Kondo effect and spin filtering in triangular artificial atoms

Abstract We studied, strongly correlated states in triangular artificial atoms. Symmetry-driven orbital degeneracy of the single particle states can give rise to an SU (4) Kondo state with entangled orbital and spin degrees of freedom, and a characteristic phase shift δ =π/4. Upon application of a Zeeman field, a purely orbital Kondo state is formed with somewhat smaller Kondo temperature and a fully polarized current through the device. The Kondo temperatures are in the measurable range. The triangular atom also provides a tool to systematically study the singlet–triplet transitions observed in recent experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett., 88 (2002) 126803, cond-mat/0208268 (2002)].