Thermoelectric transport properties through a T-shaped single quantum dot

We study the thermopower, thermal conductance, electric conductance and the thermoelectric figure of merit for a gate-defined T-shaped single quantum dot (QD). The QD is solved in the limit of strong Coulombian repulsion U→∞, inside the dot, and the quantum wire is modeled on a tight-binding linear chain. We employ the X-boson approach for the Anderson impurity model to describe the localized level within the quantum dot. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental reports and other theoretical researches for the case of a quantum dot embedded into a conduction channel, employing analogies between the two systems. The results for the thermopower sign as a function of the gate voltage (associated with the quantum dot energy) are in agreement with a recent experimental result obtained for a suspended quantum dot. The thermoelectric figure of merit times temperature results indicates that, at low temperatures and in the crossover between the intermediate valence and Kondo regimes, the system might have practical applicability in the development of thermoelectric devices.     

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.     

Spin current in double quantum dot

We have studied the dynamical behaviours of two electrons confined in a double quantum dot driven by rotating magnetic fields in terms of the theory of Lewis－Riesenfeld Hermitian invariants for the explicitly time-dependent Hamiltonian. The coherent spin oscillations in the dot provide a generation source for spin current. Exact solutions obtained allow us to investigate the dynamical properties of the spin localization for various initial localized states.     

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.     

Photon-mediated spin-polarized current in a quantum dot under thermal bias

Spin-polarized current generated by thermal bias across a system composed of a quantum dot(QD) connected to metallic leads is studied in the presence of magnetic and photon fields. The current of a certain spin orientation vanishes when the dot level is aligned to the lead's chemical potential, resulting in a 100% spin-polarized current. The spin-resolved current also changes its sign at the two sides of the zero points. By tuning the system's parameters, spin-up and spin-down currents with equal strength may flow in opposite directions, which induces a pure spin current without the accompany of charge current. With the help of the thermal bias, both the strength and the direction of the spin-polarized current can be manipulated by tuning either the frequency or the intensity of the photon field, which is beyond the reach of the usual electric bias voltage.     

Persistent current through a semiconductor quantum dot with Gaussian confinement

The persistent diamagnetic current in a GaAs quantum dot with Gaussian confinement is calculated. It is shown that except at very low temperature or at high temperature, the persistent current increases with decreasing temperature. It is also shown that as a function of the dot size, the diamagnetic current exhibits a maximum at a certain confinement length. It is furthermore shown that for a shallow potential, the persistent current shows an interesting maximum structure as a function of the depth of the potential. At low temperature, the peak structure is pretty sharp but becomes broader and broader with increasing temperature.     

Tunable spin current through a T-shaped double quantum dot molecule

We present a spin current generator based on a T-shaped double quantum dot (TDQD) molecule connected with two leads, and the coherent spin-flip effect is taken into account within the TDQD. The spin current from the right output terminal is obtained, more importantly, the properties of the spin current are investigated in detail, these results offer us a way to manipulate the spin current with the system parameters.     

双量子点电荷比特的散粒噪声谱

考虑基底声子热库的耗散效应,推导了双量子点电荷比特的主方程,并利用全计数统计方法计算了双量子点电荷比特的平均电流和Fano因子.结果表明:声子热库的耗散引起平均电流关于其峰值的非对称分布和Fano因子双峰的非对称分布,并且随着声子热库温度T的升高,平均电流的非对称分布越强,Fano因子的峰值逐渐降低,直至超泊松分布行为消失.     

AC transport through a quantum dot: from Kondo to Coulomb-blockade behaviour

We analyze the conductance ( ) of a quantum dot (QD) in an AC potential at finite temperature. The Friedel–Langreth sum rule (FLSR) is generalized to include the effect of an AC potential and finite T. We have solved the Anderson Hamiltonian by means of a self-consistent procedure which fulfills the generalized FLSR. New features are found in the density of states (DOS) and in when an AC voltage is applied. Our model describes the effect of an AC potential on the transition from Kondo regime to a Coulomb-blockade behaviour as T increases.     

Investigation of the quantum dot infrared photodetectors dark current

Quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) are more efficient than other types of semiconductor based photodetectors; so it has become an actively developed field of research. In this paper quantum dot infrared photodetector dark current is evaluated theoretically. This evaluation is based on the model that was developed by Ryzhii et al. Here it is assumed that both thermionic emission and field-assisted tunneling mechanisms determine the dark current of QDIPs; moreover we have considered Richardson effect, which has not been taken into account in previous research. Then a new formula for estimating average number of electrons in a quantum dot infrared photodetector is derived. Considering the Richardson effect and field-assisted tunneling mechanisms in the dark current improves the accuracy of algorithm and causes the theoretical data to fit better in the experiment. The QDIPs dark current temperature and biasing voltage dependency, contribution of thermionic emission and field-assisted tunneling at various temperatures and biasing voltage in the QDIPs dark current are investigated. Moreover, the other parameter effects like quantum dot (QD) density and QD size effect on the QDIPs dark current are investigated.     

Impurities-contributed abnormal thermoelectric effect in a parallel double quantum dot structure

We discuss the influence of local impurities on the thermoelectric effect in a parallel double quantum dot (QD) structure. It is first found that in this structure, the Fano effect contributes significantly to the enhancement of thermoelectric efficiency, especially in the case of ϕ = π. Next, impurities are introduced to couple to the QDs, respectively. We readily find that regardless of which QD is coupled to a local impurity, the thermoelectric efficiency can be enhanced by the strengthening of impurity–QD coupling. This means that the destruction of the Fano interference is not the necessary condition to suppress the thermoelectric effect. Accordingly, we hope that the numerical results can help to understand the role of impurities in adjusting the thermoelectric properties of the QD structure.     

嵌入耦合量子点的介观Aharonov-Bohm环内的持续电流

使用双杂质的Anderson模型的哈密顿量，从理论上研究了一个嵌入耦合量子点的介观Aharonov-Bohm环系统处在Kondo区时的基态性质, 并用slave-boson平均场方法求解了哈密顿量. 结果表明, 在这个系统中, 宇称效应和复杂的电流 相位关系的出现反映了两个量子点可以相干耦合. 关键词： 持续电流 耦合量子点 宇称效应 Kondo效应     

Quantized current in a quantum dot turnstile

We have performed RF experiments on a lateral quantum dot defined in the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. The small capacitance of the quantum dot gives rise to single-electron charging effects, which we employed to realize a quantum dot turnstile device. By modulating the tunnel barriers between the quantum dot and the 2DEG leads with two phase-shifted RF signals, we pass an integer number of electrons through the quantum dot per RF cycle. This is demonstrated by the observation of quantized current plateaus at multiples ofef in current-voltage characteristics, wheref is the frequency of the RF signals. When an asymmetry is induced by applying unequal RF voltages, our quantum dot turnstile operates as a single-electron pump producing a quantized current at zero bias voltage.     

Thermoelectric properties of a single quantum dot in mixed-valence regime

We study thermoelectric effects in correlated quantum dot coupled to ferromagnetic electrodes by calculating thermal conductance κ, thermopower S and Figure of merit ZT in the mixed-valence regime as function of on-dot energy level and temperature. The system is represented by the Anderson model and the results agree well with those recently experimental measured for a quantum dot coupled to two leads.     

Thermopower and thermal conductance for a Kondo correlated quantum dot

We study the thermopower and thermal conductivity of a gate-defined quantum dot, with a very strong Coulomb repulsion inside the dot, employing the X-boson approach for the impurity Anderson model. Our results show a change in the sign of the thermopower as function of the energy level of the quantum dot (gate voltage), which is associated with an oscillatory behavior and a suppression of the thermopower magnitude at low temperatures. We identify two relevant energy scales: a low temperature scale dominated by the Kondo effect and a T∼Δ$T\sim \Delta$ temperature scale characterized by charge fluctuations. We also discuss the Wiedemann–Franz relation and the thermoelectric figure of merit. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental reports and other theoretical treatments.     

Thermally driven pure spin current through an interacting quantum dot

We study spin-dependent electron transport properties of a thermally driven interacting quantum dot. When an external magnetic field is applied to the quantum dot, the effective transmissions of spin-up and spin-down electrons are separated from each other and have a perfect mirror symmetry with respect to the incident energy at a certain gate voltage. A pure spin current can be induced in the system and modulated by a magnetic field. Under certain magnetic field strengths, a larger pure spin current can be obtained at gate voltages with the values in a range, not just at a specific voltage. These results indicate that the system can be worked as a pure spin current generator.     

Thermoelectric transport through a quantum dot with a magnetic impurity

We study the thermoelectric effect in a small quantum dot with a magnetic impurity in the Coulomb blockade regime.The electrical conductance,thermal conductance,thermopower,and the thermoelectrical figure of merit(FOM)are calculated by using Green’s function method.It is found that the peaks in the electrical conductance are split by the exchange coupling between the electron entering into the dot and the magnetic impurity inside the dot,accompanied by the decrease in the height of peaks.As a result,the resonances in the thermoelectric quantities,such as the thermal conductance,thermopower,and the FOM,are all split,opening some effective new working regions.Despite of the significant reduction in the height of the electrical conductance peaks induced by the exchange coupling,the values of the FOM and the thermopower can be as large as those in the case of zero exchange coupling.We also find that the thermoelectric efficiency,characterized by the magnitude of the FOM,can be enhanced by adjusting the left–right asymmetry of the electrode–dot coupling or by optimizing the system’s temperature.     

Detection of spin current through a quantum dot with Majorana bound states

The spin transport properties are theoretically investigated when a quantum dot(QD) is side-coupled to Majorana bound states(MBSs) driven by a symmetric dipolar spin battery. It is found that MBSs have a great effect on spin transport properties. The peak-to-valley ratio of the spin current decreases as the coupling strength between the MBS and the QD increases. Moreover, a non-zero charge current with two resonance peaks appears in the system. In the extreme case where the dot–MBS coupling strength is strong enough, the spin current and the charge current are both constants in the non-resonance peak range. When considering the effect of the Zeeman energy, it is interesting that the resonance peak at the higher energy appears one shoulder. And the shoulder turns into a peak when the Zeeman energy is big enough. In addition, the coupling strength between the two MBSs weakens their effects on the currents of the system. These results are helpful for understanding the MBSs signature in the transport spectra.     

Thermoelectric transport in the three terminal quantum dot

The thermoelectric transport in the system composed of a quantum dot in contact with superconducting, ferromagnetic and normal metal electrodes has been studied. Such a system can support pure spin current in the normal electrode. In the limit of a large superconducting gap and weak coupling between the dot and the electrodes we investigate the sub-gap charge and spin transport via Andreev mechanism using the standard master equation technique, which is known to be valid in the sequential tunnelling regime. The Zeeman splitting of the dot level induces pure spin current in the ferromagnetic electrode under an appropriate bias. This opens a novel possibility to switch the spin current between two electrodes by electric means. The calculated spin and charge thermopower coefficients attain very large values, of the order of a few hundreds μV K(-1), and show similar dependences on the position of the on-dot energy level and temperature.