arXiv subjects

Selman Hershfield

Publications and source records attributed to Selman Hershfield.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Exploiting the violation of Lorentz symmetry for the planar Hall effect

The low energy Dirac and Weyl spectra are allowed to violate the Lorentz symmetry and thereby have a tilted energy dispersion. The tilt in the energy dispersion induces a Hall voltage in the plane spanned by the electric field and the tilt velocity. In the presence of a magnetic field the planar Hall conductivity and resistivity show Shubnikov de Haas oscillations. The oscillations in the planar Hall effect can become a fingerprint to spot the anomalous transport in Dirac and Weyl semimetals.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Non-linear thermoelectric transport: A class of nano-devices for high efficiency and large power output

Molecular junctions and similar devices described by an energy dependent transmission coefficient can have a high linear response thermoelectric figure of merit. Since such devices are inherently non-linear, the full thermodynamic efficiency valid for any temperature and chemical potential difference across the leads is calculated. The general features in the energy dependence of the tranmission function that lead to high efficiency and also high power output are determined. It is shown that the device with the highest efficiency does not necessarily lead to large power output. To illustrate this, we use a model called the t-stub model representing tunneling through an energy level connected to another energy level. Within this model both high efficiency and high power output are achievable. Futhermore, by connecting many nanodevices it is shown to be possible to scale up the power output without compromising efficiency in an (exactly solvable) n-channel model even with tunneling between the devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Resistance of multilayers with long length scale interfacial roughness

The resistance of multilayers with interface roughness on a length scale which is large compared to the atomic spacing is computed in several cases via the Boltzmann equation. This type of roughness is common in magnetic multilayers. When the electronic mean free paths are small compared to the layer thicknesses, the current flow is non-uniform, and the resistance decreases in the Current-Perpendicular-to-Plane (CPP) configuration and increases in the Current-In-Plane (CIP) configuration. For mean free paths much longer than the layer thicknesses, the current flow is uniform, and the resistance increases in both the CPP and CIP configurations due to enhanced surface scattering. In both the CPP and CIP geometries, the giant magnetoresistance can be either enhanced or reduced by the presence of long length scale interface roughness depending on the parameters. Finally, the changes in the CPP and CIP resistivities due to increasing interface roughness are estimated using experimentally determined parameters.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2002

A Theoretical Search for the Optimum Giant Magnetoresistance

The maximum current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance is searched for in magnetic multilayers made of Co, Ni, and Cu with disorder levels similar to those found in room temperature experiments. The calculation is made possible by a highly optimized linear response code, which uses the impurity averaged Green's function technique and a 9-band per spin tight binding model. Using simulated annealing, hundreds of different configurations of the atomic layers are examined to find a maximum GMR of 450% in ultrathin Ni/Cu superlattices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2000

Out-of-Equilibrium Kondo Effect: Response to Pulsed Fields

The current in response to a rectangular pulsed bias potential is calculated exactly for a special point in the parameter space of the nonequilibrium Kondo model. Our simple analytical solution shows the all essential features predicted by the noncrossing approximation, including a hierarchy of time scales for the rise, saturation, and fall-off of the current; current oscillations with a frequency of eV/hbar; and the instantaneous reversal of the fall-off current for certain pulse lengths. Rich interference patterns are found for a nonzero magnetic field (either dc or pulsed), with several underlying time scales. These features should be observable in ultra small quantum dots.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Theory of Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy of a Magnetic Adatom on a Metallic Surface

A comprehensive theory is presented for the voltage, temperature, and spatial dependence of the tunneling current between a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip and a metallic surface with an individual magnetic adatom. Modeling the adatom by a nondegenerate Anderson impurity, a general expression is derived for a weak tunneling current in terms of the dressed impurity Green function, the impurity-free surface Green function, and the tunneling matrix elements. This generalizes Fano's analysis to the interacting case. The differential-conductance lineshapes seen in recent STM experiments with the tip directly over the magnetic adatom are reproduced within our model, as is the rapid decay, \sim 10Å, of the low-bias structure as one moves the tip away from the adatom. With our simple model for the electronic structure of the surface, there is no dip in the differential conductance at approximately one lattice spacing from the magnetic adatom, but rather we see a resonant enhancement. The formalism for tunneling into small clusters of magnetic adatoms is developed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Andreev Scattering and the Kondo Effect

We examine the properties of an infinite-$U$ Anderson impurity coupled to both normal and superconducting metals. Both the cases of a quantum dot and a quantum point contact containing an impurity are considered; for the latter, we study both one and two-channel impurities. Using a generalization of the noncrossing approximation which incorporates multiple Andreev reflection, we compute the impurity spectral function and the linear-response conductance of these devices. We find generically that the Kondo resonance develops structure at energies corresponding to the superconducting gap, and that the magnitude of the resonance at the Fermi energy is altered. This leads to observable changes in the zero-bias conductance as compared to the case with no superconductivity.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Correlation between Spin Polarization and Magnetic Moment in Ferromagnetic Alloys

The correlation between the magnetic moment in ferromagnetic alloys and the tunneling spin polarization in ferromagnet-insulator-superconductor tunneling experiments has been a mystery. The measured spin polarization for Fe, Co, Ni, and various Ni alloys is positive and roughly proportional to their magnetic moments, which can not be explained by considering the net density of states. Using a tight-binding coherent potential approximation (CPA) model, we show that while the polarization of the net density of states is not correlated with the magnetic moment, the polarization of the density of states of {\it s} electrons is correlated with the magnetic moment in the same manner as observed by the tunneling experiments. We also discuss the spin polarization measurements by Andreev reflection experiments, some of which obtained different results from the tunneling experiments and our calculations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv1997

Magnetoresistance of the double-tunnel-junction Coulomb Blockade with magnetic metals

We have studied the Junction Magnetoresistance (JMR) and the Differential junction magnetoresistance (DJMR) for double tunnel junctions with magnetic metals in the Coulomb Blockade regime. Spikes are seen in both the JMR and the DJMR vs. voltage curves. They occur at those places where the current increases by a step. In all cases the large bias limit can be obtained by adding the resistances of each of the junctions in series. The JMR is positive in all the cases we studied, whereas the DJMR can be positive or negative as a function of the voltage. Moreover, the relative variation of the DJMR as a function of the voltage is larger than the variation of the JMR with the voltage.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

Calculation of Giant Magnetoresistance in Laterally Confined Multilayers

We have studied the Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) for laterally confined multilayers, e.g., layers of wires, using the classical Boltzmann equation in the current-in-plane (CIP) geometry. For spin-independent specularity factors at the sides of the wires we find that the GMR due to bulk and surface scattering decreases with lateral confinement. The length scale at which this occurs is of order the film thickness and the mean free paths. The precise prefactor depends on the relative importance of surface and bulk scattering anisotropies. For spin-dependent specularity factors at the sides of the wires the GMR can increase in some cases with decreasing width. The origin of the change in the GMR in both cases can be understood in terms of lateral confinement changing the effective mean free paths within the layers.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1994

Nonlinear Conductance for the Two Channel Anderson Model

Using the integral equations of the Noncrossing Approximation, the differential conductance is computed as a function of voltage for scattering from a two channel Kondo impurity in a point contact. The results compare well to experimental data on Cu point contacts by Ralph and Buhrman. They support a recently proposed scaling hypothesis, and also show finite temperature corrections to scaling in agreement with experiment. The conductance signal is predicted to be asymmetric in the bias when the impurity is not equally coupled to left and right moving electrons.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1992

Zero Frequency Current Noise for the Double Tunnel Junction Coulomb Blockade

We compute the zero frequency current noise numerically and in several limits analytically for the coulomb blockade problem consisting of two tunnel junctions connected in series. At low temperatures over a wide range of voltages, capacitances, and resistances it is shown that the noise measures the variance in the number of electrons in the region between the two tunnel junctions. The average current, on the other hand, only measures the mean number of electrons. Thus, the noise provides additional information about transport in these devices which is not available from measuring the current alone.

cond-mat↗