Occupation of a resonant level coupled to a chiral Luttinger liquid

We consider a resonant level coupled to a chiral Luttinger liquid which can be realized, e.g., at a fractional quantum Hall edge. We study the dependence of the occupation probability n of the level on its energy epsilon for various values of the Luttinger-liquid parameter g. At g<1/2, a weakly coupled level shows a sharp jump in n(epsilon) at the Fermi level. As the coupling is increased, the magnitude of the jump decreases until sqrt[2g], and then the discontinuity in n(epsilon) disappears. We show that n(epsilon) can be expressed in terms of the magnetization of a Kondo impurity as a function of magnetic field.     

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.     

Fermi-edge singularity in the vicinity of the resonant scattering condition

Fermi-edge absorption theory predicting the spectrum A(ω) ∝ ω(-2δ(0)/π+δ(0)92)/π2) relies on the assumption that scattering phase δ(0) is frequency independent. The dependence of δ(0) on ω becomes crucial near the resonant condition, where the phase changes abruptly by π. In this limit, because of the finite time spent by electron on a resonant level, the scattering is dynamic. We incorporate the finite time delay into the theory, solve the Dyson equation with a modified kernel, and find that, near the resonance, A(ω) behaves as ω(-3/4)|lnω|. Scattering off the core hole becomes resonant in 1D and 2D in the presence of an empty subband above the Fermi level; then a deep hole splits off a level from the bottom of this subband. Fermi-edge absorption in the regime when resonant level transforms into a Kondo peak is discussed.     

Kondo-peak splitting and coherent transport in a single-electron transistor

The peculiar behavior of Kondo-peak splitting under a magnetic field and bias can be explained by calculating the nonequilibrium retarded Green's function via the nonperturbative dynamical theory (NDT). In the NDT, the application of a lead-dot-lead system reveals that new resonant tunneling levels are activated near the Fermi level and the conventional Kondo peak at the Fermi level diminishes when a bias is applied. Magnetic field causes asymmetry in the spectral density and transforms the new resonant peak into a major peak whose behavior explains all the features of the nonequilibrium Kondo phenomenon. We also show the mechanism of coherent transport through the new resonant tunneling level.     

Interplay between the mesoscopic Stoner and Kondo effects in quantum dots

We consider electrons confined to a quantum dot interacting antiferromagnetically with a spin-1 / 2 Kondo impurity. The electrons also interact among themselves ferromagnetically with a dimensionless coupling J , where J =1 denotes the bulk Stoner transition. We show that as J approaches 1 there is a regime with enhanced Kondo correlations, followed by one where the Kondo effect is destroyed and impurity is spin polarized opposite to the dot electrons. The most striking signature of the first, Stoner-enhanced Kondo regime is that a Zeeman field increases the Kondo scale, in contrast to the case for noninteracting dot electrons. Implications for experiments are discussed.     

Kondo Effect Versus Magnetic Coupling in Indirectly Coupled Double Quantum Dots

We theoretically investigate a device consisting of two quantum dots(QDs) side-coupled to a quantum wire which has many physicalingredients of an artificial heavy fermion system. An extra parameter, the distance L between the two QDs, is introduced and it plays an important role on the competition of the Kondo temperature and magnetic coupling. Three different phases are found: antiferromagnetic phase, Kondo phase with spin S=1/2, and Kondo phase with S=1, depending on the distance L, the magnetic coupling, and the Kondo temperature. Quantum transport properties are qualitatively different for different phases: for the S=1 Kondo and the antiferromagnetic phases, the conductance tends to the unitary value 2e²/h; for the S=1/2 Kondo phase the conductance is strongly dependent on the distance.     

Thermoelectric Phenomena in a Quantum Dot Attached to Ferromagnetic Leads in Kondo Regime

We have studied the thermoelectric properties through ferromagnetic leads-QD coupled system (F-QD-F) in the Kondo regime by nonequilibrium Green's functions method. The spin-flip effect induced by ferromagnetic leads and Kondo effect influence the thermoelectric properties significantly. The peak-valley structure emerges at the low temperature due to Kondo resonance, and the peak-valley structure also relies on the polarization angle θ, the spin-dependent linewidth function Γ_γσ and the energy level of QD ε_d. Novel resonant peak also emerges in the curve of ZT_c versus polarization angle θ. The Kondo effect suppresses the figure of merit ZT_c and the spin-dependent figure of merit ZT_s. In addition, the spin-dependent figure of merit ZT_s is relate with the gap between Γ_γ↑ and Γ_γ↓.     

Singlet-triplet transition in a quantum dot: effect on mesoscopic transport

The T=0 transport properties of a wire interacting with a lateral two-level quantum dot are studied by using an exact numerical calculation. The wire conductance, the spin–spin correlation and the Kondo temperature are obtained as a function of the dot level energy spacing. When the dot has two electrons and spin S_D1, the wire current is totally quenched by the S=1 Kondo effect. The Kondo temperature is maximum at the singlet–triplet transition and its dependence upon the dot energy spacing follows a non-universal scaling law.     

Multiwall carbon nanotubes as quantum dots

We have measured the differential conductance of individual multiwall carbon nanotubes. Coulomb blockade and energy level quantization are observed. The electron levels are nearly fourfold degenerate (including spin) and their evolution in magnetic field (Zeeman splitting) agrees with a g factor of 2. In zero magnetic field the sequential filling of states evolves with spin S according to S = 0-->1/2-->0.... A Kondo enhancement of the conductance is observed when the number of electrons on the tube is odd.     

Two Kondo impurities in nanoscopic systems

We study the problem of two Kondo impurities in a small system. Using a slave boson approach we investigate the effect on the electron confinement of the Kondo physics of the two impurity problem. We show that the confinement splits the symmetric and antisymmetric channels and for small systems weakly coupled to a reservoir this gives two well defined behaviors: For the Fermi energy lying at a resonant state, the two impurities are Kondo screened with two characteristic energy scales. For the Fermi energy between two resonances, the inter-impurity interaction destroys the Kondo effect.Received: 2 February 2004, Published online: 28 May 2004PACS: 72.10.Fk Scattering by point defects, dislocations, surfaces, and other imperfections (including Kondo effect) - 72.15.Qm Scattering mechanisms and Kondo effect     

Superconductivity in charge Kondo systems

We present a theory for superconductivity and charge Kondo fluctuations, i.e., resonant quantum valence fluctuations by two charge units, for Tl-doped PbTe. We show that Tl is very special as it first supplies a certain amount of charge carriers to the PbTe-valence band and then puts itself into a self-tuned resonant state to yield a new, robust pairing mechanism for these carriers.     

Universal scaling in nonequilibrium transport through a single channel Kondo dot

Scaling laws and universality play an important role in our understanding of critical phenomena and the Kondo effect. We present measurements of nonequilibrium transport through a single-channel Kondo quantum dot at low temperature and bias. We find that the low-energy Kondo conductance is consistent with universality between temperature and bias and is characterized by a quadratic scaling exponent, as expected for the spin-1/2 Kondo effect. We show that the nonequilibrium Kondo transport measurements are well described by a universal scaling function with two scaling parameters.     

Kondo screening in gapless magnetic alloys

The low-energy physics of a spin- Kondo impurity in a gapless host, in which the density of band states ρ₀(ε)=|ε|^r/(|ε|^r+β^r) vanishes at the Fermi level ε=0, is studied by the Bethe ansatz. It is shown that the growth of the parameter Γ_r=βg^−1/r (where g is an exchange coupling constant) drives the ground state of the system from the Kondo regime with a screened impurity spin to the Anderson regime, where the impurity spin is unscreened. However, in a weak magnetic field H, the impurity spin exceeds its free value, , due to a strong coupling to a band.     

Multichannel Kondo models in non-Abelian quantum Hall droplets

We study the coupling between a quantum dot and the edge of a non-Abelian fractional quantum Hall state which is spatially separated from it by an integer quantum Hall state. Near a resonance, the physics at energy scales below the level spacing of the edge states of the dot is governed by a k-channel Kondo model when the quantum Hall state is a Read-Rezayi state at filling fraction nu=2+k/(k+2) or its particle-hole conjugate at nu=2+2/(k+2). The k-channel Kondo model is channel isotropic even without fine-tuning in the former state; in the latter, it is generically channel anisotropic. In the special case of k=2, our results provide a new venue, realized in a mesoscopic context, to distinguish between the Pfaffian and anti-Pfaffian states at filling fraction nu=5/2.     

Junction of three off-critical quantum Ising chains and two-channel Kondo effect in a superconductor

We show that a junction of three off-critical quantum Ising chains can be regarded as a quantum spin chain realization of the two-channel spin-1/2 overscreened Kondo effect with two superconducting leads. We prove that, as long as the Kondo temperature is larger than the superconducting gap, the equivalent Kondo model flows towards the two channel Kondo fixed point. We argue that our system provides the first controlled realization of two channel Kondo effect with superconducting leads. Besides its theoretical interest, this result is of importance for potential applications to a number of contexts, including the analysis of the quantum entanglement properties of a Kondo system.     

Scaling of the low-temperature dephasing rate in Kondo systems

We present phase coherence time measurements in quasi-one-dimensional Ag wires doped with Fe Kondo impurities of different concentrations n_{s}. Because of the relatively high Kondo temperature T_{K} approximately 4.3 K of this system, we are able to explore a temperature range from above T_{K} down to below 0.01T_{K}. We show that the magnetic contribution to the dephasing rate gamma_{m} per impurity is described by a single, universal curve when plotted as a function of T/T_{K}. For T>0.1T_{K}, the dephasing rate is remarkably well described by recent numerical results for spin S=1/2 impurities. At lower temperature, we observe deviations from this theory. Based on a comparison with theoretical calculations for S>1/2, we discuss possible explanations for the observed deviations.     

Measurements of Kondo and spin splitting in single-electron transistors

We measure the spin splitting in a magnetic field B of localized states in single-electron transistors using a new method, inelastic spin-flip cotunneling. Because it involves only internal excitations, this technique gives the most precise value of the Zeeman energy Delta=/g/mu(B)B. In the same devices we also measure the splitting with B of the Kondo peak in differential conductance. The Kondo splitting appears only above a threshold field as predicted by theory. However, the magnitude of the Kondo splitting at high fields exceeds 2/g/mu(B)B in disagreement with theory.     

Commensurate photon-irradiated Fano-Kondo tunneling through a quantum dot embedded Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

The commensurate photon-irradiated mesoscopic transport in a strongly correlated quantum dot (QD) embedded Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer has been investigated. We focus our investigation on the dynamic Kondo and Fano cooperated effect affected by the double commensurate MWFs with q=ω₂/ω₁ being an arbitrary integer, where ω₁ and ω₂ are the two frequencies of the fields. The general tunneling current formula is derived by employing the nonequilibrium Green's function technique, and the different photon absorption and emission processes induced nonlinear properties have been studied to compare with the single-field system where q=0. Our numerical calculations are performed for the special cases with two commensurate fields possessing q=1,2. The Kondo peak can be suppressed to be a Kondo valley for the case where the commensurate number q=1, and the Fano asymmetric structure exhibits in the differential conductance quite evidently. Different commensurate number q contributes different photon absorption and emission effects. However, the conductance for the case of q=2 possesses more peaks and heavier asymmetric structure than the situations of q=0,1. The enhancement of satellite peaks behaves quite differently for the two cases with q=1, and q=2. The asymmetric peak-valley structure is adjusted by the gate voltage, commensurate MWFs, AB flux, source-drain bias, and non-resonant tunneling strength to form novel Fano and Kondo resonant tunneling.     

Kondo effect in a magnetic field and the magnetoresistivity of kondo alloys

The effect of a magnetic field on the spectral density of a S = 1/2 Kondo impurity is investigated at zero and finite temperatures by using Wilson's numerical renormalization group method. A splitting of the total spectral density is found for fields larger than a critical value H(c)(T = 0) approximately 0.5T(K), where T(K) is the Kondo scale. The splitting correlates with a peak in the magnetoresistivity of dilute magnetic alloys which we calculate and compare with the experiments on CexLa1-xAl2,x = 0.0063. The linear magnetoconductance of quantum dots exhibiting the Kondo effect is also calculated.