The effect of coulomb correlations on the nonequilibrium charge redistribution tuned by the tunneling current

We demonstrate that the tunneling current flowing through a system with Coulomb correlations leads to a charge redistribution between the different localized states. A simple model consisting of two electron levels is analyzed by means of the Heisenberg equations of motion taking correlations of electron filling numbers in localized states into account exactly in all orders. We consider various relations between the Coulomb interaction and localized electron energies. Sudden jumps of the electron density at each level in a certain range of the applied bias are found. We find that for some parameter range, inverse occupation in the two-level system appears due to Coulomb correlations. It is also shown that Coulomb correlations lead to the appearance of negative tunneling conductivity at a certain relation between the values of tunneling rates from the two electron levels.     

The effects of nonequilibrium charge distribution in scanning tunneling spectroscopy of semiconductors

Results are presented from a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) investigation of III-V semiconductor surfaces cleaved in situ along a (110) plane. The STM topographic images reveal the presence of surface charge structures. The possibility of their observation depends on the charge state of the apex of the STM tip. Peaks are also observed in the local tunneling conductivity spectra. The energy position of these peaks and the energy position of the edges of the band gap change with distance from the defect. A theoretical model is proposed which demonstrates that the experimental scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) data can be explained by effects due to a nonequilibrium electron distribution in the contact area, which gives rise to localized charges. In this model the on-site Coulomb repulsion of localized charges and their interaction with semiconductor electrons are treated self-consistently. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 4, 299–304 (25 August 1998)     

Different behaviour of local tunneling conductivity for deep and shallow impurities due to Coulomb interaction

Spatial distribution of local tunneling conductivity was investigated for deep and shallow impurities on semiconductor surfaces. Non-equilibrium Coulomb interaction and interference effects were taken into account and analyzed theoretically with the help of Keldysh formalism. Two models were investigated: mean field self-consistent approach for shallow impurity state and Hubbard-I model for deep impurity state. We have found that not only above the impurity but also at the distances comparable to the lattice period both effects interference between direct and resonant tunneling channels and on-site Coulomb repulsion of localized electrons strongly modifies form of tunneling conductivity measured by the scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS).     

Metallic glass electronic structure peculiarities revealed by UHV STM/STS

We present the results of ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy investigation of metallic glass surface. The topography and electronic structure of Ni_63.5Nb_36.5 have been studied. A great number of clusters with size about 5–10 nm have been found on constant current scanning tunneling microscopy images. The tunneling spectra of normalized tunneling conductivity revealed the energy pseudogap in the vicinity of Fermi energy. For energy values above 0.1 eV the normalized tunneling conductivity changes linearly with increasing of tunneling bias. The obtained results can be understood within suggested theoretical model based on the interplay of elastic electron scattering on random defects and weak intra-cluster Coulomb interaction. The effects of the finite edges of electron spectrum of each cluster have to be taken into account to explain the experimental data. The tunneling conductivity behavior and peculiarities in current images of individual clusters can also be qualitatively analyzed in the framework of suggested model.     

Time domain capacitance spectroscopy of tunneling electrons in the two-dimensional electron gas

We have developed a technique capable of measuring the tunneling current into both localized and conducting states in a 2D electron system (2DES). The method yields I-V characteristics for tunneling with no distortions arising from low 2D in-plane conductivity. We have used the technique to determine the pseudogap energy spectrum for electron tunneling into and out of a 2D system and, further, we have demonstrated that such tunneling measurements reveal spin relaxation times within the 2DEG. Pseudogap: In a 2DEG in perpendicular magnetic field, a pseudogap develops in the tunneling density of states at the Fermi energy. We resolve a linear energy dependence of this pseudogap at low excitations. The slopes of this linear gap are strongly field dependent. No existing theory predicts the observed behavior. Spin relaxation: We explore the characteristics of equilibrium tunneling of electrons from a 3D electrode into a high mobility 2DES. For most 2D Landau level filling factors, we find that electrons tunnel with a single, well-defined tunneling rate. However, for spin-polarized quantum Hall states (ν=1, 3 and 1/3) tunneling occurs at two distinct rates that differ by up to two orders of magnitude. The dependence of the two rates on temperature and tunnel barrier thickness suggests that slow in-plane spin relaxation creates a bottleneck for tunneling of electrons.     

Charge and spin configurations in the coupled quantum dots with Coulomb correlations induced by tunneling current

We investigated the peculiarities of non-equilibrium charge states and spin configurations in the system of two strongly coupled quantum dots (QDs) weakly connected to the electrodes in the presence of Coulomb correlations. We analyzed the modification of non-equilibrium charge states and different spin configurations of the system in a wide range of applied bias voltage and revealed well pronounced ranges of system parameters where negative tunneling conductivity appears due to the Coulomb correlations.     

Interaction correction to ac conductivity in the disordered tunneling superlattice

The interaction theory has been generalized to the case of anisotropic disordered electron systems. The interaction correction to ac conductivity in a tunneling superlattice has been calculated in the weakly localized regime. The result is that the frequency dependence of this correction changes from three-dimensional (3D) to two-dimensional (2D) behavior with decreasing the interlayer coupling. The dimensional crossover effect has been discussed.     

Low energy dynamics of two-dimensional lateral tunnel junctions

We report on the low temperature tunneling characteristics of two-dimensional lateral tunnel junctions (2DLTJs) consisting of two coplanar two-dimensional electron systems separated by an in-plane tunnel barrier. The tunneling conductance of the 2DLTJ exhibits a characteristic dip at small voltages—consistent with the phenomenon of zero-bias anomaly in low-dimensional tunnel junctions—and a broad conductance peak at the Coulombic energy scale. The conductance peak remains robust under magnetic fields well into the quantum Hall regime. We identify the broad conductance maxima as the signature of the pseudogap in the tunneling density of states below the characteristic Coulomb interaction energy of the 2DLTJ.     

Correlation induced switching of the local spatial charge distribution in a two-level system

It was found that tunneling current through a nanometer scale structure with strongly coupled localized states causes spatial redistribution of localized charges induced by Coulomb correlations. We present here theoretical investigation of this effect by means of Heisenberg equations for localized states electron filling numbers. This method makes it possible to take into account pair correlations of local electron density exactly. It is shown that inverse occupation of the two-level system caused by Coulomb correlations appears in particular range of applied bias. Described effects can give a possibility of charge manipulation in the proposed system. We also expect that described results can be observed in tunneling structures with impurities or with small quantum dots.     

Tuning of tunneling current noise spectra singularities by localized states charging

We report the results of theoretical investigations of tunneling current noise spectra in a wide range of applied bias voltage. Localized states of individual impurity atoms play an important role in tunneling current noise formation. It was found that switching “on” and “off” of Coulomb interaction of conduction electrons with two charged localized states results in power law singularity of low-frequency tunneling current noise spectrum (1/f ^α) and also results on high frequency component of tunneling current spectra (singular peaks appear). The article is published in the original.     

Resonantly enhanced tunneling in a double layer quantum hall ferromagnet

The tunneling conductance between two parallel 2D electron systems has been measured in a regime of strong interlayer Coulomb correlations. At total Landau level filling nuT=1 the tunnel spectrum changes qualitatively when the boundary separating the compressible phase from the ferromagnetic quantized Hall state is crossed. A huge resonant enhancement replaces the strongly suppressed equilibrium tunneling characteristic of weakly coupled layers. The possible relationship of this enhancement to the Goldstone mode of the broken symmetry ground state is discussed.     

Exciton-assisted tunneling transport in heterojunction microstructures

Longitudinal tunneling transport in the low-dimensional heterojunction structures induced by the excitonic Coulomb interaction has been formulated and discussed in the framework of Fermi's golden rule. We have investigated the tunneling transition of free carriers to quantum-well Wannier–Mott excitons incorporated in the sequential tunneling Hamiltonian. The modeling is evaluated by a set of coupled rate equations involving subband states of electron, hole and exciton. The exciton-assisted tunneling (EAT) phenomenon has its characteristic fingerprint causing tunneling current prior to the resonance electric fields, and a significant modulation of the I–V characteristics. It is also found that the bias offset and the FWHM of the EAT current spectrum can be comparable to that of resonant tunneling (RT) current, depending both on the 2D hole density of the confined subband and the excitonic properties in the active region. The EAT effect has a different I–V spectral line shape, compared to that of the RT or its replica, tailing off in the resonance regime induced by the exciton binding energy.     

Coulomb screening of impurity charge and anomalous tunneling transparency

This paper analyzes the effect of the screened Coulomb interaction between metallic electrons in the sidewalls, on the one hand, and a localized electron in an impurity level, on the other, on the tunneling in doped quantum structures with an intrinsic two-dimensional continuum. We show that Mahan’s non-Fermi-liquid singularity at the Fermi level is unstable against additional scattering due to tunneling. As a result, the current-voltage characteristic changes radically when the Fermi level in the sidewalls is approached by the edge of the two-dimensional band. Specifically, the peak due to the non-Fermi-liquid singularity with a section of negative differential resistance is replaced with a step-like or a two-step feature, which corresponds to a single or split Fermi-liquid resonance near the edge of the 2D band involved in the tunneling process. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1843–1859 (May 1999)     

Single-particle self-energy and optical conductivity of the simplified Hubbard model

It is shown that the single-particle self-energy of the one and two-dimensional simplified Hubbard model exhibits different behavior characterized by Fermi-liquid, non-Fermi-liquid quasiparticle, or non-quasiparticle excitations, as a function of the strength of the on-site Coulomb repulsionU, temperature, and electron filling. For half-filled lattices, results for the optical conductivity indicate that the d.c. conductivity is zero for all temperatures andU>0.     

Quantum discreteness effects and flicker fluctuations in tunneling conductivity

An analysis of events in the tunneling junction shows that the interaction of one-electron processes in a many-electron system may be a source of scale-invariant low-frequency fluctuations of conductivity (the interaction consists in that the quantum probability of an electron transition depends on fast random changes in the environment in the course of the transition, including the changes caused by analogous transitions). The theory relates flicker fluctuations in the tunneling conductivity to the discrete character of the spectrum of electron states and explains the nonlinearity of the noise-current characteristic observed in nanocomposites.     

Single-electron tunneling and Coulomb blockade in carbon-based quantum dots

Single-electron tunneling (SET) and Coulomb blockade (CB) phenomena have been widely observed in nanoscaled electronics and have received intense attention around the world. In the past few years, we have studied SET in carbon nanotube fragments and fullerenes by applying the so-called “Orthodox” theory [28]. As outlined in this review article, we investigated the single-electron charging and discharging process via current-voltage characteristics, gate effect, and electronic structure-related factors. Because the investigated geometric structures are three-dimensionally confined, resulting in a discrete spectrum of energy levels resembling the property of quantum dots, we evidenced the CB and Coulomb staircases in these structures. These nanostructures are sufficiently small that introducing even a single electron is sufficient to dramatically change the transport properties as a result of the charging energy associated with this extra electron. We found that the Coulomb staircases occur in the I–V characteristics only when the width of the left barrier junction is smaller than that of the right barrier junction. In this case, the transmission coefficient of the emitter junction is larger than that of the collector junction; also, occupied levels enter the bias window, thereby enhancing the tunneling extensively.      

Size-dependent single electron tunneling effect in Au nanoparticles

We investigated single electron tunneling (SET) behavior of dodecanethiol-coated Au nanoparticles of two different sizes (average sizes are 5 nm and 2 nm) using nanogap electrodes, which have a well-defined gap size, at various temperatures. The Coulomb staircases and the Coulomb gap near-zero bias voltage caused by the suppression of the tunneling electrons due to the Coulomb blockade effect were observed in the current-voltage (I-V) curves of both sizes of nanoparticles at a low temperature (10 K). At room temperature, the Coulomb gap was observed only in the I-V curve of the smaller nanoparticles. This result indicates that the charging energy of the smaller nanoparticles is enough to overcome the thermal energy at room temperature. This suggests that it is possible to operate the SET devices at room temperature using the smaller nanoparticles as a Coulomb island.     

External field induced switching of a tunneling current in coupled quantum dots

We investigated the tunneling current peculiarities in the system of two quantum dots that are coupled by means of the external field and are weakly connected to the electrodes in the presence of Coulomb correlations. It was found that tuning of the Rabi frequency induces fast multiple tunneling current switching and leads to the negative tunneling conductivity. Special role of multielectron states was demonstrated. Moreover we revealed conditions for bistable behavior of the tunneling current in the coupled quantum dots with Coulomb correlations.     

Nonstationary effects in the system of coupled quantum dots influenced by Coulomb correlations

We investigate the time evolution of filling numbers of localized electrons in the system of two coupled single-level quantum dots (QDs) connected with the continuous-spectrum states in the presence of Coulomb interaction. We consider correlation functions of all orders for electrons in the QDs by decoupling higher-order correlations between localized and band electrons in the reservoir. We analyze different initial charge configurations and consider Coulomb correlations between localized electrons both within the dots and between the different dots. We reveal the presence of a dynamical charge trapping effect in the first QD in the situation where both dots are occupied at the initial instant. We also find an analytic solution for the time-dependent filling numbers of the localized electrons for a particular configuration of the dots.     

Resonance tunneling spectroscopy of heteropoly compounds

The electron tunneling spectra of phosphomolybdic and phosphomolybdovanadic acids have been measured using a scanning tunneling microscope. A new mechanism of negative differential resistance (NDR) formation in tunneling nanocontacts is established, which is general for all systems featuring the Wannier-Stark localization effect. A two-center inelastic resonance tunneling model is constructed, which allows the values of both electron and vibrational energy parameters to be determined from the measured spectra.