TQM@NANO TRANSPORT IN QUANTUM MATERIALS AT THE NANOSCALE

The aim of TQM@Nano is to examine the transport properties of nanoscale conductors that exhibit features unique to quantum materials (topology, strong correlations). These systems are attracting a good deal attention due to their extraordinary potential for both quantum computation tasks and highly efficient conversion from waste heat to useful work. Our motivation is thus twofold: on the one hand, the proposed techniques and setups will allow us to probe fundamental phenomena in exotic (hybrid) materials at the quantum level; on the other hand, we will explore the possibility of engineering novel functionalities and processing information in a fast manner using carrier interactions or time dependent fields. We will use well established theoretical approaches (scattering formalism, nonequilibrium Green functions, numerical renormalization group, master equations) to provide precise predictions that can be straightforwardly tested in the laboratory with present experimental methods. More specifically, we will address (i) time-resolved quantum transport (charge, spin and energy) in nanostructures, (ii) topology and quantum effects in hybrid junctions with superconductivity, and (iii) correlations in interacting quantum conductors. In (i) we will analyze dynamic heat and energy flow for ac-driven phase-coherent samples, spin pumping in interacting quantum dots, photothermoelectric effects in artificial atoms, time dependent spintronic transport with density functional theory with spin noncolinear functionals, charge relaxation resistance in a normal-superconductor quantum dot, and the dynamics of the two- impurity Kondo problem. In (ii) we will investigate thermally driven cross Andreev processes, Majorana modes in prismatic core-shell nanowires, the phase dependence of nanowires proximitized with superconductors, hybrid junctions with k.p. multiband models, nonlinear thermoelectric transport in chiral systems, Maxwell demon implementations in hybrid single-electron transistors, and Andreev quasi-bound states in quantum dots coupled to normal and superconducting electrodes. Finally, in (iii) we will examine the spintronic Coulomb drag effect, a proposal for an all-electrical detection of the Kondo cloud, the spin Hall effect in multiterminal structures, weak localization with extended spin-orbit interactions, the Kondo effect in graphene with spin-orbit coupling, and Maxwell demons in mutually interacting conductors. The proposal is structured in three work packages with well defined tasks. Further, we include a PhD training program that transversally focuses on nanoscale transport in quantum materials. We emphasize that the present proposal is feasible due to the solid background of the research team members and their extensive network of international collaborations.