111 research outputs found
Spin-blockade spectroscopy of a two-level artificial molecule
Coulomb and spin blockade spectroscopy investigations have been performed on
an electrostatically defined ``artificial molecule'' connected to spin
polarized leads. The molecule is first effectively reduced to a two-level
system by placing both constituent atoms at a specific location of the level
spectrum. The spin sensitivity of the conductance enables us to identify the
electronic spin-states of the two-level molecule. We find in addition that the
magnetic field induces variations in the tunnel coupling between the two atoms.
The lateral nature of the device is evoked to explain this behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; revised version with a minor change in Fig.2 and
additional inset in Fig.3.;accepted by PR
Spin Effects in a Quantum Ring
Recent experiments are reviewed that explore the spin states of a ring-shaped
many-electron quantum dot. Coulomb-blockade spectroscopy is used to access the
spin degree of freedom. The Zeeman effect observed for states with successive
electron number allows to select possible sequences of spin ground states of
the ring. Spin-paired orbital levels can be identified by probing their
response to magnetic fields normal to the plane of the ring and electric fields
caused by suitable gate voltages. This narrows down the choice of ground-state
spin sequences. A gate-controlled singlet--triplet transition is identified and
the size of the exchange interaction matrix element is determined.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the QD2004 conference in Banf
Tunable Negative Differential Resistance controlled by Spin Blockade in Single Electron Transistors
We demonstrate a tunable negative differential resistance controlled by spin
blockade in single electron transistors. The single electron transistors
containing a few electrons and spin polarized source and drain contacts were
formed in GaAs/GaAlAs heterojunctions using metallic gates. Coulomb blockade
measurements performed as a function of applied source-drain bias, electron
number and magnetic field reveal well defined regimes where a decrease in the
current is observed with increasing bias. We establish that the origin of the
negative differential regime is the spin-polarized detection of electrons
combined with a long spin relaxation time in the dot. These results indicate
new functionalities that may be utilized in nano-spintronic devices in which
the spin state is electro-statically controlled via the electron occupation
number.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Spin splitting in open quantum dots
We present results from a theoretical and experimental study of
spin-splitting in small open lateral quantum dots (i.e. in the regime when the
dot is connected to the reservoirs via leads that support one or more
propagating modes). We demonstrate that the magnetoconductance shows a
pronounced splitting of the conductance peaks (or dips) which persists over a
wide range of magnetic fields (from zero field to the edge-state regime) and is
virtually independent of magnetic field. A numerical analysis of the
conductance and the dot eigenspectrum indicates that this feature is related to
a lifting of the spin degeneracy in the corresponding closed dot associated
with the interaction between electrons of opposite spin.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures 1 misdirected figure reference corrected mismatch
between spin-up/spin-down notation in figure 3-4 and discussion corrected,
clarifications in text adde
Coulomb and Spin blockade of two few-electrons quantum dots in series in the co-tunneling regime
We present Coulomb Blockade measurements of two few-electron quantum dots in
series which are configured such that the electrochemical potential of one of
the two dots is aligned with spin-selective leads. The charge transfer through
the system requires co-tunneling through the second dot which is in
resonance with the leads. The observed amplitude modulation of the resulting
current is found to reflect spin blockade events occurring through either of
the two dots. We also confirm that charge redistribution events occurring in
the off-resonance dot are detected indirectly via changes in the
electrochemical potential of the aligned dot.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The Collapse of the Spin-Singlet Phase in Quantum Dots
We present experimental and theoretical results on a new regime in quantum
dots in which the filling factor 2 singlet state is replaced by new spin
polarized phases. We make use of spin blockade spectroscopy to identify the
transition to this new regime as a function of the number of electrons. The key
experimental observation is a reversal of the phase in the systematic
oscillation of the amplitude of Coulomb blockade peaks as the number of
electrons is increased above a critical number. It is found theoretically that
correlations are crucial to the existence of the new phases.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PR
Concept study for a high-efficiency nanowire-based thermoelectric
Materials capable of highly efficient, direct thermal-to-electric energy
conversion would have substantial economic potential. Theory predicts that
thermoelectric efficiencies approaching the Carnot limit can be achieved at low
temperatures in one-dimensional conductors that contain an energy filter such
as a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure. The recent advances in growth
techniques suggest that such devices can now be realized in heterostructured,
semiconductor nanowires. Here we propose specific structural parameters for
InAs/InP nanowires that may allow the experimental observation of near-Carnot
efficient thermoelectric energy conversion in a single nanowire at low
temperature
The Addition Spectrum of a Lateral Dot from Coulomb and Spin Blockade Spectroscopy
Transport measurements are presented on a class of electrostatically defined
lateral dots within a high mobility two dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The
new design allows Coulomb Blockade(CB) measurements to be performed on a single
lateral dot containing 0, 1 to over 50 electrons. The CB measurements are
enhanced by the spin polarized injection from and into 2DEG magnetic edge
states. This combines the measurement of charge with the measurement of spin
through spin blockade spectroscopy. The results of Coulomb and spin blockade
spectroscopy for first 45 electrons enable us to construct the addition
spectrum of a lateral device. We also demonstrate that a lateral dot containing
a single electron is an effective local probe of a 2DEG edge.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures submitted to Physical Review
Voltage-tunable singlet-triplet transition in lateral quantum dots
Results of calculations and high source-drain transport measurements are
presented which demonstrate voltage-tunable entanglement of electron pairs in
lateral quantum dots. At a fixed magnetic field, the application of a
judiciously-chosen gate voltage alters the ground-state of an electron pair
from an entagled spin singlet to a spin triplet.Comment: 8.2 double-column pages, 10 eps figure
Using single quantum states as spin filters to study spin polarization in ferromagnets
By measuring electron tunneling between a ferromagnet and individual energy
levels in an aluminum quantum dot, we show how spin-resolved quantum states can
be used as filters to determine spin-dependent tunneling rates. We also observe
magnetic-field-dependent shifts in the magnet's electrochemical potential
relative to the dot's energy levels. The shifts vary between samples and are
generally smaller than expected from the magnet's spin-polarized density of
states. We suggest that they are affected by field-dependent charge
redistribution at the magnetic interface.Comment: 4 pages, 1 color figur
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