Coulomb blockade and the thermopower of a suspended quantum dot

On the basis of the 2D electron gas in an AlGaAs/GaAs membrane separated from a wafer, a one-electron transistor is created that operates on the Coulomb blockade effect—a two-barrier structure with a quantum dot. The separation of the sample from the wafer, which has a large dielectric constant, leads to a sharp decrease in the total capacity C of the quantum dot and, as a result, to high charge energy E _C = e ²/C and critical temperature T _C = E _C/k _B ≈ 40 K. The dependence of the conductance of the quantum dot on the driving and gate voltages includes a rhombic structure characteristic of the Coulomb blockade effect. The phonon-drag thermopower is found in this system. This thermopower exhibits an anomalous alternating dependence on the gate voltage and intensity of the phonon flux. Possible mechanisms are proposed for explaining the indicated anomalies in the thermopower.     

Influence of the coulomb blockade effect on heat transfer in a one-dimensional system of spinless electrons

An analysis is made of some characteristics of the low-temperature thermal conductivity of a ballistic quantum dot, attributed to the influence of long-range Coulomb interaction in the geometric capacitance approximation. It is shown that at fairly low temperatures the thermal conductivity K exhibits Coulomb oscillations as a function of the electrostatic potential of the quantum dot. At the maximum of the Coulomb peak we find K ∝ T whereas at the minimum K ∝ T ³. The dependence K(T) is essentially nonmonotonic at temperatures corresponding to the characteristic spacing between the size-quantization levels in the quantum dot.     

Heat transport through a quantum dot with one-dimensional interacting leads under Coulomb blockade regime

The peculiarities of a low temperature heat transfer through a ballistic quantum dot (a double potential barrier) with interacting leads due to a long-range Coulomb interaction (in the geometrical capacitance approach) are considered. It is found that the thermal conductance K shows periodic peaks as a function of the electrostatic potential of a dot at low temperatures. At the peak maximum it is whereas near the minimum it is . Near the peak maximum the dependence K(T) is essentially nonmonotonic at the temperatures correspondent to the level spacing in the quantum dot. Received 20 October 1999 and Received in final form 20 January 2000     

Electron interaction effects on the thermoelectric power of a quantum dot at T &gt; T<Subscript>K</Subscript>

In the absence of phonon thermal conductivity, we theoretically investigate the output power of an interacting quantum dot thermoelectric setup that is moderately coupled to two electronic reservoirs in the regime T ? T _K . In the noninteracting case, the output power is maximized when the energy level of the dot is around a critical value ε _c . We find that when the energy level of the dot is lower than ε _c , Coulomb interaction can enhance the maximum thermoelectric power that can be achieved by tuning the bias and a wider operating region is also observed. However, when the energy level of the dot is higher than ε _c , Coulomb interaction suppresses the maximum power. Finally when the dot level is around ε _c , Coulomb interaction has minimal effects on the maximum power.     

Raman scattering in multilayer structures with CdTe quantum dots in ZnTe

Raman spectra in superlattices composed of layers of self-assembled CdTe quantum dots separated by ZnTe barriers are investigated. As the barrier thickness increases, a high-frequency shift of all peaks is observed, which is explained by a decrease in the lattice constant averaged over the volume of the entire structure. Peaks are found at a CdTe TO mode frequency of 140 cm^?1 and also at 120 cm^?1. The first peak is assigned to the symmetric Coulomb (interface) mode of the quantum dot material, and the low-frequency peak is assigned to the symmetric mode of the phonons captured in the quantum dot. This combination of modes in structures with quantum dots has not been observed previously.     

Single electron charging effects in semiconductor quantum dots

We have studied charging effects in a lateral split-gate quantum dot defined by metal gates in the two dimensional electron gas (2 DEG) of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. The gate structure allows an independent control of the conductances of the two tunnel barriers separating the quantum dot from the two 2 DEG leads, and enables us to vary the number of electrons that are localized in the dot. We have measured Coulomb oscillations in the conductance and the Coulomb staircase in current-voltage characteristics and studied their dependence on the conductances of the tunnel barriers. We show experimentally that at zero magnetic field charging effects start to affect the transport properties when both barrier conductances are smaller than the first quantized conductance value of a point contact at 2e ²/h. The experiments are described by a simple model in terms of electrochemical potentials, which includes both the discreteness of the electron charge and the quantum energy states due to confinement.     

石墨烯纳米带量子点中的量子混沌现象

在20 mK的极低温下测量了石墨烯纳米带量子点的电子输运性质,观测到清晰的库仑阻塞菱形块和对应量子点激发态的电导峰.对库仑阻塞近邻电导峰间距和峰值进行了统计分析,发现其统计分布分别满足无规矩阵理论描述的Wigner-Dyson分布和Porter-Thomas分布,说明石墨烯纳米带量子点在低温下出现了量子混沌现象.还讨论了这种长方形量子点中量子混沌的可能成因. 关键词： 石墨烯纳米带 量子点 库仑阻塞 量子混沌     

硅量子点中电子的荷电动力学特征

利用频率依赖电容谱的测量,对于SiO₂/硅量子点/SiO₂/硅衬底隧 穿电容中硅量子点的荷电特征进行了研究.由于量子点的极小尺寸和良好的均匀性,室温下 在强反型区成功地观察到了与单电子隧穿相关的两个电容和电导共振峰,它们分别对应于硅 衬底导带上的电子与量子点中第一与第二个基态之间直接隧穿过程.实验数据分析给出了量 子点中的库仑荷电能,并进行了讨论. 关键词： 量子点 电容谱 库仑荷电能 直接隧穿     

Electronic transport through a Majorana bound state coupled to a T-shaped quantum-dot system with Coulomb interaction

Using the Green’s function technique, we respectively investigate the electron transport properties of two spin components through the system of a T-shaped double quantum dot structure coupled to a Majorana bound state, in which only one quantum dot is connected with two metallic leads. We explore the interplay between the Fano effect and the MBSs for different dot-MBS coupling strength λ, dot-dot coupling strength t, and MBS-MBS coupling strength ε_M in the noninteracting case. Then the Coulomb interaction and magnetic field effect on the conductance spectra are investigated. Our results indicate that G_↓(ω) is not affected by the Majorana bound states, but a “0.5” conductance signature occurs in the vicinities of Fermi level of G_↑(ω). This robust property persists for a wide range of dot-dot coupling strength and dot-MBS coupling strength, but it can be destroyed by Coulomb interaction in quantum dots. By adjusting the size and direction of magnetic field around the quantum dots, the “0.5” conductance signature damaged by U can be restored. At last, the spin magnetic moments of two dots by applying external magnetic field are also predicted.     

Optical properties of a hydrogenic impurity in a confined Zn1−xCdxSe/ZnSe spherical quantum dot

The effect of longitudinal optical phonon field on the ground state and low lying-excited state energies of a hydrogenic impurity in a Zn_1−xCd_xSe/ZnSe strained quantum dot is investigated for various Cd content using the Aldrich-Bajaj effective potential. We consider the strain effect considering the internal electric field induced by the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. Calculations have been performed using Bessel function as an orthonormal basis for different confinement potentials of barrier height. Polaron induced photoionization cross section of the hydrogenic impurity in the quantum dot is investigated. We study the oscillator strengths, the linear and third-order nonlinear optical absorption coefficients as a function of incident photon energy for 1s-1p and 1p-1d transitions with and without the polaronic effect. It is observed that the potential taking into account the effects of phonon makes the binding energies more than the obtained results using a Coulomb potential screened by a static dielectric constant and the optical properties of hydrogenic impurity in a quantum dot are strongly affected by the confining potential and the radii. It is also observed that the magnitude of the absorption coefficients increases for the transitions between higher levels with the inclusion of phonon effect.     

Proximity effect of electron beam lithography on single-electron transistors

A simple method, based on the proximity effect of electron beam lithography, alleviated by exposing various shapes in the pattern of incident electron exposures with various intensities, was applied to fabricate silicon point-contact devices. The drain current (I _d) of the device oscillates against gate voltage. The electrical characteristics of the single-electron transistor were observed to be consistent with the expected behavior of electron transport through gated quantum dots, up to 150 K. The dependence of the electrical characteristics on the dot size reveals that the I _d oscillation follows from the Coulomb blockade by poly-Si grains in the poly-Si dot. The method of fabrication of this device is completely compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, raising the possibility of manufacturing large-scale integrated nanoelectronic systems.     

氧化硅稳定的氧化锡量子点薄膜的制备及其光学性能

 用溶胶-凝胶-水热过程制备了氧化硅稳定的氧化锡量子点,然后将其分散到氧化硅溶液中,用旋转涂膜的方法制备光学性能良好的氧化硅稳定的氧化锡量子点薄膜。X射线衍射和高分辨透射电镜表征显示氧化锡量子点具有良好的四方金红石晶型,平均粒径约4.0 nm。室温光致发光显示这种氧化硅稳定的氧化锡量子点薄膜在356 nm和388 nm处分别有很强的激子发光和缺陷态发光。根据透射谱拟合得到了氧化锡量子点薄膜的光学禁带宽度,其值约为3.96 eＶ。     

Coherence destruction of tunneling in a quantum-dot molecule with bias

This paper studies the constraint conditions for coherence destruction in tunneling by using perturbation theory and numerical simulation for an AC-field with bias and Coulomb interaction between electrons in a quantum dot molecule. Such conditions can be described by using the roots of a Bessel function Jn(x), where n is determined by both the bias and the Coulomb interactions, and x is the ratio of the amplitude to the frequency of the AC-field. Under such conditions, a coherent suppression of tunneling occurs between localized electronic states, which results from the dynamical localization phenomenon. All the conditions are verified with numerical simulations.     

Coulomb oscillations of the current through spin-nondegenerate <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis> states of InAs quantum dots

The electron transport is studied in split-gate structures fabricated on the basis of a modulation-doped heterostructure that contains a single quantum well and self-assembled InAs quantum dots near the 2D electron gas regions. The current passing through the channel with a denumerable set of InAs quantum dots is found to exhibit Coulomb oscillations as a function of the gate voltage. The oscillations are associated with the excited p states of InAs quantum dots, which are characterized by opposite spins and caused by lifting of the spin degeneracy of the p state due to the Coulomb interaction. The Coulomb oscillations of the current are observed up to a temperature of ～20 K. The Coulomb energy is found to be ΔE_c = 12.5 meV, which agrees well with the theoretical estimates for the p states of quantum dots in the structures under study.     

Coulomb oscillations of the ballistic conductance in a quasi-one-dimensional quantum dot

It is demonstrated that localized states of an open quasi-one-dimensional quantum dot can be charged by the Coulomb blockade mechanism. A new effect—Coulomb oscillations of the ballistic conductance—is observed because of the high sensitivity of the ballistic current to single-electron variations of the self-consistent potential of the dot. The model proposed explains experimental results [C.-T. Liang, M.Y. Simmons, C. G. Smith, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 3507 (1998)].     

Phase coherent transmission through interacting mesoscopic systems

This is a review of the phase coherent transmission through interacting mesoscopic conductors. As a paradigm we study the transmission amplitude and the dephasing rate for electron transport through a quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime. We summarize experimental and theoretical work devoted to the phase of the transmission amplitude. It is shown that the evolution of the transmission phase may be dominated by non-universal features in the short-time dynamics of the quantum dot. The controlled dephasing in Coulomb-coupled conductors is investigated. Examples comprise a single or multiple quantum dots in close vicinity to a quantum point contact. The current through the quantum point contact “measures” the state of the dots and causes dephasing. The dephasing rate is derived using widely different theoretical approaches. The Coulomb coupling between mesoscopic conductors may prove useful for future work on electron coherence and quantum computing.     

On the possibility of implementation of Kohn’s theorem in the case of ellipsoidal quantum dots

An electron gas in a strongly oblated ellipsoidal quantum dot with impenetrable walls is considered. Influence of the walls of the quantum dot is assumed to be so strong in the direction of the minor axis (the OZ axis) that the Coulomb interaction between electrons in this direction can be neglected and considered as two-dimensional, coupled. On the basis of geometric adiabaticity we show that in the case of a few-particle gas a powerful repulsive potential of the quantum dot walls has a parabolic form and localizes the dot in the geometric center of the structure. Due to this fact, conditions occur to implement the generalized Kohn theorem for this system.     

Linear and nonlinear transports of coupled quantum dots

Series of double quantum dots each with a size around 400 × 400nm² have been realized by delineating a 2DEG in modulation-doped AlGaAs/GaAs with 100 nm wide Schottky split gates fabricated by an electron-beam lithography and a lift-off technique. The split gate in the middle of the double dot allows us to control interdot coupling widely. The charging diagram obtained from linear transports in the Coulomb blockade regime shows that the isolated dots merge into a single composite dot with increase of interdot coupling. A clear Coulomb staircase has been observed in the double-dot system at a limited high-bias condition.     

Selective optical doping to predict the performance and reveal the origin of photocurrent peaks in quantum dots-in-a-well infrared photodetectors

Resonant optical pumping across the band gap was used as artificial doping in InAs/In_0.15Ga_0.85As/GaAs quantum dots-in-a-well infrared photodetectors. Through efficient filling of the quantum dot energy levels by simultaneous optical pumping into the ground states and the excited states of the quantum dots, the response was increased by a factor of 10. Low temperature photocurrent peaks observed at 120 and 148 meV were identified as intersubband transitions emanating from the quantum dot ground state and the quantum dot excited state, respectively by a selective increase of the electron population in the different quantum dot energy levels.     

Generation of dislocation loops in strained quantum dots embedded in a heterolayer

The generation of prismatic dislocation loops in strained quantum dots is investigated. The quantum dots are embedded in a film-substrate heterostructure with mechanical stresses caused by the difference between the lattice parameters of the film (heterolayer) and the substrate. The intrinsic plastic strain ?_m of a quantum dot arises from the misfit between the lattice parameters of the materials of the quantum dot and the surrounding matrix. The interface between the heterolayer and the substrate is characterized by a misfit parameter f. The critical radius of a quantum dot R _c at which the generation of a dislocation loop in the quantum dot becomes energetically favorable is analyzed as a function of the intrinsic plastic strain ?_m and the misfit parameter f.