Inelastic tunnel transport of electrons through an anisotropic magnetic structure in an external magnetic field

Quantum transport of electrons through a magnetic impurity located in an external magnetic field and affected by a substrate is considered using the Keldysh diagram technique for the Fermi and Hubbard operators. It is shown that in a strongly nonequilibrium state induced by multiple reflections of electrons from the impurity, the current-voltage (I–V) characteristic of the system contains segments with a negative conductivity. This effect can be controlled by varying the anisotropy parameter of the impurity center as well as the parameters of coupling between the magnetic impurity and metal contacts. The application of the magnetic field is accompanied by an increase in the number of Coulomb steps in the I–V curve of the impurity. The effect of appreciable magnetoresistance appears in this case. We demonstrate the possibility of switching between magnetic impurity states with different total spin projection values in the regime of asymmetric coupling of this impurity with the contacts.     

Spin polarization of two-dimensional electron system in different Laughlin states and around filling factor

The spin configuration of the ground state of a two-dimensional electron system is investigated for different FQHE states from an analysis of circular polarization of time-resolved luminescence. The method clearly distinguishes between fully spin polarized, partially spin polarized and spin unpolarized FQHE ground states. We demonstrate that FQHE states which are spin unpolarized or partially polarized at low magnetic fields become fully spin polarized at high fields. Temperature dependence of the spin polarization reveals a nonmonotonic behavior at . At and the electron system is found to be fully spin polarized. This result does not indicate the existence of any skyrmionic excitations in high magnetic field limit. However, at the observed spin depolarization of electron system at and becomes broader for lower magnetic fields, so that full spin polarization remains only in a small vicinity of . Such a behavior could be considered as a precursor of skirmionic depolarization, which would dominate for smaller ratios between Zeeman and Coulomb energies.We demonstrate that the spin polarization of 2D-electron system at and can be strongly affected by hyperfine interaction between electrons and optically spin-oriented nuclears. This result is due to the fact that hyperfine interaction can both enhance and suppress effective Zeeman splitting in fixed external magnetic field.     

Zero temperature phase diagram of the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice

We study numerically the one-dimensional ferromagnetic Kondo lattice, a model widely used to describe nickel and manganese perovskites. Due to the competition between double and super-exchange, we find a region where the formation of magnetic islands induces a charge-ordered state. This ordering is present even in the absence of any inter-site Coulomb repulsion and presents an insulating gap associated to the charge structure. We study the metal–insulator transition induced by a magnetic field which removes simultaneously both charge and spin orderings. This new mechanism should be taken into account in theories of charge ordering involving spin degrees of freedom.     

Effects of Coulomb interactions on spin states in vertical semiconductor quantum dots

The effects of direct Coulomb and exchange interactions on spin states are studied for quantum dots contained in circular and rectangular mesas. For a circular mesa a spin-triplet favored by these interactions is observed at zero and nonzero magnetic fields. We tune and measure the relative strengths of these interactions as a function of the number of confined electrons. We find that electrons tend to have parallel spins when they occupy nearly degenerate single-particle states. We use a magnetic field to adjust the single-particle state degeneracy, and find that the spin-configurations in an arbitrary magnetic field are well explained in terms of two-electron singlet and triplet states. For a rectangular mesa we observe no signatures of the spin-triplet at zero magnetic field. Due to the anisotropy in the lateral confinement single-particle state degeneracy present in the circular mesa is lifted, and Coulomb interactions become weak. We evaluate the degree of the anisotropy by measuring the magnetic field dependence of the energy spectrum for the ground and excited states, and find that at zero magnetic field the spin-singlet is more significantly favored by the lifting of level degeneracy than by the reduction in the Coulomb interaction. We also find that the spin-triplet is recovered by adjusting the level degeneracy with magnetic field. Received: 14 April 2000 / Accepted: 17 April 2000 / Published online: 6 September 2000     

Spin fractionalization of an even number of electrons in a quantum Dot

We find that Kondo resonant conductance can occur in a quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime with an even number of electrons N. The contacts are attached to the dot in a pillar configuration, and a magnetic field B( perpendicular) along the axis is applied. B( perpendicular) lifts the spin degeneracy of the dot energies. Usually, this prevents the system from developing the Kondo effect. Tuning B( perpendicular) to the value B(*) where levels with different total spin cross restores both the degeneracy and the Kondo effect. We analyze a dot charged with N = 2 electrons. Coupling to the contacts is antiferromagnetic due to a spin selection rule and, in the Kondo state, the charge is unchanged while the total spin on the dot is S = 1/2.     

Spin-flip relaxation in a two-electron quantum dot with spin-phonon coupling

We study the spin-flip process from the first excited state to the ground state due to the spin-phonon coupling in a two-electron quantum dot in the presence of a magnetic field. We give several possible relaxation channels before and after the crossing of the Zeeman sublevels. Our results show that the Coulomb interactions between the electrons of different channels play quite different roles and thus inducing different spin relaxation behaviors.     

Surface impedance and boundary scattering in metals for the conditions of the anomalous skin depth

The non-local conductivity for a metal satisfying the conditions of the anomalous skin depth is characterized by a logarithmic divergence. It is postulated that this divergence can be directly related to the surface impedance of a semi-infinite metal in the extreme anomalous limit. Methods are presented for calculating theGreen's function for the conduction electron distribution function and the non-local conductivity. These methods are applied to a model where the electrons cannot drift along the magnetic field. Approximate expressions are obtained for the dependence of the divergence upon the value of the static magnetic field. Experiments are in progress to attempt to relate a model of surface scattering to the behavior of the surface impedance for small magnetic fields. Work supported principally by the Joint Services Electronics Program [Contract DA-28-043-AMC-02536(E)].     

Generation of spin current by Coulomb drag

Coulomb drag between two quantum wires is exponentially sensitive to the mismatch of their electronic densities. The application of a magnetic field can compensate this mismatch for electrons of opposite spin directions in different wires. The resulting enhanced momentum transfer leads to the conversion of the charge current in the active wire to the spin current in the passive wire.     

Variational model for one-dimensional quantum magnets

A new variational technique for investigation of the ground state and correlation functions in 1D quantum magnets is proposed. A spin Hamiltonian is reduced to a fermionic representation by the Jordan–Wigner transformation. The ground state is described by a new non-local trial wave function, and the total energy is calculated in an analytic form as a function of two variational parameters. This approach is demonstrated with an example of the XXZ-chain of spin-1/2 under a staggered magnetic field. Generalizations and applications of the variational technique for low-dimensional magnetic systems are discussed.     

Entanglement of spin-orbit qubits induced by Coulomb interaction

Spin-orbit qubit (SOQ) is the dressed spin by the orbital degree of freedom through a strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC). We show that Coulomb interaction between two electrons in quantum dots located separately in two nanowires can efficiently induce quantum entanglement between two SOQs. But to achieve the highest possible value for two SOQs concurrence, strength of SOC and confining potential for the quantum dots should be tuned to an optimal ratio. The physical mechanism to achieve such quantum entanglement is based on the feasibility of the SOQ responding to the external electric field via an intrinsic electric dipole spin resonance.     

Generating and reversing spin accumulation by temperature gradient in a quantum dot attached to ferromagnetic leads

We propose to generate and reverse the spin accumulation in a quantum dot (QD) by using the temperature difference between the two ferromagnetic leads connected to the dot. The electrons are driven purely by the temperature gradient in the absence of an electric bias and a magnetic field. In the Coulomb blockade regime, we find two ways to reverse the spin accumulation. One is by adjusting the QD energy level with a fixed temperature gradient, and the other is by reversing the temperature gradient direction for a fixed value of the dot level. The spin accumulation in the QD can be enhanced by the magnitudes of both the leads’ spin polarization and the asymmetry of the dot-lead coupling strengths. The present device is quite simple, and the obtained results may have practical usage in spintronics or quantum information processing.     

Kinetics of a local “magnetic” moment and a non-stationary spin-polarized current in the single impurity Anderson model

We perform theoretical investigation of the localized state dynamics in the presence of interaction with the reservoir and Coulomb correlations. We analyze kinetic equations for electron occupation numbers with different spins taking into account high order correlation functions for the localized electrons. We reveal that in the stationary state electron occupation numbers with the opposite spins always have the same value: the stationary state is a “paramagnetic” one. “Magnetic” properties can appear only in the non-stationary characteristics of the single-impurity Anderson model and in the dynamics of the localized electrons second order correlation functions. We found that for deep energy levels and strong Coulomb correlations, relaxation time for initial “magnetic” state can be several orders larger than for “paramagnetic” one. So, long-living “magnetic” moment can exist in the system. We also found non-stationary spin polarized currents flowing in opposite directions for the different spins in the particular time interval.     

Magnetic field and symmetry effects in small quantum dots

Shell phenomena in small quantum dots with a few electrons under a perpendicular magnetic field are discussed within a simple model. It is shown that various kinds of shell structures, which occur at specific values for the magnetic field lead to a disappearance of the orbital magnetization for particular magic numbers for noninteracting electrons in small quantum dots. Including the Coulomb interaction between two electrons, we found that the magnetic field gives rise to dynamical symmetries of a three-dimensional axially symmetric two-electron quantum dot with a parabolic confinement. These symmetries manifest themselves as near-degeneracy in the quantum spectrum at specific values of the magnetic field and are robust at any strength of the electron-electron interaction. A remarkable agreement between experimental data and calculations exhibits the important role of the thickness for the two-electron quantum dot for analysis of ground state transitions in a perpendicular magnetic field. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Spin-dependent thermoelectric transport through double quantum dots

We study the thermoelectric transport through a double-quantum-dot system with spin-dependent interdot coupling and ferromagnetic electrodes by means of the non-equilibrium Green’s function in the linear response regime.It is found that the thermoelectric coefficients are strongly dependent on the splitting of the interdot coupling,the relative magnetic configurations,and the spin polarization of leads.In particular,the thermoelectric efficiency can reach a considerable value in the parallel configuration when the effective interdot coupling and the tunnel coupling between the quantum dots and the leads for the spin-down electrons are small.Moreover,the thermoelectric efficiency increases with the intradot Coulomb interaction increasing and can reach very high values at appropriate temperatures.In the presence of the magnetic field,the spin accumulation in the leads strongly suppresses the thermoelectric efficiency,and a pure spin thermopower can be obtained.     

Origin of magnetic anisotropy of Gd metal

Using first-principles theory, we have calculated the energy of Gd as a function of spin direction, theta, between the c and a axes and found good agreement with experiment for both the total magnetic anisotropy energy and its angular dependence. The calculated low temperature direction of the magnetic moment lies at an angle of 20 degrees to the c axis. The calculated magnetic anisotropy energy of Gd metal is due to a unique mechanism involving a contribution of 7.5 microeV from the classical dipole-dipole interaction between spins plus a contribution of 16 microeV due to the spin-orbit interaction of the conduction electrons. The 4f spin polarizes the conduction electrons via exchange interaction, which transfers the magnetic anisotropy of the conduction electrons to the 4f spin.     

Chirality waves in two-dimensional magnets

We theoretically show that moderate interaction between electrons confined to move in a plane and localized magnetic moments leads to formation of a noncoplanar magnetic state. The state is similar to the Skyrmion crystal recently observed in cubic systems with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction; however, it does not require spin-orbit interaction. The noncoplanar magnetism is accompanied by the ground-state electrical and spin currents, generated via the real-space Berry phase mechanism. We examine the stability of the state with respect to lattice discreteness effects and the magnitude of magnetic exchange interaction. The state can be realized in a number of transition metal and magnetic semiconductor systems.     

Exchange and spin states in quantum dots under strong spatial correlations. Computer simulation by the Feynman path integral method

The fundamental laws in the behavior of electrons in model quantum dots that are caused by exchange and strong Coulomb correlations are studied. The ab initio path integral method is used to numerically simulate systems of two, three, four, and six interacting identical electrons confined in a three-dimensional spherical potential well with a parabolic confining potential against the background of thermal fluctuations. The temperature dependences of spin and collective spin magnetic susceptibility are calculated for model quantum dots of various spatial sizes. A basically exact procedure is proposed for taking into account the permutation symmetry and the spin state of electrons, which makes it possible to perform numerical calculations using modern computer facilities. The conditions of applicability of a virial energy estimator and its optimum form in exchange systems are determined. A correlation estimator of kinetic energy, which is an alternative to a basic estimator, is suggested. A fundamental relation between the kinetic energy of a quantum particle and the character of its virtual diffusion in imaginary time is demonstrated. The process of natural “pairing” of electron spins during the compression of a quantum dot and cooling of a system is numerically reproduced in terms of path integrals. The temperature dependences of the spin magnetic susceptibility of electron pairs with a characteristic maximum caused by spin pairing are obtained.     

Magnetoplasticity and magnetic memory in diamagnetic solids

A mechanism for the depinning of dislocations pinned by a stopper is formulated. This mechanism includes the transfer of an electron from a dislocation to the stopper and the appearance of a spin two-electron nanoreactor that has no Coulomb interaction that would hold the dislocation at the stopper in the initial state. The spin dynamics in the nanoreactor is controlled by a magnetic field; therefore, it causes magnetoplasticity and short-term magnetic memory. Another origin of magnetoplasticity is the aggregation of diffusing paramagnetic ions (stoppers) into dimers, trimers, and clusters; this aggregation is also spin-selective and magnetically sensitive. The magnetic-field dependence of the structural evolution of the stoppers provides long-term magnetic memory in diamagnetic solids. Both mechanisms of magnetoplasticity and magnetic memory can coexist and be independent of or dependent on each other.     

Interaction between localized moments in dilute alloys: Correlation effects

The effect of including dynamical correlations between electrons of opposite spins in determining the ground state energy of a pair of magnetically interacting impurity atoms in an otherwise normal metal is discussed. It is found that in the ground state of such a system the spins of the magnetic impurity atoms are aligned antiparallel. In other words, the interaction between the localized states is of antiferromagnetic exchange type. This result differs sharply from that predicted by the Hartree-Fock (H-F) theory, in which the ground state of the system can be either ferro- or antiferromagnetic, depending on the energies of the spin up and spin down electrons relative to the Fermi energy. The calculations are performed using many-body Green's function techniques in thet-matrix approximation.     

Influence of Coulomb force between two electrons on double ionization of He-like atoms

In strong-field double ionization,two electrons are ionized by intense laser field.These two electrons move in the laser field and the state is described by a Coulomb-Volkov state,where the repulsive Coulomb state describes the relative motion of the two electrons and the Volkov state describes the center-of-mass motion of the two electrons in the laser field.In the frame of scattering theory,we derive a simple analytical formula of the double ionization of He-like atoms.The effect of the Coulomb force between two electrons on the double ionization process is discussed.Numerical studies disclose that the Coulomb force enhances the ionization rate of high-energy electrons but suppresses the ionization rate of the lowest-energy electrons.