Charge and spin conductance through a side-coupled quantum dot

The zero-temperature magnetic field-dependent conductance of electrons through a one-dimensional non-interacting tight-binding chain with an interacting {\it side} dot is reviewed and analized further. When the number of electrons in the dot is odd, and the Kondo effect sets in at the impurity site, the conductance develops a wide minimum as a function of the gate voltage, being zero at the unitary limit. Application of a magnetic field progressively destroys the Kondo effect and, accordingly, the conductance develops pairs of dips separated by $U$, where $U$ is the repulsion between two electrons at the impurity site. Each one of the two dips in the conductance corresponds to a perfect spin polarized transmission, opening the possibility for an optimum spin filter. The results are discussed in terms of Fano resonances between two interfering transmission channels, applied to recent experimental results, and compared with results corresponding to the standard substitutional configuration, where the dot is at the central site of the non-interacting chain.