arXiv subjects

Yuval Oreg

Publications and source records attributed to Yuval Oreg.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

RKKY and magnetic field interactions in coupled Kondo quantum dots

We investigate theoretically the transport properties of two independent artificial Kondo impurities. They are coupled together via a tunable Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) interaction. For strong enough antiferromagnetic RKKY interaction, the impurity density of states increases with the applied in-plane magnetic field. This effect can be used to distinguish between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic RKKY interactions. These results may be relevant to explain some features of recent experiments by Craig et al. (cond-mat/0404213).

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Dissipation and quantum phase transitions of a pair of Josephson junctions

A model system consisting of a mesoscopic superconducting grain coupled by Josephson junctions to two macroscopic superconducting electrodes is studied. We focus on the effects of ohmic dissipation caused by resistive shunts and superconducting-normal charge relaxation within the grain. As the temperature is lowered, the behavior crosses over from uncoupled Josephson junctions, similar to situations analyzed previously, to strongly interacting junctions. The crossover temperature is related to the energy-level spacing of the grain and is of the order of the inverse escape time from the grain. In the limit of zero temperature, the two-junction system exhibits five distinct quantum phases, including a novel superconducting state with localized Cooper pairs on the grain but phase coherence between the leads due to Cooper pair cotunneling processes. In contrast to a single junction, the transition from the fully superconducting to fully normal phases is found to be controlled by an intermediate coupling fixed point whose critical exponents vary continuously as the resistances are changed. The model is analyzed via two component sine-Gordon models and related Coulomb gases that provide effective low temperature descriptions in both the weak and the strong Josephson coupling limits. The complicated phase diagram is consistent with symmetries of the two component sine-Gordon models, which include weak to strong coupling duality and permutation triality. Experimental consequences of the results and potential implications for superconductor to normal transitions in thin wires and films are discussed briefly.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

The Signs of Quantum Dot-Lead Matrix Elements: The Effect on Transport vs. Spectral Properties

A small quantum dot coupled to two external leads is considered. Different signs of the dot-leads coupling matrix elements give rise to qualitatively different behavior of physical observables such as the conductance, the phase of the transmission amplitude and the differential capacitance of the dot. For certain relative signs the conductance may vanish at values of the gate potential, where the spectral density is maximal. Zeroes of the conductance are robust against increasing the dot-lead coupling. They are associated with abrupt phase lapses in the transmission phase whose width vanishes as the square of the temperature. We carefully distinguish between phase lapses of $-π$ and phase anti-lapses of $π$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2002

Kondo effect and STM spectra through ferromagnetic nanoclusters

Motivated by recent scanning tunneling microscope (STM) experiments on cobalt clusters adsorbed on single wall metallic nanotubes [Odom {\em et al.}, Science {\bf 290}, 1549 (2000)], we study theoretically the size dependence of STM spectra and spin-flip scattering of electrons from finite size ferromagnetic clusters adsorbed on metallic surfaces. We study two models of nanometer size ferromagnets: (i) An itinerant model with delocalized s, p and d electrons and (ii) a local moment model with both localized d-level spins and delocalized cluster electrons. The effective exchange coupling between the spin of the cluster and the conduction electrons of the metallic substrate depends on the specific details of the single particle density of states on the cluster. The calculated Kondo coupling is inversely proportional to the total spin of the ferromagnetic cluster in both models and thus the Kondo temperature is rapidly suppressed as the size of the cluster increases. Mesoscopic fluctuations in the charging energies and magnetization of nanoclusters can lead to large fluctuations in the Kondo temperatures and a very asymmetric voltage dependence of the STM spectra. We compare our results to the experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Non-Fermi-Liquid in a modified single electron transistor

At low temperatures, a system built from a small droplet of electrons and a larger, but still finite, droplet may display non-Fermi-liquid behavior. Stabilization of a multi-channel Kondo fixed point requires fine control of the electrochemical potential in each droplet. The desired fine control can be achieved by adjusting voltages on nearby gate electrodes. We study the conditions for obtaining this type of non-Fermi-liquid behavior and discuss the experimentally-observable consequences.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Spin, spin-orbit, and electron-electron interactions in mesoscopic systems

We review recent theoretical developments about the role of spins, electron-electron interactions, and spin-orbit coupling in metal nanoparticles and semiconductor quantum dots. For a closed system, in the absence of spin-orbit coupling or of an external magnetic field, electron-electron interactions make it possible to have ground states with spin $S > 1/2$. We review here a theoretical analysis which makes predictions for the probability of finding various values of spin $S$ for an irregular particle in the limit where the number of electron is large but finite. We also present results for the probability distribution of the spacing between successive groundstate energies in such a particle. In a metallic particle with strong spin-orbit interactions, for odd electron number, the groundstate has a Kramers' degeneracy, which is split linearly by a weak applied magnetic field. The splitting may be characterized by an effective $g$-tensor whose principal axes and eigenvalues vary from one level to another. Recent calculations have addressed the joint probability distribution, including the anisotropy, of the eigenvalues. The peculiar form of the spin-orbit coupling for a two-dimensional electron system in a GaAs heterostructure or quantum well leads to a strong suppression of spin-orbit effects when the electrons are confined in a small quantum dot. Spin-effects can be enhanced, however, in the presence of an applied magnetic field parallel to the layer, which may explain recent observations on fluctuations in the conductances through such dots. We also discuss possible explanations for the experimental observations by Davidovic and Tinkham of a multiplet splitting of the lowest resonance in the tunneling conductance through a gold nano-particle.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Fermions and Bosons in Superconducting Amorphous Wires

We discuss the destruction of superconductivity in quasi-one-dimensional systems due to the interplay between disorder and Coulomb repulsion. We argue that to understand the behavior of the system one has to study both fermionic and bosonic mechanisms of suppression of superconductivity. The former describes reduction in the mean field critical temperature $T_c$, while the latter refers to thermal and quantum fluctuations in the order parameter. A change in parameters such as wire width and disorder strength significantly affects both mechanisms.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Transmission Phase Shift of a Quantum Dot with Kondo Correlations

We study the effects of Kondo correlations on the transmission phase shift of a quantum dot in an Aharonov-Bohm ring. We predict in detail how the development of a Kondo resonance should affect the dependence of the phase shift on transport voltage, gate voltage and temperature. This system should allow the first direct observation of the well-known scattering phase shift of pi/2 expected (but not directly measurable in bulk systems) at zero temperature for an electron scattering off a spin-1/2 impurity that is screened into a singlet.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Spin configurations of carbon nanotube in a nonuniform external potential

We study, theoretically, the ground state spin of a carbon nanotube in the presence of an external potential. We find that when the external potential is applied to a part of the nanotube, its variation changes the single electron spectrum significantly. This, in combination with Coulomb repulsion and the symmetry properties of a finite length armchair nanotube induces spin flips in the ground state when the external potential is varied. We discuss the possible application of our theory to recent measurements of Coulomb blocked peaks and their dependence on a weak magnetic field in armchair carbon nanotubes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv1999

Mesoscopic fluctuations of the ground state spin of a small metal particle

We study the statistical distribution of the ground state spin for an ensemble of small metallic grains, using a random-matrix toy model. Using the Hartree Fock approximation, we find that already for interaction strengths well below the Stoner criterion there is an appreciable probability that the ground state has a finite, nonzero spin. Possible relations to experiments are discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv1999

Suppression of $\bbox{T_c}$ in superconducting amorphous wires

The suppression of the mean field temperature of the superconducting transition, $T_c$, in homogeneous amorphous wires is studied. We develop a theory that gives $T_c$ in situations when the dynamically enhanced Coulomb repulsion competes with the contact attraction. The theory accurately describes recent experiments on $T_c$--suppression in superconducting wires, after a procedure that minimizes the role of nonuniversal mechanisms influencing $T_c$ is applied.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1999

Drag and Hall drag in a bi-layer system with pinholes

The transresistance and the Hall transresistance of dirty two-dimensional bi-layer systems in the presence of tunneling bridges (pinholes) are studied theoretically. We find, at weak magnetic field, a non-zero Hall transresistance. In a geometry where the pinholes are concentrated in the middle of the sample, a quantum process gives the dominant contribution to both the ordinary transresistance and the Hall transresistance. Arising from the interplay between Coulomb repulsion, disorder and tunneling, the quantum contribution increases in a singular way as the temperature decreases.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv1999

Competition between zero bias anomaly and proximity effect in disordered systems

We investigate the suppression of the proximity effect in mesoscopic normal metal/superconductor systems induced by Coulomb interaction. We identify and elucidate the mechanism by which disorder leads to an amplification of this effect. In particular, for strong enough disorder, the proximity effect is shown to vanish. An expression for the tunneling density of states is obtained, and experimental applications are discussed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1997

Coulomb Drag in Systems with Tunneling Bridges

We study the Coulomb drag effect in double layer electronic systems with local tunneling links. The possibility of tunneling between the layers leads to a pronounced exchange contribution to the transconductance, which is negative and non-vanishing at zero temperature. The diffusive motion of the electrons inside each layer in interplay with the electron-electron interaction cause a distinguishable singular temperature dependence of the transconductance at low temperatures.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

A Single Impurity in Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquids

The problem of a single impurity in one dimensional Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids with a repulsive electron-electron interaction is discussed. We find that the renormalization group flow diagram for the parameters characterizing the impurity is rather complex. Apart from the fixed points corresponding to two weakly connected semi-infinite wires, the flow diagram contains additional fixed points which control the low temperature physics when the bare potential of the impurity is not strong.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

Reply to the Comment on "Enhancement of the Tunneling Density of States in Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquids"

In their comment Fabrizio and Gogolin dispute our result of the enhancement of the tunneling density of states in a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid at the location of a backward scattering defect [Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 4230(1996); cond-mat/9601020]. They state that the anticommutativity of the fermion operators of the left and right moving electrons was not considered properly in the Letter. We show in the Reply that the result of the Letter can be reproduced following the Comment when its calculations are performed correctly. This clearly indicates that the question about the anticommutation relations was raised by Fabrizio and Gogolin without serious grounds.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

DC--Transport in Quantum Wires

The influence of electron--electron interaction on two terminal DC conductance of one--dimensional quantum wires is studied. A cancelation between the effect of the electron--electron interaction on the current and on the external electric field is the reason for the universal value, $e^2/2π\hbar $ per mode, of the DC conductance of a clean wire. The effect of the renormalization of the electric field on the DC conductance in the presence of an interplay between the electron--electron interaction and backward scattering due to an impurity is considered.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

Electron Scattering Through a Quantum Dot: A Phase Lapse Mechanism

The scattering phase shift of an electron transferred through a quantum dot is studied within a model Hamiltonian, accounting for both the electron--electron interaction in the dot and a finite temperature. It is shown that, unlike in an independent electron picture, this phase may exhibit a phase lapse of $ π$ {\em between } consecutive resonances under generic circumstances.

cond-mat↗