Large Negative Differential of Heat Generation in a Two-Level Quantum Dot Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads

Heat current exchanged between a two-level quantum dot(QD) and a phonon reservoir coupled to it is studied within the nonequilibrium Green's function method. We consider that the QD is connected to the left and right ferromagnetic leads. It is found that the negative differential of the heat generation(NDHG) phenomenon,i.e.,the intensity of the heat generation decreases with increasing bias voltage,is obviously enhanced as compared to that in single-level QD system. The NDHG can emerge in the absence of the negative differential conductance of the electric current,and occurs in different bias voltage regions when the magnetic moments of the two leads are arranged in parallel or antiparallel configurations. The characteristics of the found phenomena can be understood by examining the change of the electron number on the dot.     

Heat Generation by Electric Current in a Quantum Dot Molecular Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads

We study the properties of the heat flow generated by electric current in a quantum dot(QD) molecular sandwiched between two ferromagnetic leads. The heat is exchanged between the QD and the phonon reservoir coupled to it. We find that when the leads' magnetic moments are in parallel configuration, the total heat generation is independent on the leads' spin-polarization regardless of the magnitude of the intradot Coulomb interaction. This behavior is similar to that of the electronic current. In the antiparallel configuration, however, the influences of the leads' ferromagnetism on the heat generation are quite different from those on the electric current. Under the conditions of weak intradot Coulomb interaction and small bias voltage, the heat generation is monotonously suppressed by increasing leads' spin-polarization.Whereas for sufficient large intradot Coulomb interaction and bias voltage, the heat generation shows non-monotonous behavior due to the electron-phonon interaction and the spin accumulation induced on the dot. Furthermore, the magnitude of the negative differential of the heat generation previously found in a QD connected to nonmagnetic leads can be weakened by the increase of the spin-polarization of the ferromagnetic leads.     

Heat Generation by Electric Current in a Quantum Dot Molecular Coupled to Ferromagnetic Leads

We study the properties of the heat flow generated by electric current in a quantum dot (QD) molecular sandwiched between two ferromagnetic leads. The heat is exchanged between the QD and the phonon reservoir coupled to it. We find that when the leads' magnetic moments are in parallel configuration, the total heat generation is independent on the leads' spin-polarization regardless of the magnitude of the intradot Coulomb interaction. This behavior is similar to that of the electronic current. In the antiparallel configuration, however, the influences of the leads' ferromagnetism on the heat generation are quite different from those on the electric current. Under the conditions of weak intradot Coulomb interaction and small bias voltage, the heat generation is monotonously suppressed by increasing leads' spin-polarization. Whereas for sufficient large intradot Coulomb interaction and bias voltage, the heat generation shows non-monotonous behavior due to the electron-phonon interaction and the spin accumulation induced on the dot. Furthermore, the magnitude of the negative differential of the heat generation previously found in a QD connected to nonmagnetic leads can be weakened by the increase of the spin-polarization of the ferromagnetic leads.     

Photon-Assisted Heat Generation by Electric Current in a Quantum Dot Attached to Ferromagnetic Leads

Heat generated by electric current in a quantum dot device contacting a phonon bath is studied using the nonequilibrium Green function technique.Spin-polarized current is generated owing to the Zeeman splitting of the dot level.The current's strength and the spin polarization are further manipulated by changing the frequency of an applied photon field and the ferromagnetism on the leads.We find that the associated heat by this spinpolarized current emerges even if the bias voltage is smaller than the phonon energy quanta and obvious negative differential of the heat generation develops when the photon frequency exceeds that of the phonon.It is also found that both the strength and the resonant peaks' position of the heat generation can be tuned by changing the value and the arrangement configurations of the magnetic moments of the two leads,and then provides an effective method to generate large spin-polarized current with weak heat.Such a result may be useful in designing low energy consumption spintronic devices.     

Cooling effect of thermal bias on a current-carrying nanodevice

We investigate the heat generation in a quantum dot (QD) coupled to two normal leads with different temperatures. It is found that heat in the QD can be conducted efficiently away through electron–phonon interaction in the QD when the QD is coupled stronger to colder lead than to the hotter one. As temperature of the colder lead is close to zero, the current through the QD peaks at the very QD level position, where the heat generation is zero, which helps to keep the stability of a working nanodevice. Then an ideal condition for nanodevice operation can be found.     

Microwave-mediated heat transport in a quantum dot attached to leads

The thermoelectric effect in a quantum dot (QD) attached to two leads in the presence of microwave fields is studied by using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function technique. When the microwave is applied only on the QD and in the linear response regime, the main peaks in the thermoelectric figure of merit and the thermopower are found to decrease, with the emergence of a set of photon-induced peaks. Under this condition the microwave field cannot generate heat current or electrical bias voltage. Surprisingly, when the microwave field is applied only to one (bright) lead and not to the other (dark) lead or the QD, heat flows mostly from the dark to the bright lead, almost irrespective of the direction of the thermal gradient. We attribute this effect to microwave-induced opening of additional transport channels below the Fermi energy. The microwave field can change both the magnitude and the sign of the electrical bias voltage induced by the temperature gradient.     

Mechanism behind Unique Properties of Local Heating in Nanoscale Junctions

We investigate the unique properties of current-induced heat generation in nanojunctions,such as failed Q α I relation(where Q is the heat generation and I the current),threshold voltage required to generate heat,etc.By employing the lead-quantum dot(QD)-lead system,we find these unique properties stem from(i) the discontinuity of Fermi distribution at chemical potentials of the leads and(ii) the satellite peaks in spectral function of the QD electron,which are induced by the electron-phonon interaction.     

Nonequilibrium electron and spin properties in a parallel double quantum dot Fano interference device

Nonequilibrium electron and spin transport properties in a parallel double quantum dot (QD) Fano interferometer are theoretically studied. With the shift of gate voltage around the chemical potential of either lead, we find the Fano lineshapes in the differential conductance spectra, which is sensitively determined by the bias voltage strength and appropriate QD level distributions. The intradot Coulomb interactions modulate the Fano interference in a substantial way and can induce the emergence of negative differential conductance, because of its nontrivial role in splitting the QD levels. In the presence of a local Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the interplay between the magnetic and Rashba fields induces the occurrence of the nonequilibrium spin-related Fano interference, different from the linear-transport results. Furthermore, the striking Coulomb-driven spin accumulation in the ‘resonant-channel’ QD appears.     

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.     

Spin-flip mesoscopic transport through a quantum dot coupled to carbon nanotube terminals

We investigate mesoscopic transport through a system that consists of a central quantum dot (QD) and two single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCN) leads in the presence of a rotating magnetic field. The spin-flip effect is induced by the rotating magnetic field, and the tunnelling current is sensitively related to the spin-flip effect. We present the calculations of charge and spin current components to show the intimate relations to the SWCN leads. Zeeman effect is important when the applied magnetic field is strong enough. The current characteristics are quite different when the source-drain bias is zero (eV=0) and nonzero (eV≠0). The asymmetric peak and valley of spin current versus gate voltage exhibit Fano resonance. Multi-resonant peaks of spin current versus photon energy ħω reflect the structure of CN quantum wires, as well as the resonant photon absorption and emission effect. The matching-mismatching of channels in the CN leads and QD results in novel spin current structure by tuning the frequency.     

Heat generation properties determined by chemical potentials

We investigate the current-induced heat generation in a quantum dot (QD) coupled to four spin chemical potentials, which originate from the magnetic pumping field applied on the QD. Both resonant and non-resonant electron tunneling process is analyzed. It is found that the heat generation characteristic is mainly determined by the two spin chemical potentials lying nearest to the dot level. In particular, when the difference of this two potentials is less than two phonon energy, the heat generation exhibits quantum properties, unique behavior to nanosystems and absent in macroscopic bulks.     

Nonequilibrium spin transport through a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot system with noncollinear magnetization

The spin-dependent transport through a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dot (QD) which is coupled via magnetic tunnel junctions to two ferromagnetic leads is studied theoretically. A noncollinear system is considered, where the QD is magnetized at an arbitrary angle with respect to the leads’ magnetization. The tunneling current is calculated in the coherent regime via the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) formalism, incorporating the electron–electron interaction in the QD. We provide the first analytical solution for the Green’s function of the noncollinear DMS quantum dot system, solved via the equation of motion method under Hartree–Fock approximation. The transport characteristics (charge and spin currents, and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR)) are evaluated for different voltage regimes. The interplay between spin-dependent tunneling and single-charge effects results in three distinct voltage regimes in the spin and charge current characteristics. The voltage range in which the QD is singly occupied corresponds to the maximum spin current and greatest sensitivity of the spin current to the QD magnetization orientation. The QD device also shows transport features suitable for sensor applications, i.e., a large charge current coupled with a high TMR ratio.     

Spin-flip shot noise in a quantum dot coupled to carbon nanotube terminals responded by a rotating magnetic field

We have investigated the spectral density of shot noise of the system with a quantum dot (QD) coupled to two single-wall carbon nanotube terminals, where a rotating magnetic field is applied to the QD. The carbon nanotube (CN) terminals act as quantum wires which open quantum channels for electrons to transport through. The shot noise and differential shot noise exhibit novel behaviors originated from the quantum nature of CNs. The shot noise is sensitively dependent on the rotating magnetic field, and the differential shot noise exhibits asymmetric behavior versus source-drain bias and gate voltage. The Fano factor of the system exhibits the deviation of shot noise from the Schottky formula. The super-Poissonian and sub-Poissonian shot noise can be achieved in different regime of source-drain bias.     

Using a quantum dot as a high-frequency shot noise detector

We present the experimental realization of a quantum dot (QD) operating as a high-frequency noise detector. Current fluctuations produced in a nearby quantum point contact (QPC) ionize the QD and induce transport through excited states. The resulting transient current through the QD represents our detector signal. We investigate its dependence on the QPC transmission and voltage bias. We observe and explain a quantum threshold feature and a saturation in the detector signal. This experimental and theoretical study is relevant in understanding the backaction of a QPC used as a charge detector.     

Enhancement of the shot noise of a quantum dot–Luttinger lead system

We investigate the joint effects of the intralead electron interaction and Coulombic dot–lead interaction on the shot noise of a quantum dot coupled to Luttinger liquid leads. A formula of the shot noise is derived by applying the nonequilibrium Green function technique. The shot noise is enhanced by the dot–lead interaction. For a weak or moderately strong interaction the differential shot noise demonstrates resonant-like behavior as a function of bias and gate voltages. In the limit of strong interaction resonant behavior disappears and the differential shot noise and Fano factor scale as a power law in bias voltage. Under some parameters, the differential shot noise may become negative around resonant peaks, and the physical reason is analyzed.     

Cotunneling current through a two-level quantum dot coupled to magnetic leads: the role of exchange interaction

The cotunneling current through a two-level quantum dot weakly coupled to ferromagnetic leads is studied in the Coulomb blockade regime. The cotunneling current is calculated analytically under simple but realistic assumptions as follows: (i)?the quantum dot is described by the universal Hamiltonian, (ii)?it is doubly occupied, and (iii)?it displays a fast spin relaxation. We find that the dependence of the differential conductance on the bias voltage is significantly affected by the exchange interaction on the quantum dot. In particular, for antiparallel magnetic configurations in the leads, the exchange interaction results in the appearance of interference-type contributions from the inelastic processes to the cotunneling current. Such dependence of the cotunneling current on the tunneling amplitude phases should also occur in multi-level quantum dots weakly coupled to ferromagnetic leads near the mesoscopic Stoner instabilities.     

Resonant tunneling of electrons through single self-assembled InAs quantum dot studied by conductive atomic force microscopy

Resonant tunneling of electrons through a quantum level in single self-assembled InAs quantum dot (QD) embedded in thin AlAs barriers has been studied. The embedded InAs QDs are sandwiched by 1.7-nm-thick AlAs barriers, and surface InAs QDs, which are deposited on 8.3 nm-thick GaAs cap layer, are used as nano-scale electrodes. Since the surface InAs QD should be vertically aligned with a buried one, a current flowing via the buried QD can be measured with a conductive tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM) brought in contact with the surface QD-electrode. Negative differential resistance attributed to electron resonant tunneling through a quantized energy level in the buried QD is observed in the current–voltage characteristics at room temperature. The effect of Fermi level pinning around nano-scale QD-electrode on resonance voltage and the dependence of resonance voltage on the size of QD-electrodes are investigated, and it has been demonstrated that the distribution of the resonance voltages reflects the size variation of the embedded QDs.     

Thermal Bias on the Pumped Spin-Current in a Single Quantum Dot

Temperature effect on the spin pump in a single quantum dot (QD) connected to Normal (NM) and/or Ferromagnetic (FM) leads is investigated with the help of master equation method. Results show that the magnitude and the direction of the temperature difference between the source (L) and drain (R) leads have great impact on the spin current processes. In practical devices, the thermal bias is quite general and then our results may be useful in quantum information processing and spintronics.     

电场调谐InAs量子点荷电激子光学跃迁

在低温5 K下, 采用光致发光光谱及外加偏压调谐量子点电荷组态研究了InAs单量子点的精细结构和对应发光光谱的偏振性、不同带电荷激子的圆偏振特性. 得出如下结果: 1) 指认InAs单量子点中不同荷电激子的发光光谱和对应的激子本征态的偏振特性; 2) 外加偏压可以调谐量子点的荷电激子的发光光谱; 3) 伴随着电子、空穴的能量弛豫, 电子的自旋弛豫时间远大于空穴的自旋弛豫时间. 关键词： InAs量子点 激子 荧光光谱 电场调谐     

Generating and reversing spin accumulation by temperature gradient in a quantum dot attached to ferromagnetic leads

We propose to generate and reverse the spin accumulation in a quantum dot (QD) by using the temperature difference between the two ferromagnetic leads connected to the dot. The electrons are driven purely by the temperature gradient in the absence of an electric bias and a magnetic field. In the Coulomb blockade regime, we find two ways to reverse the spin accumulation. One is by adjusting the QD energy level with a fixed temperature gradient, and the other is by reversing the temperature gradient direction for a fixed value of the dot level. The spin accumulation in the QD can be enhanced by the magnitudes of both the leads’ spin polarization and the asymmetry of the dot-lead coupling strengths. The present device is quite simple, and the obtained results may have practical usage in spintronics or quantum information processing.