Tunneling magnetoresistance in ensembles of ferromagnetic granules with exchange interaction and random easy axes of magnetic anisotropy.

We study the tunneling magnetoresistance in the ensembles of ferromagnetic granules with random easy axes of magnetic anisotropy taking into account the exchange interaction between granules. It is shown that due to the exchange interaction magnetoresistance is effectively decoupled from magnetization, i.e. the strongest negative magnetoresistance can be observed at the field where magnetization is almost saturated. Under some conditions, the sign of magnetoresistance can be reversed and tunneling magnetoresistance can become positive at certain magnetic fields. Our theory agrees with measurements of magnetoresistance in ensembles of Fe granules in SiC x N y matrix.

Dynamical response of nanostructures and Joule heat release.

We consider Joule heat release in a quantum wire joining two classical reservoirs under the action of a nonstationary periodic electric field. The rate of heat generation and its spatial distribution is discussed. The heat is spread over the lengths of electron mean free paths in the reservoirs. We find that the total rates of heat generation in both reservoirs that are joined by the nanostructure are the same.

Residual resistance of 2D and 3D structures and Joule heat release.

We consider a residual resistance and Joule heat release in 2D nanostructures as well as in ordinary 3D conductors. We assume that elastic scattering of conduction electrons by lattice defects is predominant. Within a rather intricate situation in such systems we discuss in detail two cases. (1) The elastic scattering alone (i.e. without regard of inelastic mechanisms of scattering) leads to a transition of the mechanical energy (stored by the electrons under the action of an electric field) into heat in a traditional way. This process can be described by the Boltzmann equation where it is possible to do the configuration averaging over defect positions in the electron-impurity collision term. The corresponding conditions are usually met in metals. (2) The elastic scattering can be considered with the help of the standard electron-impurity collision integral only in combination with some additional averaging procedure (possibly including inelastic scattering or some mechanisms of electron wavefunction phase destruction). This situation is typical for degenerate semiconductors with a high concentration of dopants and conduction electrons. Quite often, heat release can be observed via transfer of heat to the lattice, i.e. via inelastic processes of electron-phonon collisions and can take place at distances much larger than the size of the device. However, a direct heating of the electron system can be registered too by, for instance, local measurements of the current noise or direct measurement of an electron distribution function.

Nonlocal dynamical response of a ballistic nanobridge.

The nonlocal dynamical response of a ballistic nanobridge to an applied potential oscillating with frequency ω is considered. It is shown that, in addition to the active conductance, there is also a reactive contribution. This contribution turns out to be inductive for relatively small frequencies ω. For bigger frequencies the current response is either inductive or capacitive, depending on the ratio of ωL/v(F), where L is the length of the bridge and v(F) is the Fermi velocity.

Slow relaxation of magnetoresistance in AlGaAs-GaAs quantum well structures quenched in a magnetic field.

We observed a slow relaxation of the magnetoresistance in response to an applied magnetic field in selectively doped p-GaAs-AlGaAs structures with a partially filled upper Hubbard band. We have paid special attention to excluding the effects related to temperature fluctuations. Although these effects are important, we have found that the general features of slow relaxation persist. This behavior is interpreted as related to the properties of the Coulomb glass formed by charged centers with account taken of spin correlations, which are sensitive to an external magnetic field. Variation of the magnetic field changes the numbers of the impurity complexes of different types. As a result, it affects the shape and depth of the polaron gap formed at the states belonging to the percolation cluster responsible for the conductance. The suggested model explains both the qualitative behavior and the order of magnitude of the slowly relaxing magnetoresistance.

Charge transfer between a superconductor and a hopping insulator.

We develop a theory of the low-temperature charge transfer between a superconductor and a hopping insulator. We show that the charge transfer is governed by the coherent two-electron-Cooper pair conversion process time-reversal reflection, where electrons tunnel into a superconductor from the localized states in the hopping insulator located near the interface, and calculate the corresponding interface resistance. A specific feature of this problem is the interplay between the time-reversal reflection at the interface and transport through the percolation cluster. To allow for this interplay, we have generalized the connectivity criterion of the percolation theory to include surface effects. We show that the time-reversal interface resistance is accessible experimentally, and that in mesoscopic structures it can exceed the bulk hopping resistance.

Orbital ac spin-Hall effect in the hopping regime.

The Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions are both shown to yield the low temperature spin-Hall effect for strongly localized electrons coupled to phonons. A frequency-dependent electric field E(omega) generates a spin-polarization current, normal to E, due to interference of hopping paths. At zero temperature the corresponding spin-Hall conductivity is real and is proportional to omega2. At nonzero temperatures the coupling to the phonons yields an imaginary term proportional to omega. The interference also yields persistent spin currents at thermal equilibrium, at E=0. The contributions from the Dresselhaus and Rashba interactions to the interference oppose each other.

Electrical manipulation of nanomagnets.

We demonstrate that it is possible to manipulate the magnetic coupling between two nanomagnets by means of an ac electric field. In the scheme suggested, the magnetic coupling is mediated by a magnetic particle that is in contact with both nanomagnets via tunnel barriers. The time-dependent electric field is applied so that the height of first one barrier then the other is suppressed in an alternating fashion. We show that the result is a pumping of magnetization from one nanomagnet to the other through the mediating particle. The dynamics of the magnetization of the mediating particle allows the coupling to be switched between being ferromagnetic and being antiferromagnetic.

Josephson transport through a Hubbard impurity center.

We investigate the Josephson transport through a thin semiconductor barrier containing impurity centers with the on-site Hubbard interaction u of an arbitrary sign and strength. We find that in the case of the repulsive interaction the Josephson current changes sign with the temperature increase if the energy of the impurity level epsilon (measured from the Fermi energy of superconductors) falls in the interval (-u,0). We predict strong temporal fluctuations of the current if only a few centers are present within the junction. In the case of the attractive impurity potential (u<0) and at low temperatures, the model is reduced to the effective two level Hamiltonian allowing thus a simple description of the nonstationary Josephson effect in terms of pair tunneling processes.