Kondo Resonance Splitting in a Quantum Dot with Perpendicular Magnetic Fields

Using the nonequilibrium Green＇s function technique, we investigate the Kondo effect in the quantum dot with perpendicular magnetic fields, in which one is the Zeeman splitting lies in the z-direction and the other is the spin flip points at the x-direction. It is found whatever one or two magnetic fields are applied, the local density of states （LDOS） will split into two peaks. The positions of two Kondo resonance peaks are determined by Zeeman energy △ when J = 0, and by √△^2＋J^2 when J≠0.     

Majorana–Kondo interplay in a Majorana wire-quantum dot system with ferromagnetic contacts*

We consider a single-level quantum dot(QD)and a topological superconducting wire hosting Majorana bound states at its ends.By the equation of motion method,we give the analytical Green’s function of the QD in the noninteracting and the infinite interacting case.We study the effects of QD energy level and the spin polarization on the density of states(DOS)and linear conductance of the system.In the noninteracting case,the DOS resonance shifts with the change of energy level and it shows bimodal structure at large spin polarization strength.In the infinite interacting case,the up-spin linear conductance first increases and then decreases with the increase of spin polarization strength,but the down-spin is stable.However,the DOS shows a splitting phenomenon in the large energy level with the increase of spin polarization strength.This provides an interesting way to explore the physical properties of such spin dependent effect in the hybrid Majorana QD systems.     

Spin current and its heat effect in a multichannel quantum wire with Rashba spinben orbit coupling

Using the perturbation method, we theoretically study the spin current and its heat effect in a multichannel quantum wire with Rashba spin—orbit coupling. The heat generated by the spin current is calculated. With the increase of the width of the quantum wire, the spin current and the heat generated both exhibit period oscillations with equal amplitudes. When the quantum-channel number is doubled, the oscillation periods of the spin current and of the heat generated both decrease by a factor of 2. For the spin current j_s,xy, the amplitude increases with the decrease of the quantum channel; while the amplitude of the spin current j_s,yx remains the same. Therefore we conclude that the effect of the quantum-channel number on the spin current j_s,xy is greater than that on the spin current j_s,yx. The strength of the Rashba spin—orbit coupling is tunable by the gate voltage, and the gate voltage can be varied experimentally, which implies a new method of detecting the spin current. In addition, we can control the amplitude and the oscillation period of the spin current by controlling the number of the quantum channels. All these characteristics of the spin current will be very important for detecting and controlling the spin current, and especially for designing new spintronic devices in the future.     

Finite-size effect and Kondo screening effect in an A-B ring with a quantum dot

The properties of the ground state of a closed dot－ring system with a magnetic flux in the Kondo regime are studied theoretically by means of a one-impurity Anderson Hamiltonian. The Hamiltonian is solved by means of the slave-boson mean-field theory. It is shown that at T=0, a suppressed Kondo effect exists in this system even when the mean level spacing of electrons in the ring is larger than the bulk Kondo temperature. The physical quantities depend sensitively on both the parity of the system and the size of the ring; the rich physical behaviour can be attributed to the coexistence of both the finite-size effect and the Kondo screening effect. It is also possible to detect the Kondo screening cloud by measuring the persistent current or the zero field impurity susceptibility χ_{imp} directly in future experiments.     

Effect of eccentricity in the spin accumulation effect induced in semiconductors rings with Rashba spin orbit interaction

A spin accumulation effect (SAE) is induced in a semiconductor nanoring with Rashba spin orbit interaction and pierced by a magnetic flux. We show that when the sample is not perfectly symmetric, the profile of the SAE can be highly inhomogeneous along specific orientations. In particular, we analyze the anisotropy generated in the angular profile by a finite eccentricity. We discuss the feasibility of detecting the effect with usual magneto optical techniques for a number of electrons and values of magnetic fluxes experimentally accessible.     

True spin and pseudo spin entanglement around Dirac Points in graphene with Rashba spin–orbit interaction

We analytically obtained the Schmidt decomposition of the entangled state between the pseudo spin and the true spin in graphene with Rashba spin–orbit coupling. The entangled state has the standard form of the Bell state, where the SU(2) spin symmetry is broken. These states can be explicitly expressed as the superposition of two nonorthogonal, but mirror symmetrical spin states entangled with the pseudo spin states. Because of the closely locking between the pseudo spin and the true spin, it is found that the orbit curve in the spin-polarization parameter space for the fixed equi-energy contour around Dirac points has the same shape as the $\delta \overrightarrow{k}$-contour. Due to the spin–orbit coupling that cause the topological transition in the local geometry of the dispersion relation, the new equi-energy contours around the new emergent Dirac Points can be obtained by squeezing the one around the original Dirac point. The spin texture in the momentum space around the Dirac points is analyzed under the Rashba spin–orbit interaction and it is found that the orientation of the spin polarization at each crystal momentum $\overrightarrow{k}$ is independent of the Rashba coupling strength.     

Spin and charge Nernst effect in a four-terminal double-dot interferometer

We investigate the spin and charge Nernst effect of a four-terminal Aharonov–Bohm interferometer with Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI). It is shown that a pure spin Nernst effect or a fully spin-polarized Nernst effect can be obtained by modulating the magnetic flux phase ? and the RSOI induced phase φ. It is also demonstrated that some windows of ? (or φ) for maintaining an almost fully spin-polarized Nernst effect exist and their width is under the control of the other phase. Moreover, for the charge Nernst coefficient $N_c$ and spin Nernst coefficient $N_s$ the relationship $N_c(?,\phi )=?N_s(\phi ,?)$ always holds. These results suggest that our proposal may act as a controllable thermospin generator.     

Triplet superconducting p+ip pairs existing in a graphene sandwiched by superconductor and ferromagnet

Since the even-parity (s- or d-wave) superconducting pairs are incompatible with the ferromagnetism, a proper parity for these superconducting pairs existing in the interfaces of superconductors (SCs) and ferromagnets (FMs) should be odd-parity (p-wave). In this study a sandwiched structure constructed by even-parity superconductor/graphene/ferromagnet (ESC/GH/FM) is theoretically proposed to play a role to accommodate stable triplet superconducting pairs in the graphene (GH). The interactions in the graphene induced from the heavy magnetic atoms in FM including Kondo interaction, Kane–Mele and Rashba spin–orbit interactions (SOI) are considered. The calculations reveal a fact that p+ip state in the graphene is stable than pure p state and the former interaction suppress the triplet superconductivity but enhance it by later two SOIs.     

Classical impurities and boundary Majorana zero modes in quantum chains

We study the response of classical impurities in quantum Ising chains. The Z₂${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ degeneracy they entail renders the existence of two decoupled Majorana modes at zero energy, an exact property of a finite system at arbitrary values of its bulk parameters. We trace the evolution of these modes across the transition from the disordered phase to the ordered one and analyze the concomitant qualitative changes of local magnetic properties of an isolated impurity. In the disordered phase, the two ground states differ only close to the impurity, and they are related by the action of an explicitly constructed quasi-local operator. In this phase the local transverse spin susceptibility follows a Curie law. The critical response of a boundary impurity is logarithmically divergent and maps to the two-channel Kondo problem, while it saturates for critical bulk impurities, as well as in the ordered phase. The results for the Ising chain translate to the related problem of a resonant level coupled to a 1d p-wave superconductor or a Peierls chain, whereby the magnetic order is mapped to topological order. We find that the topological phase always exhibits a continuous impurity response to local fields as a result of the level repulsion of local levels from the boundary Majorana zero mode. In contrast, the disordered phase generically features a discontinuous magnetization or charging response. This difference constitutes a general thermodynamic fingerprint of topological order in phases with a bulk gap.     

Triplet pairing states with equal spins in ferromagnet/superconductor heterojunctions for noncollinear magnetizations

Four-component Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations are applied to study tunneling conductance spectra of ferromagnet/ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor (F₁/F₂/d-wave S) tunnel junctions and to find out signs of spin-triplet pairing correlations induced in the proximity structure. The pairing correlations with equal spins arises from the novel Andreev reflection (AR), which requires at least three factors: the usual AR at the F₂/S interface, spin flip in the F₂ layer, and superconducting coherence kept up in the F₂ layer. Effects of angle α between magnetizations of the two F layers, polarizations of the F₁ and F₂ layers, the thickness of the F₂ layer, and the orientation of the d-wave S crystal on the tunneling conductance are investigated. A conversion from a zero-bias conductance dip at α = 0 to a zero-bias conductance peak at a certain value of α can be seen as a sign of generated spin-triplet correlations.     

Macroscopic quantum coherence in a single molecular magnet and Kondo effect of electron transport

We report a Kondo-effect study of electron transport through a quantum dot with embedded biaxial single-molecule magnet based on slave boson mean-field theory and non-equilibrium Green-function technique. It is found the macroscopic quantum coherence of molecule-magnet results in the Kondo peak split of differential conductance due to interaction between electron and molecular magnet. It is also demonstrated that both the peak height and position can be controlled by the sweeping magnetic field and polarization of ferromagnetic electrodes. The characteristic peak split may be used to identify the macroscopic quantum coherence and develop molecule devices.     

Voltage-controlled Kosterlitz–Thouless transitions and various kinds of Kondo behaviors in a triple dot device

The transport property and phase transition for a parallel triple dot device are studied by adopting Wilson's numerical renormalization group technique, focusing on the effects of level spacings between neighboring dot sites. By keeping dot 2at the half-filled level and tuning the level differences, it is demonstrated that the system transits from local spin quadruplet to triplet and doublet sequently, and three kinds of Kondo peaks at the Fermi surface could be found, which are separated by two Kosterlitz–Thouless type quantum phase transitions and correspond to spin-3/2, spin-1, and spin-1/2 Kondo effect,respectively. To obtain a detailed understanding of these problems, the charge occupation, the spin–spin correlation, the transmission coefficient, and the temperature-dependent magnetic moment are shown, and necessary physical arguments are given.     

Splitting and Restoration of Kondo Peak in a Deformed Molecule Quantum Dot Coupled to Ferromagnetic Electrodes

We adopt the nonequilibrium Green＇s function method to theoretically study the Kondo effect in a deformed molecule, which is treated as an electron-phonon interaction （EPI） system. The self-energy for phonon part is calculated in the standard many-body diagrammatic expansion up to the second order in EPI strength. We find that the multiple phonon-assisted Kondo satellites arise besides the usual Kondo resonance. In the antiparallel magnetic configuration the splitting of main Kondo peak and phonon-assisted satellites only happen for asymmetrical dot-lead couplings, but it is free from the symmetry for the parallel magnetic configuration. The EPI strength and vibrational frequency can enhance the spin splitting of both main Kondo and satellites. It is shown that the suppressed zero-bias Kondo resonance can be restored by applying an external magnetic field, whose magnitude is dependent on the phononic effect remarkably. Although the asymmetry in tunnel coupling has no contribution to the restoration of spin splitting of Kondo peak, it can shrink the external field needed to switch tunneling magnetoresistance ratio between large negative dip and large positive peak.     

Regularity of the density of states in the Anderson model on a strip for potentials with singular continuous distributions

We derive regularity properties for the density of states in the Anderson model on a one-dimensional strip for potentials with singular continuous distributions. For example, if the characteristic function is infinitely differentiable with bounded derivatives and together with all its derivatives goes to zero at infinity, we show that the density of states is infinitely differentiable.     

Conductance of Rashba electron in a quantum waveguide with smooth boundary

By using the transfer matrix method, we theoretically investigated Rashba electron's spin transport in a straight waveguide with a stub which has a smooth boundary. It is proved that the two spin states propagate independently. The conductance of the waveguide has been calculated. Conductance quantization is common in this structure when we change the Fermi energy and the width of the stub. If the shape of the stub converges toward the limit–a quadrate stub, the conductance will reduce distinctly due to reflection.     

Direct observation of the scaling relation between density of states and pairing gap in a dirty superconductor

Theories and experiments on dirty superconductors are complex but important in terms of both theoretical fundamentals and practical applications. These activities are even more challenging when magnetic fields are present because the field distribution, electron density of states, and superconducting pairing potentials become nonuniform. Here, we present tunneling microspectroscopic experiments on Nb C single crystals and demonstrate that Nb C is a homogeneous dirty superconductor. When applying magnetic fields to the samples, we found that the zero-energy local density of states and the pairing energy gap followed the explicit scaling relation proposed by de Gennes for homogeneous dirty superconductors in high magnetic fields. More significantly, our experimental findings indicate that the validity of the scaling relation extends to magnetic field strengths far below the upper critical field, calling for a new nonperturbative understanding of this fundamental property in dirty superconductors. On the practical side, we used the observed scaling relation to derive a simple and straightforward experimental scheme for estimating the superconducting coherence length of a dirty superconductor in magnetic fields.     

Spin current and its heat effect in a multichannel quantum wire with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Using the perturbation method,we theoretically study the spin current and its heat effect in a multichannel quantum wire with Rashba spin-orbit coupling.The heat generated by the spin current is calculated.With the increase of the width of the quantum wire,the spin current and the heat generated both exhibit period oscillations with equal amplitudes.When the quantum-channel number is doubled,the oscillation periods of the spin current and of the heat generated both decrease by a factor of 2.For the spin current j s,xy,the amplitude increases with the decrease of the quantum channel;while the amplitude of the spin current j s,yx remains the same.Therefore we conclude that the effect of the quantum-channel number on the spin current j s,xy is greater than that on the spin current j s,yx.The strength of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling is tunable by the gate voltage,and the gate voltage can be varied experimentally,which implies a new method of detecting the spin current.In addition,we can control the amplitude and the oscillation period of the spin current by controlling the number of the quantum channels.All these characteristics of the spin current will be very important for detecting and controlling the spin current,and especially for designing new spintronic devices in the future.     

Thermopower of a ballistic nanowire subjected to an in-plane magnetic field in the presence of Rashba and Dresselhaus interactions

Using the single-particle formalism, we calculate the thermopower of conduction electrons in a nanowire considering dispersion relations containing local maxima. At low temperatures, the thermopower exhibits positive and negative peaks that are consistent with Mott's approximation. The peaks are degenerate at a certain direction of the magnetic field defined by the strengths of the Rashba and Dresselhaus interactions. The sign and the height of the peak depend on the number of channels available for conduction.     

Resonant Andreev reflection in a normal-metal/quantum-dot/superconductor system with coupled Majorana bound states

Andreev reflection(AR) in a normal-metal/quantum-dot/superconductor(N–QD–S) system with coupled Majorana bound states(MBSs) is investigated theoretically. We find that in the N–QD–S system, the AR can be enhanced when coupling to the MBSs is incorporated. Fano line-shapes can be observed in the AR conductance spectrum when there is an appropriate QD–MBS coupling or MBS–MBS coupling. The AR conductance is always e~2/2h at the zero Fermi energy point when only QD–MBSs coupling is considered. In addition, the resonant AR occurs when the MBS–MBS coupling roughly equals to the QD energy level. We also find that an AR antiresonance appears when the QD energy level approximately equals to the sum of the QD–MBS coupling and the MBS–MBS coupling. These features may serve as characteristic signatures for the probe of MBSs.