title: Kondo model for the "0.7 anomaly" in transport through a quantum point contact.
abstract: Experiments on quantum point contacts have highlighted an anomalous conductance plateau around 0.7(2e(2)/h), with features suggestive of the Kondo effect. Here, an Anderson model for transport through a point contact analyzed in the Kondo limit. Hybridization to the band increases abruptly with energy but decreases with valence, so that the background conductance and the Kondo temperature T(K) are dominated by different valence transitions. This accounts for the high residual conductance above T(K). The model explains the observed gate-voltage, temperature, magnetic field, and bias-voltage dependences. A spin-polarized current is predicted even for low magnetic fields.
authors.affiliation: NEC Research Institute, 4 Independence Way, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA.
authors.forename: Yigal
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meir
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Ned S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Wingreen