arXiv subjects

A. Aharony

Publications and source records attributed to A. Aharony.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

The noise spectra of a biased quantum dot

The noise spectra associated with correlations of the current through a single level quantum dot, and with the charge fluctuations on the dot, are calculated for a finite bias voltage. The results turn out to be sensitive to the asymmetry of the dot's coupling to the two leads. At zero temperature, both spectra exhibit two or four steps (as a function of the frequency), depending on whether the resonant level lies outside or within the range between the chemical potentials on the two leads. In addition, the low frequency shot-noise exhibits dips in the charge noise and dips, peaks, and discontinuities in the derivative of the current noise. In spite of some smearing, several of these features persist at finite temperatures, where a dip can also turn into a peak.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

The conductance of superconducting-normal hybrid structures

The dc conductance of normal-superconducting hybrid structures is discussed. It is shown that since the Bogoliubov-DeGennes (BDG) equation does not conserve charge, its application to create a Landauer-type approach for the conductance of the NSN system is problematic. We `mend' this deficiency by calculating the conductance from the Kubo formula for a ring configuration (for this geometry the solutions of the BDG equation conserve charge). We show that the presence of a superconductor segment within an otherwise normal metal may {\em reduce} the overall conductance of the composite structure. This reduction enhances the tendency of the NS composite to become insulating.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Quantum corrections to the spin-wave spectrum of La$_2$CuO$_4$ in an external magnetic field

The effects of quantum fluctuations on the magnetic field dependence of the spin-wave gaps in the lamellar antiferromagnet La$_2$CuO$_4$ are considered. Nonlinear corrections to the spin-wave spectrum are calculated to leading order in 1/S, where $S$ is the localized spin. The nearest-neighbor exchange interactions between the Cu spins as well as the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions are taken into account. Using the experimental values of the components of the $g$-factor tensor, we get a satisfactory agreement with the experimental results for the field dependence of the gaps by Gozar {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 93}, 027001 (2004)], and obtain consistent values of the in-plane and inter-plane coupling constants. The field dependence of the dispersion of spin waves propagating perpendicular to the CuO$_2$ planes is also discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Point contact spectroscopy of hopping transport: effects of a magnetic field

The conductance of a point contact between two hopping insulators is expected to be dominated by the individual localized states in its vicinity. Here we study the additional effects due to an external magnetic field. Combined with the measured conductance, the measured magnetoresistance provides detailed information on these states (e.g. their localization length, the energy difference and the hopping distance between them). We also calculate the statistics of this magnetoresistance, which can be collected by changing the gate voltage in a single device. Since the conductance is dominated by the quantum interference of particular mesoscopic structures near the point contact, it is predicted to exhibit Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, which yield information on the geometry of these structures. These oscillations also depend on local spin accumulation and correlations, which can be modified by the external field. Finally, we also estimate the mesoscopic Hall voltage due to these structures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Steps and dips in the ac conductance and noise of mesoscopic structures

The frequency dependence of the equilibrium ac conductance (or the noise power spectrum) through a mesoscopic structure is shown to exhibit steps and dips. The steps, at energies related to the resonances of the structure, are closely related to the partial Friedel phases of these resonances, thus allowing a direct measurement of these phases (without interferometry). The dips in the spectrum are related to a destructive interference in the absorption of energy by transitions between these resonances, in some similarity with the Fano effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Complex magnetic order in the kagome staircase compound Co3V2O8

Co3V2O8 (CVO) has a geometrically frustrated magnetic lattice, a Kagome staircase. The crystal structure consists of two inequivalent Co sites, one-dimensional chains of Co(2) spine sites, linked by Co(1) cross-tie sites. Neutron powder diffraction has been used to solve the basic magnetic and crystal structures of this system, while polarized and unpolarized single crystal diffraction measurements have been used to reveal a variety of incommensurate phases, interspersed with lock-in transitions to commensurate phases. CVO initially orders magnetically at 11.3 K into an incommensurate, transversely polarized, spin density wave state, with wave vector k=(0,delta,0) with delta=0.55 and the spin direction along the a axis. Delta is found to decrease monotonically with decreasing temperature, and then it locks into a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with delta=0.5 for 6.9<T<8.6 K. Below 6.9 K the magnetic structure becomes incommensurate again. Delta continues to decrease with decreasing temperature, and locks-in again at delta=1/3 over a narrow temperature range (6.2<T<6.5 K). The system then undergoes a strongly first order transition to the ferromagnetic ground state (delta=0) at Tc=6.2 K. A dielectric anomaly is observed around the ferromagnetic transition temperature of 6.2 K, demonstrating a significant spin-charge coupling present in CVO. A theory based on group theory analysis and a minimal Ising model with competing exchange interactions can explain the basic features of the magnetic ordering.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Comment on "Theoretical analysis of the transmission phase shift of a quantum dot in the presence of Kondo correlations"

Recently, A. Jerez, P. Vitushinsky and M. Lavagna [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 127203 (2005)] claimed that the transmission phase through a quantum fot, as measured via the Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, differs from the phase which determines the corresponding conductance. Here we show that this claim is wrong for the single level Anderson model, which is usually used to describe the quantum dot. So far, there exists no derivation of this claim from any explicit theoretical model.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Comment on "Strong dependence of the interlayer coupling on the hole mobility in antiferromagnetic La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ ($x<0.02$)"

Using the experimental data given in Phys. Rev. B70, 220507 (2004), we show that -- unlike the effective coupling discussed in this paper -- the net average antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in doped lanthanum cuprates depends only weakly on the doping or on the temperature. We argue that the effective coupling is proportional to the square of the staggered magnetization, and does not supply new information about the origin of the suppression of the magnetic order in doped samples. Our analysis is based on a modified version of the equation describing the spin-flip transition, which takes into account the decrease of the staggered moment with temperature and doping.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Towards a Microscopic Model of Magnetoelectric Interactions in Ni3V2O8

We develop a microscopic magnetoelectric coupling in Ni$_3$V$_2$O$_8$ (NVO) which gives rise to the trilinear phenomenological coupling used previously to explain the phase transition in which magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters appear simultaneously. Using combined neutron scattering measurements and first-principles calculations of the phonons in NVO, we determine eleven phonons which can induce the observed spontaneous polarization. Among these eleven phonons, we find that a few of them can actually induce a significant dipole moment. Using the calculated atomic charges, we find that the required distortion to induce the observed dipole moment is very small (~0.001 Å) and therefore it would be very difficult to observe the distortion by neutron-powder diffraction. Finally, we identify the derivatives of the exchange tensor with respect to atomic displacements which are needed for a microscopic model of a spin-phonon coupling in NVO and which we hope will be obtained from a fundamental quantum calculation such as LDA+U. We also analyze two toy models to illustrate that the Dzyaloskinskii-Moriya interaction is very important for coexisting of magnetic and ferroelectric order but it is not the only mechanism when the local site symmetry of the system is low enough.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Field dependence of magnetic ordering in Kagome-staircase compound Ni3V2O8

We present powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction and bulk measurements of the Kagome-staircase compound Ni3V2O8 (NVO) in fields up to 8.5T applied along the c-direction. (The Kagome plane is the a-c plane.) This system contains two types of Ni ions, which we call "spine" and "cross-tie". Our neutron measurements can be described with the paramagnetic space group Cmca for T < 15K and each observed magnetically ordered phase is characterized by the appropriate irreducible representation(s). Our zero-field measurements show that at T_PH=9.1K NVO undergoes a transition to an incommensurate order which is dominated by a longitudinally-modulated structure with the spine spins mainly parallel to the a-axis. Upon further cooling, a transition is induced at T_HL=6.3K to an elliptically polarized incommensurate structure with both spine and cross-tie moments in the a-b plane. At T_LC=4K the system undergoes a first-order phase transition, below which the magnetic structure is a commensurate antiferromagnet with the staggered magnetization primarily along the a-axis and a weak ferromagnetic moment along the c-axis. A specific heat peak at T_CC'=2.3K indicates an additional transition, which we were however not able to relate to a change of the magnetic structure. Neutron, specific heat, and magnetization measurements produce a comprehensive temperature-field phase diagram. The symmetries of the two incommensurate magnetic phases are consistent with the observation that only one phase has a spontaneous ferroelectric polarization. All the observed magnetic structures are explained theoretically using a simplified model Hamiltonian, involving competing nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor exchange interactions, spin anisotropy, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and pseudo-dipolar interactions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Magnetically driven ferroelectric order in Ni$_3$V$_2$O$_8$

We show that for Ni$_3$V$_2$O$_8$ long-range ferroelectric and incommensurate magnetic order appear simultaneously in a single phase transition. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the spontaneous polarization show a strong coupling between magnetic and ferroelectric orders. We determine the magnetic symmetry of this system by constraining the data to be consistent with Landau theory for continuous phase transitions. This phenomenological theory explains our observation the spontaneous polarization is restricted to lie along the crystal b axis and predicts that the magnitude should be proportional to a magnetic order parameter.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Orbital ac spin-Hall effect in the hopping regime

The Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions are both shown to yield the low temperature spin-Hall effect for strongly localized electrons coupled to phonons. A frequency-dependent electric field ${\bf E}(ω)$ generates a spin-polarization current, normal to ${\bf E}$, due to interference of hopping paths. At zero temperature the corresponding spin-Hall conductivity is real and is proportional to $ω^{2}$. At non-zero temperatures the coupling to the phonons yields an imaginary term proportional to $ω$. The interference also yields persistent spin currents at thermal equilibrium, at ${\bf E}=0$. The contributions from the Dresselhaus and Rashba interactions to the interference oppose each other.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Phase measurements in open and closed Aharonov-Bohm interferometers

Mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm interferometers have been used in attempts to measure the transmission phase of a quantum dot which is placed on one arm of the interferometer. Here we review theoretical results for the conductance through such interferometers, for both the closed (two-terminal) and open (multi-terminal) cases. In addition to earlier results for the Coulomb blockade regime, we present new results for the strongly correlated Kondo regime, and test the consistency of the two-slit analysis of some data from open interferometer experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Kondo effect in complex mesoscopic structures

We study the Kondo effect of a quantum dot placed in a complex mesoscopic structure. Assuming that electronic interactions are taking place solely on the dot, and focusing on the infinite Hubbard interaction limit, we use a decoupling scheme to obtain an explicit analytic approximate expression for the dot Green function, which fulfills certain Fermi-liquid relations at zero temperature. The details of the complex structure enter into this expression only via the self-energy for the non-interacting case. The effectiveness of the expression is demonstrated for the single impurity Anderson model and for the T-shaped network.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Competing Magnetic Phases on a "Kagome Staircase"

We present thermodynamic and neutron data on Ni_3V_2O_8, a spin-1 system on a kagome staircase. The extreme degeneracy of the kagome antiferromagnet is lifted to produce two incommensurate phases at finite T - one amplitude modulated, the other helical - plus a commensurate canted antiferromagnet for T ->0. The H-T phase diagram is described by a model of competing first and second neighbor interactions with smaller anisotropic terms. Ni_3V_2O_8 thus provides an elegant example of order from sub leading interactions in a highly frustrated system

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Effects of external radiation on biased Aharonov-Bohm rings

We consider the currents flowing in a solid-state interferometer under the effect of both an Aharonov-Bohm phase and a bias potential. Expressions are obtained for these currents, allowing for electronic or electron-boson interactions, which may take place solely on a quantum dot placed on one of the interferometer arms. The boson system can be out of equilibrium. The results are used to obtain the transport current through the interferometer, and the current circulating around it under the effect of the Aharonov-Bohm flux. The modifications of both currents, brought about by coupling the quantum dot to an incoherent sonic or electromagnetic source, are then analyzed. By choosing the appropriate range of the boson source intensity and its frequency, the magnitude of the interference-related terms of both currents can be controlled.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Hidden Symmetries and their Consequences in $t_{2g}$ Cubic Perovskites

The five-band Hubbard model for a $d$ band with one electron per site is a model which has very interesting properties when the relevant ions are located at sites with high (e. g. cubic) symmetry. In that case, if the crystal field splitting is large one may consider excitations confined to the lowest threefold degenerate $t_{2g}$ orbital states. When the electron hopping matrix element ($t$) is much smaller than the on-site Coulomb interaction energy ($U$), the Hubbard model can be mapped onto the well-known effective Hamiltonian (at order $t^{2}/U$) derived by Kugel and Khomskii (KK). Recently we have shown that the KK Hamiltonian does not support long range spin order at any nonzero temperature due to several novel hidden symmetries that it possesses. Here we extend our theory to show that these symmetries also apply to the underlying three-band Hubbard model. Using these symmetries we develop a rigorous Mermin-Wagner construction, which shows that the three-band Hubbard model does not support spontaneous long-range spin order at any nonzero temperature and at any order in $t/U$ -- despite the three-dimensional lattice structure. Introduction of spin-orbit coupling does allow spin ordering, but even then the excitation spectrum is gapless due to a subtle continuous symmetry. Finally we showed that these hidden symmetries dramatically simplify the numerical exact diagonalization studies of finite clusters.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Persistent currents in interacting Aharonov-Bohm interferometers and their enhancement by acoustic radiation

We consider an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, connected to two electronic reservoirs, with a quantum dot embedded on one of its arms. We find a general expression for the persistent current at steady state, valid for the case where the electronic system is free of interactions except on the dot. The result is used to derive the modification in the persistent current brought about by coupling the quantum dot to a phonon source. The magnitude of the persistent current is found to be enhanced in an appropriate range of the intensity of the acoustic source.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗