spin-filters, spin-transistors and single-spin
memory as well as for solid-state qubits. An electrically gated quantum dot in
the Coulomb blockade regime can be tuned to hold a single unpaired spin-1/2,
which is routinely spin-polarized by an applied magnetic field. Using
ferromagnetic electrodes, however, the properties of the quantum dot become
directly spin-dependent and it has been demonstrated that the ferromagnetic
electrodes induce a local exchange-field which polarizes the localized spin in
the absence of any external fields. Here we report on the experimental
realization of this tunneling-induced spin-splitting in a carbon nanotube
quantum dot coupled to ferromagnetic nickel-electrodes. We study the
intermediate coupling regime in which single-electron states remain well
defined, but with sufficiently good tunnel-contacts to give rise to a sizable
exchange-field. Since charge transport in this regime is dominated by the
Kondo-effect, we can utilize this sharp many-body resonance to read off the
local spin-polarization from the measured bias-spectroscopy. We show that the
exchange-field can be compensated by an external magnetic field, thus restoring
a zero-bias Kondo-resonance, and we demonstrate that the exchange-field itself,
and hence the local spin-polarization, can be tuned and reversed merely by
tuning the gate-voltage. This demonstrates a very direct electrical control
over the spin-state of a quantum dot which, in contrast to an applied magnetic
field, allows for rapid spin-reversal with a very localized addressing.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figure
Photon-mediated long range coupling of two Andreev level qubits
In a superconducting weak link, the supercurrent is carried by Andreev bound
states (ABSs) formed by the phase-coherent reflection of electrons and their
time-reversed partners. A single, highly transmissive ABS can serve as an
ideal, compact two-level system, due to a potentially large energy difference
to the next ABS. While the coherent manipulation of such Andreev levels qubits
(ALQs) has been demonstrated, a long-range coupling between two ALQs, necessary
for advanced qubit architectures, has not been achieved, yet. Here, we
demonstrate a coherent remote coupling between two ALQs, mediated by a
microwave photon in a novel superconducting microwave cavity coupler. The
latter hosts two modes with different coupling rates to an external port. This
allows us to perform fast readout of each qubit using the strongly coupled
mode, while the weakly coupled mode is utilized to mediate the coupling between
the qubits. When both qubits are tuned into resonance with the latter mode, we
find excitation spectra with avoided-crossings, in very good agreement with the
Tavis-Cummings model. Based on this model, we identify highly entangled
two-qubit states for which the entanglement is mediated over a distance of six
millimeters. This work establishes ALQs as compact and scalable solid-state
qubits.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Nonequilibrium Transport through a Kondo Dot in a Magnetic Field: Perturbation Theory
Using nonequilibrium perturbation theory, we investigate the nonlinear
transport through a quantum dot in the Kondo regime in the presence of a
magnetic field. We calculate the leading logarithmic corrections to the local
magnetization and the differential conductance, which are characteristic of the
Kondo effect out of equilibrium. By solving a quantum Boltzmann equation, we
determine the nonequilibrium magnetization on the dot and show that the
application of both a finite bias voltage and a magnetic field induces a novel
structure of logarithmic corrections not present in equilibrium. These
corrections lead to more pronounced features in the conductance, and their form
calls for a modification of the perturbative renormalization group.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Giga-Hertz quantized charge pumping in bottom gate defined InAs nanowire quantum dots
Semiconducting nanowires (NWs) are a versatile, highly tunable material
platform at the heart of many new developments in nanoscale and quantum
physics. Here, we demonstrate charge pumping, i.e., the controlled transport of
individual electrons through an InAs NW quantum dot (QD) device at frequencies
up to GHz. The QD is induced electrostatically in the NW by a series of
local bottom gates in a state of the art device geometry. A periodic modulation
of a single gate is enough to obtain a dc current proportional to the frequency
of the modulation. The dc bias, the modulation amplitude and the gate voltages
on the local gates can be used to control the number of charges conveyed per
cycle. Charge pumping in InAs NWs is relevant not only in metrology as a
current standard, but also opens up the opportunity to investigate a variety of
exotic states of matter, e.g. Majorana modes, by single electron spectroscopy
and correlation experiments.Comment: 21 page
Conserving Diagrammatic Approximations for Quantum Impurity Models: NCA and CTMA
Self-consistent diagrammatic approximations to the Anderson or Kondo impurity
model, using an exact pseudoparticle representation of the impurity states, are
reviewed. We first discuss the infrared exponents of the pseudoparticle
propagators as indicators of Fermi liquid behavior through their dependence on
the impurity occupation and on magnetic field. Then we discuss the Non-Crossing
Approximation (NCA), identifying its strengths, but also its fundamental
shortcomings. Physical arguments as well as a perturbative renormalization
group analysis suggest that an infinite parquet-type resummation of
two-particle vertex diagrams, the Conserving T-Matrix Approximation (CTMA) will
cure the deficiencies of NCA. We review results on the pseudoparticle spectral
functions, the spin susceptibility and the impurity electron spectral function,
supporting that the CTMA provides qualitatively correct results, both in the
high-temperature regime and in the strong coupling Fermi liquid regime at low
temperatures.Comment: 10 pages, invited article, to appear in a special edition of JPSJ
"Kondo Effect - 40 Years after the Discovery", published version, some minor
typos correcte
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