arXiv subjects

I. S. Beloborodov

Publications and source records attributed to I. S. Beloborodov.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Transport properties of semiconducting nanocrystal arrays at low temperatures

We study the electron transport in semiconducting nanocrystal arrays at temperatures $T\ll E_c$, where $E_c$ is the charging energy for a single grain. In this temperature range the electron transport is dominated by co-tunneling processes. We discuss both elastic and inelastic co-tunneling and show that for semiconducting nanocrystal arrays the inelastic contribution is strongly suppressed at low temperatures. We also compare our results with available experimental data.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2007

Resistance Anomaly in Disordered Superconducting Films

We report on a resistance anomaly in disordered superconducting films containing arrays of irregularly distributed nanoscale holes. At high driving currents, peaks appear in the resistance as a function of temperature, with peak values up to 2% above the classic normal-state resistance. We attribute the observed resistance anomaly to dissipation-induced granularity which enhances the contributions from fluctuation-induced reduction of the density of states of the quasiparticles. The granular feature of a disordered superconducting film originates from the inhomogeneous temperature distribution caused by the variation of the local dissipation and/or heat transfer.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Transport properties of n-type ultrananocrystalline diamond films

We investigate transport properties of ultrananocrystalline diamond films for a broad range of temperatures. Addition of nitrogen during plasma-assisted growth increases the conductivity of ultrananocrystalline diamond films by several orders of magnitude. We show that films produced at low concentration of nitrogen in the plasma are very resistive and electron transport occurs via a variable range hopping mechanism while in films produced at high nitrogen concentration the electron states become delocalized and the transport properties of ultrananocrystalline diamond films can be described using the Boltzmann formalism. We discuss the critical concentration of carriers at which the metal to insulator transition in ultrananocrystalline diamond films occurs and compare our results with available experimental data.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Insulating state of granular superconductors in a strong-coupling regime

We analyze the possibility of the formation of a magnetic-field-induced insulating state in a two-dimensional granular superconductor with relatively strong intergranular coupling and show that such a state appears in a model with spatial variations of the single-grain critical magnetic field. This model describes realistic granular samples with the dispersion in grain sizes and explains the mechanism leading to a giant peak in the magnetoresistance.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2006

Granular Electronic Systems

A granular metal is an array of metallic nano-particles imbedded into an insulating matrix. Tuning the intergranular coupling strength a granular system can be transformed into either a good metal or an insulator and, in case of superconducting particles, experience superconductor-insulator transition. The ease of adjusting electronic properties of granular metals makes them most suitable for fundamental studies of disordered solids and assures them a fundamental role for nanotechnological applications. This Review discusses recent important theoretical advances in the study of granular metals, emphasizing on the interplay of disorder, quantum effects, fluctuations and effects of confinement in formation of electronic transport and thermodynamic properties of granular materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Multiple Cotunneling in Large Quantum Dot Arrays

We investigate the effects of inelastic cotunneling on the electronic transport properties of gold nanoparticle multilayers and thick films at low applied bias, inside the Coulomb blockade regime. We find that the zero-bias conductance, $g_0(T)$, in all systems exhibits Efros-Shklovskii-type variable range hopping transport. The resulting typical hopping distance, corresponding to the number of tunnel junctions participating in cotunneling events, is shown to be directly related to the power law exponent in the measured current-voltage characteristics. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of models on cotunneling and hopping transport in mesoscopic, granular conductors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Coulomb effects and hopping transport in granular metals

We investigate effects of Coulomb interaction and hopping transport in the insulator phase of granular metals and quantum dot arrays. We consider a spatially periodic as well as an irregular array, including disorder in a form of a random on-site electrostatic potential. We study the Mott transition between the insulating and metallic states in the regular system and find the dependence of the Mott gap upon the intergranular coupling. The conductivity of a strictly periodic array has an activation form with the Mott gap as an activation energy. Considering irregular systems we concentrate on the transport properties in the dielectric, low coupling limit and derive the Efros-Shklovskii law for hopping conductivity. In the irregular arrays electrostatic disorder results in the finite density of states on the Fermi level giving rise to the variable range hopping mechanism. We develop a theory of tunneling through a chain of grains and discuss in detail both elastic and inelastic cotunneling mechanisms; the former dominates at very low temperatures and/or very low applied electric fields, while the inelastic mechanism controls tunneling at high temperature/fields. Our results are obtained within the framework of the new technique based on the mapping of quantum electronic problem onto the classical gas of Coulomb charges. The processes of quantum tunnelling of real electrons are represented in this technique as trajectories (world lines) of charged classical particles in $d+1$ dimensions. The Mott gap is related to the dielectric susceptibility of the Coulomb gas in the direction of the imaginary time axis.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Thermal transport in granular metals

We study the electron thermal transport in granular metals at large tunnel conductance between the grains, $g_T \gg 1$ and not too low a temperature $T > g_Tδ$, where $δ$ is the mean energy level spacing for a single grain. Taking into account the electron-electron interaction effects we calculate the thermal conductivity and show that the Wiedemann-Franz law is violated for granular metals. We find that interaction effects suppress the thermal conductivity less than the electrical conductivity.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Effective description of hopping transport in granular metals

We develop a theory of a variable range hopping transport in granular conductors based on the sequential electron tunnelling through many grains in the presence of the strong Coulomb interaction. The processes of quantum tunnelling of real electrons are represented as trajectories (world lines) of charged classical particles in d+1 dimensions. We apply the developed technique to investigate the hopping conductivity of granular systems in the regime of small tunneling conductances between the grains g << 1.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Effects of fluctuations and Coulomb interaction on the transition temperature of granular superconductors

We investigate the suppression of superconducting transition temperature in granular metallic systems due to (i) fluctuations of the order parameter (bosonic mechanism) and (ii) Coulomb repulsion (fermionic mechanism) assuming large tunneling conductance between the grains $g_{T}\gg 1$. We find the correction to the superconducting transition temperature for 3$d$ granular samples and films. We demonstrate that if the critical temperature $T_c > g_T δ$, where $δ$ is the mean level spacing in a single grain the bosonic mechanism is the dominant mechanism of the superconductivity suppression, while for critical temperatures $T_c < g_T δ$ the suppression of superconductivity is due to the fermionic mechanism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Low temperature transport in granular metals

We investigate transport in a granular metallic system at large tunneling conductance between the grains. We show that at low temperatures, $T\leq g_Tδ$, where $δ$ is the single mean energy level spacing in a grain, the coherent electron motion at large distances dominates the physics, contrary to the high temperature ($T > g_T δ$) behavior where conductivity is controlled by the scales of the order of the grain size. The conductivity of one and two dimensional granular metals, in the low temperature regime, decays with decreasing temperature in the same manner as that in homogeneous disordered metals, indicating thus an insulating behavior. However, even in this temperature regime the granular structure remains important and there is an additional contribution to conductivity coming from short distances. Due to this contribution the metal-insulator transition in three dimensions occurs at the value of tunnel conductance $g_T^C=(1/6π)\ln (E_C/δ)$, where $E_C$ is the charging energy of an isolated grain, and not at the generally expected $g_T^C \propto 1$. Corrections to the density of states of granular metals due to the electron-electron interaction are calculated. Our results compare favorably with the logarithmic dependence of resistivity in the high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors indicating that these materials may have a granular structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Universal Description of Granular Metals at Low Temperatures: Granular Fermi Liquid

We present a unified description of the low temperature phase of granular metals that reveals a striking generality of the low temperature behaviors. Our model explains the universality of the low-temperature conductivity that coincides exactly with that of the homogeneously disordered systems and enables a straightforward derivation of low temperature characteristics of disordered conductors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Tunneling density of states of granular metals

We investigate the effect of Coulomb interactions on the tunneling density of states (DOS) of granular metallic systems at the onset of Coulomb blockade regime in two and three dimensions. Using the renormalization group technique we derive the analytical expressions for the DOS as a function of temperature $T$ and energy $ε$. We show that samples with the bare intergranular tunneling conductance $g^0_{\scriptscriptstyle T}$ less than the critical value $g_{\scriptscriptstyle T}^{\scriptscriptstyle C}=(1/2πd) \ln(E_{\scriptscriptstyle C}/δ)$, where $E_{\scriptscriptstyle C}$ and $δ$ are the charging energy and the mean energy level spacing in a single grain respectively, are insulators with a {\it hard gap} in the DOS at temperatures $T\to 0$. In 3d systems the critical conductance $g_{\scriptscriptstyle T}^{\scriptscriptstyle C}$ separates insulating and metallic phases at zero temperature, whereas in the granular films $g_{\scriptscriptstyle T}^{\scriptscriptstyle C}$ separates insulating states with the hard (at $g^0_{\scriptscriptstyle T} g_{\scriptscriptstyle T}^{\scriptscriptstyle C}$) gaps. The gap in the DOS begins to develop at temperatures $ T^* \sim E_{\scriptscriptstyle C} g_{\scriptscriptstyle T}^{\scriptscriptstyle 0} \exp (-2πd g_{\scriptscriptstyle T}^{\scriptscriptstyle 0})$ and reaches the value $Δ\sim T^*$ at $T\to 0$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Suppression of superconductivity in granular metals

We investigate the suppression of the superconducting transition temperature due to Coulomb repulsion in granular metallic systems at large tunneling conductance between the grains, $g_{T}\gg 1$. We find the correction to the superconducting transition temperature for 3$D$ granular samples and films. We demonstrate that depending on the parameters of superconducting grains, the corresponding granular samples can be divided into two groups: (i) the granular samples that belong to the first group may have only insulating or superconducting states at zero temperature depending on the bare intergranular tunneling conductance $g_T$, while (ii) the granular samples that belong to the second group in addition have an intermediate metallic phase where superconductivity is suppressed while the effects of the Coulomb blockade are not yet strong.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Mesoscopic charging effects in the $σ$-model for granular metals

We derive the $σ$-model for granular metals. It is valid for any relation between the temperature, $T$, and the grain mean level spacing. The continuum limit of the $σ$-model describes non-perturbative charging effects in homogeneous disordered metals. The $σ$-model action contains a novel term which is crucial for studying Coulomb blockade effects. Topological properties of the $σ$-model encoding charge discreteness are studied. For $T$ below the escape rate from the grain, $Γ$, Coulomb blockade effects are described by solitons of the $Q$-matrix which are delocalized in real space. At $T> Γ$ the solitons transform into phase instantons localized at a single tunneling contact.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Transport properties of granular metals at low temperatures

We investigate transport in a granular metallic system at large tunneling conductance between the grains, $g_T\gg 1$. We show that at low temperatures, $T\leq g_Tδ$, where $δ$ is the single mean energy level spacing in a grain, the coherent electron motion at large distances dominates the physics, contrary to the high temperature ($T>g_Tδ$) behavior where conductivity is controlled by the scales of the order of the grain size. The conductivity of one and two dimensional granular metals, in the low temperature regime, decays with decreasing temperature in the same manner as that in homogeneous disordered metals, indicating thus an insulating behavior. However, even in this temperature regime the granular structure remains important and there is an additional contribution to conductivity coming from short distances. Due to this contribution the metal-insulator transition in three dimensions occurs at the value of tunnel conductance $g_T^C=(1/6π)\ln (E_C/δ)$, where $E_C$ is the charging energy of an isolated grain, and not at the generally expected $g_T^C\propto 1$. Corrections to the density of states of granular metals due to the electron-electron interaction are calculated. Our results compare favorably with the logarithmic dependence of resistivity in the high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors indicating that these materials may have a granular structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Influence of thermal fluctuations on an underdamped Josephson tunnel junction

Inspired by a recent experiment, we study the influence of thermal fluctuations on the $I$-$V$ characteristics of a Josephson junction, coupled to a strongly resistive environment. We obtain analytical results in the limit where the Josephson energy is larger than the charging energy and quasiparticles are absent.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Two-loop approximation in the Coulomb blockade problem

We study Coulomb blockade (CB) oscillations in the thermodynamics of a metallic grain which is connected to a lead by a tunneling contact with a large conductance $g_0$ in a wide temperature range, $E_Cg_0^4 e^{-g_0/2}<T<E_C$, where $E_C$ is the charging energy. Using the instanton analysis and the renormalization group we obtain the temperature dependence of the amplitude of CB oscillations which differs from the previously obtained results. Assuming that at $T < E_Cg_0^4 e^{-g_0/2}$ the oscillation amplitude weakly depends on temperature we estimate the magnitude of CB oscillations in the ground state energy as $E_Cg_0^4 e^{-g_0/2}$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗