Quantum wire hybridized with a single-level impurity

We have studied low-temperature properties of interacting electrons in a one-dimensional quantum wire (Luttinger liquid) side-hybridized with a single-level impurity. The hybridization induces a backscattering of electrons in the wire which strongly affects its low-energy properties. Using a one-loop renormalization group approach valid for a weak electron-electron interaction, we have calculated a transmission coefficient through the wire, T(epsilon), and a local density of states, nu(epsilon) at low energies epsilon. In particular, we have found that the antiresonance in T(epsilon) has a generalized Breit-Wigner shape with the effective width Gamma(epsilon) which diverges at the Fermi level.     

Phonon-induced resistivity of electron liquids in quantum wires

We study the resistivity of a quantum wire caused by backscattering of electrons by acoustic phonons. In the presence of Coulomb interactions, backscattering is strongly enhanced at low temperatures due to Luttinger liquid effects. Information about the strength of the interactions can be obtained from a measurement of the temperature dependence of the resistivity.     

Luttinger liquids with a source of backscattering: finite size analysis of irrelevant operators and transport properties

We perform a numerical analysis of the low energy spectrum and transport properties of large finite size Luttinger liquids with a single source of backscattering. The renormalization group trajectory from weak to strong coupling is followed in a numerically accurate way. A precise exploration of irrelevant perturbations and their manifestation in transport is carried out by studying the size dependence of the low energy region. We consider the interplay between the two irrelevant operators: particle hopping across the impurity and charge oscillations, investigating their influence on the temperature and frequency dependence of the conductance.     

Spin polarization of the current in a correlated one-dimensional conductor with an impurity

The spin transport as the current flows through an impurity in a one-dimensional conductor is analyzed. The interacting electrons are described in terms of the Luttinger liquid theory. Both the Coulomb and short-range interactions are considered; the latter appears when the gate screens the long-range part of the Coulomb potential. The cases of magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities are considered. It has been revealed that, for a magnetic impurity, the electric current flow induces the generation of the spin current, which has direct and alternating components. At low temperatures and voltages, the current can be completely spin-polarized. For a nonmagnetic impurity, the spin current generation is absent. The spin current flowing though the wire affects the current-voltage characteristic for both magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities. The results have been obtained for a rather strong electron-electron interaction.     

Current bistability and hysteresis in strongly correlated quantum wires

Nonequilibrium transport properties are determined exactly for an adiabatically contacted single-channel quantum wire containing one impurity. Employing the Luttinger liquid model with interaction parameter g, for very strong interactions g less, similar0.2, and sufficiently low temperatures, we find an S-shaped current-voltage relation. The unstable branch with negative differential conductance gives rise to current oscillations and hysteretic effects. These nonperturbative and nonlinear features appear only out of equilibrium.     

Incoherent scatterer in a Luttinger liquid: a new paradigmatic limit

We address the problem of a Luttinger liquid with a scatterer that allows for both coherent and incoherent scattering channels. The asymptotic behavior at zero temperature is governed by a new stable fixed point: A Goldstone mode dominates the low energy dynamics, leading to universal behavior. This limit is marked by equal probabilities for forward and backward scattering. Notwithstanding this nontrivial scattering pattern, we find that the shot noise as well as cross-current correlations vanish. We thus present a paradigmatic picture of an impurity in the Luttinger model, alternative to the Kane-Fisher picture.     

Measuring Luttinger liquid correlations from charge fluctuations in a nanoscale structure

We suggest an experiment to study Luttinger liquid behavior in a one-dimensional nanostructure, avoiding the usual complications associated with transport measurements. The proposed setup consists of a quantum box, biased by a gate voltage, and side coupled to a quantum wire by a point contact. Close to the degeneracy points of the Coulomb blockaded box, and in the presence of a magnetic field sufficiently strong to spin polarize the electrons, the setup can be described as a Luttinger liquid interacting with an effective Kondo impurity. Using exact nonperturbative techniques, we predict that the differential capacitance of the box will exhibit distinctive Luttinger liquid scaling with temperature and gate voltage.     

Stability analysis of the Luttinger liquid fixed-point in metallic nanotubes

We study the stability of a Luttinger liquid in a metallic single-walled nanotube against generic backscattering and Umklapp perturbations. Analizing the renormalization group equations we identify nontrivial particular solutions that lay in the same universality class of the Luttinger liquid. We describe in detail the mechanism of instability generation in that electron liquid and discuss under which conditions it governs the physical properties in the presence of low frequency or temperature cutoffs.     

Four-terminal resistance of an interacting quantum wire with weakly invasive contacts

We analyze the behavior of the four-terminal resistance, relative to the two-terminal resistance of an interacting quantum wire with an impurity, taking into account the invasiveness of the voltage probes. We consider a one-dimensional Luttinger model of spinless fermions for the wire. We treat the coupling to the voltage probes perturbatively, within the framework of non-equilibrium Green function techniques. Our investigation unveils the combined effect of impurities, electron-electron interactions and invasiveness of the probes on the possible occurrence of negative resistance.     

Spin-polarized conductance induced by tunneling through a magnetic impurity

Using the zero mode method, we compute the conductance of a wire consisting of a magnetic impurity coupled to two Luttinger liquid leads characterized by the Luttinger exponent alpha(>or=1). We find for resonance conditions, in which the Fermi energy of the leads is close to a single particle energy of the impurity, that the conductance as a function of temperature is G approximately equal (e(2)/h)(T/T(F))(2(alpha-2)), whereas for off-resonance conditions the conductance is G approximately equal (e(2)/h)(T/T(F))(2(alpha-1)). By applying either a gate voltage or a magnetic field or both, one of the spin components can be in resonance while the other is off resonance causing a strong asymmetry between the spin-up and spin-down conductances.     

Fermi-edge singularity in a spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid

We theoretically investigate the Fermi-edge singularity in a spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid. Both cases of finite and infinite core hole mass are explored, as well as the effect of a static external magnetic field of arbitrary strength. For a finite mass core hole the absorption edge behaves as (omega-omega th)alpha/square root of absolute value (ln(omega-omega th)) for frequencies omega just above the threshold frequency omega th. The exponent alpha depends on the interaction parameter g of the interacting one dimensional system, the electron-hole coupling, and is independent of the magnetic field strength, the momentum, and the mass of the excited core hole (in contrast to the spin-coherent case). In the infinite mass limit, the spin-incoherent problem can be mapped onto an equivalent problem in a spinless Luttinger liquid for which the logarithmic factor is absent, and backscattering from the core hole leads to a universal contribution to the exponent alpha.     

Equilibration of Luttinger liquid and conductance of quantum wires

Luttinger liquid theory describes one-dimensional electron systems in terms of noninteracting bosonic excitations. In this approximation thermal excitations are decoupled from the current flowing through a quantum wire, and the conductance is quantized. We show that relaxation processes not captured by the Luttinger liquid theory lead to equilibration of the excitations with the current and give rise to a temperature-dependent correction to the conductance. In long wires, the magnitude of the correction is expressed in terms of the velocities of bosonic excitations. In shorter wires it is controlled by the relaxation rate.     

Effect of different impurity atoms on 1/<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis><Superscript>α</Superscript> tunneling current noise characteristics on InAs(110) surface

The results of UHV STM investigations of tunneling current noise spectra in the vicinity of individual impurity atoms on the InAs(110) surface are reported. It was found that the power law exponent of 1/f ^α noise depends on the presence of an impurity atom in the tunneling junction area. This is consistent with the proposed theoretical model considering tunneling current through a two-state impurity complex model system taking into account many-particle interaction. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Noise in the Helical Edge Channel Anisotropically Coupled to a Local Spin

We calculate the frequency-dependent shot noise in the edge states of a two-dimensional topological insulator coupled to a magnetic impurity with spin S = 1/2 of arbitrary anisotropy. If the anisotropy is absent, the noise is purely thermal at low frequencies, but tends to the Poisson noise of the full current I at high frequencies. If the interaction only flips the impurity spin but conserves those of electrons, the noise at high voltages eV ≫ T is frequency-independent. Both the noise and the backscattering current I_bs saturate at voltageindependent values. Finally, if the Hamiltonian contains all types of non-spin-conserving scattering, the noise at high voltages becomes frequency-dependent again. At low frequencies, its ratio to 2eI_bs is larger than 1 and may reach 2 in the limit I_bs→0. At high frequencies, it tends to 1.

     

Partition noise and statistics in the fractional quantum hall effect

A microscopic theory of current partition in fractional quantum Hall liquids, described by chiral Luttinger liquids, is developed to compute the noise correlations, using the Keldysh technique. In this Hanbury-Brown and Twiss geometry, at Laughlin filling factors nu = 1/3, the real time noise correlator exhibits oscillations which persist over larger time scales than that of an uncorrelated Hall fluid. The zero frequency noise correlations are negative at filling factor 1/3 as for bare electrons (antibunching), but are strongly reduced in amplitude. These correlations become positive (bunching) for nu < or = 1/5, suggesting a tendency towards bosonic behavior.     

Particle-hole symmetric Luttinger liquids in a quantum Hall circuit

We report current transmission data through a split-gate constriction fabricated onto a two-dimensional electron system in the integer quantum Hall (QH) regime. Split-gate biasing drives interedge backscattering and is shown to lead to suppressed or enhanced transmission, in marked contrast to the expected linear Fermi-liquid behavior. This evolution is described in terms of particle-hole symmetry and allows us to conclude that an unexpected class of gate-controlled particle-hole-symmetric chiral Luttinger liquids (CLLs) can exist at the edges of our QH circuit. These results highlight the role of particle-hole symmetry on the properties of CLL edge states.     

Impurity-induced stabilization of Luttinger liquid in quasi-one-dimensional conductors

It is shown theoretically that the Luttinger liquid can exist in quasi-one-dimensional conductors in the presence of impurities in a form of a collection of bounded Luttinger liquids. The conclusion is based on the observation by Kane and Fisher that a local impurity potential in Luttinger liquid acts, at low energies, as an infinite barrier. This leads to a discrete spectrum of collective charge and spin density fluctuations, so that interchain hopping can be considered as a small parameter at temperatures below the minimum excitation energy of the collective modes. The results are compared with recent experimental observation of a Luttinger-liquid-like behavior in thin NbSe₃ and TaS₃ wires.     

Impurity-induced coherent current oscillations in one-dimensional conductors

The electronic transport through a single impurity in a repulsive Luttinger liquid (LL) has been theoretically studied. It has been found that the direct current Ī above the threshold voltage related to the strength of the impurity potential is accompanied by coherent oscillations with frequency f= Ī/e. There is an analogy with the Josephson junctions: the well-known regime of the power-law I−V curves in the LL corresponds to the damping of the Josephson current below the critical one, while the oscillatory regime in the LL can be compared with the Josephson oscillations above the critical current. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Current fluctuations in an interacting quantum dot

We calculate the counting statistics of electron transfer through an open quantum dot with charging interaction. A dot that is connected to leads by two single-channel quantum point contacts in an in-plane magnetic field is described by a Luttinger liquid with impurity at the Toulouse point. We find that the fluctuations of the current through this conductor exhibit distinctive interaction effects. Fluctuations saturate at high voltages, while the mean current increases linearly with the bias voltage. All cumulants higher than the second one reach at large bias a temperature independent limit.     

Magnetic field effect on the binding energy of a hydrogenic impurity in coaxial GaAs/ AlxGa1−xAs quantum well wires

We propose a coaxial cylindrical quantum well wire (QWW) system, in which two conducting cylindrical layers are separated by an insulating layer. The ground state binding energy of a hydrogenic impurity subjected to uniform magnetic field applied parallel to the wire axis is studied within a variational scheme as a function of the inner barrier thickness for two different impurity positions and various barrier potentials. The ground state energy and wave function in the presence of a magnetic field is directly calculated using the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. It is found that the binding energy in critical barrier thickness shows a sharp increase or decrease depending on the impurity position and magnetic field strength. The main result is that a sharp variation in the binding energy, which may be important in device applications, depends strongly not only on the location of the impurity but also on the magnetic field and the geometry of the wire.