485 research outputs found
Interplay of Kondo and superconducting correlations in the nonequilibrium Andreev transport through a quantum dot
Using the modified perturbation theory, we theoretically study the
nonequilibrium Andreev transport through a quantum dot coupled to normal and
superconducting leads (N-QD-S), which is strongly influenced by the Kondo and
superconducting correlations. From the numerical calculation, we find that the
renormalized couplings between the leads and the dot in the equilibrium states
characterize the peak formation in the nonequilibrium differential conductance.
In particular, in the Kondo regime, the enhancement of the Andreev transport
via a Kondo resonance occurs in the differential conductance at a finite bias
voltage, leading to an anomalous peak whose position is given by the
renormalized parameters. In addition to the peak, we show that the energy
levels of the Andreev bound states give rise to other peaks in the differential
conductance in the strongly correlated N-QD-S system. All these features of the
nonequilibrium transport are consistent with those in the recent experimental
results [R. S. Deacon {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 104}, 076805 (2010);
Phys. Rev. B {\bf 81}, 12308 (2010)]. We also find that the interplay of the
Kondo and superconducting correlations induces an intriguing pinning effect of
the Andreev resonances to the Fermi level and its counter position.Comment: 22 pages, 23 figure
Correlated electron transport through double quantum dots coupled to normal and superconducting leads
We study Andreev transport through double quantum dots connected in series
normal and superconducting (SC) leads, using the numerical renormalization
group. The ground state of this system shows a crossover between a local
Cooper-pairing singlet state and a Kondo singlet state, which is caused by the
competition between the Coulomb interaction and the SC proximity. We show that
the ground-state properties reflect this crossover especially for small values
of the inter-dot coupling , while in the opposite case, for large ,
another singlet with an inter-dot character becomes dominant. We find that the
conductance for the local SC singlet state has a peak with the unitary-limit
value . In contrast, the Andreev reflection is suppressed in the Kondo
regime by the Coulomb interaction. Furthermore, the conductance has two
successive peaks in the transient region of the crossover. It is further
elucidated that the gate voltage gives a different variation into the
crossover. Specifically, as the energy level of the dot that is coupled to the
normal lead varies, the Kondo screening cloud is deformed to a long-range
singlet bond.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Fluctuations of the Lyapunov exponent in 2D disordered systems
We report a numerical investigation of the fluctuations of the Lyapunov
exponent of a two dimensional non-interacting disordered system. While the
ratio of the mean to the variance of the Lyapunov exponent is not constant, as
it is in one dimension, its variation is consistent with the single parameter
scaling hypothesis
Interference Effects on Kondo-Assisted Transport through Double Quantum Dots
We systematically investigate electron transport through double quantum dots
with particular emphasis on interference induced via multiple paths of electron
propagation. By means of the slave-boson mean-field approximation, we calculate
the conductance, the local density of states, the transmission probability in
the Kondo regime at zero temperature. It is clarified how the Kondo-assisted
transport changes its properties when the system is continuously changed among
the serial, parallel and T-shaped double dots. The obtained results for the
conductance are explained in terms of the Kondo resonances influenced by
interference effects. We also discuss the impacts due to the spin-polarization
of ferromagnetic leads.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures ; minor corrections and references adde
Large magneto-thermal effect and the spin-phonon coupling in a parent insulating cuprate Pr_{1.3}La_{0.7}CuO_4
The magnetic-field (H) dependence of the thermal conductivity \kappa of
Pr_{1.3}La_{0.7}CuO_4 is found to show a pronounced minimum for in-plane fields
at low temperature, which is best attributed to the scattering of phonons by
free spins that are seen by a Schottky-type specific heat and a Curie-Weiss
susceptibility. Besides pointing to a strong spin-phonon coupling in cuprates,
the present result demonstrates that the H-dependence of the phonon heat
transport should not be naively neglected when discussing the \kappa(H)
behavior of cuprates, since the Schottky anomaly is ubiquitously found in
cuprates at any doping.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Anomalous suppression of the superfluid density in the CuxBi2Se3 superconductor upon progressive Cu intercalation
CuxBi2Se3 was recently found to be likely the first example of a
time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor accompanied by helical
Majorana fermions on the surface. Here we present that progressive Cu
intercalation into this system introduces significant disorder and leads to an
anomalous suppression of the superfluid density which was obtained from the
measurements of the lower critical field. At the same time, the transition
temperature T_c is only moderately suppressed, which agrees with a recent
prediction for the impurity effect in this class of topological superconductors
bearing strong spin-orbit coupling. Those unusual disorder effects give support
to the possible odd-parity pairing state in CuxBi2Se3.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; title has been changed; final version published
in Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Communication
Large bulk resistivity and surface quantum oscillations in the topological insulator Bi2Te2Se
Topological insulators are predicted to present novel surface transport
phenomena, but their experimental studies have been hindered by a metallic bulk
conduction that overwhelms the surface transport. We show that a new
topological insulator, Bi2Te2Se, presents a high resistivity exceeding 1 Ohm-cm
and a variable-range hopping behavior, and yet presents Shubnikov-de Haas
oscillations coming from the surface Dirac fermions. Furthermore, we have been
able to clarify both the bulk and surface transport channels, establishing a
comprehensive understanding of the transport in this material. Our results
demonstrate that Bi2Te2Se is the best material to date for studying the surface
quantum transport in a topological insulator.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Specific-heat evidence for strong electron correlations in the thermoelectric material (Na,Ca)Co_{2}O_{4}
The specific heat of (Na,Ca)Co_{2}O_{4} is measured at low-temperatures to
determine the magnitude of the electronic specific-heat coefficient \gamma, in
an attempt to gain an insight into the origin of the unusually large
thermoelectric power of this compound. It is found that \gamma is as large as
48 mJ/molK^2, which is an order of magnitude larger than \gamma of simple
metals. This indicates that (Na,Ca)Co_{2}O_{4} is a strongly-correlated
electron system, where the strong correlation probably comes from the
low-dimensionality and the frustrated spin structure. We discuss how the large
thermopower and its dependence on Ca doping can be understood with the strong
electron correlations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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