Asymmetry-induced effects in Kondo quantum dots coupled to ferromagnetic leads.

We study the spin-resolved transport through single-level quantum dots strongly coupled to ferromagnetic leads in the Kondo regime, with a focus on contact and material asymmetry-related effects. By using the numerical renormalization group method, we analyze the dependence of relevant spectral functions, the linear conductance and the tunnel magnetoresistance on the system asymmetry parameters. In the parallel magnetic configuration of the device the Kondo effect is generally suppressed due to the presence of an exchange field, irrespective of the system's asymmetry. In the antiparallel configuration, on the other hand, the Kondo effect can develop if the system is symmetric. We show that even relatively weak asymmetry may lead to suppression of the Kondo resonance in the antiparallel configuration and thus give rise to nontrivial behavior of the tunnel magnetoresistance. In addition, by using the second-order perturbation theory we derive general formulas for the exchange field in both magnetic configurations of the system.