arXiv subjects

P. Lombardo

Publications and source records attributed to P. Lombardo.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Powerful Coulomb-drag thermoelectric engine

We investigate a thermoelectric nano-engine whose properties are steered by Coulomb interaction. The device whose design decouples charge and energy currents is made up of two interacting quantum dots connected to three different reservoirs. We show that, by tailoring the tunnel couplings, this setup can be made very attractive for energy-harvesting prospects, due to a delivered power that can be of the order of the quantum bound [R. S. Whitney, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 130601 (2014); Entropy 18, 208 (2016)], with a concomitant fair efficiency. To unveil its properties beyond the sequential quantum master equation, we apply a nonequilibrium noncrossing approximation in the Keldysh Green's function formalism, and a quantum master equation that includes cotunneling processes. Both approaches are rather qualitatively similar in a large operating regime where sequential tunneling alone fails.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Time-dependent thermoelectric transport for nanoscale thermal machines

We analyze an electronic nanoscale thermal machine driven by time-dependent environment: besides bias and gate voltage variations, we consider also the less prevailing time modulation of the couplings between leads and dot. We provide energy and heat current expressions in such situations, as well as expressions for the power exchanged between the dot+leads system and its outside. Calculations are made in the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green's function framework. We apply these results to design a cyclic refrigerator, circumventing the ambiguity of defining energy flows between subsystems in the case of strong coupling. For fast lead-dot coupling modulation, we observe transient currents which cannot be ascribed to charge tunneling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Conditions for requiring nonlinear thermoelectric transport theory in nanodevices

In this paper, we examine the conditions under which the nonlinear transport theory is inescapable, when a correlated quantum dot is symmetrically coupled to two leads submitted to temperature and voltage biases. By detailed numerical comparisons between nonlinear and linear currents, we show that the claimed nonlinear behavior in a temperature gradient for the electric current is not so genuine, and the linear theory made at the operating temperature $\bar{T}= (T_H+T_C)/2$ is unexpectedly robust. This is demonstrated for the single impurity Anderson model, in different regimes: resonant tunneling, Coulomb blockade and Kondo regimes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

A new approach to time-dependent transport through an interacting quantum dot within Keldysh formalism

The time-dependent transport through a nano-scale device, consisting of a single spin-degenerate orbital with on-site Coulomb interaction, coupled to two leads, is investigated. Various gate and bias voltage time-dependences are considered. The key and new point lies in the proposed way to avoid the difficulties of the usual heavy computation when dealing with two time Green's functions within Keldysh formalism. The time-dependent retarded dot Green's functions are evaluated, in an efficient manner within a non-canonical Hubbard I approximation. Calculations of the time-dependent current are then presented in the wide-band limit for different parameter sets. A comparison between the method and the Hartree-Fock approximation is performed as well. It is shown that the later cannot account reliably for dynamical aspects of transport phenomena.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Hund and pair-hopping signature in transport properties of degenerate nanoscale devices

We investigate the signature of a complete Coulomb interaction in transport properties of double-orbital nanoscale devices. We analyze the specific effects of Hund exchange and pair hopping terms, calculating in particular stability diagrams. It turns out that a crude model, with partial Coulomb interaction, may lead to a misinterpretation of experiments. In addition, it is shown that spectral weight transfers induced by gate and bias voltages strongly influence charge current. The low temperature regime is also investigated, displaying inelastic cotunneling associated with the exchange term, as well as Kondo conductance enhancement.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Orbital polaron in double exchange ferromagnets

We investigate the spectral properties of the two-orbital Hubbard model, including the double hopping term, by means of the dynamical mean field method. This Hamiltonian describes materials in which ferromagnetism is realized by the double exchange mechanism, like for instance manganites, nickelates or diluted magnetic semiconductors. The spectral function of the unoccupied states is characterized by a specific equidistant three peak structure. We emphasize the importance of the double hopping term on the spectral properties. We show the existence of a ferromagnetic phase due to electron doping near n=1 by the double exchange mechanism. A quasi-particle excitation at the Fermi energy is found that we attribute to what we will call an orbital polaron. We derive an effective spin-pseudospin Hamiltonian for the two-orbital double exchange model at n=1 filling to explain the existence and dynamics of this quasi-particle.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Kondo physics and orbital degeneracy interact to boost thermoelectrics on the nanoscale

We investigate the transport through a nanoscale device consisting of a degenerate double-orbital Anderson dot coupled to two uncorrelated leads. We determine the thermoelectric transport properties close to the one-electron regime and compare them to a corresponding single-orbital dot. The linear and nonlinear regimes are addressed, the latter via a non-equilibrium generalization of the non-crossing approximation based on the Keldysh formalism. Power output and efficiency in the Kondo regime are shown to be strongly enhanced through the presence of a second orbital. We predict an experimentally relevant optimal operating point which benefits from the concomitant increase of the Kondo temperature in the two-orbital setup. An approximation based on the transport coefficients and fulfilling the thermodynamic balance is proven to remain appropriate even far beyond the expected range of validity of such approaches. Finally, the double-orbital Kondo regime reveals itself as a promising candidate to avoid, at least partially, the generic dilemma between optimal thermoelectric efficiency on one hand, and fair power output on the other.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

How chemical pressure affects the fundamental properties of rare-earth pnictides: an ARPES view

Angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, supplemented by theoretical calculations has been applied to study the electronic structure of heavy-fermion material CeFePO, a homologue to the Fe-based high-temperature superconductors, and CeFeAs_0.7P_0.3O, where the applied chemical pressure results in a ferromagnetic order of the 4f moments. A comparative analysis reveals characteristic differences in the Fe-derived band structure for these materials, implying a rather different hybridization of valence electrons to the localized 4f orbitals. In particular, our results suggest that the ferromagnetism of Ce moments in CeFeAs_0.7P_0.3O is mediated mainly by Fe 3d_xz/yz orbitals, while the Kondo screening in CeFePO is instead due to a strong interaction of Fe 3d_3z^2-r^2 orbitals.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

CeFePO: f-d hybridization and quenching of superconductivity

Being homologue to the new, Fe-based type of high-temperature superconductors, CeFePO exhibits magnetism, Kondo and heavy-fermion phenomena. We experimentally studied the electronic structure of CeFePO by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. In particular, contributions of the Ce 4f-derived states and their hybridization to the Fe 3d bands were explored using both symmetry selection rules for excitation and their photoionization cross-section variations as a function of photon energy. It was experimentally found - and later on confirmed by LDA as well as DMFT calculations - that the Ce 4f states hybridize to the Fe 3d states of d_{3z^2-r^2} symmetry near the Fermi level that discloses their participation in the occurring electron-correlation phenomena and provides insight into mechanism of superconductivity in oxopnictides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Electronic phase transitions in the half-filled ionic Hubbard model

A detailed study of electronic phase transitions in the ionic Hubbard model at half filling is presented. Within the dynamical mean field approximation a series of transitions from the band insulator via a metallic state to a Mott-Hubbard insulating phase is found at intermediate values of the one-body potential $Δ$ with increasing the Coulomb interaction $U$. We obtain a critical region in which the metallic phase disappears and a {\it novel} coexistence phase between the band and the Mott insulating state sets in. Our results are consistent with those obtained at low dimensions, thus they provide a concrete description for the charge degrees of freedom of the ionic Hubbard model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Band-Insulator-Metal-Mott-Insulator transition in the half--filled $t-t^{\prime}$ ionic-Hubbard chain

We investigate the ground state phase diagram of the half-filled $t-t^{\prime}$ repulsive Hubbard model in the presence of a staggered ionic potential $Δ$, using the continuum-limit bosonization approach. We find, that with increasing on-site-repulsion $U$, depending on the value of the next-nearest-hopping amplitude $t^{\prime}$, the model shows three different versions of the ground state phase diagram. For $t^{\prime} < t^{\prime}_{\ast}$, the ground state phase diagram consists of the following three insulating phases: Band-Insulator at $U U_{c}$. For $t^{\prime} > t^{\prime}_{c}$ there is only one transition from a spin gapped metallic phase at $U U_{c}$. Finally, for intermediate values of the next-nearest-hopping amplitude $t^{\prime}_{\ast} < t^{\prime} < t^{\prime}_{c}$ we find that with increasing on-site repulsion, at $U_{c1}$ the model undergoes a second-order commensurate-incommensurate type transition from a band insulator into a metallic state and at larger $U_{c2}$ there is a Kosterlitz-Thouless type transition from a metal into a ferroelectric insulator.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Spectral density of the Hubbard-model by the continued fraction method

We present the continued fraction method (CFM) as a new microscopic approximation to the spectral density of the Hubbard model in the correlated metal phase away from half filling. The quantity expanded as a continued fraction is the single particle Green function. Leading spectral moments are taken into account through a set of real expansion coefficients, as known from the projection technique. The new aspect is to add further stages to the continued fraction, with complex coefficients, thus defining a terminator function. This enables us to treat the entire spectral range of the Green function on equal footing and determine the energy scale of the Fermi liquid quasiparticles by minimizing the total energy. The solution is free of phenomenological parameters and remains well defined in the strong coupling limit, near the doping controlled metal-insulator transition. Our results for the density of states agree reasonably with several variants of the dynamical mean field theory. The CFM requires minimal numerical effort and can be generalized in several ways that are interesting for applications to real materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Insulator-metal-insulator transition and selective spectral weight transfer in a disordered strongly correlated system

We investigate the metal insulator transitions at finite temperature for the Hubbard model with diagonal alloy disorder. We solve the dynamical mean field theory equations with the non crossing approximation and we use the coherent potential approximation to handle disorder. The excitation spectrum is given for various correlation strength $U$ and disorder. Two successive metal insulator transitions are observed at integer filling values as $U$ is increased. An important selective transfer of spectral weight arises upon doping. The strong influence of the temperature on the low energy dynamics is studied in details.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Effect of Hund's exchange on the spectral function of a triply orbital degenerate correlated metal

We present an approach based on the dynamical mean field theory which is able to give the excitation spectrum of a triply degenerate Hubbard model with a Hund's exchange invariant under spin rotation. The lattice problem can be mapped onto a local Anderson model containing 64 local eigenstates. This local problem is solved by a generalized non-crossing approximation. The influence of Hund's coupling J is examined in detail for metallic states close to the metal insulator transition. The band-filling is shown to play a crucial role concerning the effect of J on the low energy dynamics.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1996

Dynamical Mean Field Theory for Perovskites

Using the Hubbard Hamiltonian for transition metal-3d and oxygen-2p states with perovskite geometry, we present a dynamical mean field theory which becomes exactin the limit of large coordination numbers or equivalently large spatial dimensions $D$. The theory is based on a new description of these systems for large $D$ using a selective treatment of different hopping processes which can not be generated by a unique scaling of the hopping element. The model is solved using a perturbational approach and an extended non-crossing approximation. We discuss the breakdown of the perturbation theory near half filling, the origin of the various 3d and 2p bands, the doping dependence of its spectral weight, and the evolution of quasi particles at the Fermi-level upon doping, leading to interesting insight into the dynamical character of the charge carriers near the metal insulator instability of transition metal oxide systems, three dimensional perovskites and other strongly correlated transition metal oxides.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1995

A new approach for perovskites in large dimensions

Using the Hubbard Hamiltonian for transition metal-3d and oxygen-2p states with perovskite geometry, we propose a new scaling procedure for a nontrivial extension of these systems to large spatial dimensions $D$. The scaling procedure is based on a selective treatment of different hopping processes for large $D$ and can not be generated by a unique scaling of the hopping element. The model is solved in the limit $D \rightarrow \infty$ by the iterated perturbation theory and using an extended non-crossing approximation. We discuss the evolution of quasi particles at the Fermi-level upon doping, leading to interesting insight into the dynamical character of the charge carriers near the metal insulator instability of transition metal oxide systems, three dimensional perovskites and other strongly correlated transition metal oxides.

cond-mat↗