arXiv subjects

D. C. Marinescu

Publications and source records attributed to D. C. Marinescu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Magnetochiral anisotropy-induced nonlinear planar Hall effect in Topological Insulator surface states

In an intriguing recent experiment, it has been found that the two-dimensional (2D) surface states of a three-dimensional (3D) strong topological insulator (TI) support a non-zero Hall voltage transverse to an applied electric field even when the external magnetic field is in the plane (i.e., the in-plane Lorentz force vanishes). This so-called planar Hall effect (PHE) of TI surface states is found to be non-linear, i.e., the Hall voltage scales quadratically with the applied electric field and linearly with the in-plane magnetic field. In this paper, we derive the non-linear PHE for strong topological insulator surface states and show that the derivations contained in the previous literature are incomplete, which can lead to quantitative or even in some cases qualitative errors in the estimates for the nonlinear planar Hall resistance. We derive the complete expressions for the non-linear planar Hall currents for TI surface states with broken particle-hole symmetry and provide results for different regimes of the surface state Hamiltonian which can be compared with future experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Magnetochiral anisotropy-induced nonlinear Hall effect in spin-orbit coupled Rashba conductors

We theoretically predict the existence of a non-zero magnetochiral anisotropy-induced nonlinear Hall effect or a second harmonic Hall voltage transverse to an applied current in spin-orbit coupled Rashba conductors in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field B. This is distinct from the Berry curvature dipole (BCD)-induced nonlinear Hall effect in systems with non-trivial bandstructure because the former requires broken time-reversal symmetry while the BCD-induced effect is non-zero even in time-reversal symmetric systems. This result is independent of the existence of other types of interactions, such as hexagonal warping or cubic Dresselhaus interactions. We find that for E||B, the magnitude of the nonlinear Hall current flowing in a direction perpendicular to the applied electric field is exactly 1/3 of the magnitude of the non-linear rectification current responsible for magnetoresistance parallel to the applied electric field obtained in the E\perp B configuration.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Conductance zeros in complex molecules and lattices from the interference set method

Destructive quantum interference (DQI) and its effects on electron transport is studied in chemical molecules and finite physical lattices that can be described by a discrete Hamiltonian. Starting from a bipartite system whose conductance zeros are known to exist between any two points of a specially designated set, the interference set, we use the Dyson equation to develop a general algorithm of determining the zero conductance points in complex systems, which are not necessarily bipartite. We illustrate this procedure as it applies to the fulvene molecule. The stability of the conductance zeros is analyzed in respect with external perturbations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Robust conductance zeroes in graphene quantum dots and other bipartite systems

Within the Landauer transport formalism we demonstrate that conductance zeroes are possible in bipartite systems at half-filling when leads are contacted to different sublattice sites. In particular, we investigate the application of this theory to graphene quantum dots with leads in the armchair configuration. The obtained conductance cancellation is robust in the presence of any single-site impurity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Closed-form weak localization magnetoconductivity in quantum wells with arbitrary Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions

We derive a closed-form expression for the weak localization (WL) corrections to the magnetoconductivity of a 2D electron system with arbitrary Rashba $α$ and Dresselhaus $β$ (linear) and $β_3$ (cubic) spin-orbit interaction couplings, in a perpendicular magnetic field geometry. In a system of reference with an in-plane $\hat{z}$ axis chosen as the high spin-symmetry direction at $α= β$, we formulate a new algorithm to calculate the three independent contributions that lead to WL. The antilocalization is counterbalanced by the term associated with the spin-relaxation along $\hat{z}$, dependent only on $α- β$. The other term is generated by two identical scattering modes characterized by spin-relaxation rates which are explicit functions of the orientation of the scattered momentum. Excellent agreement is found with data from GaAs quantum wells, where in particular our theory correctly captures the shift of the minima of the WL curves as a function of $α/β$. This suggests that the anisotropy of the effective spin relaxation rates is fundamental to understanding the effect of the SO coupling in transport.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Symmetry Breaking of the Persistent Spin Helix in Quantum Transport

We exploit the high-symmetry spin state obtained for equal Rashba and linear Dresselhaus interactions to derive a closed-form expression for the weak localization magnetoconductivity -- the paradigmatic signature of spin-orbit coupling in quantum transport. The small parameter of the theory is the deviation from the symmetry state introduced by the mismatch of the linear terms and by the cubic Dresselhaus term. In this regime, we perform quantum transport experiments in GaAs quantum wells. Top and back gates allow independent tuning of the Rashba and Dresselhaus terms in order to explore the broken-symmetry regime where the formula applies. We present a reliable two-step method to extract all parameters from fits to the new expression, obtaining excellent agreement with recent experiments. This provides experimental confirmation of the new theory, and advances spin-orbit coupling towards a powerful resource in emerging quantum technologies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Hund and anti-Hund rules in circular molecules

We study the validity of Hund's first rule for the spin multiplicity in circular molecules - made of real or artificial atoms such as quantum dots - by considering a perturbative approach in the Coulomb interaction in the extended Hubbard model with both on-site and long-range interactions. In this approximation, we show that an anti-Hund rule {\it always} defines the ground state in a molecule with $4N$ atoms at half-filling. In all other cases (i.e. number of atoms {\it not} multiple of four, or a $4N$ molecule away from half-filling) both the singlet and the triplet outcomes are possible, as determined {primarily} by the total number of electrons in the system. In some instances, the Hund rule is always obeyed and the triplet ground state is realized {\it mathematically} for any values of the on-site and long range interactions, while for other filling situations the singlet is also possible but only if the long-range interactions exceed a certain threshold, relatively to the on-site interaction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Asymmetric Landau bands due to spin-orbit coupling

We show that the Landau bands obtained in a two-dimensional lateral semiconductor superlattice with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) of the Rashba/Dresselhaus type, linear in the electron momentum, placed in a tilted magnetic field, do not follow the symmetry of the spatial modulation. Moreover, this phenomenology is found to depend on the relative tilt of magnetic field and on the SOC type: a) when only Rashba SOC exists and the magnetic field is tilted in the direction of the superlattice b) Dresselhaus SOC exists and the magnetic field is tilted in the direction perpendicular to the superlattice. Consequently, measurable properties of the modulated system become anisotropic in a tilted magnetic field when the field is conically rotated around the $z$ axis, at a fixed polar angle, as we demonstrate by calculating the resistivity and the magnetization.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Coulomb interaction effects on the Majorana states in quantum wires

The stability of the Majorana modes in the presence of a repulsive interaction is studied in the standard semiconductor wire - metallic superconductor configuration. The effects of short-range Coulomb interaction, which is incorporated using a purely repulsive $δ$-function to model the strong screening effect due to the presence of the superconductor, are determined within a Hartree-Fock approximation of the effective Bogoliubov-De Gennes Hamiltonian that describes the low-energy physics of the wire. Through a numerical diagonalization procedure we obtain interaction corrections to the single particle eigenstates and calculate the extended topological phase diagram in terms of the chemical potential and the Zeeman energy. We find that, for a fixed Zeeman energy, the interaction shifts the phase boundaries to a higher chemical potential, whereas for a fixed chemical potential this shift can occur either to lower or to higher Zeeman energies. This effects can be interpreted as a renormalization of the g-factor due to the interaction. The minimum Zeeman energy needed to realize Majorana fermions decreases with increasing the strength of the Coulomb repulsion. Furthermore, we find that in wires with multi-band occupancy this effect can be enhanced by increasing the chemical potential, i. e. by occupying higher energy bands.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Antiferromagnetic Order in a Semiconductor Quantum Well with Spin-Orbit Coupling

An argument is made on the existence of a low-temperature itinerant antiferromagnetic (AF) spin alignment, rather than persistent helical (PH), in the ground state of a two dimensional electron gas in a semiconductor quantum well with linear spin-orbit Rashba-Dresselhaus interaction at equal coupling strengths, $α$. This result is obtained on account of the opposite-spin single-particle state degeneracy at $\mb k = 0$ that makes the spin instability possible. A theory of the resulting magnetic phase is formulated within the Hartree-Fock approximation of the Coulomb interaction. In the AF state the direction of the fractional polarization is obtained to be aligned along the displacement vector of the single-particle states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Topological thermoelectric effects in spin-orbit coupled electron and hole doped semiconductors

We compute the intrinsic contributions to the Berry-phase mediated anomalous Hall and Nernst effects in electron- and hole-doped semiconductors in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field as well as Rashba and Dresselhaus spin orbit couplings. For both systems we find that the regime of chemical potential which supports the topological superconducting state in the presence of superconducting proximity effect can be characterized by plateaus in the topological Hall and Nernst coefficients flanked by well-defined peaks marking the emergence of the topological regime. The plateaus arise from a clear momentum space separation between the region where the Berry curvature is peaked (at the `near-band-degeneracy' points) and the region where the single (or odd number of) Fermi surface lies in the Brillouin zone. The plateau for the Nernst coefficient is at vanishing magnitudes surrounded by two peaks of opposite signs as a function of the chemical potential. These results could be useful for experimentally deducing the chemical potential regime suitable for realizing topological states in the presence of proximity effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Persistent charge and spin currents in a 1D ring with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions by excitation with a terahertz pulse

Persistent, oscillatory charge and spin currents are shown to be driven by a two-component terahertz laser pulse in a one-dimensional mesoscopic ring with Rashba-Dresselhaus spin orbit interactions (SOI) linear in the electron momentum. The characteristic interference effects result from the opposite precession directions imposed on the electron spin by the two SOI couplings. The time dependence of the currents is obtained by solving numerically the equation of motion for the density operator, which is later employed in calculating statistical averages of quantum operators on few electron eigenstates. The parameterization of the problem is done in terms of the SOI coupling constants and of the phase difference between the two laser components. Our results indicate that the amplitude of the oscillations is controlled by the relative strength of the two SOI's, while their frequency is determined by the difference between the excitation energies of the electron states. Furthermore, the oscillations of the spin current acquire a beating pattern of higher frequency that we associate with the nutation of the electron spin between the quantization axes of the two SOI couplings. This phenomenon disappears at equal SOI strengths, whereby the opposite precessions occur with the same probability.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Nonadiabatic generation of spin currents in a quantum ring with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions

When subjected to a linearly polarized terahertz pulse, a mesoscopic ring endowed with spin-orbit interaction (SOI) of the Rashba-Dresselhaus type exhibits nonuniform azimuthal charge and spin distributions. Both types of SOI couplings are considered linear in the electron momentum. Our results are obtained within a formalism based on the equation of motion satisfied by the density operator which is solved numerically for different values of the angle $ϕ$, the angle determining the polarization direction of the laser pulse. Solutions thus obtained are later employed in determining the time-dependent charge and spin currents, whose values are calculated in the stationary limit. Both these currents exhibit an oscillatory behavior complicated in the case of the spin current by a beating pattern. We explain this occurrence on account of the two spin-orbit interactions which force the electron spin to oscillate between the two spin quantization axes corresponding to Rashba and Dresselhaus interactions. The oscillation frequencies are explained using the single particle spectrum.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

The thermal conductance of a two-channel Kondo model

A theory of thermal transport in a two-channel Kondo system, such as the one formed by a small quantum dot coupled to two leads and to a larger dot, is formulated. The interplay of the two screening constants allows an exploration of the Fermi liquid and non-Fermi liquid regimes. By using analytical, as well as numerical renormalization group methods, we study the temperature dependence of the thermal conductance and the Lorentz number. We find that in the low temperature limit, the Lorentz number attains its universal value, irrespective of the nature of the ground state.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Electronic charge and spin density distribution in a quantum ring with spin-orbit and Coulomb interactions

Charge and spin density distributions are studied within a nano-ring structure endowed with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin orbit coupling (SOI). For a small number of interacting electrons, in the presence of an external magnetic field, the energy spectrum of the system is calculated through an exact numerical diagonalization procedure. The eigenstates thus determined are used to estimate the charge and spin densities around the ring. We find that when more than two electrons are considered, the charge-density deformations induced by SOI are dramatically flattened by the Coulomb repulsion, while the spin density ones are amplified.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Non-adiabatic generation of a pure spin current in a 1D quantum ring with spin-orbit interaction

We demonstrate the theoretical possibility of obtaining a pure spin current in a 1D ring with spin-orbit interaction by irradiation with a non-adiabatic, two-component terahertz laser pulse, whose spatial asymmetry is reflected by an internal dephasing angle $ϕ$. The stationary solutions of the equation of motion for the density operator are obtained for a spin-orbit coupling linear in the electron momentum (Rashba) and used to calculate the time-dependent charge and spin currents. We find that there are critical values of $ϕ$ at which the charge current disappears, while the spin current reaches a maximum or a minimum value.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Spin-Hall Effect in A Symmetric Quantum Wells by A Random Rashba Field

Changes dopant ion concentrations in the sides of a symmetric quantum well are known to create a random Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling. Here we demonstrate that, as a consequence, a finite size spin-Hall effect is also present. Our numerical algorithm estimates the result of the Kubo formula for the spin-Hall conductivity, by using a tight-binding approximation of the Hamiltonian in the framework of a time-dependent Green's function formalism, well suited for very large systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Spin-Hall conductivity of a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit interaction and magnetic impurities

The Kubo formula is used to calculate the spin-Hall conductivity in a spin-polarized two-dimensional electron system with Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction. As in the case of the unpolarized electron system, spin Hall conductivity is entirely determined by states at the Fermi level, a property that persists in the presence of magnetic impurities. In the clean limit, the spin-Hall conductivity decreases monotonically with the Zeeman splitting, a result of the ordering effect on the electron spins produced by the magnetic field. In the presence of magnetic impurities, the spin-dependent scattering determines a finite renormalization of the static part of the fully dressed vertex correction of the velocity operator that leads to an enhancement of the σ_{sH}, an opposite behaviour to that registered in the presence of spin-independent disorder. The variation of σ_{sH} with the strength of the Rashba coupling and the Zeeman splitting is studied.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗