arXiv subjects

E. Bascones

Publications and source records attributed to E. Bascones.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Absence of scaling in transport through two-dimensional nanoparticle arrays

We analyze the transport in disordered two-dimensional nanoparticle arrays. We show that the commonly used scaling hypothesis to fit the I-V curves does not describe the electronic transport in these systems. On the contrary, close to the threshold voltage V_T the current depends linearly on (V-V_T). This linear behavior is observed for at least five decades in (V-V_T). Fitting the I-V curves at larger voltages to a scaling power-law I \propto (V/V_T-1)^ξresults in fitting parameters which depend on the range of voltages used and in wrong values for V_T. Our results urge to change the picture of electronic transport in disordered nanoparticle arrays used in the last two decades.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Huge enhancement of the magnetoresistance in nanoparticle arrays

We show that the interplay between charging effects and the non-equilibrium spin accumulation has a dramatic effect in the current through an array of nanostructures attached to ferromagnetic electrodes. Large oscillations in the current as a function of bias voltage show up for parallel orientation of the electrodes' magnetizations. These oscillations originate in the inhomogeneity of the spin potentials through the array and correlate with oscillations in the spin accumulation. For antiparallel orientation the spin potential is homogeneous and the oscillations do not show up.This sensitivity results in a huge enhancement of the tunneling magnetoresistance as compared to the single-island case, and open new routes for improving the spintronic response of nanodevices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Conductivity anisotropy in the antiferromagnetic state of iron pnictides

Recent experiments on iron pnictides have uncovered a large in-plane resistivity anisotropy with a surprising result: the system conducts better in the antiferromagnetic x direction than in the ferromagnetic y direction. We address this problem by calculating the ratio of the Drude weight along the x and y directions, Dx/Dy, for the mean-field Q=(π,0) magnetic phase diagram of a five-band model for the undoped pnictides. We find that Dx/Dy ranges between 0.3 < D_x/D_y < 1.4 for different interaction parameters. Large values of orbital ordering favor an anisotropy opposite to the one found experimentally. On the other hand D_x/D_y is strongly dependent on the topology and morfology of the reconstructed Fermi surface. Our results points against orbital ordering as the origin of the observed conductivity anisotropy, which may be ascribed to the anisotropy of the Fermi velocity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Low magnetization and anisotropy in the antiferromagnetic state of undoped iron pnictides

We examine the magnetic phase diagram of iron pnictides using a five band model. For the intermediate values of the interaction expected to hold in the iron pnictides, we find a metallic low moment state characterized by antiparallel orbital magnetic moments. The anisotropy of the interorbital hopping amplitudes is the key to understanding this low moment state. This state accounts for the small magnetization measured in undoped iron pnictides and leads to the strong exchange anisotropy found in neutron experiments. Orbital ordering is concomitant with magnetism and produces the large zx orbital weight seen at Gamma in photoemission experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Tight binding model for iron pnictides

We propose a five-band tight-binding model for the Fe-As layers of iron pnictides with the hopping amplitudes calculated within the Slater-Koster framework. The band structure found in DFT, including the orbital content of the bands, is well reproduced using only four fitting parameters to determine all the hopping amplitudes. The model allows to study the changes in the electronic structure caused by a modification of the angle $α$ formed by the Fe-As bonds and the Fe-plane and recovers the phenomenology previously discussed in the literature. We also find that changes in $α$ modify the shape and orbital content of the Fermi surface sheets.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Energy Scales in the Raman spectrum of electrons and hole doped cuprates within competing scenarios

Recent experiments in underdoped hole-doped cuprates have shown the presence of two energy scales in the Raman spectrum in the superconducting state. This feature has a natural explanation in some models in which pseudogap and superconductivity compete. In electron-doped cuprates antiferromagnetic correlations are believed to survive in the superconducting state, and to produce a pseudogap above the critical temperature. Contrary to hole-doped systems, in electron-doped compounds only one energy scale appear since the pair breaking Raman intensity peaks in both B$_{1g}$ (antinodal) and B$_{2g}$ (nodal) channels at a frequency of a few meV, typical of the superconducting order parameter. In this paper we analyze the different effect in the Raman spectrum of the competition between pseudogap and superconductivity in electron and hole-doped cuprates. The difference in energy scales in both systems is explained in terms of the different truncation of the Fermi surface induced by the pseudogap. For electron-doped cuprates we also analyze the spectrum with antiferromagnetism and a non-monotonic superconducting order parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Effect of the tetrahedral distortion on the electronic properties of iron-pnictides

We study the dependence of the electronic structure of iron pnictides on the angle formed by the arsenic-iron bonds. Within a Slater-Koster tight binding model which captures the correct symmetry properties of the bands, we show that the density of states and the band structure are sensitive to the distortion of the tetrahedral environment of the iron atoms. This sensitivity is extremely strong in a two-orbital (d_xz, d_yz) model due to the formation of a flat band around the Fermi level. Inclusion of the d_xy orbital destroys the flat band while keeping a considerable angle dependence in the band structure.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Effect of the long-range interaction in transport through one-dimensional nanoparticle arrays

We analyze the effect of the long-range interaction on the transport properties through ordered and disordered one-dimensional metallic nanoparticle arrays. We discuss how the threshold voltage, the I-V curves and the voltage drop through the array are modified as compared to the case in which interactions are restricted to charges placed on the same island. We show that some of these modifications are due to finite interactions between charges in different nanoparticles while other ones are due to interactions between charges in the islands and those at the electrodes, what produces a polarization potential drop through the array. We study the screening of the disorder potential due to charges impurities trapped in the substrate and find that long-range interactions introduce correlations between the disorder potentials of neighboring islands.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Electronic correlations and disorder in transport through one-dimensional nanoparticle arrays

We analyze and clarify the transport properties of a one-dimensional metallic nanoparticle array with interaction between charges restricted to charges placed in the same conductor. We study the threshold voltage, the I-V curves and the potential drop through the array and their dependence on the array parameters including the effect of charge and resistance disorder. We show that very close to threshold the current depends linearly on voltage with a slope independent on the array size. At intermediate bias voltages, for which a Coulomb staircase is observed we find that the average potential drop through the array oscillates with position. At higher voltages I-V curves are linear but have a finite offset voltage. We show that the slope is given by the inverse of the resistances added in series and estimate the voltage at which this linear regime is reached. We also calculate the offset voltage and relate it to the potential drop through the array.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

On the checkerboard pattern and the autocorrelation of photoemission data in high temperature superconductors

In the pseudogap state the spectrum of the autocorrelation of angle resolved photoemission (AC-ARPES) data of Bi2212 presents non-dispersive peaks in momentum space which compare well with those responsible of the checkerboard pattern found in the density of states by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. This similarity suggests that the checkerboard pattern originates from peaks in the joint density of states, as the dispersive peaks found in the superconducting state do. Here we show that the experimental AC-ARPES spectrum can be reproduced within a model for the pseudogap with no charge-ordering or symmetry breaking. We predict that, because of the competition of superconductivity and pseudogap, in the superconducting state, the AC-ARPES data of underdoped cuprates will present both dispersive and non-dispersive peaks and they will be better observed in cuprates with low critical temperature. We finally argue that the AC-ARPES data is a complementary and convenient way to measure the arc length.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Phenomenological description of the two energy scales in underdoped superconducting cuprates

Raman and ARPES experiments have demonstrated that in superconducting underdoped cuprates nodal and antinodal regions are characterized by two energy scales instead of the one expected in BCS. The nodal scale decreases with underdoping while the antinodal one increases. Contrary to the behavior expected for an increasing energy scale, the antinodal Raman intensity decreases with decreasing doping. Using the Yang, Rice and Zhang (YRZ) model, we show that these features are a consequence of the non-conventional nature of the superconducting state in which superconductivity and pseudogap correlations are both present and compete for the phase space.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Spin susceptibility of underdoped cuprates: the case of Ortho-II YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.5}

Recent inelastic neutron scattering measurements found that the spin susceptibility of detwinned and highly ordered ortho-II YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.5} exhibits, in both the normal and superconducting states, one-dimensional incommensurate modulations at low energies which were interpreted as a signature of dynamic stripes. We propose an alternative model based on quasiparticle transitions between the arcs of a truncated Fermi surface. Such transitions are resonantly enhanced by scattering to the triplet spin resonance. We show that the anisotropy in the experimental spin response is consistent with this model if the gap at the saddle points is anisotropic.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Minigap in a SN junction with paramagnetic impurities

We study the effect of spin-flip scattering on the density of states in a long diffusive S-N junction with transparent interface. We calculate the critical value of the spin-flip scattering rate at which the minigap closes and give the dependence of the minigap on the spin-flip rate. For the system we consider, the minigap and the critical spin-flip rate have the scale of the Thouless energy, and not of the superconducting gap.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Superconducting nanostructures fabricated with the STM

The properties of nanoscopic superconducting structures fabricated with a scanning tunnelling microscope are reviewed, with emphasis on the effects of high magnetic fields. These systems include the smallest superconducting junctions which can be fabricated, and they are a unique laboratory where to study superconductivity under extreme conditions. The review covers a variety of recent experimental results on these systems, highlighting their unusual transport properties, and theoretical models developed for their understanding.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Optical Conductivity of Ortho-II YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_6.5$

The Ortho-II phase of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_6.5$ is characterized by a periodic alternation of empty Cu and filled Cu-O b-axis doubling the unit cell in the a direction. The extra oxygen in the full chains gives rise to an attractive potential for the holes in the planes. The planar bands split in two with a gap opening at the new Brillouin zone boundary $k_x=\pm pi/2$, which we estimate from LDA calculations. Using a planar model which treats the d-wave superconductivity in a mean field approximation, we show that interband transitions produce a strongly anisotropic feature in the optical conductivity controlled by a region in k-space close to ($π/2,π/2$). The edge position of this feature gives information on the temperature dependence of quasiparticle spectrum in this region. Bilayer splitting would show up as a double edge shape.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Single-channel transmission in gold one-atom contacts and chains

We induce superconductivity by proximity effect in thin layers of gold and study the number of conduction channels which contribute to the current in one-atom contacts and atomic wires. The atomic contacts and wires are fabricated with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope. The set of transmission probabilities of the conduction channels is obtained from the analysis of the $I(V)$ characteristic curve which is highly non-linear due to multiple Andreev reflections. In agreement with theoretical calculations we find that there is only one channel which is almost completely open.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Theory of Ferromagnetism in Doped Excitonic Condensates

Nesting in a semimetal can lead to an excitonic insulator state with spontaneous coherence between conduction and valence bands and a gap for charged excitations. In this paper we present a theory of the ferromagnetic state that occurs when the density of electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence band differ. We find an unexpectedly rich doping-field phase diagram and an unusual collective excitation spectrum that includes two gapless collective modes. We predict regions of doping and external field in which phase-separated condensates of electrons and holes with parallel spins and opposing spins coexist.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Proximity effect and strong coupling superconductivity in nanostructures built with an STM

We present high resolution tunneling spectroscopy data at very low temperatures on superconducting nanostructures of lead built with an STM. By applying magnetic fields, superconductivity is restricted to length scales of the order of the coherence length. We measure the tunneling conductance and analyze the phonon structure and the low energy DOS. We demonstrate the influence of the geometry of the system on the magnetic field dependence of the tunneling density of states, which is gapless in a large range of fields. The behavior of the features in the tunneling conductance associated to phonon modes are explained within current models.

cond-mat.supr-con↗