Mapping itinerant electrons around Kondo impurities

We investigate single Fe and Co atoms buried below a Cu(100) surface using low temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy. By mapping the local density of states of the itinerant electrons at the surface, the Kondo resonance near the Fermi energy is analyzed. Probing bulk impurities in this well-defined scattering geometry allows separating the physics of the Kondo system and the measuring process. The line shape of the Kondo signature shows an oscillatory behavior as a function of depth of the impurity as well as a function of lateral distance. The oscillation period along the different directions reveals that the spectral function of the itinerant electrons is anisotropic.     

Effect of transition-metal substitution in iron-based superconductors

We study theoretically the effect of transition-metal (TM) substitution in iron-based superconductors through treating all of the TM ions as randomly distributed impurities. The extra electrons from TM elements are localized at the impurity sites. In the meantime the chemical potential shifts upon substitution. The phase diagram is mapped out and it seems that the TM elements can act as effective dopants. The local density of states (LDOS) is calculated and the bottom becomes V-shaped as the impurity concentration increases. The LDOS at the Fermi energy ρ(ω = 0) is finite and reaches the minimum at the optimal doping level. Our results are in good agreement with scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.     

Anomalous density of states in hybrid normal metal-superconductor bilayers

In contact with a superconductor, the Andreev reflection of the electrons locally modifies the N metal electronic properties, including the local density of states (LDOS). We investigated the LDOS in superconductor-normal metal (Nb-Au) bilayers using a very low temperature (60 mK) STM on the normal metal side. High resolution tunneling spectra measured on the Au surface show a clear proximity effect with an energy gap of reduced amplitude compared to the bulk Nb gap. The dependence of this mini-gap width with the normal metal thickness is discussed in terms of the Thouless energy. Within the mini-gap, the density of states does not reach zero and shows clear sub-gap features. We compare the experimental spectra with the well-established quasi-classical theory.     

Quantum coherence of image-potential states

The quantum dynamics of the two-dimensional image-potential states in front of the Cu(100) surface is measured by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The dispersion relation and the momentum resolved phase-relaxation time of the first image-potential state are determined from the quantum interference patterns in the local density of states at step edges. It is demonstrated that the tip-induced Stark shift does not affect the motion of the electrons parallel to the surface.     

Multiband tight-binding model of local magnetism in Ga1-xMnxAs

We present the spin and orbitally resolved local density of states (LDOS) for a single Mn impurity and for two nearby Mn impurities in GaAs. The GaAs host is described by a sp(3) tight-binding Hamiltonian, and the Mn impurity is described by a local p-d hybridization and on-site potential. Local spin-polarized resonances within the valence bands significantly enhance the LDOS near the band edge. For two nearby parallel Mn moments the acceptor states hybridize and split in energy. Thus scanning tunneling spectroscopy can directly measure the Mn-Mn interaction as a function of distance.     

Defects of SiC nanowires studied by STM and STS

For the first time the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) are employed to investigate the morphology and the surface electronic structure of the defective silicon carbide nanowires (SiCNWs). The SiCNWs produced via combustion synthesis route are studied. The STS measurements are performed in the current imaging tunneling spectroscopy mode (CITS) that allows us to determine the correlation between STM topography and the local density of electronic states (LDOS) around the bend of an isolated SiCNW. The measurements reveal fluctuations of LDOS in the vicinity of the defect. The local graphitisation and the inhomogeneous concentration of doping impurities (e.g. nitrogen, oxygen) are considered to explain these fluctuations of metallic-like LDOS in the vicinity of the SiCNW's deformation.     

Andreev states near short-ranged pairing potential impurities

We study Andreev states near atomic scale modulations in the pairing potential in both s- and d-wave superconductors with short coherence lengths. For a moderate reduction of the local gap, the states exist only close to the gap edge. If one allows for local sign changes of the order parameter, however, resonances can occur at energies close to the Fermi level. The local density of states (LDOS) around such pairing potential defects strongly resembles the patterns observed by tunneling measurements around Zn impurities in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (BSCCO). We discuss how this phase impurity model of the Zn LDOS pattern can be distinguished from other proposals experimentally.     

Correlation induced switching of the local spatial charge distribution in a two-level system

It was found that tunneling current through a nanometer scale structure with strongly coupled localized states causes spatial redistribution of localized charges induced by Coulomb correlations. We present here theoretical investigation of this effect by means of Heisenberg equations for localized states electron filling numbers. This method makes it possible to take into account pair correlations of local electron density exactly. It is shown that inverse occupation of the two-level system caused by Coulomb correlations appears in particular range of applied bias. Described effects can give a possibility of charge manipulation in the proposed system. We also expect that described results can be observed in tunneling structures with impurities or with small quantum dots.     

Magnetic impurities in Cu and Ag

We report self-consistent calculations for the electronic and magnetic structure of 3d-impurities in Cu and Ag. Exchange and correlation effects between the electrons are treated in the local spin-density approximation, and the corresponding one-electron Schroedinger equation is solved by the Korringa-Kohn-Rostocker-Green's function method. Without adjustable parameters we obtain results for the local density of states and the magnetic moments of the impurities.     

Effect of time reversal symmetry breaking on the density of states in small superconducting grains

We show that in ultrasmall superconducting grains any concentration of magnetic impurities or infinitely small orbital effect of magnetic field leads to destruction of the hard gap in the tunneling density of states, and find analytically the exponential tail at low energies. Thus, the tunneling density of states exhibits the "soft gap" behavior. As the energy approaches zero, it vanishes linearly with excitation energy.     

Theory of the fano resonance in the STM tunneling density of states due to a single kondo impurity

The conduction electron density of states nearby single magnetic impurities, as measured recently by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), is calculated, taking into account tunneling into conduction electron states only. The Kondo effect induces a narrow Fano resonance in the conduction electron density of states. The line shape varies with the distance between STM tip and impurity, in qualitative agreement with experiments, but is very sensitive to details of the band structure. For a Co impurity the experimentally observed width and shift of the Kondo resonance are in accordance with those obtained from a combination of band structure and strongly correlated calculations.     

Investigation on the electronic transport properties of MgS nanotube based molecular devices – a first-principles study

The electronic transport properties of pure MgS nanotube based molecular devices, Mn-substituted nanotubes and Se-substituted nanotubes are investigated using density functional theory. The state of the art of this work is to study the transport properties of MgS nanotubes with substitution impurities across electrodes. The electronic transport properties are discussed in terms of device density of states and transmission spectrum of MgS nanotubes. The effects of Mn substitution and Se substitution in nanotubes are studied. The major contribution to density of states arises only from p orbitals in MgS nanotubes. The substitution effect and bias voltages also have influence in the density of states. The transmission spectrum provides information about the transmission of electrons along the nanotube. The information provided in this work gives a clear vision to fine-tune MgS nanostructures with improved transport property in nanoelectronic device fabrication.     

Spin-polarized surface states on Fe-deposited Au(111) surface: A theoretical study

We have studied electronic structure of Fe-deposited Au(111) by performing ab initio density functional theory calculations. We find that the magnetic moment on the deposited Fe layer is enhanced as compared to that in bulk iron. We observe a large number of new states on the Fe-deposited surface — one of which is in the majority spin channel having similar dispersion to that on the clean surface, and others in the minority spin channel. The effective mass of electrons in surface states near the Fermi level increases on Fe deposition. The electronic properties are found to be insensitive to the stacking of near-surface layers. We need to use very thick slabs in our calculations to avoid splitting of surface states due to spurious interactions between the two surfaces of the slab. Using the local density of states profiles for different surface states, we conclude that in scanning tunneling microscope experiments one can detect two of the surface states — one in the majority channel below the Fermi level, and another in the minority channel appearing just above the Fermi energy. We compare our results to those from scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments.     

Impurity-induced tuning of quantum-well States in spin-dependent resonant tunneling

We report exact model calculations of the spin-dependent tunneling in double magnetic tunnel junctions in the presence of impurities in the well. We show that the impurity can tune selectively the spin channels giving rise to a wide variety of interesting and novel transport phenomena. The tunneling magnetoresistance, the spin polarization, and the local current can be dramatically enhanced or suppressed by impurities. The underlying mechanism is the impurity-induced shift of the quantum well states (QWSs), which depends on the impurity potential, impurity position, and the symmetry of the QWS.     

Quasiparticle states at a d-wave vortex core in high- T(c) superconductors: induction of local spin density wave order

The local density of states (LDOS) at the vortex lattice cores in a high- T(c) superconductor is studied by using a self-consistent mean-field theory including interactions for both antiferromagnetism (AF) and d-wave superconductivity (DSC). In a zero-field optimally doped sample the AF order is completely suppressed while DSC prevails. In the mixed state, we show that the local AF-like spin density wave order appears near the vortex core and acts as an effective local magnetic field on electrons via Zeeman coupling. As a result, the LDOS at the core exhibits a double-peak structure near the Fermi level that is in good agreement with recent scanning tunneling microscopy observations.     

Nonequilibrium Electron Transport Through a Quantum Dot from Kubo Formula

Based on the Kubo formula for an electron tunneling junction, we revisit the nonequilibrium transport properties through a quantum dot. Since the Fermi level of the quantum dot is set by the conduction electrons of the leads, we calculate the electron current from the left side by assuming the quantum dot coupled to the right lead as another side of the tunneling junction, and the other way round is used to calculate the current from the right side. By symmetrizing these two currents, an effective local density states on the dot can be obtained, and is discussed at high and low temperatures, respectively.     

Coherent tunneling of lithium defect pairs in KCl crystals

The tunneling of two lithium ion impurities on next-nearest neighbor sites in potassium chloride are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The strong dipolar interaction leads to coherent tunneling motion of the two defect ions between degenerate off-center positions. Comparing data of rotary echo experiments for impurity pairs ⁷Li—⁷Li, ⁶Li—⁶Li, and ⁷Li—⁶Li with theory permits a thorough investigation of the isotope effect and of the effect of the interaction on the tunnel states. Our findings confirm the tunneling model with <111> off-center states to be valid even for strongly interacting impurities. Using degenerate perturbation theory in terms of two-particle states, we obtain essentially exact expressions for the tunneling spectrum and the dynamical susceptibility which agree well with the measured data.     

Quantum entanglement in elliptical quantum corrals

Quantum corrals present interesting properties due to the combination of confinement and, in the case of elliptical corrals, to their focalizing properties. We study the case when two magnetic impurities are added to the non-interacting corral, where they interact via a superexchange AF interaction J with the surface electrons in the ellipse. Previous results showed that, when both impurities are located at the foci of the system, they experience an enhanced magnetic interaction, as compared to the one they would have in an open surface. For small J and even filling, they are locked in a singlet state, which weakens for larger values of this parameter. When J is much larger than the hopping parameter of the electrons in the ellipse, both spins decorrelate while forming a local singlet with the electrons of the ellipse, thus presenting a confined RKKY–Kondo transition.We interpret this behaviour by means of the von Neumann entropy between the localized impurities and the itinerant electrons of the ellipse: for small J the entropy is nearly zero while for large J it is maximum. In addition, the local density of states provides us with a concrete experimental tool for detecting the Kondo regime.     

Time domain capacitance spectroscopy of tunneling electrons in the two-dimensional electron gas

We have developed a technique capable of measuring the tunneling current into both localized and conducting states in a 2D electron system (2DES). The method yields I-V characteristics for tunneling with no distortions arising from low 2D in-plane conductivity. We have used the technique to determine the pseudogap energy spectrum for electron tunneling into and out of a 2D system and, further, we have demonstrated that such tunneling measurements reveal spin relaxation times within the 2DEG. Pseudogap: In a 2DEG in perpendicular magnetic field, a pseudogap develops in the tunneling density of states at the Fermi energy. We resolve a linear energy dependence of this pseudogap at low excitations. The slopes of this linear gap are strongly field dependent. No existing theory predicts the observed behavior. Spin relaxation: We explore the characteristics of equilibrium tunneling of electrons from a 3D electrode into a high mobility 2DES. For most 2D Landau level filling factors, we find that electrons tunnel with a single, well-defined tunneling rate. However, for spin-polarized quantum Hall states (ν=1, 3 and 1/3) tunneling occurs at two distinct rates that differ by up to two orders of magnitude. The dependence of the two rates on temperature and tunnel barrier thickness suggests that slow in-plane spin relaxation creates a bottleneck for tunneling of electrons.     

Impurity induced resonance states at the superconducting interface LaAlO3/SrTiO3

Motivated by the recent discovery of superconductivity on the heterointerface LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃, we theoretically investigate the impurity-induced resonance states with coexisting spin singlet s- and triplet p-wave pairing symmetries by considering the influence of Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction (RSOI). Due to the nodal structure of the mixed gap function, we find single nonmagnetic impurity-induced resonance peaks appearing in the local density of state. We also analyze the evolutions of density of states and local density of states with the weight of triplet pairing component determined by the strength of RSOI, which will be widely observed in thin films of superconductors with surface or interface-induced RSOI, or various noncentrosymmetric superconductors in terms of point contact tunneling and scanning tunneling microscopy, and thus shed light on the admixture of the spin singlet and RSOI-induced triplet superconducting states.