Modulating thermal robustness and entanglement distribution in a two-dimensional dissipative spin system using impurities

Abstract

We consider a finite two-dimensional Heisenberg triangular spin lattice coupled to a dissipative Markovian environment at finite temperature in the presence of an external uniform magnetic field. We show how inserting a magnetic impurity in the spin system can be used to effectively control the dynamics and asymptotic state of the system. A strong impurity, at a border or central site, was found to enhance its entanglement with the other spins and their thermal robustness to the dissipative environment reaching an asymptotic state that is independent of the system initial state. However, it reduces the entanglement among the other spins in the lattice and their thermal robustness and may diminish them depending on its strength and the environment temperature. Moreover, the effect of the impurity increases significantly as the degree of anisotropy of the spin system increases. Therefore, the entanglement distribution over the different sites of the lattice can be modulated by tuning the impurity strength, system anisotropy and environment temperature. The impurity can be used as a switch that turns the entanglement on among specific spins and off among others simultaneously.