Single Impurity Scattering in One-Channel Spinless Luttinger Liquid

Using bosonization and phase shift representation, we rigorously treat backward scattering of electrons on an impurity in a one-dimensional interacting electronic system, and demonstrate that correlation exponents of the system depend on a phase shift induced by the backward scattering, and usual exponent duality of the correlation functions between ultraviolet and infrared fixed points comes from the phase shift dependence of the correlation exponents. Finally, we study the tunnelling conductance of the system at zero temperature and obtain a modified Landauer-Bütiker formula.     

Kondo and Coulomb Interaction Effects in Spin-Polarized Transport through Double Quantum Dots

By means of the slave-boson mean-field approximation, we theoretically investigate the Kondo and Coulomb interaction effects in spin-polarized transport through two coupled quantum dots coupled to two ferromagnetic leads by the Anderson Hamiltonian. The density of states is calculated in the Kondo regime for the effect of the interdot Coulomb repulsion with both parallel and antiparallel lead-polarization alignments. Our results reveal that the interdot Coulomb interaction between quantum dots greatly influence the density of states of the dots.     

Dynamical properties of mesoscopic ring coupled to an ac driven electron reservoir

We investigate a one-dimensional mesoscopic ring with a constant magnetic flux coupled to an electron reservoir which is driven by an oscillating potential. There is time-dependent tunneling current between the ring and reservoir with a zero net value. The persistent current in the ring is also time-dependent due to the driving potential. The time-averaged persistent current is related to electron transfer between two coupled parts which is associated with the Fermi energy and side bands of the reservoir.     

ac field-induced Fano resonances in a parallel-coupled double quantum dot system

The effects of an ac electric field on the Fano resonance in a parallel-coupled double quantum dot system are investigated theoretically. The field can induce the photon-assisted Fano resonances for both symmetrical and asymmetrical parallel configurations. The magnitude and position of the photon-assisted Fano peak can be tuned by the ac field strength and frequency, respectively. Furthermore, the Fano resonance can appear with increasing the field frequency for both the symmetrical and asymmetrical configurations. This provides an efficient mechanism to control the Fano resonance. The photon-electron pumping effects for the symmetrical and asymmetrical cases are also studied in the weak- and strong-coupling regime.     

Kondo Resonance versus Fano Interference in Double Quantum Dots Coupled to a Two-Lead One-Ring System

We analyse the transport properties of a coupled double quantum dot （DQD） device with one of the dots （QD1） coupled to metallic leads and the other （QD2） embedded in an Aharonov-Bhom （A-B） ring by means of the slaveboson mean-field theory. It is found that in this system, the Kondo resonance and the Fano interference exist simultaneously, the enhancing Kondo effect and the increasing hopping of the QD2-Ring destroy the localized electron state in the QD2 for the QD1-leads, and accordingly, the Fano interference between the DQD-leads and the QD1-leads are suppressed. Under some conditions, the Fano interference can be quenched fully and the single Kondo resonance of the QD1-leads comes into being. Moreover, when the magnetic flux of the A-B ring is zero, the influence of the parity of the A-B ring on the transport properties is very weak, but this influence becomes more obvious with non-zero magnetic flux. Thus this model may be a candidate for future device applications.     

Multiterminal Conductance and Decoherence Effect of a Three-Terminal Kondo Dot

A three-terminal Kondo dot modelled by the Anderson Hamiltonian is investigated. In the strong correlation limit, we calculate the multiterminal conductance and the voltage-induced characteristic splitting of the nonequilibrium Kondo resonance by using the equation of motion approach from viewpoint of the correlation dynamics. A qualitative and reasonable agreement with a recently reported experiment is obtained. We also simulate phenomenologically the decoherence of the Kondo-coherent state formed in the two-terminal setup in the framework of our three-terminal model.     

Kondo effect and spin filtering in triangular artificial atoms

We studied, strongly correlated states in triangular artificial atoms. Symmetry-driven orbital degeneracy of the single particle states can give rise to an SU(4) Kondo state with entangled orbital and spin degrees of freedom, and a characteristic phase shift δ=π/4. Upon application of a Zeeman field, a purely orbital Kondo state is formed with somewhat smaller Kondo temperature and a fully polarized current through the device. The Kondo temperatures are in the measurable range. The triangular atom also provides a tool to systematically study the singlet-triplet transitions observed in recent experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett., 88 (2002) 126803, cond-mat/0208268 (2002)].     

Charge dynamics effects in conductance through a large semi-open quantum dot

Fano lineshapes in resonant transmission in a quantum dot imply interference between localized and extended states. The influence of the charge accumulated at the localized levels, which screens the external gate voltage acting on the conduction channel is investigated. The modified Fano q parameter and the resonant conduction is derived starting from a microscopic Hamiltonian. The latest experiments on ‘charge sensing’ and ‘Coulomb modified Fano sensing’ compare well with the results of the present model.     

High pressure effects on the electrical resistivity behavior of the Kondo lattice, YbPd2Si2

We report the influence of external high-pressure (P up to 8 GPa) on the temperature (T) dependence of electrical resistivity (ρ) of a Yb-based Kondo lattice, YbPd₂Si₂, which does not undergo magnetic ordering under ambient pressure condition. There are qualitative changes in the ρ(T) behavior due to the application of external pressure. While ρ is found to vary quadratically below 15 K (down to 45 mK) characteristic of Fermi-liquids, a drop is observed below 0.5 K for P=1 GPa, signaling the onset of magnetic ordering of Yb ions with the application of P. The T at which this fall occurs goes through a peak as a function of P (8 K for P=2 GPa and about 5 K at high pressures), mimicking Doniach's magnetic phase diagram. We infer that this compound is one of the very few Yb-based stoichiometric materials, in which one can traverse from valence fluctuation to magnetic ordering by the application of external pressure.     

Fano versus Kondo Resonances in a Closed Aharonov-Bohm Interferometer Coupled to Ferromagnetic Electrodes

Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function and equation-of-motion technique, we investigate Fano versus Kondo resonances in a closed Aharonov-Bohm interferometer coupled to ferromagnetic leads and study their effects on the conductance of this system. The conductance with both parallel and antiparallel lead-polarization alignments is analysed for various values of the magnetic flux. Our results show that this system can provide an excellent spin filtering property, and a large tunnelling magnetoresistance can arise by adjusting the system parameters, which indicates that this system is a possible candidate for spin valve transistors and has important applications in spintronics.     

Current and Shot Noise in a Quantum Dot Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads in the Kondo Regime

Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function technique, we study the current and shot noise spectroscopy of an interacting quantum dot coupled to two ferromagnetic leads with different polarizations in the Kondo regime. General formulas of current and shot noise are obtained, which can be applied in both the parallel （P） and antiparallel （AP） alignment cases. For large polarization values, it is revealed that the behaviour of differential conductance and shot noise are completely different for spin up and spin down configurations in the P alignment case. However, the differential conductance and shot noise have similar properties for different spin configurations in the P alignment case with the small polarization value and in the AP alignment case with any polarization value.     

Fano Interference versus Kondo Effect in Strongly Correlated T-Shaped Quantum Dots Embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm Ring

We theoretically investigate the properties of the ground state of the strongly correlated T-shaped double quantum dots embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm ring in the Kondo regime by means of the one-impurity Anderson Hamiltonian. It is found that in this system, the persistent current depends sensitively on the parity and size of the ring. With the increase of interdot coupling, the persistent current is suppressed due to the enhancing Fano interference weakening the Kondo effect. Moreover, when the spin of quantum dot embedded in the Aharonov- Bohm ring is screened, the persistent current peak is not affected by interdot coupling. Thus this model may be a new candidate for detecting Kondo screening cloud.     

Fano--Kondo Effect in a Triple Quantum Dots Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads

Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function and equation-of-motion technique, we have qualitatively studied the spin-dependent transport of a triple-QD system in the Kondo regime. It is shown that the Kondo resonance and Fang interference coexist, and in this system the Fang Kondo effect shows dip behaviours richer than that in the T-shaped QDs. The interdot coupling, the energy level of the side coupled QDs and the spin polarization strength greatly influence the DOS of the central quantum dot QDo. Either the increase of the coupling strength between the two QDs or that of the energy levels of the side coupled QDs enhances the Kondo resonance. Especially, the Kondo resonance is strengthened greatly when the side dot energy is fixed at the Fermi energy. Meanwhile, the Kondo resonance splits for the spin-up and spin-down configurations due to the polarization： the down-spin resonance is enhanced, and the up-spin resonance is suppressed.     

Ac-cotunneling through an interacting quantum dot in a magnetic field

We analyze inelastic cotunneling through an interacting quantum dot subject to an ambient magnetic field in the weak tunneling regime under a non-adiabatic time-dependent bias-voltage. Our results clearly exhibit photon-assisted satellites and an overall suppression of differential conductance with increasing driving amplitude, which is consistent with experiments. We also predict a zero-anomaly in differential conductance under an appropriate driving frequency.     

Electron interactions in an antidot in the integer quantum Hall regime

A quantum antidot, a submicron depletion region in a two-dimensional electron system, has been actively studied in the past two decades, providing a powerful tool for understanding quantum Hall systems. In a perpendicular magnetic field, electrons form bound states around the antidot. Aharonov–Bohm resonances through such bound states have been experimentally studied, showing interesting phenomena such as Coulomb charging, h/2e$h/2e$ oscillations, spectator modes, signatures of electron interactions in the line shape, Kondo effect, etc. None of them can be explained by a simple noninteracting electron approach. Theoretical models for the above observations have been developed recently, such as a capacitive-interaction model for explaining the h/2e$h/2e$ oscillations and the Kondo effect, numerical prediction of a hole maximum-density-droplet antidot ground state, and spin-density-functional theory for investigating the compressibility of antidot edges. In this review, we summarize such experimental and theoretical works on electron interactions in antidots.     

Electron transport in carbon nanotube quantum dots in an axial magnetic field

The quantum conductance of the quantum dots (QDs) made of two kinds of primary carbon nanotubes (CNTs), i.e., armchair and zigzag CNTs, threaded by an axial magnetic field, has been studied by using the tight binding approximation and constant interaction model. It is found that under increasing axial magnetic field, each conductance shell of the zigzag CNT-QDs could split into two groups with each group of two peaks moving up or down, respectively. And the up- and down-moving two peaks would re-group with other two peaks, down- and up-moving, in the neighboring shell, forming a new four-peak shell, and then re-splitting, re-grouping again due to the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which is in agreement with those of experiments. But, in contrast, the conductance shells of the armchair CNT-QDs do not split by the magnetic field. Our subsequent theoretical studies show further that the above phenomena, i.e., the conductance shell-splitting, re-grouping, and re-splitting again with increasing the magnetic field exist in all the CNT-QDs except for the armchair one.     

Spin-Polarized Transport through the T-Shaped Double Quantum Dots with Fano-Kondo Interaction

We theoretically investigate the spin-polarized transport properties of the T-shaped double quantum dots coupled to two ferromagnetic leads by the Anderson Hamiltonian. The Hamiltonian is solved by means of the slave-boson mean-field theory. We calculate the density of states and the liner conductance in this system with both parallel and antiparallel lead-polarization alignments, and our results show that the transport properties of this system depend on both the tunnelling strength between the two dots and the spin-polarized strength p. This system is a possible candidate for spin valve transistors in the spintronics.     

Spin-Polarized Transport through Parallel Double Quantum Dots Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads

We theoretically study the spin-polarized transport phenomena of the parallel double quantum dots coupled to two ferromagnetic leads by the Anderson Hamiltonian. The Hamiltonian is solved by means of the equation-of-motionapproach. We analyse the transmission probability of this system in both the equilibrium and nonequilibrium cases, and our results reveal that the transport properties show some noticeable characteristics depending upon both the spin-polarized strength p and the value of the magnetic flux Φ. Moreover, in the parallel configuration, the position of the Kondo peak shifts while it remains unchanged for the antiparallel configuration. These effects might have some potential applications in spintronics.     

Quantum critical point in high-temperature superconductors

Recently, in high-Tc superconductors (HTSC), exciting measurements have been performed revealing their physics in superconducting and pseudogap states and in normal one induced by the application of magnetic field, when the transition from non-Fermi liquid to Landau-Fermi liquid behavior occurs. We employ a theory, based on fermion condensation quantum phase transition which is able to explain facts obtained in the measurements. We also show, that in spite of very different microscopic nature of HTSC, heavy-fermion metals and 2D ³He, the physical properties of these three classes of substances are similar to each other.     

Kondo effect of a quantum dot coupling indirectly to the conduction electrons

When a quantum dot in the Kondo regime couples to two leads (the conduction electron reservoirs) indirectly through intermediate electron levels, two features are noteworthy concerning the Kondo effect. First, the Kondo peak in the spectrum of local density of states becomes narrower as the coupling to the leads is much larger than the interdot coupling, which is just opposite to the case of direct dot-lead coupling. Secondly, the increment of the coupling to the leads and the deviation of the intermediate levels from the Fermi level can effectively facilitate the formation of the negative differential conductance.