Mesoscopic fluctuations of nonlinear conductance of chaotic quantum dots

The nonlinear dc conductance of a two-terminal chaotic cavity is investigated. The fluctuations of the conductance (anti)symmetric with respect to magnetic-flux inversion through multichannel cavities are found analytically for arbitrary temperature, magnetic field, and interaction strength. For few-channel dots the effect of dephasing is investigated numerically. A comparison with recent experimental data is provided.     

Capacitance fluctuations in quantum dots

We discuss fluctuations of the charging energy E_C and gate voltage spacings between Coulomb oscillation conductance peaks, as computed within spin density functional theory for a realistic GaAs–AlGaAs dot. We explicitly exhibit the fluctuations in the portion of the total free energy which incorporate the interaction between the dot and its surroundings. These variations in the dot capacitance show a dispersion which is typically greater than the dispersion of the total dot charging energy.     

Zero-bias conductance in carbon nanotube quantum dots

We present numerical renormalization group calculations for the zero-bias conductance of quantum dots made from semiconducting carbon nanotubes. These explain and reproduce the thermal evolution of the conductance for different groups of orbitals, as the dot-lead tunnel coupling is varied and the system evolves from correlated Kondo behavior to more weakly correlated regimes. For integer fillings N=1, 2, 3 of an SU(4) model, we find universal scaling behavior of the conductance that is distinct from the standard SU(2) universal conductance, and concurs quantitatively with experiment. Our results also agree qualitatively with experimental differential conductance maps.     

Spin relaxation quenching in semiconductor quantum dots

We have studied the spin dynamics in self-organized InAs/GaAs quantum dots by time-resolved photoluminescence performed under strictly resonant excitation. At low temperature, we observe strictly no decay of both the linear and the circular luminescence polarization. This demonstrates that the carrier spins are totally frozen on the exciton lifetime scale.     

Spin manipulation in semiconductor quantum dots qubit

Thirty years of effort in semiconductor quantum dots has resulted in significant developments in the control of spin quantum bits(qubits). The natural two-energy level of spin states provides a path toward quantum information processing. In particular, the experimental implementation of spin control with high fidelity provides the possibility of realizing quantum computing. In this review, we will discuss the basic elements of spin qubits in semiconductor quantum dots and summarize some important experiments that have demonstrated the direct manipulation of spin states with an applied electric field and/or magnetic field. The results of recent experiments on spin qubits reveal a bright future for quantum information processing.     

Thermal conductance in a quantum waveguide modulated with quantum dots

We investigate the thermal conductance in a quantum waveguide modulated with quantum dots at low temperatures. It is found that the thermal conductance sensitively depends on the geometrical parameters of the structure and boundary conditions. When the stress-free boundary conditions are applied in the structure, the universal quantum of thermal conductance can be found regardless of the geometry details in the limit T→0. For an uniform quantum waveguide, a thermal conductance plateau can be observed at very low temperatures; while for the quantum waveguide modulated with quantum dots, the plateau disappears, instead a decrease of the thermal conductance can be observed as the temperature goes up in the low temperature region, and its magnitude can be adjusted by the radius of the quantum dot. Moreover, it is found that the quantum waveguide with two coupling quantum dots exhibits oscillatory decaying thermal conductance behavior with the distance between two quantum dots. However, when the hard-wall boundary conditions are applied, the thermal conductance displays different behaviors.     

Dwell-time-limited coherence in open quantum dots

We present measurements of the electron phase coherence time tau(varphi) on a wide range of open ballistic quantum dots (QDs) made from InGaAs heterostructures. The observed saturation of tau(varphi) below temperatures 0.5 K相似文献   

Conductance peaks in open quantum dots

We present a simple measure of the conductance fluctuations in open ballistic chaotic quantum dots, extending the number of maxima method originally proposed for the statistical analysis of compound nuclear reactions. The average number of extreme points (maxima and minima) in the dimensionless conductance T as a function of an arbitrary external parameter Z is directly related to the autocorrelation function of T(Z). The parameter Z can be associated with an applied gate voltage causing shape deformation in quantum dot, an external magnetic field, the Fermi energy, etc. The average density of maxima is found to be <ρ(Z)>=α(Z)/Z(c), where α(Z) is a universal constant and Z(c) is the conductance autocorrelation length, which is system specific. The analysis of <ρ(Z)> does not require large statistic samples, providing a quite amenable way to access information about parametric correlations, such as Z(c).     

Finite-size effects in conductance measurements on quantum dots

The observation of the Kondo effect in quantum dots has provided new opportunities to finally observe the controversial Kondo screening cloud. Here we study the conductance of a quantum dot embedded in a finite length quantum wire, predicting a change in behavior when the length of the wire is comparable to the size of the screening cloud.     

Spin relaxation and decoherence of holes in quantum dots

We investigate heavy-hole spin relaxation and decoherence in quantum dots in perpendicular magnetic fields. We show that at low temperatures the spin decoherence time is 2 times longer than the spin relaxation time. We find that the spin relaxation time for heavy holes can be comparable to or even longer than that for electrons in strongly two-dimensional quantum dots. We discuss the difference in the magnetic-field dependence of the spin relaxation rate due to Rashba or Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling for systems with positive (i.e., GaAs quantum dots) or negative (i.e., InAs quantum dots) g factor.     

Spin relaxation and antiferromagnetic coupling in semiconductor quantum dots

We report carrier spin dynamics in highly uniform self-assembled InAs quantum dots and the observation of antiferromagnetic coupling between semiconductor quantum dots. The spin relaxation times in the ground state and the first excited state were measured to be 1.0 and 0.6 ns, respectively, without the disturbance of inhomogeneous broadening. The measured spin relaxation time decreases rapidly from 1.1 ns at 10 K to 200 ps at 130 K. This large change in the spin relaxation time is well-explained in terms of the mechanism of acoustic phonon emission. In coupled quantum dots, the formation of antiferromagnetic coupling is directly observed. Electron spins are found to flip at 80 ps after photoexcitation via the interdot exchange interaction. The antiferromagnetic coupling exists at temperatures lower than 50–80 K. A model calculation based on the Heitler–London approximation supports the finding that the antiferromagnetic coupling is observable at low temperature. These carrier spin features in quantum dots are suitable for the future quantum computation.     

Spin interactions,relaxation and decoherence in quantum dots

We review recent studies on spin decoherence of electrons and holes in quasi-two-dimensional quantum dots, as well as electron-spin relaxation in nanowire quantum dots. The spins of confined electrons and holes are considered major candidates for the realization of quantum information storage and processing devices, provided that sufficiently long coherence and relaxation times can be achieved. The results presented here indicate that this prerequisite might be realized in both electron and hole quantum dots, taking one large step towards quantum computation with spin qubits.     

Mesoscopic fluctuations of tunneling and cotunneling in quantum dots

Recent measurements of mesoscopic tunneling and cotunneling fluctuations in Coulomb blockaded ballistic quantum dots are presented. The statistics and parametric fluctuations (as a function of magnetic field) of Coulomb blockade peak heights are found to be consistent with random-matrix-theory predictions. Mesoscopic fluctuations of elastic cotunneling, measured in the valleys between blockade peaks, are also presented along with a semiclassical explanation of the observed enhancement of the magnetic field scale of cotunneling fluctuations compared to resonant tunneling fluctuations.     

Insulating state in open quantum dots and quantum dot arrays

We describe the observation of novel localization in mesoscopic quantum dots and quantum dot arrays, which are realized in high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunctions using the split‐gate technique. With a sufficient gate voltage applied to form the devices, their resistance diverges as the temperature is lowered below a degree Kelvin, behavior which we attribute to localization. Evidence for the localization is found over the entire range of gate voltage for which the dots are defined, persisting to conductances higher than 50e²/h.     

Real-time renormalization group and charge fluctuations in quantum dots

We develop a perturbative renormalization-group method in real time to describe nonequilibrium properties of discrete quantum systems coupled linearly to an environment. We include energy broadening and dissipation and develop a cutoff-independent formalism. We present quantitatively reliable results for the linear and nonlinear conductance in the mixed-valence and empty-orbital regime of the nonequilibrium Anderson impurity model with finite on-site Coulomb repulsion.     

Size effect of quantum conductance in single-walled carbon nanotube quantum dots

The quantum conductance of two kinds of carbon nanotube quantum dots (CNQD) composed of (5,5) and (10,0) tubes, namely (10,0)/(5,5)/(10,0) and (5,5)/(10,0)/(5,5) with different quantum sizes, are calculated. It is shown that for (10,0)/(5,5)/(10,0) CNQD, one on-resonant peak at the Fermi energy exists only for special QD sizes, and the width of the conductance gap increases from 1.0 eV to 3.2 eV with the increase of size. The positions of peaks around the Fermi energy are obtained by the electronic structure of individual finite (5,5) tubes. We also find that the (5,5)/(10,0)/(5,5) CNQDs behave as a quantum dot, and its localized QD states are different from that of the former CNQD because of the existence of the interface states between (5,5)/(10,0) junctions. For (5,5)/(10,0)/(5,5) CNQD, there is no conductance gap with QDs size smaller than 7 layers, and the conductance peak around the interface quasilocalized state -0.26 eV disappears with QD sizes larger than 23 layers. In addition, for the (5,5)/(10,0)/(5,5) CNQD, the connection method can change the degree of electronic localization of intermediate (10,0) tube.Received: 8 August 2003, Published online: 23 December 2003PACS: 61.48. + c Fullerenes and fullerene-related materials - 71.20.Tx Fullerenes and related materials; intercalation compounds - 72.80.Rj Fullerenes and related materials - 68.55.Ln Defects and impurities: doping, implantation, distribution, concentration, etc.     

Coulomb oscillations in partially open quantum dots

We report tunneling measurements of the Coulomb blockade in a single quantum dot at zero magnetic field and dilution refrigerator temperatures with weak tunneling from the dot to one lead (the ‘closed’ lead, conductanceG_closed) and strong tunneling to the other lead (the ‘open’ lead, conductanceG_open). We observe suppression of the Coulomb oscillations withG_open≈2e²/h, and then see the oscillations return forG_open>2e²/h. The oscillations show a strikingly lower threshold temperature atG_open≈2e²/hthan for greater or lesserG_open.