Magnetically-Tuned Kondo Effect in a Molecular Double Quantum Dot: Role of the Anisotropic Exchange

Abstract

We investigate theoretically and experimentally the singlet-triplet Kondo effect induced by a magnetic field in a molecular junction. Temperature dependent conductance, $G(T)$, is calculated by the numerical renormalization group, showing a strong imprint of the relevant low energy scales, such as the Kondo temperature, exchange and singlet-triplet splitting. We demonstrate the stability of the singlet-triplet Kondo effect against weak spin anisotropy, modeled by an anisotropic exchange. Moderate spin anisotropy manifests itself by lowering the Kondo plateaus, causing the $G(T)$ to deviate from a standard temperature dependence, expected for a spin-half Kondo effect. We propose this scenario as an explanation for anomalous $G(T)$, measured in an organic diradical molecule coupled to gold contacts. We uncover certain new aspects of the singlet-triplet Kondo effect, such as coexistence of spin-polarization on the molecule with Kondo screening and non-perturbative parametric dependence of an effective magnetic field induced by the leads.

15 pages, 9 figures; invited contribution to the "Virtual Special Issue" in honor of Abraham Nitzan in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C; v2: minor updates to the text and figures, added 2 paragraphs on numerical values of model parameters