Anisotropic Charge Kondo Effect in a Triple Quantum Dot

Abstract

We predict that an anisotropic charge Kondo effect appears in a triple quantum dot, when the system has twofold degenerate ground states of (1,1,0) and (0,0,1) charge configurations. Using bosonization and refermionization methods, we find that at low temperature the system has the two different phases of massive charge fluctuations between the two charge configurations and vanishing fluctuations, which are equivalent with the Kondo-screened and ferromagnetic phases of the anisotropic Kondo model, respectively. The phase transition is identifiable by electron conductance measurement, offering the possibility of experimentally exploring the anisotropic Kondo model. Our charge Kondo effect has a similar origin to that in a negative-U Anderson impurity.