Molekulare Spintronik
Final Report Abstract
The project allowed me to extend my research activity in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics and quantum transport theory. On the one hand, I was able to investigate a number of promising questions related to the work that I had started in Berlin as a graduate student. On the other hand, I was given the opportunity to learn and develop new techniques while studying spin-dependent transport through molecular magnets and the role of spin and orbital degrees of freedom in transport through carbon-based nanostructures. Although our original idea was to understand transport through graphene in the context of molecular spintronics, it turned out to be more interesting to pay attention to carbon nanotubes, which reveal the same electronic dispersion as graphene does but exhibit additional transport phenomena that arise from the confinement of the electrons in one dimension. Moreover, recent experiments motivated me to investigate transport through endohedral fullerene molecules. Transport through molecular magnets was studied in collaboration with Carsten Timm. Particular attention was paid to the resonant-tunneling regime and to the Kondo regime. My studies of carbon-based nanostructures focused on the influence of spin and orbital degrees of freedom on current-voltage characteristics. These projects were carried out in collaboration with Andrew J. Millis and David R. Reichman. At the end of the funding period, transport through single endohedral fullerene molecules was studied experimentally by Wolfgang Wernsdorfer et al. A collaboration involving his group, Carsten Timm, Wolfgang Harneit, and myself turned out to be very fruitful and resulted in a joint publication. My research activity at Columbia University allowed me to benefit from Andrew Millis’ and David Reichman’s great expertise on quantum transport theory and strongly correlated systems and to enjoy the stimulating environment of very active and broadly interested research groups affiliated with the physics and chemistry department.
Publications
- Transport through a quantum dot with two parallel Luttinger liquid leads, Phys. Rev. B
F. Elste, D. R. Reichman, and A. J. Millis
- Effect of a Coulombic dot-lead coupling on the dynamics of a quantum dot, Phys. Rev. B 81, 205413 (2010)
F. Elste, D. R. Reichman, and A. J. Millis
- Resonant and Kondo tunneling through molecular magnets, Phys. Rev. B 81, 024421 (2010)
F. Elste and C. Timm
- Cotunneling through a magnetic single-molecule transistor based on N @C60 , Phys. Rev. B 83, 081407(R) (2011)
N. Roch, R. Vincent, F. Elste, W. Harneit, W. Wernsdorfer, C. Timm, and F. Balestro
- Transport through a quantum dot with excitonic dot-lead coupling, Phys. Rev. B 83, 085415 (2011)
F. Elste, D. R. Reichman, and A. J. Millis
