Shaping electronic flows with strongly correlated physics

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strong electronic correlations influence quantum transport in nanoscale systems, revealing that tuning a local phase can control electronic flow and correlation effects across different length scales.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of quantum correlations on transport in a multi-channel nanoscale system and shows how local phase tuning can manipulate electronic flow and correlations.

Findings

Transport is significantly affected by tuning a single local phase.

Correlations can funnel or scatter electronic flow across the nanosheet.

Quantum correlations can bridge length scales in nanoelectronic device design.

Abstract

Nonequilibrium quantum transport is of central importance in nanotechnology. Its description requires the understanding of strong electronic correlations, which couple atomic-scale phenomena to the nanoscale. So far, research in correlated transport focused predominantly on few-channel transport, precluding the investigation of cross-scale effects. Recent theoretical advances enable the solution of models that capture the interplay between quantum correlations and confinement beyond a few channels. This problem is the focus of this study. We consider an atomic impurity embedded in a metallic nanosheet spanning two leads, showing that transport is significantly altered by tuning only the phase of a single, local hopping parameter. Furthermore -- depending on this phase -- correlations reshape the electronic flow throughout the sheet, either funneling it through the impurity or scattering it away from a much larger region. This demonstrates the potential for quantum correlations to bridge length scales in the design of nanoelectronic devices and sensors.