arXiv subjects

E. Perfetto

Publications and source records attributed to E. Perfetto.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Cooper-pair propagation and superconducting correlations in graphene

We investigate the Cooper-pair propagation and the proximity effect in graphene under conditions in which the distance L between superconducting electrodes is much larger than the width W of the contacts. In the case of undoped graphene, supercurrents may exist with a spatial decay proportional to W^2/L^3. This changes upon doping into a 1/L^2 behavior, opening the possibility to observe a supercurrent over length scales above 1 micron at suitable doping levels. We also show that there is in general a crossover temperature T ~ v_F/k_B L that marks the onset of the strong decay of the supercurrent, and that corresponds to the scale below which the Cooper pairs are not disrupted by thermal effects during their propagation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Influence of dimensionality on superconductivity in carbon nanotubes

We investigate the electronic instabilities in carbon nanotubes (CNs), looking for the break-down of the one dimensional Luttinger liquid regime due to the strong screening of the long-range part of the Coulomb repulsion. We show that such a breakdown is realized both in ultra-small single wall CNs and multi wall CNs, while a purely electronic mechanism could explain the superconductivity (SC) observed recently in ultra-small (diameter $ \sim 0.4 nm$) single wall CNs ($T_c\sim 15 ^{o}K$) and entirely end-bonded multi-walled ones ($T_c\sim 12 ^{o}K$). We show that both the doping and the screening of long-range part of the electron-electron repulsion, needed to allow the SC phase, are related to the intrinsically 3D nature of the environment where the CNs operate.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Electronic screening and correlated superconductivity in carbon nanotubes

A theoretical analysis of the superconductivity observed recently in Carbon nanotubes is proposed. We argue that ultra-small (diameter $ \sim 0.4 nm$) single wall carbon nanotubes (with transition temperature $T_c\sim 15 ^{o}K$) and entirely end-bonded multi-walled ones ($T_c\sim 12 ^{o}K$) can superconduct by an electronic mechanism, basically the same in both cases. By a Luttinger liquid -like approach, one finds enhanced superconducting correlations due to the strong screening of the long-range part of the Coulomb repulsion. Based on this finding, we perform a detailed analysis on the resulting Hubbard-like model, and calculate transition temperatures of the same order of magnitude as the measured ones.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Time-dependent evolution of two coupled Luttinger liquids

We consider two disconnected Luttinger liquids which are coupled at $t=0$ through chiral density-density interactions. Both for $t<0$ and $t \geq 0$ the system is exactly solvable by means of bosonization and this allows to evaluate analytically the time-dependence of correlation functions. We find that in the long-time limit the critical exponent governing the one-particle correlation function differs from the exponent dictated by the equilibrium ground state of the coupled system. We also discuss how this reflects on some physical quantities which are accessible in real experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

A theory of superconductivity in multi-walled carbon nanotubes

We devise an approach to describe the electronic instabilities of doped multi-walled nanotubes, where each shell has in general a manifold of Fermi points. Our analysis relies on the scale dependence of the different scattering processes, showing that a pairing instability arises for a large enough number of Fermi points as a consequence of their particular geometric arrangement. The instability is enhanced by the tunneling of Cooper pairs between nearest shells, giving rise to a transition from the Luttinger liquid to a superconducting state in a wide region of the phase diagram.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Quantum Hall effect in carbon nanotubes

We investigate the effects of a transverse magnetic field on the transport properties of carbon nanotubes, making use of a long-wavelength description in terms of Dirac fermion fields. For values of the magnetic length smaller than the nanotube radius, we observe that the electronic states organize into incipient Landau subbands, with a highly degenerate level at zero energy. We show that only the states in dispersive branches, localized at the flanks of the nanotube, are able to transport current in the longitudinal direction. This is at the origin of the quantization of the Hall conductivity, that turns out to be given by even multiples of 2 e^2 /h. We also analyze the effects of the electron-electron interaction, showing that the magnetic field induces a suppression of the electronic correlations, reflected in particular in the enhancement of the tunneling density of states near the Fermi level.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Suppression of electron-electron repulsion and superconductivity in Ultra Small Carbon Nanotubes

Recently, ultra-small-diameter Single Wall Nano Tubes with diameter of $ \sim 0.4 nm$ have been produced and many unusual properties were observed, such as superconductivity, leading to a transition temperature $T_c\sim 15^oK$, much larger than that observed in the bundles of larger diameter tubes. By a comparison between two different approaches, we discuss the issue whether a superconducting behavior in these carbon nanotubes can arise by a purely electronic mechanism. The first approach is based on the Luttinger Model while the second one, which emphasizes the role of the lattice and short range interaction, is developed starting from the Hubbard Hamiltonian. By using the latter model we predict a transition temperature of the same order of magnitude as the measured one.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Modulation of Luttinger liquid exponents in multi-walled carbon nanotubes

We develop in this paper a theoretical framework that applies to the intermediate regime between the Coulomb blockade and the Luttinger liquid behavior in multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Our main goal is to confront the experimental observations of transport properties, under conditions in which the thermal energy is comparable to the spacing between the single-particle levels. For this purpose we have devised a many-body approach to the one-dimensional electron system, incorporating the effects of a discrete spectrum. We show that, in the crossover regime, the tunneling conductance follows a power-law behavior as a function of the temperature, with an exponent that oscillates with the gate voltage as observed in the experiments. Also in agreement with the experimental observations, a distinctive feature of our approach is the existence of an inflection point in the log-log plots of the conductance vs temperature, at gate voltages corresponding to peaks in the oscillation of the exponent. Moreover, we evaluate the effects of a transverse magnetic field on the transport properties of the multi-walled nanotubes. For fields of the order of 4 T, we find changes in the band structure that may be already significant for the outer shells, leading to an appreciable variation in the power-law behavior of the conductance. We then foresee the appearance of sensible modulations in the exponent of the conductance for higher magnetic fields, as the different subbands are shifted towards the development of flat Landau levels.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Electronic instabilities in 3D arrays of small-diameter (3,3) carbon nanotubes

We investigate the electronic instabilities of the small-diameter (3,3) carbon nanotubes by studying the low-energy perturbations of the normal Luttinger liquid regime. The bosonization approach is adopted to deal exactly with the interactions in the forward-scattering channels, while renormalization group methods are used to analyze the low-energy instabilities. In this respect, we take into account the competition between the effective e-e interaction mediated by phonons and the Coulomb interaction in backscattering and Umklapp channels. Moreover, we apply our analysis to relevant experimental conditions where the nanotubes are assembled into large three-dimensional arrays, which leads to an efficient screening of the Coulomb potential at small momentum-transfer. We find that the destabilization of the normal metallic behavior takes place through the onset of critical behavior in some of the two charge stiffnesses that characterize the Luttinger liquid state. From a physical point of view, this results in either a divergent compressibility or a vanishing renormalized velocity for current excitations at the point of the transition. We observe anyhow that this kind of critical behavior occurs without the development of any appreciable sign of superconducting correlations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Coulomb screening and electronic instabilities of small-diameter (5,0) nanotubes

We investigate the instabilities that may lead to the breakdown of the Luttinger liquid in the small-diameter (5,0) nanotubes, paying attention to the competition between the effective interaction mediated by phonon-exchange and the Coulomb interaction. We use bosonization methods to achieve an exact treatment of the Coulomb interaction at small momentum-transfer, and apply next renormalization group methods to analyze the low-energy behavior of the electron system. This allows us to discern the growth of several response functions for charge-density-wave modulations and for superconducting instabilities with different order parameters. We show that, in the case of single nanotubes exposed to screening by external gates, the Luttinger liquid is unstable against the onset of a strong-coupling phase with very large charge-density-wave correlations. The temperature of crossover to the new phase depends crucially on the dielectric constant $κ$ of the environment, ranging from $T_{C}\sim 10^{-4} {\rm K}$ (at $κ\approx 1$) up to a value $T_{C} \sim 10^{2} {\rm K}$ (reached from $κ\approx 10$). The physical picture is however different when we consider the case of a large array of nanotubes, in which there is a 3D screening of the Coulomb interaction over distances much larger than the intertube separation. The electronic instability is then triggered by the divergence of one of the charge stiffnesses in the Luttinger liquid, implying a divergent compressibility and the appearance of a regime of phase separation into spatial regions with excess and defect of electron density.

cond-mat.str-el↗