arXiv subjects

Y. Imry

Publications and source records attributed to Y. Imry.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2007

Minimal realization of the Orbital Kondo effect in a Quantum Dot with two Leads

We demonstrate theoretically how the Kondo effect may be observed in the transport of spinless electrons through a quantum dot. The role of conduction electron spin is played by a lead index. The Kondo effect takes place if there are two close levels in the dot populated by a single electron. For temperatures exceeding the Kondo temperature $T\gg T_K$ the conductance is maximal if the levels are exactly degenerate. However, at zero temperature the conductance is zero at the SU(2) symmetric point, but reaches the unitary limit $G = e^2/h$ for some finite value of the level splitting $Δ\eps\sim T_K$. Introducing the spin-1/2 for electrons and having two degenerate orbital levels in the dot allows to observe the SU(4) Kondo effect in a single dot coupled to two leads.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Spin Effects and Transport in Quantum Dots with overlapping Resonances

The role of spin is investigated in the transport through a quantum dot with two overlapping resonances (one having a width larger than the level separation and the other very narrow, cf. Silvestrov and Imry, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 85}, 2565 (2000)). For a series of consecutive charging resonances, one electron from the leads populates one and the same broad level in the dot. Moreover, there is the tendency to occupy the same level also by the second electron within the same resonance. This second electron is taken from the narrow levels in the dot. The narrow levels are populated (and broad level is depopulated) via sharp rearrangements of the electronic configuration in the Coulomb blockade valleys. Possible experimental manifestations of this scenario are considered. Among these there are sharp features in the valleys and in the Mixed Valence regime and an unusual Kondo effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Steps and dips in the ac conductance and noise of mesoscopic structures

The frequency dependence of the equilibrium ac conductance (or the noise power spectrum) through a mesoscopic structure is shown to exhibit steps and dips. The steps, at energies related to the resonances of the structure, are closely related to the partial Friedel phases of these resonances, thus allowing a direct measurement of these phases (without interferometry). The dips in the spectrum are related to a destructive interference in the absorption of energy by transitions between these resonances, in some similarity with the Fano effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Quantum noise minimization in transistor amplifiers

General quantum restrictions on the noise performance of linear transistor amplifiers are used to identify the region in parameter space where the quantum-limited performance is achievable and to construct a practical procedure for approaching it experimentally using only the knowledge of directly measurable quantities: the gain, (differential) conductance and the output noise. A specific example of resonant barrier transistors is discussed.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2004

Phase measurements in open and closed Aharonov-Bohm interferometers

Mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm interferometers have been used in attempts to measure the transmission phase of a quantum dot which is placed on one arm of the interferometer. Here we review theoretical results for the conductance through such interferometers, for both the closed (two-terminal) and open (multi-terminal) cases. In addition to earlier results for the Coulomb blockade regime, we present new results for the strongly correlated Kondo regime, and test the consistency of the two-slit analysis of some data from open interferometer experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Heisenberg constraints on mesoscopic and molecular amplifiers

Heisenberg uncertainty relations for current components impose constraints on the performance of linear amplifiers. Here we derive such constraints for amplifiers in which the input signal modulates a bias current in order to produce an amplified output. These amplifiers include transistors, macroscopic, mesoscopic, or molecular, operated as linear amplifiers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Generalized constraints on quantum amplification

We derive quantum constraints on the minimal amount of noise added in linear amplification involving input or output signals whose component operators do not necessarily have c-number commutators, as is the case for fermion currents. This is a generalization of constraints derived for the amplification of bosonic fields whose components posses c-number commutators.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

An Inhomogeneous Josephson Phase Near the (Super) Conductor-Insulator Transition

In many cases inhomogeneities are known to exist near the metal (or superconductor)- insulator transition, as follows from well-known domain-wall arguments. If the conducting regions are large enough, and if they have superconducting correlations, it becomes energetically favorable for the system to go into a Josephson- coupled zero-resistance state before (i.e. at higher resistance than) the material becomes a real metal. We show that this is plausible by a simple comparison of the relevant coupling constants. We also illustrate using data in the literature on oxide materials as well as ultra-thin films, that when this proposed Josephson state is quenched by a magnetic field, an insulating, rather then a metallic, state indeed appears.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Applications of nonequilibrium Kubo formula to the detection of quantum noise

The Kubo fluctuation-dissipation theorem relates the current fluctuations of a system in an equilibrium state with the linear AC-conductance. This theorem holds also out of equilibrium provided that the system is in a stationary state and that the linear conductance is replaced by the (dynamic) conductance with respect to the non equilibrium state. We provide a simple proof for that statement and then apply it in two cases. We first show that in an excess noise measurement at zero temperature, in which the impedance matching is maintained while driving a mesoscopic sample out of equilibrium, it is the nonsymmetrized noise power spectrum which is measured, even if the bare measurement, i.e. without extracting the excess part of the noise, obtains the symmetrized noise. As a second application we derive a commutation relation for the two components of fermionic or bosonic currents which holds in every stationary state and which is a generalization of the one valid only for bosonic currents. As is usually the case, such a commutation relation can be used e.g. to derive Heisenberg uncertainty relationships among these current components.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Decoherence in Disordered Conductors at Low Temperatures, the effect of Soft Local Excitations

The conduction electrons' dephasing rate, $τ_ϕ^{-1}$, is expected to vanish with the temperature. A very intriguing apparent saturation of this dephasing rate in several systems was recently reported at very low temperatures. The suggestion that this represents dephasing by zero-point fluctuations has generated both theoretical and experimental controversies. We start by proving that the dephasing rate must vanish at the $T\to 0$ limit, unless a large ground state degeneracy exists. This thermodynamic proof includes most systems of relevance and it is valid for any determination of $τ_ϕ$ from {\em linear} transport measurements. In fact, our experiments demonstrate unequivocally that indeed when strictly linear transport is used, the apparent low-temperature saturation of $τ_ϕ$ is eliminated. However, the conditions to be in the linear transport regime are more strict than hitherto expected. Another novel result of the experiments is that introducing heavy nonmagnetic impurities (gold) in our samples produces, even in linear transport, a shoulder in the dephasing rate at very low temperatures. We then show theoretically that low-lying local defects may produce a relatively large dephasing rate at low temperatures. However, as expected, this rate in fact vanishes when $T \to 0$, in agreement with our experimental observations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Effects of external radiation on biased Aharonov-Bohm rings

We consider the currents flowing in a solid-state interferometer under the effect of both an Aharonov-Bohm phase and a bias potential. Expressions are obtained for these currents, allowing for electronic or electron-boson interactions, which may take place solely on a quantum dot placed on one of the interferometer arms. The boson system can be out of equilibrium. The results are used to obtain the transport current through the interferometer, and the current circulating around it under the effect of the Aharonov-Bohm flux. The modifications of both currents, brought about by coupling the quantum dot to an incoherent sonic or electromagnetic source, are then analyzed. By choosing the appropriate range of the boson source intensity and its frequency, the magnitude of the interference-related terms of both currents can be controlled.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Persistent currents in interacting Aharonov-Bohm interferometers and their enhancement by acoustic radiation

We consider an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, connected to two electronic reservoirs, with a quantum dot embedded on one of its arms. We find a general expression for the persistent current at steady state, valid for the case where the electronic system is free of interactions except on the dot. The result is used to derive the modification in the persistent current brought about by coupling the quantum dot to a phonon source. The magnitude of the persistent current is found to be enhanced in an appropriate range of the intensity of the acoustic source.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Shot-noise in transport and beam experiments

Consider two Fermi gases with the same {\it average} currents: a transport gas, as in solid-state experiments where the chemical potentials of terminal 1 is $μ+eV$ and of terminal 2 and 3 is $μ$, and a beam, i.e., electrons entering only from terminal 1 having energies between $μ$ and $μ+eV$. By expressing the current noise as a sum over single-particle transitions we show that the temporal current fluctuations are very different: The beam is noisier due to allowed single-particle transitions into empty states below $μ$. Surprisingly, the correlations between terminals 2 and 3 are the same.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Quantum noise, detailed balance and Kubo formula in nonequilibrium quantum systems

Current quantum noise can be pictured as a sum over transitions through which the electronic system exchanges energy with its environment. We formulate this picture and use it to show which type of current correlators are measurable, and in what measurement the zero point fluctuations will play a role (the answer to the latter is as expected: only if the detector excites the system.) Using the above picture, we calculate and give physical interpretation of the finite-frequency finite-temperature current noise in a noninteracting Landauer-type system, where the chemical potentials of terminals 1 and 2 are $μ+eV/2$ and $μ-eV/2$ respectively, and derive a detailed-balance condition for this nonequilibrium system. Finally, we derive a generalized form of the Kubo formula for a wide class of interacting nonequilibrium systems, relating the differential conductivity to the current noise.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

What quantity is measured in an excess noise experiment?

Consider a measurement in which the current coming out of a mesoscopic sample is filtered around a given frequency, amplified, measured and squared. Then this process is repeated many times and the results are averaged. Often, two such measurements are performed on the same system in and out of equilibrium (the nonequilibrium state can be obtained by a variety of methods, e.g., by applying a DC voltage or electromagnetic radiation to the sample). The excess noise is defined as the difference in the noise between these two measurements. We find that this excess noise is given by the excess of the non-symmetrized power-spectrum of the current-noise. This result holds for a rather general class of experimental setups.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

The magnetic response of disordered metallic rings: the large contribution of the far levels

We calculate the orbital linear magnetic response of disordered metallic rings to an Aharonov-Bohm flux using the BCS model for attractive electron-electron interaction. The contribution of all levels including those up to a high energy cutoff results in a much larger value than previously obtained using the local interaction model. The possible relevance of our results to the resolution of the discrepancy between the experimental and theoretical values for the ensemble-averaged persistent currents in these systems is discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Pairing and persistent currents - the role of the far levels

We calculate the orbital magnetic response to Aharonov Bohm flux of disordered metallic rings with attractive pairing interaction. We consider the reduced BCS model, and obtain the result as an expansion of its exact solution to first order in the interaction. We emphasize the connection between the large magnetic response and the finite occupation of high energy levels in the many-body ground state of the ring.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

The Enhanced Sensitivity of the Transmission Phase of a Quantum Dot to Kondo Correlations

The strong sensitivity of the transmission phase through a quantum dot embedded into one arm of a two-wave Aharonov-Bohm interferometer to the Kondo effect is explained. The enhancement takes place because of the buildup of the exchange scattering on the dot due to Kondo correlations even much above $T_{K}$. The enhanced exchange competes with the potential scattering, which is always weak. Both cases of the Anderson impurity model and a multilevel quantum dot are considered. In the latter case in addition to the description of peculiar phase behavior a mechanism leading to ferromagnetic Kondo coupling in quantum dots is proposed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗