A theory of non-equilibrium (``shot) noise and high frequency conductance in diffusive mesoscopic conductors with screening is presented. Detailed results are obtained for two simple geometries, for both large and short electron-electron scattering length $l_{ee}$, at frequencies of the order of the inverse Thouless time $1/tau_T$. The conductance and the noise are found to exhibit significant frequency dependence. For $L ll l_{ee}$, the high-frequency ($omegatau_T gg 1$) shot noise spectral density $S_I(omega)$ approaches a finite value between $2eI/3$ and $2eI$, depending on the screening properties of the system, with temperature corrections to $S_I(omega)$ being linear in $T$. However, when $L gg l_{ee}$, $S_I(omega)$ grows as $omega^{1/4}$ (at T=0), is not upper-bound by $2eI$, and has a temperature-dependent component quadratic in $T$. As a result, measurements of $S_I(omega, T)$ can be utilized as a probe of the strength of electron-electron scattering.
We study the non-equilibrium regime of the Kondo effect in a quantum dot laterally coupled to a narrow wire. We observe a split Kondo resonance when a finite bias voltage is imposed across the wire. The splitting is attributed to the creation of a double-step Fermi distribution function in the wire. Kondo correlations are strongly suppressed when the voltage across the wire exceeds the Kondo temperature. A perpendicular magnetic field enables us to selectively control the coupling between the dot and the two Fermi seas in the wire. Already at fields of order 0.1 T only the Kondo resonance associated with the strongly coupled reservoir survives.
The thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR) is expected to hold in nanoscale electronic conductors, when the electron transport process is quantum coherent and the transmission probability is constant (energy and voltage independent). We present measurements of the electron current and its noise in gold atomic-scale junctions and confirm the validity of the TUR for electron transport in realistic quantum coherent conductors. Furthermore, we show that it is beneficial to present the current and its noise as a TUR ratio in order to identify deviations from noninteracting-electron coherent dynamics.
We report a simple route to generate magnetotransport data that results in fractional quantum Hall plateaus in the conductance. Ingredients to the generating model are conducting tiles with integer quantum Hall effect and metallic linkers, further Kirchhoff rules. When connecting few identical tiles in a mosaic, fractional steps occur in the conductance values. Richer spectra representing several fractions occur when the tiles are parametrically varied. Parts of the simulation data are supported with purposefully designed graphene mosaics in high magnetic fields. The findings emphasize that the occurrence of fractional conductance values, in particular in two-terminal measurements, does not necessarily indicate interaction-driven physics. We underscore the importance of an independent determination of charge densities and critically discuss similarities with and differences to the fractional quantum Hall effect.
A dilute concentration of magnetic impurities can dramatically affect the transport properties of an otherwise pure metal. This phenomenon, known as the Kondo effect, originates from the interactions of individual magnetic impurities with the conduction electrons. Nearly a decade ago, the Kondo effect was observed in a new system, in which the magnetic moment stems from a single unpaired spin in a lithographically defined quantum dot, or artificial atom. The discovery of the Kondo effect in artificial atoms spurred a revival in the study of Kondo physics, due in part to the unprecedented control of relevant parameters in these systems. In this review we discuss the physics, origins, and phenomenology of the Kondo effect in the context of recent quantum dot experiments.