Out-of-equilibrium Kondo effect in a quantum dot: Interplay of magnetic field and spin accumulation

¹ Université Grenoble Alpes, INAC-PHELIQS - F-38000 Grenoble, France
² CEA, INAC-PHELIQS - F-38000 Grenoble, France
³ Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, CPT - Marseille, France

Received: 21 September 2016
Accepted: 3 January 2017

Abstract

We present a theoretical study of low-temperature nonequilibrium transport through an interacting quantum dot in the presence of Zeeman magnetic field and current injection into one of its leads. By using a self-consistent renormalized equation of motion approach, we show that the injection of a spin-polarized current leads to a modulation of the Zeeman splitting of the Kondo peak in the differential conductance. We find that an appropriate amount of spin accumulation in the lead can restore the Kondo peak by compensating the splitting due to magnetic field. By contrast when the injected current is spin-unpolarized, we establish that both Zeeman-split Kondo peaks are equally shifted and the splitting remains unchanged. Our results quantitatively explain the experimental findings reported in Kobayashi T. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 104 (2010) 036804. These features could be nicely exploited for the control and manipulation of spin in nanoelectronic and spintronic devices.