arXiv subjects

David E. Logan

Publications and source records attributed to David E. Logan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Quasiparticle interference from magnetic impurities

Fourier transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy (FT-STS) measures the scattering of conduction electrons from impurities and defects, giving information about the electronic structure of both the host material and adsorbed impurities. We interpret such FT-STS measurements in terms of the quasiparticle interference (QPI), investigating the QPI due to magnetic impurities adsorbed on a range of representative non-magnetic host surfaces, and contrasting with the case of a simple scalar impurity or point defect. We demonstrate how the electronic correlations present for magnetic impurities markedly affect the QPI, showing e.g. a large intensity enhancement due to the Kondo effect, and universality at low temperatures/scanning-energies. The commonly-used joint density of states (JDOS) interpretation of FT-STS measurements is also considered, and shown to be insuffcient in many cases, including that of magnetic impurities.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Multiple magnetic impurities on surfaces: Scattering and quasiparticle interference

We study systems of multiple interacting quantum impurities deposited on a metallic surface in a 3D host. For the real-space two-impurity problem, using numerical renormalization group calculations, a rich range of behavior is shown to arise due to the interplay between Kondo physics and effective RKKY interactions - provided the impurity separation is small. Such calculations allow identification of the minimum impurity separation required for a description in terms of independent impurities, and thereby the onset of the 'dilute impurity limit' in many-impurity systems. A 'dilute cluster' limit is also identified in systems with higher impurity density, where inter-impurity interactions are only important within independent clusters. We calculate the quasiparticle interference (QPI) due to two and many impurities, and explore the consequences of the independent impurity/cluster paradigms. Our results provide a framework to investigate the effects of disorder due to interacting impurities at experimentally relevant surface coverages.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Common non-Fermi liquid phases in quantum impurity physics

We study correlated quantum impurity models which undergo a local quantum phase transition (QPT) from a strong coupling, Fermi liquid phase to a non-Fermi liquid phase with a globally doubly degenerate ground state. Our aim is to establish what can be shown exactly about such `local moment' (LM) phases; of which the permanent (zero-field) local magnetization is a hallmark, and an order parameter for the QPT. A description of the zero-field LM phase is shown to require two distinct self-energies, which reflect the broken symmetry nature of the phase and together determine the single self-energy of standard field theory. Distinct Friedel sum rules for each phase are obtained, via a Luttinger theorem embodied in the vanishing of appropriate Luttinger integrals. By contrast, the standard Luttinger integral is non-zero in the LM phase, but found to have universal magnitude. A range of spin susceptibilites are also considered; including that corresponding to the local order parameter, whose exact form is shown to be RPA-like, and to diverge as the QPT is approached. Particular attention is given to the pseudogap Anderson model, including the basic physical picture of the transition, the low-energy behavior of single-particle dynamics, the quantum critical point itself, and the rather subtle effect of an applied local field. A two-level impurity model which undergoes a QPT (`singlet-triplet') to an underscreened LM phase is also considered, for which we derive on general grounds some key results for the zero-bias conductance in both phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Local moment formation and Kondo screening in impurity trimers

We study theoretically a triangular cluster of three magnetic impurities, hybridizing locally with conduction electrons of a metallic host. Such a cluster is the simplest to exhibit frustration - an important generic feature of many complex molecular systems in which different interactions compete. Here, low-energy doublet states of the trimer are favored by effective exchange interactions produced by strong electronic repulsion in localized impurity orbitals. Parity symmetry protects a level-crossing of such states on tuning microscopic parameters, while an avoided crossing arises in the general distorted case. On coupling to a metallic host, the behavior is shown to be immensely rich, since collective quantum many-body effects now also compete. In particular, impurity degrees of freedom are totally screened at low temperatures in a Kondo-screened Fermi liquid phase, while degenerate ground states persist in a local moment phase. Local frustration drives the quantum phase transition between the two, which may be first order or of Kosterlitz-Thouless type, depending on symmetries. Unusual mechanisms for local moment formation and Kondo screening are found, due to the orbital structure of the impurity trimer. Our results are of relevance for triple quantum dot devices. The problem is studied by a combination of analytical arguments and the numerical renormalization group.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Generalized Wilson Chain for solving multichannel quantum impurity problems

The Numerical Renormalization Group is used to solve quantum impurity problems, which describe magnetic impurities in metals, nanodevices, and correlated materials within DMFT. Here we present a simple generalization of the Wilson Chain, which improves the scaling of computational cost with the number of channels/bands, bringing new problems within reach. The method is applied to calculate the t-matrix of the three-channel Kondo model at T=0, which shows universal crossovers near non-Fermi liquid critical points. A non-integrable three-impurity problem with three bands is also studied, revealing a rich phase diagram and novel screening/overscreening mechanisms.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Conductance fingerprint of Majorana fermions in the topological Kondo effect

We consider an interacting nanowire/superconductor heterostructure attached to metallic leads. The device is described by an unusual low-energy model involving spin-1 conduction electrons coupled to a nonlocal spin-1/2 Kondo impurity built from Majorana fermions. The topological origin of the resulting Kondo effect is manifest in distinctive non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior, and the existence of Majorana fermions in the device is demonstrated unambiguously by distinctive conductance lineshapes. We study the physics of the model in detail, using the numerical renormalization group, perturbative scaling and abelian bosonization. In particular, we calculate the full scaling curves for the differential conductance in AC and DC fields, onto which experimental data should collapse. Scattering t-matrices and thermodynamic quantities are also calculated, recovering asymptotes from conformal field theory. We show that the NFL physics is robust to asymmetric Majorana-lead couplings, and here we uncover a duality between strong and weak coupling. The NFL behavior is understood physically in terms of competing Kondo effects. The resulting frustration is relieved by inter-Majorana coupling which generates a second crossover to a regular Fermi liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Two-channel Kondo physics in two-impurity Kondo models

We consider the non-Fermi liquid quantum critical state of the spin-S two-impurity Kondo model, and its potential realization in a quantum dot device. Using conformal field theory (CFT) and the numerical renormalization group (NRG), we show the critical point to be identical to that of the two-channel Kondo model with additional potential scattering, for any spin-S. Distinct conductance signatures are shown to arise as a function of device asymmetry; with the `smoking gun' square-root behavior, commonly believed to arise at low-energies, dominant only in certain regimes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Two-channel Kondo physics in tunnel-coupled double quantum dots

We investigate theoretically the possibility of observing two-channel Kondo (2CK) physics in tunnel-coupled double quantum dots (TCDQDs), at both zero and finite magnetic fields; taking the two-impurity Anderson model (2AIM) as the basic TCDQD model, together with effective low-energy models arising from it by Schrieffer-Wolff transformations to second and third order in the tunnel couplings. The models are studied primarily using Wilson's numerical renormalization group. At zero-field our basic conclusion is that while 2CK physics arises in principle provided the system is sufficiently strongly-correlated, the temperature window over which it could be observed is much lower than is experimentally feasible. This finding disagrees with recent work on the problem, and we explain why. At finite field, we show that the quantum phase transition known to arise at zero-field in the two-impurity Kondo model (2IKM), with an essentially 2CK quantum critical point, persists at finite fields. This raises the prospect of access to 2CK physics by tuning a magnetic field, although preliminary investigation suggests this to be even less feasible than at zero field.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Magnetic field effects in few-level quantum dots: theory, and application to experiment

We examine several effects of an applied magnetic field on Anderson-type models for both single- and two-level quantum dots, and make direct comparison between numerical renormalization group (NRG) calculations and recent conductance measurements. On the theoretical side the focus is on magnetization, single-particle dynamics and zero-bias conductance, with emphasis on the universality arising in strongly correlated regimes; including a method to obtain the scaling behavior of field-induced Kondo resonance shifts over a very wide field range. NRG is also used to interpret recent experiments on spin-1/2 and spin-1 quantum dots in a magnetic field, which we argue do not wholly probe universal regimes of behavior; and the calculations are shown to yield good qualitative agreement with essentially all features seen in experiment. The results capture in particular the observed field-dependence of the Kondo conductance peak in a spin-1/2 dot, with quantitative deviations from experiment occurring at fields in excess of $\sim$ 5 T, indicating the eventual inadequacy of using the equilibrium single-particle spectrum to calculate the conductance at finite bias.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Two-channel Kondo physics in odd impurity chains

We study odd-membered chains of spin-(1/2) impurities, with each end connected to its own metallic lead. For antiferromagnetic exchange coupling, universal two-channel Kondo (2CK) physics is shown to arise at low energies. Two overscreening mechanisms are found to occur depending on coupling strength, with distinct signatures in physical properties. For strong inter-impurity coupling, a residual chain spin-(1/2) moment experiences a renormalized effective coupling to the leads; while in the weak-coupling regime, Kondo coupling is mediated via incipient single-channel Kondo singlet formation. We also investigate models where the leads are tunnel-coupled to the impurity chain, permitting variable dot filling under applied gate voltages. Effective low-energy models for each regime of filling are derived, and for even-fillings where the chain ground state is a spin singlet, an orbital 2CK effect is found to be operative. Provided mirror symmetry is preserved, 2CK physics is shown to be wholly robust to variable dot filling; in particular the single-particle spectrum at the Fermi level, and hence the low-temperature zero-bias conductance, is always pinned to half-unitarity. We derive a Friedel-Luttinger sum rule and from it show that, in contrast to a Fermi liquid, the Luttinger integral is non-zero and determined solely by the `excess' dot charge as controlled by gate voltage. The relevance of the work to real quantum dot devices, where inter-lead charge-transfer processes fatal to 2CK physics are present, is also discussed. Physical arguments and numerical renormalization group techniques are used to obtain a detailed understanding of these problems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Two-channel Kondo phases and frustration-induced transitions in triple quantum dots

We consider a ring of three quantum dots mutually coupled by antiferromagnetic exchange interactions, and tunnel-coupled to two metallic leads: the simplest device in which the consequences of local frustration arising from internal degrees of freedom may be studied within a 2-channel environment. Two-channel Kondo (2CK) physics is found to predominate at low-energies in the mirror-symmetric systems considered, with a residual spin 1/2 overscreened by coupling to both leads. It is however shown that two distinct 2CK phases, with different ground state parities, arise on tuning the interdot exchange couplings. In consequence a frustration-induced quantum phase transition occurs, the 2CK phases being separated by a quantum critical point for which an effective low-energy model is derived. Precisely at the transition, parity mixing of the quasi-degenerate local trimer states acts to destabilise the 2CK fixed points; and the critical fixed point is shown to consist of a free pseudospin together with effective 1-channel spin quenching, itself reflecting underlying channel-anisotropy in the inherently 2-channel system. Numerical renormalization group techniques and physical arguments are used to obtain a detailed understanding of the problem, including study of both thermodynamic and dynamical properties of the system.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Interplay between Kondo physics and spin-orbit coupling in carbon nanotube quantum dots

We investigate the influence of spin-orbit coupling on the Kondo effects in carbon nanotube quantum dots, using the numerical renormalization group technique. A sufficiently large spin-orbit coupling is shown to destroy the SU(4) Kondo effects at zero magnetic field, leaving only two SU(2) Kondo effects in the one- and three-electron Coulomb blockade valleys. On applying a finite magnetic field, two additional, spin-orbit induced SU(2) Kondo effects arise in the three- and two-electron valleys. Using physically realistic model parameters, we calculate the differential conductance over a range of gate voltages, temperatures and fields. The results agree well with measurements from two different experimental devices in the literature, and explain a number of observations that are not described within the standard framework of the SU(4) Anderson impurity model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

A local moment approach to the degenerate Anderson impurity model

The local moment approach is extended to the orbitally-degenerate [SU(2N)] Anderson impurity model (AIM). Single-particle dynamics are obtained over the full range of energy scales, focussing here on particle-hole symmetry in the strongly correlated regime where the onsite Coulomb interaction leads to many-body Kondo physics with entangled spin and orbital degrees of freedom. The approach captures many-body broadening of the Hubbard satellites, recovers the correct exponential vanishing of the Kondo scale for all N, and its universal scaling spectra are found to be in very good agreement with numerical renormalization group (NRG) results. In particular the high-frequency logarithmic decays of the scaling spectra, obtained here in closed form for arbitrary N, coincide essentially perfectly with available numerics from the NRG. A particular case of an anisotropic Coulomb interaction, in which the model represents a system of N `capacitively-coupled' SU(2) AIMs, is also discussed. Here the model is generally characterised by two low-energy scales, the crossover between which is seen directly in its dynamics.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Correlated electron physics in multilevel quantum dots: phase transitions, transport, and experiment

We study correlated two-level quantum dots, coupled in effective 1-channel fashion to metallic leads; with electron interactions including on-level and inter-level Coulomb repulsions, as well as the inter-orbital Hund's rule exchange favoring the spin-1 state in the relevant sector of the free dot. For arbitrary dot occupancy, the underlying phases, quantum phase transitions (QPTs), thermodynamics, single-particle dynamics and electronic transport properties are considered; and direct comparison is made to conductance experiments on lateral quantum dots. Two distinct phases arise generically, one characterised by a normal Fermi liquid fixed point (FP), the other by an underscreened (USC) spin-1 FP. Associated QPTs, which occur in general in a mixed valent regime of non-integral dot charge, are found to consist of continuous lines of Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions, separated by first order level-crossing transitions at high symmetry points. A `Friedel-Luttinger sum rule' is derived and, together with a deduced generalization of Luttinger's theorem to the USC phase (a singular Fermi liquid), is used to obtain a general result for the T=0 zero-bias conductance, expressed solely in terms of the dot occupancy and applicable to both phases. Relatedly, dynamical signatures of the QPT show two broad classes of behavior, corresponding to the collapse of either a Kondo resonance, or antiresonance, as the transition is approached from the Fermi liquid phase; the latter behavior being apparent in experimental differential conductance maps. The problem is studied using the numerical renormalization group method, combined with analytical arguments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Quantum phase transition in quantum dot trimers

We investigate a system of three tunnel-coupled semiconductor quantum dots in a triangular geometry, one of which is connected to a metallic lead, in the regime where each dot is essentially singly occupied. Both ferro- and antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Kondo regimes, separated by a quantum phase transition, are shown to arise on tuning the interdot tunnel couplings and should be accessible experimentally. Even in the ferromagnetically-coupled local moment phase, the Kondo effect emerges in the vicinity of the transition at finite temperatures. Physical arguments and numerical renormalization group techniques are used to obtain a detailed understanding of the problem.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Anderson impurity in a semiconductor

We consider an Anderson impurity model in which the locally correlated orbital is coupled to a host with a gapped density of states. Single-particle dynamics are studied, within a perturbative framework that includes both explicit second-order perturbation theory and self-consistent perturbation theory to all orders in the interaction. Away from particle-hole symmetry the system is shown to be a generalized Fermi liquid (GFL) in the sense of being perturbatively connectable to the non-interacting limit; and the exact Friedel sum rule for the GFL phase is obtained. We show by contrast that the particle-hole symmetric point of the model is not perturbatively connected to the non-interacting limit, and as such is a non-Fermi liquid for all non-zero gaps. Our conclusions are in agreement with NRG studies of the problem.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Interplay between strong correlations and magnetic field in the symmetric periodic Anderson model

Magnetic field effects in Kondo insulators are studied theoretically, using a local moment approach to the periodic Anderson model within the framework of dynamical mean-field theory. Our main focus is on field-induced changes in single-particle dynamics and the associated hybridization gap in the density of states. Particular emphasis is given to the strongly correlated regime, where dynamics are found to exhibit universal scaling in terms of a field-dependent low energy coherence scale. Although the bare applied field is globally uniform, the effective fields experienced by the conduction electrons and the $f$-electrons differ because of correlation effects. A continuous insulator-metal transition is found to occur on increasing the applied field, closure of the hybridization gap reflecting competition between Zeeman splitting and screening of the $f$-electron local moments. For intermediate interaction strengths the hybridization gap depends non-linearly on the applied field, while in strong coupling its field dependence is found to be linear. For the classic Kondo insulator YbB$_{12}$, good agreement is found upon direct comparison of the field evolution of the experimental transport gap with the theoretical hybridization gap in the density of states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Zero-bias conductance in carbon nanotube quantum dots

We present numerical renormalization group calculations for the zero-bias conductance of quantum dots made from semiconducting carbon nanotubes. These explain and reproduce the thermal evolution of the conductance for different groups of orbitals, as the dot-lead tunnel coupling is varied and the system evolves from correlated Kondo behavior to more weakly correlated regimes. For integer fillings $N=1,2,3$ of an SU(4) model, we find universal scaling behavior of the conductance that is distinct from the standard SU(2) universal conductance, and concurs quantitatively with experiment. Our results also agree qualitatively with experimental differential conductance maps.

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