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Correlation effects in bistability at the nanoscale: Steady state and beyond

E. Khosravi, A.-M. Uimonen, A. Stan, G. Stefanucci, S. Kurth, R. van Leeuwen, and E. K. U. Gross
Phys. Rev. B 85, 075103 – Published 3 February 2012

Abstract

The possibility of finding multistability in the density and current of an interacting nanoscale junction coupled to semi-infinite leads is studied at various levels of approximation. The system is driven out of equilibrium by an external bias and the nonequilibrium properties are determined by real-time propagation using both time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and many-body perturbation theory (MBPT). In TDDFT the exchange-correlation effects are described within a recently proposed adiabatic local density approximation (ALDA). In MBPT the electron-electron interaction is incorporated in a many-body self-energy which is then approximated at the Hartree-Fock (HF), second-Born, and GW level. Assuming the existence of a steady state and solving directly the steady-state equations we find multiple solutions in the HF approximation and within the ALDA. In these cases we investigate whether and how these solutions can be reached through time evolution and how to reversibly switch between them. We further show that for the same cases the inclusion of dynamical correlation effects suppresses bistability.

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  • Received 12 December 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.075103

©2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

E. Khosravi1,2, A.-M. Uimonen2,3, A. Stan2,3, G. Stefanucci4,5,2, S. Kurth6,7,2, R. van Leeuwen3,2, and E. K. U. Gross1,2

  • 1Max-Planck Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, D-06120 Halle, Germany
  • 2European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility (ETSF)
  • 3Department of Physics, Nanoscience Center, FIN-40014, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
  • 4Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Rome, Italy
  • 5INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via E. Fermi 40, I-00044 Frascati, Italy
  • 6Nano-Bio Spectroscopy Group, Departamento de Física de Materiales, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Centro Física de Materiales CSIC-UPV/EHU, Avenida de Tolosa 72, E-20018 San Sebastián, Spain
  • 7IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, E-48011 Bilbao, Spain

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Issue

Vol. 85, Iss. 7 — 15 February 2012

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