Spin-unpolarized Ground State Research Articles

Nematic Metal in a Multivalley Electron Gas: Variational MonteCarlo Analysis and Application to AlAs.

The two-dimensional electron gas is of fundamental importance in quantum many-body physics. We study a minimal extension of this model with C_{4} (as opposed to full rotational) symmetry and an electronic dispersion with two valleys with anisotropic effective masses. Electrons in our model interact via Coulomb repulsion, screened by distant metallic gates. Using variational MonteCarlo simulations, we find a broad intermediate range of densities with a metallic valley-polarized, spin-unpolarized ground state. Our results are of direct relevance to the recently discovered "nematic" state in AlAs quantum wells. For the effective mass anisotropy relevant to this system, m_{x}/m_{y}≈5.2, we obtain a transition from an anisotropic metal to a valley-polarized metal at r_{s}≈12 (where r_{s} is the dimensionless Wigner-Seitz radius). At still lower densities, we find a (possibly metastable) valley and spin-polarized state with a reduced electronic anisotropy.

Honeycomb-Patterned Quantum Dots beyond Graphene

Graphene quantum dots (QDs) hold great promises in spintronics. Here, we report our predictions of honeycomb-patterned QDs beyond graphene, on the basis of first-principles calculations and an extended Hubbard model. Our calculations showed that the electronic structures and spin-polarization of boron nitride (BN) and silicon carbide (SiC) QDs can be well tuned by controlling the shape and size of the QDs. Edge hydrogenation can not only greatly improve the stability but also diminish the spin-polarization of BN-QDs. Triangular SiC-QDs have spin-polarized ground states, and the magnetic moments increase with the increase of QD size. Hexagonal SiC-QDs, however, possess spin-unpolarized ground states whose energy gaps decrease with the increase of QD size. To understand the origins of the composition- and shape-dependent spin-polarization of these honeycomb-patterned QDs, we extended the single-orbital Hubbard model of graphene QDs by taking into account the onsite energy differences of the two sublattices. Our extended Hubbard model reproduces well the results of first-principles calculations and offers a simple model to predict the electronic structures of honeycomb-patterned QDs.

Ground State Instability in Spin Polarization for Electrons Confined in Two-Dimensional Square Quantum Dots

We present a theoretical study of the ground state electronic structure and the spin polarization for four electrons confined in two-dimensional (2D) square quantum dots (SQDs). We employ standard mean field theory (MFT) approaches using the unrestricted Hartree–Fock (UHF) and density functional theory calculations. The resonant UHF configuration interaction (res-UHF CI) calculation was also performed in order to incorporate the electron correlation more intuitively. The MFT ground state is expected to be spin-polarized when SQDs have a small confinement length L or aspect ratio δ= Lx/Ly = 1, in agreement with Hund's rule. In contrast, the spin-unpolarized ground state singlet is expected in all in other SQDs. Thus, the MFT calculations produce the anti-Hund state, where the spin-density wave forms having the zero of the total spin, even though the SQD has the point group symmetry D4h. However, the res-UHF CI calculation restores the geometrical symmetry in the resulting ground state when the Coulomb interaction is strengthened. Nevertheless, the res-UHF CI ground state maintains the zero total spin. Thus, ground state instability is expected in the spin-polarization of the SQD system, which eventually violates Hund's rule in accordance with the Coulomb interaction.

Impurity-induced bound states in iron-based superconductors withs-wavecos kx⋅cos kypairing symmetry

Using both the self-consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes formulation and non-self-consistent T-matrix approach, we perform a comprehensive investigation of the in-gap bound states induced by a localized single impurity in iron-based superconductors. We focus on studying signatures associated with the unconventional sign-changed s-wave pairing symmetry. For a non-magnetic impurity, we find that there are two in-gap bounds, symmetric with respect to zero energy, only in the sign changed s-wave pairing state, not in the sign-unchanged s-wave state, due to the existence of non-trivial Andreev bound states caused by the sign change. For a magnetic impurity, we find that due to the breakdown of the local time-reversal symmetry, there exist only bound state solutions (with orbital degeneracy) carrying one of the electron-spin polarizations around the impurity. As increasing the scattering strength, the system undergoes a quantum phase transition (level crossing) from a spin-unpolarized ground state to a spin-polarized one. While the results for the magnetic impurity are qualitatively similar in both the sign-changed and sign-unchanged s-wave superconducting states, the bound states in the first case are more robust and there is no $\pi$ phase shift of the SC gap near the impurity in the strong scattering regime.

Spin transitions in the fractional quantum Hall systems

We study the electron spin polarizations of fractional quantum Hall states by numerically diagonalizing the Hamiltonian for finite systems in the spherical geometry. At Landau level filling fractions ν= 2 3 and 2 5 we find spin unpolarized ground states at low magnetic fields and fully polarized states at high fields. Close to the transition points, we find indications of stable states with intermediate spin polarization. Our results are in a qualitative agreement with the recent experiment of Kukushkin et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (1999) 3665].

Hysteresis, spin transitions, and magnetic ordering in the fractional quantum Hall effect

We have studied the development of metastable properties associated with a nearly spin-degenerate two-dimensional electron system. Application of large hydrostatic pressure significantly reduces the g-factor experienced by electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, and various fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) states are found to undergo transition to a spin-unpolarized ground state. In case of even numerator FQHE states, the spin transitions are accompanied by hysteresis and nonlinearity in the magnetotransport. These results strongly support a recent theory of quantum Hall magnetism in which competition between spin-polarized and spin-unpolarized ground states leads to an ordered phase that exhibits ferromagnetic correlation.

Spectral properties of quasiparticle excitations induced by magnetic moments in superconductors

The consequences of localized, classical magnetic moments in superconductors are explored and their effect on the spectral properties of the intragap bound states is studied. Above a critical moment, a localized quasiparticle excitation in an s-wave superconductor is spontaneously created near a magnetic impurity, inducing a zero-temperature quantum transition. In this transition, the spin quantum number of the ground state changes from zero to , while the total charge remains the same. In contrast, the spin-unpolarized ground state of a d-wave superconductor is found to be stable for any value of the magnetic moment when the normal-state energy spectrum possesses particle-hole symmetry. The effect of impurity scattering on the quasiparticle states is interpreted in the spirit of relevant symmetries of the clean superconductor. The results obtained by the non-self-consistent (T matrix) and the self-consistent mean-field approximations are compared and qualitative agreement between the two schemes is found in the regime where the coherence length is longer than the Fermi length.

Experimental determination of the transport properties of composite fermions with reduced Lande g-factor

We demonstrate experimentally the existence of unpolarized spin states of composite fermions in the fractional quantum Hall effect regime. The modulus of the effective Lande g-factor was reduced using hydrostatic pressure and the transport properties of the first and second hierarchy of composite fermion states were studied in an AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction in perpendicular magnetic fields. The activation energy of states at filling factor, nu =2/3 and 2/5 show a variation with effective Lande g-factor that is consistent with a spin-unpolarized ground state at these filling factors. The rapid destruction of the energy gap in the first composite fermion hierarchy at nu =2/5 follows the pressure dependence of the effective Lande g-factor of free electrons in GaAs. We show that structure in sigma xx, initially absent at ambient pressure, develops at even filling factor fractions corresponding to metallic states at nu =3/8 and nu =5/12 under reduced Lande g-factor conditions. Consistent behaviour is observed independent of the carrier density in the dilute electron system at 4.4*1010 and 6.8*1010 cm-2.