Suppression of Kondo-assisted co-tunneling in a spin-1 quantum dot with Spin-Orbit interaction

TL;DR

This paper investigates how spin-orbit interaction suppresses Kondo-assisted co-tunneling in a four-electron spin-1 quantum dot, revealing new insights into zero-bias anomalies in such systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates the significant impact of spin-orbit interaction on Kondo effects in spin-1 quantum dots with four electrons, a scenario less explored before.

Findings

Spin-orbit interaction suppresses Kondo zero-bias anomalies.

Alteration of Kondo screening due to spin-orbit effects.

Insights into electron configurations in quantum dots.

Abstract

Kondo-type zero-bias anomalies have been frequently observed in quantum dots occupied by two electrons and attributed to a spin-triplet configuration that may become stable under particular circumstances. Conversely, zero-bias anomalies have been so far quite elusive when quantum dots are occupied by an even number of electrons greater than two, even though a spin-triplet configuration is more likely to be stabilized there than for two electrons. We propose as an origin of this phenomenon the spin-orbit interaction, and we show how it profoundly alters the conventional Kondo screening scenario in the simple case of a laterally confined quantum dot with four electrons.