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Wigner and Kondo physics in quantum point contacts revealed by scanning gate microscopy

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Brun, Boris [University Grenoble - Inst. NEEL, Grenoble, France] Rodrigues Martins, Frederico [UCL] Faniel, Sébastien [UCL] Hackens, Benoît [UCL] Bachelier, G. [University Grenoble - Inst. NEEL, Grenoble, France] Bayot, Vincent [UCL] Sellier, H.

Quantum point contacts exhibit mysterious conductance anomalies in addition to well-known conductance plateaus at multiples of 2e2/h. These 0.7 and zero-bias anomalies have been intensively studied, but their microscopic origin in terms of many-body effects is still highly debated. Here we use the charged tip of a scanning gate microscope to tune in situ the electrostatic potential of the point contact. While sweeping the tip distance, we observe repetitive splittings of the zero-bias anomaly, correlated with simultaneous appearances of the 0.7 anomaly. We interpret this behaviour in terms of alternating equilibrium and nonequilibrium Kondo screenings of different spin states localized in the channel. These alternating Kondo effects point towards the presence of a Wigner crystal containing several charges with different parities. Indeed, simulations show that the electron density in the channel is low enough to reach one-dimensional Wigner crystallization over a size controlled by the tip position.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès restreint
Publication date 2014
Language Anglais
Journal information "Nature Communications" - Vol. 5, no. 4290, p. 5:4290 (30 June 2014)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Nature Publishing Group ((United Kingdom) London)
e-issn 2041-1723
Publication status Publié
Affiliation UCL - SST/IMCN/NAPS - Nanoscopic Physics
Links
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Bibliographic reference Brun, Boris ; Rodrigues Martins, Frederico ; Faniel, Sébastien ; Hackens, Benoît ; Bachelier, G. ; et. al. Wigner and Kondo physics in quantum point contacts revealed by scanning gate microscopy. In: Nature Communications, Vol. 5, no. 4290, p. 5:4290 (30 June 2014)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/145442