Single electron charging in parallel coupled quantum dots

We report low-temperature conductance measurements in the Coulomb blockade regime on two nominally identical tunnel-coupled quantum dots in parallel defined electrostatically in the two-dimensional electron gas of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. At low interdot tunnel coupling we find that the conductance measured through one dot is sensitive to the charge state of the neighboring dot. At larger interdot coupling the conductance data reflect the role of quantum charge fluctuations between the dots. As the interdot conductance approaches 2e²/h, the coupled dots behave as a single large dot.     

Antiresonance of electron tunneling through a quantum dot array

Electronic transport through a one-dimensional quantum dot array is theoretically studied. In such a system both electron reservoirs of continuum states couple with the individual component quantum dots of the array arbitrarily. When there are some dangling quantum dots in the array outside the dot(s) contacting the leads, the electron tunneling through the quantum dot array is wholly forbidden if the electron energy is just equal to the molecular energy levels of the dangling quantum dots, which is called as antiresonance of electron tunneling. Accordingly, when the chemical potential of the reservoir electrons is aligned with the electron levels of all quantum dots, the linear conductance at zero temperature vanishes if there are odd number dangling quantum dots; Otherwise, it is equal to 2e²/h due to resonant tunneling if the total number of quantum dots in the array is odd. This odd–even parity is independent of the interdot and the lead–dot coupling strength.     

Conductance peak splitting in charge polarized coupled quantum dots

We report a measurement of linear conductance through a series double dot as a function of the total double dot charge and the charge difference for interdot tunnel conductances between zero and one mode. The dots are defined by ten independently tunable electrostatic gates on the surface of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure to allow separate adjustment of dot charge and interdot conductance. For weak interdot tunneling the measured double dot conductance agrees with a transport model in which each dot is individually governed by Coulomb blockade theory. As interdot tunnel conductance increases toward one mode, the measured conductance peak positions and shapes indicate both a relaxation of the charge quantization condition for individual dots and quantum mechanical charge sharing between dots. The results are in quantitative agreement with many body charge fluctuation theory.     

Quantum Phase Transition and Ferromagnetic Spin Correlation in Parallel Double Quantum Dots

We investigate electronic transport through a parallel double quantum dot （DQD） system with strong on-site Coulomb interaction, as well as the interdot tunnelling. By applying numerical renormalization group method, the ground state of the system and the transmission probability at zero temperature are obtained. For a system of quantum dots with degenerate energy levels and small interdot tunnel coupling, the spin correlations between the DQDs is ferromagnetic, and the ground state of the system is a spin-1 triplet state. The linear conductance will reach the unitary limit （2e^2/h） due to the Kondo effect at low temperature. As the interdot tunnel coupling increases, there is a quantum phase transition from ferromagnetic to anti-ferromagnetic spin correlation in DQDs and the linear conductance is strongly suppressed.     

Large magnetoresistance induced by quantum charge fluctuations in magnetic double dots

We study electron tunnelling through two small ferromagnetic dots. Quantum charge fluctuations and interdot coupling cause each Coulomb peak of conductance at zero interdot coupling to split. The interdot tunnel coupling depends on the relative orientation of magnetizations of the two dots, leading to different splitting energies of the Coulomb peaks in parallel and antiparallel magnetization alignments. As a result, a very large tunnelling magnetoresistance occurs near the Coulomb peaks, and its sign may be either positive or negative.     

Coupled quantum dots: manifestation of an artificial molecule

Transport spectroscopy reveals the microscopic features of few-electron quantum dots which justify the nameartificial atoms. New physics evolve when two quantum dots are coupled by a tunneling barrier. We study, both theoretically and experimentally, the tunneling spectroscopy on a double quantum dot. A detailed lineshape analysis of the conductance resonances proves that off-resonant coherent interdot tunneling governs transport through this system, while tunneling into the double quantum dot occurs resonantly. This coherent interdot tunneling witnesses the evolution of a delocalized electronic state which can be compared to a valence electron of thisartificial molecule.     

Electronic Green's functions in a T-shaped multi-quantum dot system

We developed a set of equations to calculate the electronic Green's functions in a T-shaped multi-quantum dot system using the equation of motion method. We model the system using a generalized Anderson Hamiltonian which accounts for finite intradot on-site Coulomb interaction in all component dots as well as for the interdot electron tunneling between adjacent quantum dots. Our results are obtained within and beyond the Hartree–Fock approximation and provide a path to evaluate all the electronic correlations in the multi-quantum dot system in the Coulomb blockade regime. Both approximations provide information on the physical effects related to the finite intradot on-site Coulomb interaction. As a particular example for our generalized results, we considered the simplest T-shaped system consisting of two dots and proved that our approximation introduces important corrections in the detector and side dots Green's functions, and implicitly in the evaluation of the system's transport properties. The multi-quantum dot T-shaped setup may be of interest for the practical realization of qubit states in quantum dot systems.     

Inter-dot coupling effects on transport through correlated parallel coupled quantum dots

Transport through symmetric parallel coupled quantum dot system has been studied, using non-equilibrium Green function formalism. The inter-dot tunnelling with on-dot and inter-dot Coulomb repulsion is included. The transmission coefficient and Landaur-Buttiker like current formula are shown in terms of internal states of quantum dots. The effect of inter-dot tunnelling on transport properties has been explored. Results, in intermediate inter-dot coupling regime show signatures of merger of two dots to form a single composite dot and in strong coupling regime the behaviour of the system resembles the two decoupled dots.      

Fabrication of double quantum dots by combining afm and e-beam lithography

In recent years several attempts have been made to fabricate coupled quantum dots as a crucial element of quantum computing devices. One important challenge is to achieve a reliable control of the interdot tunneling. For this purpose we have combined direct nanolithography by local anodic oxidation (LAO) with standard electron-beam lithography. LAO is used to produce parallel double quantum dots. Additional metallic split gates are responsible for the control of the interdot coupling. We describe our fabrication scheme and demonstrate the function in low-temperature transport measurements.     

Observation of hysteretic transport due to dynamic nuclear spin polarization in a GaAs lateral double quantum dot

We report a new transport feature in a GaAs lateral double quantum dot that emerges for magnetic-field sweeps and shows hysteresis due to dynamic nuclear spin polarization (DNP). This DNP signal appears in the Coulomb blockade regime by virtue of the finite interdot tunnel coupling and originates from the crossing between ground levels of the spin triplet and singlet extensively used for nuclear spin manipulations in pulsed-gate experiments. The magnetic-field dependence of the current level is suggestive of unbalanced DNP between the two dots, which opens up the possibility of controlling electron and nuclear spin states via dc transport.     

Delocalization energy probed by asymmetry of Coulomb diamond in double dot system

We present results of measurements of the I–V characteristics of a unique parallel double dot where the current flows vertically but the coupling is lateral. Probed by asymmetry of Coulomb diamonds in the standard double-dot honeycomb stability diagram, we are able to discern in what sequence electrons are added in the two dots.     

电子关联效应对平行双量子点系统磁输运性质的影响

从理论上研究了平行双量子点系统中的电子关联效应对该系统磁输运性质的影响. 基于广义主方程方法, 计算了通过此系统的电流、微分电导和隧穿磁阻. 计算结果表明: 电子自旋关联效应可以促发一个很大的隧穿磁阻, 而电子库仑关联效应不仅可以压制电子自旋关联效应, 还可以导致负隧穿磁阻和负微分电导的出现. 对相关的基本物理问题进行了讨论.     

串型耦合双量子点之间库仑作用对其近藤共振的影响

从理论上研究了串型耦合双量子点之间库仑作用对其近藤共振的影响. 采用非平衡态格林函数和奴役玻色子平均场近似方法求解了系统的哈密顿量; 计算了系统电子的态密度、透射率、占居数和近藤温度随双量子点之间库仑作用能的变化, 同时也计算了电极处于极化时双量子点之间库仑作用能对系统电子态密度的影响. 结果表明,双量子点之间库仑作用能够极大地影响系统的基态物理性质. 同时还对相关的物理问题进行了讨论.     

Fano effect in a double T-shaped interferometer

We study the coherent transport in a one-dimensional lead with two side-coupled quantum dots using the Keldysh’s Green function formalism.The effect of the interdot Coulomb interaction is taken into account by computing the firstand second order contributions to the self-energy.We show that the Fano interference due to the resonance of one dotis strongly affected by the fixed parameters that characterize the second dot. If the second dot is tuned close to resonance an additionalpeak develops between the peak and dip of the Fano line shape of the current. In contrast, when the second dotis off-resonance and its occupation number is close to unity the interdot Coulomb interaction merely shifts the Fano line and no other maxima appear.The system we consider is more general than the single-dot interferometer studied experimentally by Kobayashi et al. [Phys. Rev. B 70, 035319 (2004)] and may be used for controlling quantum interference and studying decoherence effects in mesoscopic transport.     

Thermoelectric properties of correlated double quantum dot system in Coulomb blockade regime

We theoretically study thermoelectric properties of a coupled double quantum dot (DQD) system coupled to normal leads using two impurity Anderson model with intra- as well as interdot Coulomb interactions. A generic formulation, which was earlier developed to study electronic properties (zero bias maximum of differential conductance and interesting partial swapping in Fano phenomena) of DQD system within Coulomb blockade regime for a non-magnetic case, is extended to investigate thermoelectric properties i.e. electrical conductance, thermoelectric power and thermal conductance of the same system, as a function of temperature by varying interdot Coulomb interaction and interdot tunneling. Interdot Coulomb interaction is found to trigger some novel features like crossover in thermoelectric power with temperature in all the configurations (series, parallel and T-shape) and a small peak in thermal conductance toward low temperatures, T≈Γ/10, in series and T-shape configurations, which is found to be missing in case of symmetric parallel configuration. The origin of these novel features is attributed to the interplay of renormalization of energy levels caused by the interdot Coulomb interaction which is interpreted in terms of local density of states and the asymmetry effects related to dot-lead couplings/interference effects.     

The effect of the interdot Coulomb interaction on Kondo resonances in series-coupled double quantum dots

We theoretically investigate the effect of the interdot Coulomb repulsion on Kondo resonances in the series-coupled double quantum dot coupled to two ferromagnetic leads. The Hamiltonian of our system is solved by means of the slave-boson mean-field approximation, and the variation of the density of states, the transmission probability, the occupation number, and the Kondo temperature with the interdot Coulomb repulsion are discussed in the Kondo regime. The density of states is calculated for various interdot Coulomb repulsions with both parallel and antiparallel lead-polarization alignments. Our results reveal that the interdot Coulomb repulsion greatly influences the physical property of this system, and relevant underlying physics of this system is discussed.     

Dissociation of vertical semiconductor diatomic artificial molecules

We investigate the dissociation of few-electron circular vertical semiconductor double quantum dot artificial molecules at 0 T as a function of interdot distance. A slight mismatch introduced in the fabrication of the artificial molecules from nominally identical constituent quantum wells induces localization by offsetting the energy levels in the quantum dots by up to 2 meV, and this plays a crucial role in the appearance of the addition energy spectra as a function of coupling strength particularly in the weak coupling limit.     

Tunable supercurrent through a double Aharonov–Bohm interferometer

The supercurrent through a double Aharonov–Bohm interferometer formed by parallel-coupled four quantum dots is investigated theoretically. The possibility of controlling the supercurrent of the system is explored by tuning the interdot coupling, dot energy levels, and magnetic flux treading the ring connecting dots and leads. Whether the supercurrent sign can be changed depends not only on the magnetic flux but also on the quantum dot energy levels. By tuning the quantum dot energy levels, the behavior of the supercurrent shows swap effects, which might be used to design a qubit. It is also found that the oscillation period of the supercurrent with respect to the magnetic flux depends on the ratio of the two parts fluxes.     

Shot noise in electron transport through a double quantum dot: a master equation approach

We study shot noise in tunneling current through a double quantum dot connected to two electric leads.We derive two master equations in the occupation-state basis and the eigenstate basis to describe the electron dynamics.The approach based on the occupation-state basis,despite being widely used in many previous studies,is valid only when the interdot coupling strength is much smaller than the energy difference between the two dots.In contrast,the calculations using the eigenstate basis are valid for an arbitrary interdot coupling.Using realistic model parameters,we demonstrate that the predicted currents and shot-noise properties from the two approaches are significantly different when the interdot coupling is not small.Furthermore,properties of the shot noise predicted using the eigenstate basis successfully reproduce qualitative features found in a recent experiment.     

Double-dot quantum ratchet driven by an independently biased quantum point contact

We study a double quantum dot (DQD) coupled to a strongly biased quantum point contact (QPC), each embedded in independent electric circuits. For weak interdot tunneling we observe a finite current flowing through the Coulomb blockaded DQD in response to a strong bias on the QPC. The direction of the current through the DQD is determined by the relative detuning of the energy levels of the two quantum dots. The results are interpreted in terms of a quantum ratchet phenomenon in a DQD energized by a nearby QPC.