arXiv subjects

Dirk K. Morr

Publications and source records attributed to Dirk K. Morr.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Current Eigenmodes and Dephasing in Nanoscopic Quantum Networks

Using the non-equilibrium Keldysh Green's function formalism, we show that the non-equilibrium charge transport in nanoscopic quantum networks takes place via {\it current eigenmodes} that possess characteristic spatial patterns. We identify the microscopic relation between the current patterns and the network's electronic structure and topology and demonstrate that these patterns can be selected via gating or constrictions, providing new venues for manipulating charge transport at the nanoscale. Finally, decreasing the dephasing time leads to a smooth evolution of the current patterns from those of a ballistic quantum network to those of a classical resistor network.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Hidden Order Transition in URu2Si2 and the Emergence of a Coherent Kondo Lattice

Using a large-N approach, we demonstrate that the differential conductance and quasi-particle interference pattern measured in recent scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments (A.R. Schmidt et al. Nature 465, 570 (2010); P. Aynajian et al., PNAS 107, 10383 (2010)) in URu2Si2 are consistent with the emergence of a coherent Kondo lattice below its hidden order transition (HOT). Its formation is driven by a significant increase in the quasi-particle lifetime, which could arise from the emergence of a yet unknown order parameter at the HOT.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Non-equilibrium Transport in dissipative one-dimensional Nanostructures

We study the non-equilibrium transport properties of a one-dimensional array of dissipative quantum dots. Using the Keldysh formalism, we show that the dots' dissipative nature leads to a spatial variation of the chemical potential, which in disordered arrays, breaks the invariance of the current, I, under bias reversal. Moreover, the array's nanoscopic size results in an algebraic low-temperature dependence of I. Finally, we show that a local Coulomb interaction splits the dots' electronic levels, resulting in a Coulomb blockade, which is softened with increasing dissipation and array size.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Differential Conductance and Quantum Interference in Kondo Systems

We present a large-N theory for the differential conductance, dI/dV, in Kondo systems measured via scanning tunneling spectroscopy. We demonstrate that quantum interference between tunneling processes into the conduction band and into the magnetic f-electron states is crucial in determining the experimental Fano lineshape of dI/dV. This allows one to uniquely extract the Kondo coupling and the ratio of the tunneling amplitudes from the experimental dI/dV curve. Finally, we show that dI/dV directly reflects the strength of the antiferromagnetic interaction in Kondo lattice systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Defects in Heavy-Fermion Materials: Unveiling Strong Correlations in Real Space

Complexity in materials often arises from competing interactions at the atomic length scale. One such example are the strongly correlated heavy-fermion materials where the competition between Kondo screening and antiferromagnetic ordering is believed to be the origin of their puzzling non-Fermi-liquid properties. Insight into such complex physical behavior in strongly correlated electron systems can be gained by impurity doping. Here, we develop a microscopic theoretical framework to demonstrate that defects implanted in heavy-fermion materials provide an opportunity for unveiling competing interactions and their correlations in real space. Defect-induced perturbations in the electronic and magnetic correlations possess characteristically different spatial patterns that can be visualized via their spectroscopic signatures in the local density of states or non-local spin susceptibility. These real space patterns provide insight into the complex electronic structure of heavy-fermion materials, the light or heavy character of the perturbed states, and the hybridization between them. The strongly correlated nature of these materials also manifests itself in highly non-linear quantum interference effects between defects that can drive the system through a first-order phase transition to a novel inhomogeneous ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Contrasting Nodal and Anti-Nodal Behavior in the Cuprates Via Multiple Gap Spectroscopies

Using a precursor superconductivity scenario for the cuprates we present a theory for the temperature dependent behavior of the spectral gaps associated with four distinct spectroscopies: angle resolved photoemission (ARPES), differential conductance $dI/dV$, quasi-particle interference spectroscopy, and the autocorrelated ARPES pattern. We find good agreement for a range of existing experiments and make predictions for others. Our theory, which incorporates the necessary (observed) contrast between the nodal and anti-nodal response, shows how different nodal gap shapes are associated with these alternative spectroscopies.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Multiband Superconductivity in Spin Density Wave Metals

We study the emergence of multiband superconductivity with $s$- and $d-$wave symmetry on the background of spin density wave (SDW). We show that the SDW coherence factors renormalize the momentum dependence of the superconducting (SC) gap, yielding a SC state with an \emph{unconventional} s-wave symmetry. Interband Cooper pair scattering stabilizes superconductivity in both symmetries. With increasing SDW order, the s-wave state is more strongly suppressed than the d-wave state. Our results are universally applicable to two-dimensional systems with a commensurate SDW.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Quasiparticle Interference in STM As a Function of Temperature: Signatures of Coherence

In this paper we explore the behavior of the quasi-particle interference pattern (QPI) of scanning tunneling microscopy as a function of temperature, $T$. After insuring a minimal consistency with photoemission, we find that the QPI pattern is profoundly sensitive to quasi-particle coherence and that it manifests two energy gap scales. The nearly dispersionless QPI pattern above $T_c$ is consistent with data on moderately underdoped cuprates. To illustrate the important two energy scale physics we present predictions of the QPI--inferred energy gaps as a function of $T$ for future experiments on moderately underdoped cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Charge Transport and Quantum Phase Transitions in Singlet Superconductor - Ferromagnet - Singlet Superconductor Junctions

We study the Josephson current, I_J, in a junction consisting of two s-wave superconductors that are separated by a ferromagnetic barrier possessing a magnetic and non-magnetic scattering potential, g and Z, respectively. We discuss the general dependence of I_J on g, Z, and the phase difference ϕbetween the two superconductors. Moreover, we compute the critical current, I_c for given g and Z, and show that it possesses two lines of non-analyticity in the (g, Z)-plane. We identify those regions in the (g, Z)-plane where the Josephson current changes sign with increasing temperature without a change in the relative phase between the two superconductors, i.e., without a transition between a 0 and πstate of the junction. Finally, we show that by changing the relative phase ϕ, it is possible to tune the junction through a first-order quantum phase transition in which the spin polarization of the two superconductors' combined ground state changes from < S_z > =0 to < S_z > =1/2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Vertex corrections of impurity scattering at a ferromagnetic quantum critical point

We study the renormalization of a non-magnetic impurity's scattering potential due to the presence of a massless collective spin mode at a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. To this end, we compute the lowest order vertex corrections in two- and three-dimensional systems, for arbitrary scattering angle and frequency of the scattered fermions, as well as band curvature. We show that only for backward scattering in D=2 does the lowest order vertex correction diverge logarithmically in the zero frequency limit. In all other cases, the vertex corrections approach a finite (albeit possibly large) value in the zero frequency limit. We demonstrate that vertex corrections are strongly suppressed with increasing curvature of the fermionic bands. Moreover, we show how the frequency dependence of vertex corrections varies with the scattering angle. We also discuss the form of higher order ladder vertex corrections and show that they can be classified according to the zero-frequency limit of the lowest order vertex correction. We show that even in those cases where the latter is finite, summing up an infinite series of ladder vertex diagrams can lead to a strong enhancement (or divergence) of the impurity's scattering potential. Finally, we suggest that the combined frequency and angular dependence of vertex corrections might be experimentally observable via a combination of frequency dependent and local measurements, such as scanning tunneling spectroscopy on ordered impurity structures, or measurements of the frequency dependent optical conductivity.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

The resonance peak in the electron-doped cuprate superconductors

We study the emergence of a magnetic resonance in the superconducting state of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors. We show that the recently observed resonance peak in the electron-doped superconductor Pr$_{0.88}$LaCe$_{0.12}$CuO$_{4-δ}$ is consistent with an overdamped spin exciton located near the particle-hole continuum. We present predictions for the magnetic-field dependence of the resonance mode as well as its temperature evolution in those parts of the phase diagram where $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductivity may coexist with an antiferromagnetic spin-density wave.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Interplay of ferromagnetism and triplet superconductivity in a Josephson junction

In this paper we extend our earlier analysis of the novel Josephson effect in triplet superconductor--ferromagnet--triplet superconductor (TFT) junctions [B. Kastening \emph{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf{96}}, 047009 (2006)]. In our more general formulation of the TFT junction we allow for potential scattering at the barrier and an arbitrary orientation of the ferromagnetic moment. Several new effects are found upon the inclusion of these extra terms: for example, we find that a Josephson current can flow even when there is vanishing phase difference between the superconducting condensates on either side of the barrier. The critical current for a barrier with magnetization parallel to the interface is calculated as a function of the junction parameters, and is found to display strong non-analyticities. Furthermore, the Josephson current switches first identified in our previous work are found to be robust features of the junction, while the unconventional temperature-dependence of the current is very sensitive to the extra terms in the barrier Hamiltonian.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Identifying Collective Modes via Impurities in the Cuprate Superconductors

We show that the pinning of collective charge and spin modes by impurities in the cuprate superconductors leads to qualitatively different fingerprints in the local density of states (LDOS). In particular, in a pinned (static) spin droplet, the creation of a resonant impurity state is suppressed, the spin-resolved LDOS exhibits a characteristic spatial pattern, and the LDOS undergoes significant changes with increasing magnetic field. Since all of these fingerprints are absent in a charge droplet, impurities are a new probe for identifying the nature and relative strength of collective modes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Spin susceptibility in bilayered cuprates: resonant magnetic excitations

We study the momentum and frequency dependence of the dynamical spin susceptibility in the superconducting state of bilayer cuprate superconductors. We show that there exists a resonance mode in the odd as well as the even channel of the spin susceptibility, with the even mode being located at higher energies than the odd mode. We demonstrate that this energy splitting between the two modes arises not only from a difference in the interaction, but also from a difference in the free-fermion susceptibilities of the even and odd channels. Moreover, we show that the even resonance mode disperses downwards at deviations from ${\bf Q}=(π,π)$. In addition, we demonstrate that there exists a second branch of the even resonance, similar to the recently observed second branch (the $Q^*$-mode) of the odd resonance. Finally, we identify the origin of the qualitatively different doping dependence of the even and odd resonance. Our results suggest further experimental test that may finally resolve the long-standing question regarding the origin of the resonance peak.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Impurities, Quantum Interference and Quantum Phase Transitions in s-wave superconductors

We study the effects of quantum interference in impurity structures consisting of two or three magnetic impurities that are located on the surface of an s-wave superconductor. By using a self-consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism, we show that quantum interference leads to characteristic signatures not only in the local density of states (LDOS), but also in the spatial form of the superconducting order parameter. We demonstrate that the signatures of quantum interference in the LDOS are qualitatively, and to a large extent quantitatively unaffected by the suppression of the superconducting order parameter near impurities, which illustrates the robustness of quantum interference phenomena. Moreover, we show that by changing the interimpurity distance, or the impurities' scattering strength, the s-wave superconductor can be tuned through a series of first order quantum phase transitions in which the spin polarization of its ground state changes. In contrast to the single impurity case, this transition is not necessarily accompanied by a $π$-phase shift of the order parameter, and can in certain cases even lead to its enhancement. Our results demonstrate that the superconductor's LDOS, its spin state, and the spatial form of the superconducting order parameter are determined by a subtle interplay between the relative positions of the impurities and their scattering strength.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Spatially dependent Kondo effect in Quantum Corrals

We study the Kondo screening of a single magnetic impurity inside a non-magnetic quantum corral located on the surface of a metallic host system. We show that the spatial structure of the corral's eigenmodes lead to a spatially dependent Kondo effect whose signatures are spatial variations of the Kondo temperature, $T_K$. Moreover, we predict that the Kondo screening is accompanied by the formation of multiple Kondo resonances with characteristic spatial patterns. Our results open new possibilities to manipulate and explore the Kondo effect by using quantum corrals.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Nanoscale Impurity Structures on the Surface of $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave Superconductors

We study the effects of nanoscale impurity structures on the local electronic structure of $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductors. We show that the interplay between the momentum dependence of the superconducting gap, the geometry of the nanostructure and its orientation gives rise to a series of interesting quantum effects. Among these are the emergence of a zero bias conductance peak in the superconductor's density of states and the suppression of impurity states for certain nanostructures. The latter effect can be used to screen impurity resonances in the superconducting state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Novel Josephson Effect in Triplet Superconductor - Ferromagnet - Triplet Superconductor Junctions

We predict a novel type of Josephson effect to occur in triplet superconductor - ferromagnet - triplet superconductor Josephson junctions. We show that the Josephson current, I_J, exhibits a rich dependence on the relative orientation between the ferromagnetic moment and the d-vectors of the superconductors. This dependence can be used to build several types of Josephson current switches. Moreover, we predict an unconventional temperature dependence of I_J in which I_J changes sign with increasing temperature

cond-mat.supr-con↗