Kondo effect in single-molecule magnet transistors

TL;DR

This paper derives a microscopic model for the Kondo effect in single-molecule magnet transistors, showing how a transverse magnetic field can topologically induce or quench the effect via Berry phase interference.

Contribution

It provides a detailed derivation of the Kondo Hamiltonian for SMM transistors and predicts topological control of the Kondo effect through magnetic fields and Berry phase effects.

Findings

Kondo effect can be topologically induced or quenched by magnetic fields.

Berry phase oscillations influence Kondo peak behavior.

SMM Ni4 is a candidate for experimental observation of conductance oscillations.

Abstract

We present a careful and thorough microscopic derivation of the Kondo Hamiltonian for single-molecule magnets (SMMs) transistors. When the molecule is strongly coupled to metallic leads, we show that by applying a transverse magnetic field it is possible to topologically induce or quench the Kondo effect in the conductance of a SMM with either an integer or a half-integer spin S>1/2. This topological Kondo effect is due to the Berry phase interference between multiple quantum tunneling paths of the spin. We calculate the renormalized Berry phase oscillations of the two Kondo peaks as a function of the transverse magnetic field by means of the poor man's scaling. In particular, we show that the Kondo exchange interaction between itinerant electrons in the leads and the SMM pseudo spin 1/2 depends crucially on the SMM spin selection rules for the addition and subtraction of an electron and can range from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic. We illustrate our findings with the SMM Ni4, which we propose as a possible candidate for the experimental observation of the conductance oscillations.