Special Condensed Matter Seminar

Prof. Karyn Le Hur
Université de Sherbrooke et RQMP

Monday, April 10, 2006
1:00 pm in SPL 52

Revival of the Kondo effect in the Nano-World

Abstract: We discuss one area of strongly correlated electron physics in which localized magnetic moments form the driving force of strong correlation. The Kondo effect (discovered in the 1930s and explained in the 1970s) embodies the prominent confinement phenomenon occurring in the infra-red (in the meV) between a local moment and nearby conduction electrons. Remarkably, although the Kondo effect is a well-known and widely studied phenomenon, it continues to capture the imagination of experimentalists and theorists alike. In fact, interest in the Kondo effect has recently peaks thanks to new experimental techniques from the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology where a local moment can be realized through a small artificial atom with an odd number of electrons. The Nano-World gives an unprecedented control over Kondo systems that motivates us to explore novel Kondo confinement phenomena in the Nano-World. Our recent contributions regarding this point will be summarized.