Abstract
We investigate the heat current of a strongly interacting quantum dot in the presence of a voltage bias in the Kondo regime. Using the slave-boson mean-field theory, we discuss the behavior of the energy flow and the Joule heating. We find that both contributions to the heat current display interesting symmetry properties under reversal of the applied dc bias. We show that the symmetries arise from the behavior of the dot transmission function. Importantly, the transmission probability is a function of both energy and voltage. This allows us to analyze the heat current in the nonlinear regime of transport. We observe that nonlinearities appear already for voltages smaller than the Kondo temperature. Finally, we suggest to use the contact and electric symmetry coefficients as a way to measure pure energy currents.
Highlights
There is a growing interest in controlling and manipulating heat currents flowing in nanoscale devices [1]
We investigate the energy and Joule currents given by Eqs. (3) and (4) in response to a symmetrically applied voltage bias
We focus on voltages smaller than the Kondo temperature kBTK = D exp (−|εd|π/Γ)
Summary
There is a growing interest in controlling and manipulating heat currents flowing in nanoscale devices [1]. Efficient heat-to-work transformation, low-temperature thermometry, heat rectification and quantum cooling are but a few examples of possible beneficial applications foreseen within the realm of mesoscopic conductors [2]. Current carriers (electrons) carry energy and represent the main contribution to heat in quantum electronics at low temperatures. Heat is dominated by Joule power, which is always positive since it is connected to dissipation. The measured heat current consists of two terms (energy flux and Joule heating) and it is natural to analyze their relative importance based on the transmission properties of the system. We consider a single-level quantum dot setup, a prototypical mesoscopic system that allows us to analyze the role of strong electron-electron interactions in the generation of heat far from equilibrium
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
