562 research outputs found
Corrections to the universal behavior of the Coulomb-blockade peak splitting for quantum dots separated by a finite barrier
Building upon earlier work on the relation between the dimensionless interdot
channel conductance g and the fractional Coulomb-blockade peak splitting f for
two electrostatically equivalent dots, we calculate the leading correction that
results from an interdot tunneling barrier that is not a delta-function but,
rather, has a finite height V and a nonzero width xi and can be approximated as
parabolic near its peak. We develop a new treatment of the problem for g much
less than 1 that starts from the single-particle eigenstates for the full
coupled-dot system. The finiteness of the barrier leads to a small upward shift
of the f-versus-g curve at small values of g. The shift is a consequence of the
fact that the tunneling matrix elements vary exponentially with the energies of
the states connected. Therefore, when g is small, it can pay to tunnel to
intermediate states with single-particle energies above the barrier height V.
The correction to the zero-width behavior does not affect agreement with recent
experimental results but may be important in future experiments.Comment: Title changed from ``Non-universal...'' to ``Corrections to the
universal...'' No other changes. 10 pages, 1 RevTeX file with 2 postscript
figures included using eps
Incoherent tunnelling through two quantum dots with Coulomb interaction
The Ohmic conductance and current through two quantum dots in series is
investigated for the case of incoherent tunnelling. A generalised master
equation is employed to include the discrete nature of the energy levels.
Regions of negative differential conductance can occur in the I-V
characteristics. Transport is dominated by matching energy levels, even when
they do not occur at the charge degeneracy points.Comment: RevTeX + epsf.sty + 13 figure
Smearing of Coulomb Blockade by Resonant Tunneling
We study the Coulomb blockade in a grain coupled to a lead via a resonant
impurity level. We show that the strong energy dependence of the transmission
coefficient through the impurity level can have a dramatic effect on the
quantization of the grain charge. In particular, if the resonance is
sufficiently narrow, the Coulomb staircase shows very sharp steps even if the
transmission through the impurity at the Fermi energy is perfect. This is in
contrast to the naive expectation that perfect transmission should completely
smear charging effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Conductance oscillations in tunnel-coupled quantum dots in the quantum Hall regime
We present measurements of transport through two tunnel-coupled quantum dots
of different sizes connected in series in a strong, variable, perpendicular
magnetic field. Double dot conductance was measured both as a function of
magnetic field, which was varied across the filling factor nu = 4 quantum Hall
plateau, and as a function of charge induced evenly on the two dots. The
conductance peaks undergo position shifts and height modulations as the
magnetic field is varied. These shifts and modulations form a pattern that
repeats over large ranges of magnetic field and with the addition of double dot
charge. The robust pattern repetition is consistent with a frequency locking
effect.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Coulomb effects in tunneling through a quantum dot stack
Tunneling through two vertically coupled quantum dots is studied by means of
a Pauli master equation model. The observation of double peaks in the
current-voltage characteristic in a recent experiment is analyzed in terms of
the tunnel coupling between the quantum dots and the coupling to the contacts.
Different regimes for the emitter chemical potential indicating different peak
scenarios in the tunneling current are discussed in detail. We show by
comparison with a density matrix approach that the interplay of coherent and
incoherent effects in the stationary current can be fully described by this
approach.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Non Equilibrium Electronic Distribution in Single Electron Devices
The electronic distribution in devices with sufficiently small diemnsions may
not be in thermal equilibrium with their surroundings. Systems where the
occupancies of electronic states are solely determined by tunneling processes
are analyzed. It is shown that the effective temperature of the device may be
higher, or lower, than that of its environment, depending on the applied
voltage and the energy dependence of the tunneling rates. The I-V
characteristics become asymmetric. Comparison with recent experiments is made
Correlated charge polarization in a chain of coupled quantum dots
Coherent charge transfer in a linear array of tunnel-coupled quantum dots,
electrostatically coupled to external gates, is investigated using the Bethe
ansatz for a symmetrically biased Hubbard chain. Charge polarization in this
correlated system is shown to proceed via two distinct processes: formation of
bound states in the metallic phase, and charge transfer processes corresponding
to a superposition of antibound states at opposite ends of the chain in the
Mott-insulating phase. The polarizability in the insulating phase of the chain
exhibits a universal scaling behavior, while the polarization charge in the
metallic phase of the model is shown to be quantized in units of .Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Resonant Photon-Assisted Tunneling Through a Double Quantum Dot: An Electron Pump From Spatial Rabi Oscillations
The time average of the fully nonlinear current through a double quantum dot,
subject to an arbitrary combination of ac and dc voltages, is calculated
exactly using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function technique. When driven
on resonance, the system functions as an efficient electron pump due to Rabi
oscillation between the dots. The pumping current is maximum when the coupling
to the leads equals the Rabi frequency.Comment: 6 pages, REVTEX 3.0, 3 postscript figure
A New Class of Resonances at the Edge of the Two Dimensional Electron Gas
We measure the frequency dependent capacitance of a gate covering the edge
and part of a two-dimensional electron gas in the quantum Hall regime. In
applying a positive gate bias, we create a metallic puddle under the gate
surrounded by an insulating region. Charging of the puddle occurs via electron
tunneling from a metallic edge channel. Analysis of the data allows direct
extraction of this tunneling conductance. Novel conductance resonances appear
as a function of gate bias. Samples with gates ranging from 1-170~m along
the edge display strikingly similar resonance spectra. The data suggest the
existence of unexpected structure, homogeneous over long length scales, at the
sample edge.Comment: 13 pages (revtex) including 4 figure
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