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

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

Partial preservation of chiral symmetry and colossal magnetoresistance in adatom doped graphene

We analyze the electronic properties of adatom doped graphene in the low impurity concentration regime. We focus on the Anderson localized regime and calculate the localization length ($\xi$) as a function of the electron doping and an external magnetic field. The impurity states hybridize with carbon's $p_z$ states and form a partially filled band close to the Dirac point. Near the impurity band center, the chiral symmetry of the system's effective Hamiltonian is partially preserved which leads to a large enhancement of $\xi$. The sensitivity of transport properties, namely Mott's variable range hopping scale $T_0$, to an external magnetic field perpendicular to the graphene sheet leads to a colossal magnetoresistance effect, as observed in recent experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figs. Few comments and references added. To appear in PR

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

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

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

Magnetic Moment Formation in Quantum Point Contacts

We study the formation of local magnetic moments in quantum point contacts. Using a Hubbard-like model to describe point contacts formed in a two dimensional system, we calculate the magnetic moment using the unrestricted Hartree approximation. We analyze different type of potentials to define the point contact, for a simple square potential we calculate a phase diagram in the parameter space (Coulomb repulsion - gate voltage). We also present an analytical calculation of the susceptibility to give explicit conditions for the occurrence of a local moment, we present a simple scaling argument to analyze how the stability of the magnetic moment depends on the point contact dimensions.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Tunable Charge and Spin Seebeck Effects in Magnetic Molecular Junctions

We study the charge and spin Seebeck effects in a spin-1 molecular junction as a function of temperature (T), applied magnetic field (H), and magnetic anisotropy (D) using Wilson's numerical renormalization group. A hard-axis magnetic anisotropy produces a large enhancement of the charge Seebeck coefficient Sc (\sim k_B/|e|) whose value only depends on the residual interaction between quasiparticles in the low temperature Fermi-liquid regime. In the underscreened spin-1 Kondo regime, the high sensitivity of the system to magnetic fields makes it possible to observe a sizable value for the spin Seebeck coefficient even for magnetic fields much smaller than the Kondo temperature. Similar effects can be obtain in C60 junctions where the control parameter is the gap between a singlet and a triplet molecular state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure