Piotr Trocha

Large enhancement of thermoelectric effects in a double quantum dot system due to interference and Coulomb correlation phenomena

Thermoelectric effects in a double quantum dot system coupled to external magnetic/nonmagnetic leads are investigated theoretically. The basic thermoelectric transport characteristics, like thermopower, electronic contribution to heat conductance, and the corresponding figure of merit, have been calculated in terms of the linear response theory and Green function formalism in the Hartree-Fock approximation for Coulomb interactions. An enhancement of the thermal efficiency (figure of merit ZT) due to Coulomb blockade has been found. The magnitude of ZT is further considerably enhanced by quantum interference effects. Both the Coulomb correlations and interference effects lead to strong violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law. The influence of spin-dependent transport and spin bias on the thermoelectric effects (especially on Seebeck and spin Seebeck effects) is also analyzed.

Dicke-like effect in spin-polarized transport through coupled quantum dots

Spin-dependent electronic transport through a quantum dot side-coupled to two quantum dots and attached to ferromagnetic leads with collinear (parallel and antiparallel) magnetizations is analyzed theoretically. The intra-dot Coulomb correlations are taken into account, whereas the inter-dot ones are neglected. Transport characteristics, i.e. conductance and tunnel magnetoresistance associated with the magnetization rotation from parallel to antiparallel configurations, are calculated by the non-equilibrium Greens function technique. The Greens functions are derived by the equation of motion method in the Hartree–Fock approximation. The conductance spectra are shown to reveal features similar to the Dicke resonance in atomic physics.

The role of the indirect tunneling processes and asymmetry in couplings in orbital Kondo transport through double quantum dots

A system of two quantum dots attached to external electrodes is considered theoretically in the orbital Kondo regime. In general, the double dot system is coupled via both Coulomb interaction and direct hopping. Moreover, the indirect hopping processes between the dots (through the leads) are also taken into account. To investigate the systems electronic properties we apply the slave-boson mean field (SBMF) technique. With the help of the SBMF approach the local density of states for both dots and the transmission (as well as linear and differential conductance) is calculated. We show that Dicke- and Fano-like line shapes may emerge in the transport characteristics of the double dot system. Moreover, we observed that these modified Kondo resonances are very susceptible to the change of the indirect couplings strength. We have also shown that the Kondo temperature becomes suppressed with increasing asymmetry in the dot-lead couplings when there is no indirect coupling. Moreover, when the indirect coupling is turned on the Kondo temperature becomes suppressed. By allowing a relative sign of the nondiagonal elements of the coupling matrix with left and right electrodes, we extend our investigations to become more generic. Finally, we have also included the level renormalization effects due to indirect tunneling, which are mostly neglected.

Spin-resolved Andreev transport through double-quantum-dot Cooper pair splitters

We investigate the Andreev transport through double-quantum-dot Cooper pair splitters with ferromagnetic leads. The analysis is performed with the aid of the real-time diagrammatic technique in the sequential tunneling regime. We study the dependence of the Andreev current, the differential conductance, and the tunnel magnetoresistance on various parameters of the model in both the linear and nonlinear response regimes. In particular, we analyze the spin-resolved transport in the crossed Andreev reflection regime, where a blockade of the current occurs due to enhanced occupation of the triplet state. We show that in the triplet blockade, finite intradot correlations can lead to considerable leakage current due to direct Andreev reflection processes. Furthermore, we find additional regimes of current suppression resulting from enhanced occupation of singlet states, which decreases the rate of crossed Andreev reflection. We also study how the splitting of Andreev bound states, triggered by either dot level detuning, finite hopping between the dots, or finite magnetic field, affects the Andreev current. While in the first two cases the number of Andreev bound states is doubled, whereas transport properties are qualitatively similar, in the case of finite magnetic field further level splitting occurs, leading to a nontrivial behavior of spin-resolved transport characteristics, and especially that of tunneling magnetoresistance. Finally, we discuss the entanglement fidelity between split Cooper pair electrons and show that by tuning the device parameters, fidelity can reach unity.

Negative tunnel magnetoresistance and differential conductance in transport through double quantum dots

Spin-dependent transport through two coupled single-level quantum dots weakly connected to ferromagnetic leads with collinear magnetizations is considered theoretically. Transport characteristics, including the current, linear and nonlinear conductances, and tunnel magnetoresistance are calculated using the real-time diagrammatic technique in the parallel, serial, and intermediate geometries. The effects due to virtual tunneling processes between the two dots via the leads, associated with off-diagonal coupling matrix elements, are also considered. Negative differential conductance and negative tunnel magnetoresistance have been found in the case of serial and intermediate geometries, while no such behavior has been observed for double quantum dots coupled in parallel. It is also shown that transport characteristics strongly depend on the magnitude of the off-diagonal coupling matrix elements.

Superconducting proximity effect and zero-bias anomaly in transport through quantum dots weakly attached to ferromagnetic leads

The Andreev transport through a quantum dot coupled to two external ferromagnetic leads and one superconducting lead is studied theoretically by means of the real-time diagrammatic technique in the sequential and cotunneling regimes. We show that the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of the Andreev current displays a nontrivial dependence on the bias voltage and the level detuning, and can be described by analytical formulas in the zero temperature limit. The cotunneling processes lead to a strong modification of the TMR, which is most visible in the Coulomb blockade regime. We find a zero-bias anomaly of the Andreev differential conductance in the parallel configuration, which is associated with a nonequilibrium spin accumulation in the dot triggered by Andreev processes.

Spin-dependent thermoelectric properties of a Kondo-correlated quantum dot with Rashba spin–orbit coupling

Thermoelectric transport phenomena in a single-level quantum dot coupled to ferromagnetic leads are considered theoretically in the Kondo regime. The dot is described by the Anderson model with Rashba type spin-orbit interactions. The finite-U mean field slave boson technique is used to describe transport characteristics, such as the heat conductance, thermopower and thermoelectric efficiency (figure of merit). The role of quantum interference effects in the thermoelectric parameters is also analyzed.

Orbital Kondo effect in double quantum dots

Orbital Kondo effect in a system of two single-level quantum dots attached to external electron reservoirs is considered theoretically. The dots are coupled via direct hoping term and Coulomb interaction. The Kondo temperature is evaluated from the scaling approach and slave boson technique. The later method is also used to calculate linear conductance of the system. Nonlinear conductance, in turn, is calculated in terms of the nonequilibrium Green function formalism.

Spin-dependent thermoelectric effects in a strongly correlated double quantum dot

We investigate spin-dependent thermoelectric transport through a system of two coupled quantum dots attached to reservoirs of spin-polarized electrons. Generally, we focus on the strongly correlated regime of transport. To this end, a slave-boson method for finite

Current cross-correlations in double quantum dot based Cooper pair splitters with ferromagnetic leads

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