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J. J. Palacios

Publications and source records attributed to J. J. Palacios.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv2002

A first-principles approach to electrical transport in atomic-scale nanostructures

We present a first-principles numerical implementation of Landauer formalism for electrical transport in nanostructures characterized down to the atomic level. The novelty and interest of our method lies essentially on two facts. First of all, it makes use of the versatile Gaussian98 code, which is widely used within the quantum chemistry community. Secondly, it incorporates the semi-infinite electrodes in a very generic and efficient way by means of Bethe lattices. We name this method the Gaussian Embedded Cluster Method (GECM). In order to make contact with other proposed implementations, we illustrate our technique by calculating the conductance in some well-studied systems such as metallic (Al and Au) nanocontacts and C-atom chains connected to metallic (Al and Au) electrodes. In the case of Al nanocontacts the conductance turns out to be quite dependent on the detailed atomic arrangement. On the contrary, the conductance in Au nanocontacts presents quite universal features. In the case of C chains, where the self-consistency guarantees the local charge transfer and the correct alignment of the molecular and electrode levels, we find that the conductance oscillates with the number of atoms in the chain regardless of the type of electrode. However, for short chains and Al electrodes the even-odd periodicity is reversed at equilibrium bond distances.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2001

Fullerene-based molecular nanobridges: A first-principles study

Building upon traditional quantum chemistry calculations, we have implemented an {\em ab-initio} method to study the electrical transport in nanocontacts. We illustrate our technique calculating the conductance of C$_{60}$ molecules connected in various ways to Al electrodes characterized at the atomic level. Central to a correct estimate of the electrical current is a precise knowledge of the local charge transfer between molecule and metal which, in turn, guarantees the correct positioning of the Fermi level with respect to the molecular orbitals. Contrary to our expectations, ballistic transport seems to occur in this system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2000

An effective lowest Landau level treatment of demagnetization in superconducting mesoscopic disks

Demagnetization, which is inherently present in the magnetic response of small finite-size superconductors, can be accounted for by an effective $κ$ within a two-dimensional lowest Landau level approximation of the Ginzburg-Landau functional. We show this by comparing the equilibrium magnetization of superconducting mesoscopic disks obtained from the numerical solution of the three-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equations with that obtained in the ``effective'' LLL approximation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2000

Fine Structure in Magnetization of Individual Fluxoid States

Each time a vortex enters or exits a small superconductor, a different fluxoid state develops. We have observed splitting and sharp kinks on magnetization curves of such individual states. The features are the manifestation of first and second order transitions, respectively, and reveal the existence of distinct vortex phases within a superconducting state with a fixed number of fluxoids. We show that the kinks indicate the merger of individual vortices into a single giant vortex while the splitting is attributed to transitions between different arrays of the same number of vortices.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv1999

Metastability and paramagnetism in superconducting mesoscopic disks

A projected order parameter is used to calculate, not only local minima of the Ginzburg-Landau energy functional, but also saddle points or energy barriers responsible for the metastabilities observed in superconducting mesoscopic disks (Geim et al. Nature {\bf 396}, 144 (1998)). We calculate the local minima magnetization and find the energetic instability points between vortex configurations with different vorticity. We also find that, for any vorticity, the supercurrent can reverse its flow direction on decreasing the magnetic field before one vortex can escape.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv1999

Skyrme crystal or Skyrme liquid?

We address the quantum melting phase transition of the Skyrme crystal. Based on generic sum rules for two-dimensional, isotropic electron quantum liquids in the lowest Landau level, we propose analytic expressions for the pair distribution functions of spin-polarized and spin-unpolarized liquid phases at filling factors $2/3\leqν\leq 1$. From the pair distribution functions we calculate the energy of such liquid phases and compare with the energy of the solid phase. The comparison suggests that the quantum melting phase transition may lie much closer to $ν=1$ than ever expected.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1998

Vortex matter in mesoscopic superconductors

Superconducting mesoscopic devices in magnetic fields present novel properties which can only be accounted for by both the quantum confinement of the Cooper pairs and by the interaction between the magnetic-field-induced vortices. Sub-micrometer disks, much the same as their semiconductor counterparts known as quantum dots, are being subject to experimental investigation by measuring their conducting properties and, more recently, their magnetization by using state-of-the-art ballistic Hall magnetometry. In this work I review the main results obtained in these two types of experiments as well as the current theoretical developments which are contributing to our understanding of the superconducting condensate in these systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv1998

Itinerant Electron Ferromagnetism in the Quantum Hall Regime

We report on a study of the temperature and Zeeman-coupling-strength dependence of the one-particle Green's function of a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas at Landau level filling factor $ν=1$ where the ground state is a strong ferromagnet. Our work places emphasis on the role played by the itinerancy of the electrons, which carry the spin magnetization and on analogies between this system and conventional itinerant electron ferromagnets. We discuss the application to this system of the self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation, which is analogous to the band theory description of metallic ferromagnetism and fails badly at finite temperatures because it does not account for spin-wave excitations. We go beyond this level by evaluating the one-particle Green's function using a self-energy, which accounts for quasiparticle spin-wave interactions. We report results for the temperature dependence of the spin magnetization, the nuclear spin relaxation rate, and 2D-2D tunneling conductances. Our calculations predict a sharp peak in the tunneling conductance at large bias voltages with strength proportional to temperature. We compare with experiment, where available, and with predictions based on numerical exact diagonalization and other theoretical approaches.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1998

Magnons and skyrmions in fractional Hall ferromagnets

Recent experiments have established a qualitative difference between the magnetization temperature-dependences $M(T)$ of quantum Hall ferromagnets at integer and fractional filling factors. We explain this difference in terms of the relative energies of collective magnon and particle-hole excitations in the two cases. Analytic calculations for hard-core model systems are used to demonstrate that, in the fractional case, interactions suppress the magnetization at finite temperatures and that particle-hole excitations rather than long-wavelength magnons control $M(T)$ at low $T$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1998

Vortex matter in superconducting mesoscopic disks: Structure, magnetization, and phase transitions

The dense vortex matter structure and associated magnetization are calculated for type-II superconducting mesoscopic disks. The magnetization exhibits generically first-order phase transitions as the number of vortices changes by one and presents two well-defined regimes: A non-monotonous evolution of the magnitude of the magnetization jumps signals the presence of a vortex glass structure which is separated by a second-order phase transition at $H_{c2}$ from a condensed state of vortices (giant vortex) where the magnitude of the jumps changes monotonously. We compare our results with Hall magnetometry measurements by Geim et al. (Nature 390, 259 (1997)) and claim that the magnetization exhibits clear traces of the presence of these vortex glass states.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv1998

Vortex lattices in strong type-II superconducting two-dimensional strips

We show how to calculate semi-analytically the dense vortex state in strong type-II superconducting nanostructures. For the specific case of a strip, we find vortex lattice solutions which also incorporate surface superconductivity. We calculate the energy cost to displace individual vortex rows parallel to the surfaces and find that this energy oscillates with the magnetic field. Remarkably, we also find that, at a critical field $H^*$ below $H_{c2}$, this ''shear'' energy becomes strictly zero for the surface rows due to an unexpected mismatch with the bulk lattice.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv1997

Bulk charge distributions on integer and fractional quantum Hall plateaus

We discuss the charge distributions across the bulk of a two-dimensional electron gas system which is on an integer or fractional quantum Hall plateau. Our analysis is based on a relation, derived from the long wavelength limit of the bulk density-density response function, between the induced charge and leading derivatives of a slowly varying Hall potential. We use the Wiener-Hopf method to solve the coupled response and Poisson equations. Unlike the integer case, treated in previous work, the induced charge in the fractional case can alternate in sign.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1997

A critical comparison of classical field theory and microscopic wavefunctions for skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets

We report on a study of the classical field theory description of charged skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets. The appropriate field theory is a non-linear $σ$ model generalized to include Coulomb and Zeeman interaction terms. We have tested the range of validity of the classical field theory by comparing with microscopic descriptions of the single skyrmion state based on the Hartree-Fock approximation, exact diagonalization calculations, and many-body trial wavefunctions. We find that the field theory description is accurate for skyrmions with moderate spin quantum numbers ($\gtrsim 10$) although, as expected, it fails qualitatively for small spin quantum numbers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1997

Fine structure in the off-resonance conductance of small Coulomb blockade systems

We show how a fine, multiple-peak structure can arise in the off-resonance, zero-bias conductance of Coulomb blockade systems. In order to understand how this effect comes about one must abandon the orthodox, mean-field understanding of the Coulomb blockade phenomenon and consider quantum fluctuations in the occupation of the single-particle electronic levels. We illustrate such an effect with a spinless Anderson-like model for multi-level systems and an equation-of-motion method for calculating Green's functions that combines two simple decoupling schemes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1997

Signature of Quantum Hall Effect Skyrmions in Tunneling: A Theoretical Study

We present a theoretical study of the $I-V$ tunneling characteristic between two parallel two-dimensional electron gases in a perpendicular magnetic field when both are near filling factor $ν=1$. Finite-size calculations of the single-layer spectral functions in the spherical geometry and analytical expressions for the disk geometry in the thermodynamic limit show that the current in the presence of skyrmions reflects in a direct way their underlying structure. It is also shown that fingerprints of the electron-electron interaction pseudopotentials are present in such a current.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv1996

Long-lived charged multiple-exciton complexes in strong magnetic fields

We consider the charged exciton complexes of an ideal two-dimensional electron-hole system in the limit of strong magnetic fields. A series of charged multiple-exciton states is identified and variational and finite-size exact diagonalization calculations are used to estimate their binding energies. We find that, because of a hidden symmetry, bound states of excitons and an additional electron cannot be created by direct optical absorption and, once created, have an infinite optical recombination lifetime. We also estimate the optical recombination rates when electron and hole layers are displaced and the hidden symmetry is violated.

cond-mat↗
arXiv1994

Low-lying excitations of Quantum Hall Droplets

We present the adequate circular representation of charge density excitations in Quantum Hall droplets at filling factor 1. A novel set of operators describes magnetoexcitons with well defined both total and center-of-mass angular momentum. The accuracy of this description is shown by the high overlap of the magnetoexcitons with the exact eigenstates of a quantum dot in a magnetic field obtained from numerical calculations up to 20 electrons. From such magnetoexcitons we get a good understanding of total energies and spectral functions.

cond-mat↗