Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling
We study the ground state of N weakly interacting electrons (with N≤10) in a two-dimensional parabolic quantum dot with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Using dimensionless parameters for the Coulomb interaction λ≲1 and the Rashba coupling α≫1, the low-energy physics is characterized by an almost...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2014-08-01
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| Series: | Physical Review X |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.031033 |
| _version_ | 1818576035531194368 |
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| author | Amin Naseri Alex Zazunov Reinhold Egger |
| author_facet | Amin Naseri Alex Zazunov Reinhold Egger |
| author_sort | Amin Naseri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study the ground state of N weakly interacting electrons (with N≤10) in a two-dimensional parabolic quantum dot with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Using dimensionless parameters for the Coulomb interaction λ≲1 and the Rashba coupling α≫1, the low-energy physics is characterized by an almost flat single-particle dispersion. From an analytical approach for α→∞ and N=2, and from numerical exact-diagonalization and Hartree-Fock calculations, we find a transition from a conventional unmagnetized ground state (for λ<λ_{c}) to an orbital ferromagnet (for λ>λ_{c}), with a large magnetization and a circulating charge current. We show that the critical interaction strength λ_{c}=λ_{c}(α,N) vanishes in the limit α→∞. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-15T00:48:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f0a7ed54b78409290cdafa8c537d123 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2160-3308 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-15T00:48:49Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review X |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f0a7ed54b78409290cdafa8c537d1232022-12-21T22:41:28ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review X2160-33082014-08-014303103310.1103/PhysRevX.4.031033Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit CouplingAmin NaseriAlex ZazunovReinhold EggerWe study the ground state of N weakly interacting electrons (with N≤10) in a two-dimensional parabolic quantum dot with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Using dimensionless parameters for the Coulomb interaction λ≲1 and the Rashba coupling α≫1, the low-energy physics is characterized by an almost flat single-particle dispersion. From an analytical approach for α→∞ and N=2, and from numerical exact-diagonalization and Hartree-Fock calculations, we find a transition from a conventional unmagnetized ground state (for λ<λ_{c}) to an orbital ferromagnet (for λ>λ_{c}), with a large magnetization and a circulating charge current. We show that the critical interaction strength λ_{c}=λ_{c}(α,N) vanishes in the limit α→∞.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.031033 |
| spellingShingle | Amin Naseri Alex Zazunov Reinhold Egger Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Physical Review X |
| title | Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling |
| title_full | Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling |
| title_fullStr | Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling |
| title_full_unstemmed | Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling |
| title_short | Orbital Ferromagnetism in Interacting Few-Electron Dots with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling |
| title_sort | orbital ferromagnetism in interacting few electron dots with strong spin orbit coupling |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.031033 |
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