Triple quantum dots as charge rectifiers

We theoretically analyze electronic spin transport through a triple quantum dot in series, attached to electrical contacts, where the drain contact is coupled to the central dot. We show that current rectification is observed in the device due to current blockade. The current blocking mechanism is originated by a destructive interference of the electronic wavefunction at the drain dot. There, the electrons are coherently trapped in a singlet two-electron dark state, which is a coherent superposition of the electronic wavefunction in the source dot and in the dot isolated from the contacts. Its formation gives rise to zero current and current rectification as the voltage is swept. We analyze this behavior analytically and numerically for both zero and finite magnetic dc fields. On top of that, we include phenomenologically a finite spin relaxation rate and calculate the current numerically. Our results show that triple dots in series can be designed to behave as quantum charge rectifiers.     

Electric charge of a lightning ball

The electric charge of a lightning ball is found by comparing the electrohydrodynamic stabilities of a charged drop in an electrostatic suspension and a lightning ball floating in a superposition of the gravitational field and the surface electric field. It has been assumed that the electric field strength at the surface is limited by a breakdown value. For a lightning ball radius of 15 cm, its charge is estimated as several microcoulombs. Accordingly, the density of electrostatic energy accumulated in the lightning ball is on the order of one-hundredth of a joule per square centimeter. The density of the material that constitutes the lightning ball has been estimated for the case when the electric field strength at the site of its origination is several times higher than that in fine weather. The density of the lightning ball turns out to differ from that of air by only a few percents.     

Mesoscopic charge density wave in a magnetic flux

The stability of a Charge Density Wave (CDW) in a one-dimensional ring pierced by a Aharonov-Bohm flux is studied in a mean-field picture. It is found that the stability depends on the parity of the number N of electrons. When the size of the ring becomes as small as the coherence length , the CDW gap increases for even N and decreases for odd N. Then when N is even, the CDW gap decreases with flux but it increases when N is odd. The variation of the BCS ratio with size and flux is also calculated. We derive the harmonics expansion of the persistent current in a presence of a finite gap. Received: 16 September 1997 / Received in final form: 12 November 1997 / Accepted: 13 November 1997     

Differential charge sensing and charge delocalization in a tunable double quantum dot

We report measurements of a tunable double quantum dot, operating in the quantum regime, with integrated local charge sensors. The spatial resolution of the sensors allows the charge distribution within the double dot system to be resolved at fixed total charge. We use this readout scheme to investigate charge delocalization as a function of temperature and strength of tunnel coupling, demonstrating that local charge sensing can be used to accurately determine the interdot coupling in the absence of transport.     

Forced charge oscillations in a double quantum dot

The two-electron wave function and charge distribution are obtained in a symmetric double quantum dot in a weak variable electric field. It is shown that the action of a variable field under resonance conditions when the perturbation frequency is close to the frequency of the quantum transition leads to the appearance of electron density oscillations between the dots having the characteristic form of beats. However, the Coulomb repulsion between the electrons strongly “quenches” the amplitude of the beats even in a resonant variable field.     

Manipulation of a single charge in a double quantum dot

We manipulate a single electron in a fully tunable double quantum dot using microwave excitation. Under resonant conditions, microwaves drive transitions between the (1,0) and (0,1) charge states of the double dot. Local quantum point contact charge detectors enable a direct measurement of the photon-induced change in occupancy of the charge states. From charge sensing measurements, we find T1 approximately 16 ns and a lower bound estimate for T*(2) of 400 ps for the charge two-level system.     

Critical charge in quantum electrodynamics

The critical nuclear charge Z _cr and the critical distance R _cr in the system of two colliding heavy nuclei—they are defined as those at which the ground-state level of the electron spectrum descends to the boundary of the lower continuum, with the result that beyond them (that is, for Z>Z _cr or R<R _cr) spontaneous positron production from a vacuum becomes possible—are important parameters in the quantum electrodynamics of ultrastrong Coulomb fields. Various methods for calculating Z _cr and R _cr are considered, along with the dependence of these quantities on the screening of the Coulomb field of a nucleus by the electron shell of the atom, on an external magnetic field, on the particle mass and spin, and on some other parameters of relevance. The effective-potential method for the Dirac equation and the application of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin method to the Coulomb field for Z>137 and to the two-body Salpeter equation for the quark-antiquark system are discussed. Some technical details in the procedure for calculating the critical distance R _cr in the relativistic problem of two Coulomb centers are described.     

The effect of a magnetic flux line in quantum theory

The nonlocal exchange of the conserved, gauge invariant quantity e (i/variant Planck's) (p(k)-(e/cA(k))L(k)), L(k)=const, k=1,2 between the charged particle and the magnetic flux line (in the k=3 direction) is responsible for the Aharonov-Bohm effect. This exchange occurs at a definite time, before the wave packets are brought together to interfere, and can be verified experimentally.     

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.     

Engineering quantum decoherence of charge qubit via a nanomechanical resonator

We propose a theoretical scheme to observe the loss of quantum coherence through the coupling of the superconducting charge qubit system to a nanomechanical resonator (NAMR), which has already been successfully fabricated in experiment and is convenient to manipulate. With a similar form to the usual cavity QED system, this qubit-NAMR composite system with engineered coupling exhibits the collapse and revival phenomenon in a progressive decoherence process. Corresponding to the two components of superposition of the two charge eigenstates, the state of the nanomechanical resonator evolves simultaneously towards two distinct quasi-classical states. Therefore the generalized which way detection by the NAMR induces the quantum decoherence of the charge qubit.Received: 21 May 2004, Published online: 9 September 2004PACS: 03.65.-w Quantum mechanics - 74.50. + r Tunneling phenomena; point contacts, weak links, Josephson effects - 03.67.Lx Quantum computation - 85.25.Dq Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs)     

The quantum field as a quantum computer

It is supposed that at very small scales a quantum field is an infinite homogeneous quantum computer. On a quantum computer the information cannot propagate faster than c=a/τ, a and τ being the minimum space and time distances between gates, respectively. For one space dimension it is shown that the information flow satisfies a Dirac equation, with speed v=ζc and ζ=ζ(m) mass-dependent. For c the speed of light ζ−1 is a vacuum refraction index that increases monotonically from ζ−1(0)=1 to ζ−1(M)=∞, M being the Planck mass for 2a the Planck length. The Fermi anticommuting field can be entirely qubitized, i.e. it can be written in terms of local Pauli matrices and with the field interaction remaining local on qubits. Extensions to larger space dimensions are discussed.     

Electronic properties of a quantum ring perturbed with a quantum well in the presence of perpendicular magnetic flux

Here, we study the effects of the number of sites, quantum ring radius and potential well depth on the energy levels, persistent current, magnetic susceptibility and density of states (DOS) of a quantum ring with a quantum well within its circumstance in a magnetic flux perpendicular to its plane. We show that, for small radius quantum ring systems, there are periodic local gaps along the magnetic flux axis in the DOS plots and along the axis ‘energy’. For large radius quantum ring systems, a uniform gap along the energy axis exists and along the phi axis nothing changes. In quantum rings with a quantum well in their circumstance, by using the large confining potential, we can create uniform gaps in the Energy–phi plane. The energy eigenvalues, persistent current and magnetic susceptibility decrease by increasing the confining potential. A quantum ring even with a very small confining potential in its circumstance can sensibly decrease the persistent current and magnetic susceptibility, although it may do not change the energy eigenvalues and DOS maximum considerably. Thus, by using the abovementioned parameters, we are able to tune the DOS, persistent current, magnetic susceptibility and energy levels, desirably.     

Nonequilibrium quantum dynamics of a charge carrier doped into a Mott insulator

We study real-time dynamics of a charge carrier introduced into an undoped Mott insulator propagating under a constant electric field F on the t-J ladder and a square lattice. We calculate the quasistationary current. In both systems an adiabatic regime is observed followed by a positive differential resistivity (PDR) at moderate fields where the carrier mobility is determined. Quantitative differences between the ladder and two-dimensional (2D) systems emerge when at large fields both systems enter the negative differential resistivity (NDR) regime. In the ladder system Bloch-like oscillations prevail, while in two dimensions the current remains finite, proportional to 1/F. The crossover between the PDR and NDR in two dimensions is accompanied by a change of the spatial structure of the propagating spin polaron.     

Rate of intersubband transitions of charge carriers in semiconductor quantum wells as a result of their Coulomb interaction

The intersubband scattering of charge carriers in semiconductor quantum wells as a result of their Coulomb interaction has been theoretically investigated. Analytical expressions for the rate of intersubband transitions in the process of electron—electron and electron—hole collisions have been derived in the Born approximation. The theoretical and experimental data on the photoluminescence decay time, obtained for the case of a nondegenerate distribution of charge carriers, were in qualitative agreement. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 6, pp. 782–787, November–December, 2005.