Thermoelectric transport in the three terminal quantum dot

The thermoelectric transport in the system composed of a quantum dot in contact with superconducting, ferromagnetic and normal metal electrodes has been studied. Such a system can support pure spin current in the normal electrode. In the limit of a large superconducting gap and weak coupling between the dot and the electrodes we investigate the sub-gap charge and spin transport via Andreev mechanism using the standard master equation technique, which is known to be valid in the sequential tunnelling regime. The Zeeman splitting of the dot level induces pure spin current in the ferromagnetic electrode under an appropriate bias. This opens a novel possibility to switch the spin current between two electrodes by electric means. The calculated spin and charge thermopower coefficients attain very large values, of the order of a few hundreds μV K(-1), and show similar dependences on the position of the on-dot energy level and temperature.     

Triplet superconductivity in a 1D itinerant electron system with transverse spin anisotropy

In this paper we study the ground state phase diagram of a one-dimensional t-J-U model away from half-filling. In the large-bandwidth limit and for ferromagnetic exchange with easy-plane anisotropy a phase with gapless charge and massive spin excitations, characterized by the coexistence of triplet superconducting and spin density wave instabilities is realized in the ground state. With increasing ferromagnetic exchange transitions into a ferrometallic and then a spin gapped triplet superconducting phase take place.     

Tunneling Conductance in a Normal Metal/Ferromagnetic Superconductor Nano-Junction at a Finite Temperature

In this study, we investigate the tunneling conductance at a finite temperature in a normal metal/ferromagnetic superconductor nano-junction where the ferromagnetic superconductor (FS) is in three different cooper pairing states: spin singlet s-wave pairing (SWP), spin triplet opposite spin pairing (OSP), and spin triplet equal spin pairing (ESP) while including Fermiwave mismatch (FWM) and effective mass mismatch (EMM) in two sides of the nano-junction. We find that the conductance shows clearly different behaviors all depending on the symmetries of cooper pairing in a mannerthat the conductance spectra shows a gap-like structure, two interior dipsstructure and zero bias peak for SWP, OSP, and ESP, respectively. Also, theeffective FS gap (δ_eff) is a linear and decreasing function of exchange field. The slope of (δ_eff) versus exchange field for OSP is twice the SWP. Thus, we can determine the spin polarization of N/FS nano-junction based on the dependence of (δ_eff) to exchange field.     

Quantum Phase Transition and Ferromagnetic Spin Correlation in Parallel Double Quantum Dots

We investigate electronic transport through a parallel double quantum dot （DQD） system with strong on-site Coulomb interaction, as well as the interdot tunnelling. By applying numerical renormalization group method, the ground state of the system and the transmission probability at zero temperature are obtained. For a system of quantum dots with degenerate energy levels and small interdot tunnel coupling, the spin correlations between the DQDs is ferromagnetic, and the ground state of the system is a spin-1 triplet state. The linear conductance will reach the unitary limit （2e^2/h） due to the Kondo effect at low temperature. As the interdot tunnel coupling increases, there is a quantum phase transition from ferromagnetic to anti-ferromagnetic spin correlation in DQDs and the linear conductance is strongly suppressed.     

Interplay of magnetic and superconducting proximity effects in ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet trilayers

We present theoretical results on the interplay of magnetic and superconducting orders in diffusive ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet trilayers. The induced triplet superconducting correlations throughout the trilayer lead to an induced spin magnetization. We include self-consistency of the order parameter in the superconducting layer at arbitrary temperatures, arbitrary interface transparency, and any relative orientation of the exchange fields in the two ferromagnets. We propose to use the torque on the trilayer in an external magnetic field as a probe of the presence of triplet correlations in the superconducting phase.     

First-order superconducting transition near a ferromagnetic quantum critical point

We address the issue of how triplet superconductivity emerges in an electronic system near a ferromagnetic quantum critical point (FQCP). Previous studies found that the superconducting transition is of second order, and T(c) is strongly reduced near the FQCP due to pair-breaking effects from thermal spin fluctuations. In contrast, we demonstrate that near the FQCP, the system avoids pair-breaking effects by undergoing a first order transition at a much larger T(c). A second order superconducting transition emerges only at some distance from the FQCP.     

Spin and charge pumping by ferromagnetic-superconductor order parameters

We study transport in ferromagnetic-superconductor/normal-metal systems. It is shown that charge and spin currents are pumped from ferromagnetic superconductors into adjacent normal metals by adiabatic changes in the order parameters induced by external electromagnetic fields. Spin and charge pumping identify the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter, e.g., singlet pairing or triplet pairing with opposite or equal spin pairing. Consequences for ferromagnetic-resonance experiments are discussed.     

Superconducting spin-valve and triplet superconductivity

Recent experimental results on the superconducting spin-valve effect and generation of the long-range triplet superconductivity in a F1/F2/S structure are reviewed (here, F1 and F2 are uncoupled ferromagnetic layers, and S is the superconducting layer). The main results are the following: (i) the maximum of the magnitude of the superconducting spin-valve effect increases with decreasing the exchange field h in the ferromagnetic layer; (ii) a full switching between the normal and superconducting states may be realized with the aid of the triplet contribution to the spin-valve effect.     

Triplet superconducting correlations in oxide heterostructures with a composite ferromagnetic interlayer

The superconducting current induced by the penetration of the long-range triplet component of superconducting correlations into a composite ferromagnetic interlayer has been detected in mesa-heterostructures based on oxide cuprate superconductors YBa₂Cu₃O_{7 ? δ} and Au/Nb bilayer films with the composite oxide interlayer that is made of ferromagnetic films of manganite La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ and ruthenate SrRuO₃ and has a thickness much larger than the length of correlations determined by the exchange field. The deviation of the superconducting current in the mesa-heterostructure with the fraction of the second harmonic of 13% from a sinusoidal current-phase relation has been detected; this deviation can also be due to the generation of the triplet component of superconducting correlations in the ferromagnet.     

Andreev reflections and magnetoresistance in ferromagnet-superconductor mesoscopic structures

An analysis is made of the change in the resistance of a nanostructure consisting of a diffusive ferromagnetic (F) wire and normal metal electrodes, due to the onset of superconductivity (S) in the normal electrode and Andreev scattering processes. The superconducting transition results in an additional contact resistance arising from the necessity to match the spin-polarized current in the F-wire to the spinless current in the S reservoir, which is comparable to the resistance of a piece of F wire with length equal to the spin relaxation length. It is also shown that in the absence of spin relaxation the resistance of a two-domain structure is the same for a ferro-or antiferromagnetic configuration if one electrode is in the superconducting state. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 7, 497–502 (10 April 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Pairing symmetry in monolayer of orthorhombic CoSb

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are generally considered to be antagonistic phenomena in condensed matter physics. Here, we theoretically study the interplay between the ferromagnetic and superconducting orders in a recent discovered monolayered CoSb superconductor with an orthorhombic symmetry and net magnetization, and demonstrate the pairing symmetry of CoSb as a candidate of non-unitary superconductor with time-reversal symmetry breaking. By performing the group theory analysis and the first-principles calculations, the superconducting order parameter is suggested to be a triplet pairing with the irreducible representation of ³B_2u, which displays intriguing nodal points and non-zero periodic modulation of Cooper pair spin polarization on the Fermi surface topologies. These findings not only provide a significant theoretical insight into the coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism, but also reveal the exotic spin polarized Cooper pairing driven by ferromagnetic spin fluctuations in a triplet superconductor.     

Thermoelectric effects in superconducting proximity structures

Attaching a superconductor in good contact with a normal metal gives rise to a proximity effect where the superconducting correlations leak into the normal metal. An additional contact close to the first one makes it possible to carry a supercurrent through the metal. Forcing this supercurrent flow along with an additional quasiparticle current from one or many normal-metal reservoirs leads many interesting effects. The supercurrent can be used to tune the local energy distribution function of the electrons. This mechanism also leads to finite thermoelectric effects even in the presence of electron–hole symmetry. Here we review these effects and discuss to which extent the existing observations of thermoelectric effects in metallic samples can be explained through the use of the dirty limit quasiclassical theory. PACS  74.25.Fy; 73.23.-b; 74.45.+c; 74.40.+k     

Microscopic theory of non local pair correlations in metallic F/S/F trilayers

We consider a microscopic theory of F/S/F trilayers with metallic or insulating ferromagnets. The trilayer with metallic ferromagnets is controlled by the formation of non local pair correlations among the two ferromagnets which do not exist with insulating ferromagnets. The difference between the insulating and ferromagnetic models can be understood from lowest order diagrams. Metallic ferromagnets are controlled by non local pair correlations and the superconducting gap is larger if the ferromagnetic electrodes have a parallel spin orientation. Insulating ferromagnets are controlled by pair breaking and the superconducting gap is smaller if the ferromagnetic electrodes have a parallel spin orientation. The same behavior is found in the presence of disorder in the microscopic phase variables and also in the presence of a partial spin polarization of the ferromagnets. The different behaviors of the metallic and insulating trilayers may be probed in experiments. Received 4 July 2001 and Received in final form 8 November 2001     

Spin polarization of charge carriers and Andreev reflection in (LaCa)MnO/superconductor point contacts

Spin polarization of charge carriers in La_0.65Ca_0.35MnO₃ (LCMO) is studied using point-contact Andreev spectroscopy. Pb and MgB₂ are used to make superconducting electrodes. In all cases, the transport spin polarization obtained from the conductivity of LCMO/superconductor point contacts does not exceed 80–85%. Different models of the current flow through the superconductor-ferromagnetic metal contact and possible reasons for noncomplete spin polarization of a current in manganites are explored. The level of spin polarization observed in Sharvin contacts (contact area ～10⁴ Ų) is most naturally explained in terms of a model that suggests separation of the crystal into nanosized magnetic phases, only one of which is a ferromagnetic metal with full spin polarization of charge carriers.     

Anomalous Josephson current in junctions with spin polarizing quantum point contacts

We consider a ballistic Josephson junction with a quantum point contact in a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The point contact acts as a spin filter when embedded in a circuit with normal electrodes. We show that with an in-plane external magnetic field an anomalous supercurrent appears even for zero phase difference between the superconducting electrodes. In addition, the external field induces large critical current asymmetries between the two flow directions, leading to supercurrent rectifying effects.     

Proximity effect in multiterminal hybrid structures

We consider the proximity effect in multiterminal ferromagnet/superconductor (FSF) hybrid structures in which two or three electrodes are connected to a superconductor. We show that two competing effects take place in these systems: (i) pair breaking effects due to the response to the exchange field induced in the superconductor; (ii) a reduction of the superconducting order parameter at the interface that takes place already in NS junctions. We focus on this second effect that dominates if the thickness of the S layer is small enough. We consider several single-channel electrodes connected to the same site. We calculate the superconducting order parameter and the local density of state (LDOS). With two ferromagnetic electrodes connected to a superconductor we find that the superconducting order parameter in the ferromagnetic alignment is larger than the superconducting order parameter in the antiferromagnetic alignment ( > ), in agreement with [Eur. Phys. J. B 25, 373 (2002)]. If a third spin polarized electrode is connected to a superconductor we find that - can change sign as the transparency of the third electrode increases. This can be understood from the fact that the superconducting order parameter is reduced if pair correlations among the ferromagnetic electrodes increase. If the two ferromagnetic electrodes are within a finite distance we find Friedel oscillations in the Gorkov function but we still obtain > .     

电子关联效应对平行双量子点系统磁输运性质的影响

从理论上研究了平行双量子点系统中的电子关联效应对该系统磁输运性质的影响. 基于广义主方程方法, 计算了通过此系统的电流、微分电导和隧穿磁阻. 计算结果表明: 电子自旋关联效应可以促发一个很大的隧穿磁阻, 而电子库仑关联效应不仅可以压制电子自旋关联效应, 还可以导致负隧穿磁阻和负微分电导的出现. 对相关的基本物理问题进行了讨论.     

Short-range spin correlations and pseudogap in underdoped cuprates

In this paper we show that local spin-singlet amplitude with d-wave symmetry can be induced by short-range spin correlations even in the absence of pairing interactions. In the present scenario for the pseudogap, the normal state pseudogap is caused by the induced local spin-singlet amplitude due to short-range spin correlations, which compete in the low energy sector with superconducting correlations to make T_c go to zero near half-filling.     

Unconventional superconductivity and magnetism in Sr2RuO4 and related materials

We review the normal and superconducting state properties of the unconventional triplet superconductor Sr₂RuO₄ with an emphasis on the analysis of the magnetic susceptibility and the role played by strong electronic correlations. In particular, we show that the magnetic activity arises from the itinerant electrons in the Ru d‐orbitals and a strong magnetic anisotropy occurs (χ^+‐ < χ^zz) due to spin‐orbit coupling. The latter results mainly from different values of the g‐factor for the transverse and longitudinal components of the spin susceptibility (i.e. the matrix elements differ). Most importantly, this anisotropy and the presence of incommensurate antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic fluctuations have strong consequences for the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. In particular, reviewing spin fluctuation‐induced Cooper‐pairing scenario in application to Sr₂RuO₄ we show how p‐wave Cooper‐pairing with line nodes between neighboring RuO₂‐planes may occur. We also discuss the open issues in Sr₂RuO₄ like the influence of magnetic and non‐magnetic impurities on the superconducting and normal state of Sr₂RuO₄. It is clear that the physics of triplet superconductivity in Sr₂RuO₄ is still far from being understood completely and remains to be analyzed more in more detail. It is of interest to apply the theory also to superconductivity in heavy‐fermion systems exhibiting spin fluctuations.     

Distribution of pairing functions in superconducting spin valve SF1F2

The distribution of the spin-singlet component, the short-range spin-triplet component with zero projection, and the long-range spin-triplet component with projection ±1 of the superconducting pairing function has been obtained for different regimes of switching of a spin valve with a three-layer heterostructure (superconductor/ferromagnet/ferromagnet). The distribution of the components is discussed as the main reason for the behavior of the superconducting transition temperature as a function of the angle between the magnetic moments of the ferromagnetic layers in these regimes.