We show that local moment screening in a Kondo lattice with d-wave superconducting conduction electrons is qualitatively different from the corresponding single Kondo impurity case. Despite the conduction-electron pseudogap, Kondo-lattice screening is stable if the gap amplitude obeys $Δ<\sqrt{\tk D}$, in contrast to the single impurity condition $Δ<\tk$ (where $\tk$ is the Kondo temperature for $Δ= 0$ and D is the bandwidth). Our theory explains the heavy electron behavior in the d-wave superconductor Nd_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4}.
We carefully consider the interplay between ferromagnetism and the Kondo screening effect in the conventional Kondo lattice systems at finite temperatures. Within an effective mean-field theory for small conduction electron densities, a complete phase diagram has been determined. In the ferromagnetic ordered phase, there is a characteristic temperature scale to indicate the presence of the Kondo screening effect. We further find two distinct ferromagnetic long-range ordered phases coexisting with the Kondo screening effect: spin fully polarized and partially polarized states. A continuous phas…
We investigate the effect of geometrical frustration on the competition between the Kondo coupling and the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction in Kondo lattice systems. By variational Monte Carlo simulations, we reveal an emergent quantum phase with partial ordering in which the frustration is relieved by forming a magnetic order on a sublattice and leaving the rest in the Kondo screening with spin-singlet formation. The role of quantum fluctuations and spin-charge interplay is elucidated.
Renormalization group theory of the Kondo effect predicts that an impurity spin is screened by a conduction electron spread over a large distance of order >.1 to 1 micron. This review has the following sections: 1. The Kondo effect and the screening cloud, 2. Non-observation of the Kondo cloud in conventional experiments, 3. Kondo effect in transmission through a quantum dot, 4. Observing the screening cloud in persistent current experiments, 5. Side-coupled quantum dot, 6. Conclusions
We study the Kondo screening of a magnetic impurity in a two-dimensional superconductor with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC). It is found that the Rashba interaction generates a novel Kondo screening channel, in which the local moment is screened by the exchange coupling with conduction electrons in different spin and orbital states. The Kondo temperature associated with this process is determined by the interplay between the Rashba SOC and superconducting energy gap. As a result, the quantum phase transition between the magnetic doublet and Kondo singlet ground states is significantly affect…
Probing Collective and Individual Kondo Screening: Multi-Stage, Multi-Channel Kondo Effects in a $C_3$-Symmetric Four-Impurity Model
Chongqing University（重庆大学）；Hangzhou Normal University（杭州师范大学）；Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）
We study the Kondo screening effect generated by a single-electron transistor or quantum dot embedded in a small metallic ring. When the ring circumference $L$ becomes comparable to the fundamental length scale $ξ_K^0=\hbar \upsilon _F/T_K^0$ associated with the {\it bulk} Kondo tempe the Kondo resonance is strongly affected, depending on the total number of electrons ({\it modulo} 4) and magnetic flux threading the ring. The resulting Kondo-assisted persistent currents are also calculated in both Kondo and mixed valence regimes, and the maximum values are found in the crossover region.
A fundamental prediction of scaling theories of the Kondo effect is the screening of an impurity spin by a cloud of electrons spread out over a mesoscopic distance. This cloud has never been observed experimentally. Recently, aspects of the Kondo effect have been observed in experiments on quantum dots embedded in quantum wires. Since the length of the wire may be of order the size of the screening cloud, such systems provide an ideal opportunity to observe it. We point out that persistent current measurements in a closed ring provide a conceptually simple way of detecting this fundamental len…
A magnetic moment in a metal or in a quantum dot is, at low temperatures, screened by the conduction electrons through the mechanism of the Kondo effect. This gives rise to spin-spin correlations between the magnetic moment and the conduction electrons, which can have a substantial spatial extension. We study this phenomenon, the so-called Kondo cloud, by means of the density matrix renormalization group method for the case of the single-impurity Anderson model. We focus on the question whether the Kondo screening length, typically assumed to be proportional to the inverse Kondo temperature, c…
While standard heavy fermion metals feature a single spin-1/2 local moment per unit cell, more complicated systems with multiple distinct local moments have been synthesized as well, with Ce_3Pd_20(Si,Ge)_6 being one example. Here, we discuss the physics of a Kondo lattice model with two local-moment sublattices, coupled with different Kondo couplings to conduction electrons. The phase diagram will be strongly modified from that of the standard Kondo lattice if the characteristic screening temperatures of the distinct moments are well separated. Therefore, we investigate the interplay between …
A spin-1/2 Anderson impurity in a semiconductor quantum well with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings is studied by using a variational wave function method. The local magnetic moment is found to be quenched at low temperatures. The spin-spin correlations of the impurity and the conduction electron density show anisotropy in both spatial and spin spaces, which interpolates the Kondo spin screenings of a conventional metal and of a surface of three-dimensional topological insulators.
This is an addendum to our previous work cond-mat/9705048 (published in Europhysics Letters 41, 213 (1998)), clarifying the construction of the two-particle scattering matrices used for studying the magnetic impurity behavior in a multichannel correlated host.
Motivated by recent Hall-effect experiment in YbRh$_2$Si$_2$, we study ground state properties of a Kondo lattice model in a two-dimensional square lattice using variational Monte Carlo method. We show that there are two types of phase transition, antiferromagnetic transition and topological one (Fermi surface reconstruction). In a wide region of parameters, these two transitions occur simultaneously without the breakdown of Kondo screening, accompanied by a discontinuous change of the Hall coefficient. This result is consistent with the experiment and gives a novel theoretical picture for the…
Using a numerically exact first-principles many-body approach, we revisit the "prototypical" Kondo case of a cobalt impurity on copper. Even though this is considered a well understood example of the Kondo effect, we reveal an unexpectedly strong dependence of the screening properties on the parametrization of the local Coulomb tensor. As a consequence, the Kondo temperature can vary by orders of magnitude depending on the complexity of the parametrization of the electron-electron interaction. Further, we challenge the established picture of a spin-$1$ moment involving two cobalt $d$-orbitals …
We study the Kondo model --a magnetic impurity coupled to a one dimensional wire via exchange coupling-- by using Wilson's numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique. By applying an approach similar to which was used to compute the two impurity problem we managed to improve the bad spatial resolution of the numerical renormalization group method. In this way we have calculated the impurity spin - conduction electron spin correlation function which is a measure of the Kondo compensation cloud whose existence has been a long standing problem in solid state physics. We also present results o…
We introduce and study a simplification of the symmetric single-impurity Kondo model. In the Ising-Kondo model, host electrons scatter off a single magnetic impurity at the origin whose spin orientation is dynamically conserved. This reduces the problem to potential scattering of spinless fermions that can be solved exactly using the equation-of-motion technique. The Ising-Kondo model provides an example for static screening. At low temperatures, the thermodynamics at finite magnetic fields resembles that of a free spin-1/2 in a reduced external field. Alternatively, the Curie law can be inter…
We investigate the paramagnetic periodic Anderson model using the dynamical mean-field theory in combination with the modified perturbation theory which interpolates between the weak and strong coupling limits. For the symmetric PAM, the ground state is always a singlet state. However, as function of the hybridization strength, a crossover from collective to local Kondo screening is found. Reducing the number of conduction electrons, the local Kondo singlets remain stable. The unpaired f-electrons dominate the physics of the system. For very low conduction electron densities, a large increase …
We show that the long distance charge density oscillations in a metal induced by a weakly coupled spin-1/2 magnetic impurity exhibiting the Kondo effect are given, at zero temperature, by a universal function F(r/xi_K) where r is the distance from the impurity and xi_K, the Kondo screening cloud size =v_F/T_K, where v_F is the Fermi velocity and T_K is the Kondo temperature. F is given by a Fourier-like transform of the T-matrix. Analytic expressions for F(r/xi_K) are derived in both limits r much less than xi_K and r much greater than xi_K and F is calculated for all r/xi_K using numerical me…
The variational cluster approach (VCA) based on the self-energy functional theory is applied to the two-dimensional symmetric periodic Anderson model at half filling. We calculate a variety of physical quantities including the staggered moments and single-particle spectra at zero temperature to show that the symmetry breaking due to antiferromagnetic ordering occurs in the strong coupling region, whereas in the weak coupling region, the Kondo insulating state without symmetry breaking is realized. The critical interaction strength is estimated. We thus demonstrate that the phase transition due…
UNi4B exhibits unusual properties and, in particular, a unique antiferromagnetic arrangement involving only 2/3 of the U sites. Based on the low temperature behavior of this compound, we propose that the remaining 1/3 U sites are nonmagnetic due to the Kondo effect. We derive a model in which the coexistence of magnetic and nonmagnetic U sites is the consequence of the competition between frustration of the crystallographic structure and instability of the 5f moments.
We discuss how the properties of a single-channel Kondo lattice model are modified by additional screening channels. Contrary to current wisdom, additional screening channels appear to constitute a relevant perturbation which destabilizes the Fermi liquid. When a heavy Fermi surface develops, it generates zero modes for Kondo singlets to fluctuate between screening channels of different symmetry, producing a divergent composite pair susceptibility. Additional screening channels couple to these divergent fluctuations, promoting an instability into a state with long-range composite order.
The Kondo effect, an eminent manifestation of many-body physics in condensed matter, is traditionally explained as exchange scattering of conduction electrons on a spinful impurity in a metal. The resulting screening of the impurity's local moment by the electron Fermi sea is characterized by a Kondo temperature $T_K$, below which the system enters a non-perturbative strongly-coupled regime. In recent years, this effect has found its realizations beyond the bulk-metal paradigm in many other itinerant-electron systems, such as quantum dots in semiconductor heterostructures and in nanomaterials,…
We present the exact Bethe Ansatz solution of a multichannel model of one- dimensional correlated electrons coupled antiferromagnetically to a magnetic impurity of arbitrary spin S. The solution reveals that interactions in the bulk make the magnetic impurity drive both spin and charge fluctuations, producing a mixed valence at the impurity site, with an associated effective spin S_eff > S in the presence of a magnetic field. The screening of the impurity spin is controlled by its size independently of the number of channels, in contrast to the multichannel Kondo effect for free electrons.
The frustrated magnetism on the Kondo lattice system motivates intriguing Kondo-breakdown beyond the traditional Doniach scenario. Among them, the fractionalized Fermi liquid (FL*) has drawn a particular interest by virtue of its fractionalized nature. Here, we study the phase diagram of $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$ Kondo-Heisenberg model on a honeycomb lattice at a quarter filling. Employing the slave-fermion mean-field theory with $d \pm id$ spin liquid ansatz and exact diagonalization, we discuss the emergence of partial Kondo screening in the frustrated regime with comparable $J_{1}$ and $J_{2}$, and t…
We study the system of two magnetic impurities described by a two-impurity Kondo model where only the first impurity couples directly to the conduction band, while the second impurity interacts with the first through Heisenberg exchange coupling in a "side-coupled" configuration. We consider various choices of the impurity spins (S_1<S_2, S_1=S_2, and S_1>S_2) and we contrast the regimes where the inter-impurity exchange coupling J is either lower or higher than the Kondo temperature T_K^(0) of the first impurity in the absence of the second. This model is a high-spin generalization of the two…
A system of conduction electrons can mediate an indirect magnetic exchange between magnetic impurites. The nonlocal exchange typically competes with the local Kondo screening of the impurity magnetic moments. In case of magnetic adatoms on non-magnetic surfaces this competition is expected to be affected by different confinement effects. Here we study this situation in the regime of intermediate hybridization strengths by means of real-space dynamical mean-field theory for a one-dimensional two-impurity Anderson model. Depending on the presence of a boundary and depending on the system size, a…
We demonstrate the existence of a large Kondo screening cloud in the k-channel Kondo model using both renormalization group improved perturbation theory and the large-k limit. We study position (r) dependent spin Green's functions in both static and equal time cases. The equal-time Green's function provides a natural definition of the screening cloud profile, in which the large Kondo scale appears. At large distances it consists of both a slowly varying piece and a piece which oscillates at twice the Fermi wave-vector. This function is calculated at all r in the large-k limit. Static Green's f…
We identify the precise hallmarks of the local magnetic moment formation and its Kondo screening in the frequency structure of the generalized charge susceptibility. The sharpness of our identification even pinpoints an alternative criterion to determine the Kondo temperature of strongly correlated systems on the two-particle level, which only requires calculations at the lowest Matsubara frequency. We showcase its strength by applying it to the single impurity and the periodic Anderson model as well as to the Hubbard model. Our results represent a significant progress for the general understa…
Triangular symmetry stabilizes a novel non-Fermi-liquid phase in the three-impurity Kondo model with frustrating antiferromagnetic interactions between half-integer impurity spins. The phase arises without fine-tuning of couplings, and is stable against magnetic fields and particle-hole symmetry breaking. We find a conformal field theory describing this phase, verify it using the numerical renormalization group, and extract various exact, universal low-energy properties. Signatures predicted in electrical transport may be testable in scanning tunneling microscopy or quantum-dot experiments.
Unraveling screening mechanisms in Kondo impurities using an NRG-MPS-based method
Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH Zurich（苏黎世联邦理工学院理论物理研究所）；Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems（马克斯·普朗克复杂系统物理研究所）；Department of Physics, University of Konstanz（康斯坦茨大学物理系）
The competition between Kondo screening and indirect magnetic exchange is studied for a system with geometrical frustration using dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). We systematically scan the weak- to strong-coupling regime of the periodic Anderson model on the triangular lattice for a wide range of fillings n. The magnetic phase diagram is derived using a site-dependent DMFT approach by self-consistent mapping onto three independent single-impurity models corresponding to the three correlated f orbitals in the unit cell. At half-filling, the system is a non-magnetic Kondo insulator for all c…
The low-energy physics of a spin-1/2 Kondo impurity in a gapless host, where a density of band states $ρ_0(ε)=|ε|^r/(|ε|^r+β^r)$ vanishes at the Fermi level $ε=0$, is studied by the Bethe ansatz. The growth of the parameter $Γ_r=β{\rm g}^{-1/r}$ (where ${\rm g}$ is an exchange constant) is shown to drive the system ground state from the Kondo regime with the screened impurity spin to the Anderson regime, where the impurity spin is unscreened, however, in a weak magnetic field $H$, it exceeds its free value, $S_i(H)>{1/2}$, due to a strong coupling to a band. It is shown also that a sufficientl…
Impurities and defects in Kondo insulators can have an unusual impact on dynamics that blends with effects of intrinsic electron correlations. Such crystal imperfections are difficult to avoid, and their consequences are incompletely understood. Here we study magnetic impurities in Kondo insulators via perturbation theory of the s-d Kondo impurity model adapted to small bandgap insulators. The calculated magnetization and specific heat agree with recent thermodynamic measurements in samarium hexaboride (SmB$_6$). This qualitative agreement supports the physical picture of multi-channel Kondo s…
We consider the competition between the Kondo screening effect and ferromagnetic long-range order (FLRO) within a mean-field theory of the Kondo lattice model for low conduction electron densities $n_{c}$. Depending on the parameter values, several types of FLRO ground states are found. When $n_{c}<0.16$, a polarized FLRO phase is dominant. For $0.16<n_{c}<0.82$, a non-polarized FLRO phase appears in the weak Kondo coupling region; while in the intermediate coupling region the ground state corresponds to the polarized and non-polarized FLRO phases, respectively, coexisting with the Kondo scree…
We investigate a Rabi-Kondo model describing an optically driven two-channel quantum dot device featuring a non-Fermi-liquid Kondo effect. Optically induced Rabi oscillation between the valence and conduction levels of the dot gives rise to a two-stage Kondo effect: Primary screening of the local spin is followed by secondary nonequilibrium screening of the local orbital degree of freedom. Using bosonization arguments and the numerical renormalization group, we compute the dot emission spectrum and residual entropy. Remarkably, both exhibit two-stage Kondo screening with non-Fermi-liquid prope…
Based on the non-crossing approximation, we calculate both the linear and nonlinear conductance within the two-lead two-channel single-impurity Anderson model where the conduction electron density of states vanishes in a power-law fashion $ \propto |ω-μ_F|^r$ with $r=1$ near the Fermi energy, appropriate for an hexagonal system. For given gate voltage, we address the universal crossover from a two-channel Kondo phase, argued to occur in doped graphene, to an unscreened local moment phase. We extract universal scaling functions in conductance governing charge transfer through the two-channel ps…
Formation and Evolution of the Spin-Charge-Entangled Screening Cloud in the Majorana-Kondo System
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and School of Physics, Nanjing University（南京大学固体微结构物理国家重点实验室和物理学院）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University（南京大学先进微结构协同创新中心）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学物理与天文学院）；College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Center for Computational Sciences, Sichuan Normal University（四川师范大学物理与电子工程学院计算科学中心）
Systems with strong spin orbit coupling support a number of new phases of matter and novel phenomena. This work focuses on the interplay of spin orbit coupling and interactions in yielding correlated phenomena in two dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. In particular we explore the physics of Kondo screening resulting from the lack of centro-symmetry, large spin splitting and spin valley locking in hole doped systems. The key ingredients are i) valley dependent spin-momentum locking perpendicular to the two dimensional crystal; ii) single nondegenerate Fermi surface per valley, and ii…
The existence of a length-scale $ξ_K\sim 1/T_K$ (with $T_K$ the Kondo temperature) has long been predicted in quantum impurity systems. At low temperatures $T\ll T_K$, the standard interpretation is that a spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}$ impurity is screened by a surrounding `Kondo cloud' of spatial extent $ξ_K$. We argue that renormalization group (RG) flow between any two fixed points (FPs) results in a characteristic length-scale, observed in real-space as a crossover between physical behaviour typical of each FP. In the simplest example of the Anderson impurity model, three FPs arise; and we show that…
The emerging and screening of local magnetic moments in solids has been investigated for more than 60 years. Local vacancies as in graphene or in Heavy Fermions can induce decoupled bound states that lead to the formation of local moments. In this paper, we address the puzzling question how these local moments can be screened and what determines the additionally emerging low temperature scale. We review the initial problem for half-filled conduction bands from two complementary perspectives: By a single-particle supercell analysis in the uncorrelated limit and by the Lieb-Mathis theorem for sy…
Spin-triplet $p$-wave superconductors are promising candidates for topological superconductors. They have been proposed in various heterostructures where a material with strong spin-orbit interaction is coupled to a conventional $s$-wave superconductor by proximity effect. However, topological superconductors existing in nature and driven purely by strong electron correlations are yet to be studied. Here we propose a realization of such a system in a class of Kondo lattice materials in the absence of spin-orbit coupling and proximity effect. Therein, the odd-parity Kondo hybridization mediates…
We show that a junction of three off-critical quantum Ising chains can be regarded as a quantum spin chain realization of the two-channel spin-1/2 overscreened Kondo effect with two superconducting leads. We prove that, as long as the Kondo temperature is larger than the superconducting gap, the equivalent Kondo model flows towards the 2 channel Kondo fixed point. We argue that our system provides the first controlled realization of 2 channel Kondo effect with superconducting leads. This, besides its the theoretical interest, is of importance for potential applications to a number of context, …
The nature of magnetic order and transport properties near surfaces is a topic of great current interest. Here we model metal-insulator interfaces with a multi-layer system governed by a tight-binding Hamiltonian in which the interaction is non-zero on one set of adjacent planes and zero on another. As the interface hybridization is tuned, magnetic and metallic properties undergo an evolution that reflects the competition between anti-ferromagnetism and (Kondo) singlet formation in a scenario similar to that occurring in heavy-fermion materials. For a few-layer system at intermediate hybridiza…
Magnetic impurities embedded in a metal are screened by the Kondo effect, signaled by the formation of an extended correlation cloud, the so-called Kondo or screening cloud. In a superconductor, the Kondo state turns into sub-gap Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (Shiba) states, and a quantum phase transition occurs between screened and unscreened phases once the superconducting energy gap $Δ$ becomes sufficiently large compared to the Kondo temperature, $T_K$. Here we show that, although the Kondo state does not form in the unscreened phase, the Kondo cloud does exist in both quantum phases. However, while sc…
A magnetic impurity embedded in a metal host is collectively screened by a cloud of conduction electrons to form a Kondo singlet below a characteristic energy scale $T_K$, the Kondo temperature, through the mechanism of the Kondo effect. We have reinvestigated the Kondo singlet by means of the newly developed natural orbitals renormalization group (NORG) method. We find that, in the framework of natural orbitals formalism, the Kondo screening mechanism becomes transparent and simple, while the intrinsic structure of Kondo singlet is clearly resolved. For a single impurity Kondo system, there e…
We report on a novel exchange mechanism, mediating the Kondo screening, in a correlated double quantum dot structure in the proximity of superconductor, stemming from nonlocal Andreev reflection processes. We estimate its strength perturbatively and corroborate analytical predictions with accurate numerical renormalization group calculations using an effective model for the superconductor-proximized nanostructure. We demonstrate that superconductor-induced exchange leads to a two-stage Kondo screening. We determine the dependence of the Kondo temperature on the coupling to superconductor and p…
Electron transport through [normal metal]-[quantum dot]-[topological superconductor] junction is studied and reveals interlacing physics of Kondo correlations with two Majorana fermions bound state residing on the opposite edges of the topological superconductor. When the strength of the Majorana fermion coupling exceeds the temperature $T$, this combination of Kono-Majorana fermion physics can be observed: The usual peak of the temperature dependent zero biased conductance $σ(V=0,T)$ splits and the conductance has a {\it dip} at T=0. The height of the conductance side-peaks decreases with mag…
The temperature scales of screening of local magnetic and orbital moments are important characteristics of strongly correlated substances. In a recent paper X. Deng et al. using dynamic mean-field theory (DMFT) have identified temperature scales of the onset of screening in orbital and spin channels in some correlated metals from the deviation of temperature dependence of local susceptibility from the Curie law. We argue that the scales obtained this way are in fact much larger, than the corresponding Kondo temperatures, and, therefore, do not characterize the screening process. By reanalyzing…
The magnetic correlations, local moments and the susceptibility in the correlated 2D Kondo lattice model at half filling are investigated. We calculate their systematic dependence on the control parameters J_K/t and U/t. An unbiased and reliable exact diagonalization (ED) approach for ground state properties as well as the finite temperature Lanczos method (FTLM) for specific heat and the uniform susceptibility are employed for small tiles on the square lattice. They lead to two major results: Firstly we show that the screened local moment exhibits non-monotonic behavior as a function of U for…
Interplay between Kondo effect and trends to antiferromagnetic and spin glass ordering in perfect and disordered bipartite Kondo lattices is considered. Ginzburg-Landau equation is derived from the microscopic effective action written in three mode representation (Kondo screening, antiferromagnetic correlations and spin liquid correlations). The problem of local constraint is resolved by means of Popov-Fedotov representation for localized spin operators. It is shown that the Kondo screening enhances the trend to a spin liquid crossover and suppresses antiferromagnetic ordering in perfect Kondo…
Using the numerical renormalization group (NRG) method we study a magnetic impurity coupled to a quantum wire with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in an external magnetic field. We consider the low-filling regime with the Fermi energy close to the bottom of the band and report the results for local static and dynamic properties in the Kondo regime. In the absence of the field, local impurity properties remain isotropic in spin space despite the SOC-induced magnetic anisotropy of the conduction band. In the presence of the field, clear fingerprints of anisotropy are revealed th…
We study an extended SU(N) single-impurity Kondo model in which the impurity spin is described by a combination of Abrikosov fermions and Schwinger bosons. Our aim is to describe both the quasiparticle-like excitations and the locally critical modes observed in various physical situations, including non-Fermi liquid behavior in heavy fermion systems in the vicinity of a quantum critical point. We identify the strong coupling fixed point of the model and study its stability within second order perturbation theory. Already in the single channel case and in contrast with either the pure bosonic o…
We apply a Gutzwiller-like variational technique to study Josephson conduction across a quantum dot with an odd number of electrons connected to two superconducting leads. We show that, for small values of the superconducting gap, Kondo correlations and superconductivity cooperate to enhance the Josephson current. As the superconducting gap increases, the current changes sign and the system becomes a $π$-junction. The $π$-junction behavior sets in much before antiferromagnetic correlations at the dot can be treated perturbatively.
