12 research outputs found
Dephasing in sequential tunneling through a double-dot interferometer
We analyze dephasing in a model system where electrons tunnel sequentially
through a symmetric interference setup consisting of two single-level quantum
dots. Depending on the phase difference between the two tunneling paths, this
may result in perfect destructive interference. However, if the dots are
coupled to a bath, it may act as a which-way detector, leading to partial
suppression of the phase-coherence and the reappearance of a finite tunneling
current. In our approach, the tunneling is treated in leading order whereas
coupling to the bath is kept to all orders (using P(E) theory). We discuss the
influence of different bath spectra on the visibility of the interference
pattern, including the distinction between "mere renormalization effects" and
"true dephasing".Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; For a tutorial introduction to dephasing see
http://iff.physik.unibas.ch/~florian/dephasing/dephasing.htm
Impact of van der Waals forces on the classical shuttle instability
The effects of including the van der Waals interaction in the modelling of
the single electron shuttle have been investigated numerically. It is
demonstrated that the relative strength of the vdW-forces and the elastic
restoring forces determine the characteristics of the shuttle instability. In
the case of weak elastic forces and low voltages the grain is trapped close to
one lead, and this trapping can be overcome by Coulomb forces by applying a
bias voltage larger than a threshold voltage . This allows for
grain motion leading to an increase in current by several orders of magnitude
above the transition voltage . Associated with the process is also
hysteresis in the I-V characteristics.Comment: minor revisions, updated references, Article published in Phys. Rev.
B 69, 035309 (2004
Steering of a Bosonic Mode with a Double Quantum Dot
We investigate the transport and coherence properties of a double quantum dot
coupled to a single damped boson mode. Our numerically results reveal how the
properties of the boson distribution can be steered by altering parameters of
the electronic system such as the energy difference between the dots.
Quadrature amplitude variances and the Wigner function are employed to
illustrate how the state of the boson mode can be controlled by a stationary
electron current through the dots.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale
The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer
length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal
with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly
include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as
well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way.
Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium
situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current
state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in
both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer
a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some
fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on
applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references,
submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics