Quantum antidot as an electrometer:Observation of fractional charge

In experiments on resonant tunneling through a quantum antidot in the quantum Hall (QH) regime, we observe periodic conductance peaks both versus magnetic field and a global gate voltage, i.e., electric field. Each conductance peak can be attributed to tunneling through a quantized antidot-bound state. The fact that the variation of the uniform electric field produces conductance peaks implies that the deficiency of the electrical charge on the antidot is quantized in units of charge of quasiparticles of surrounding QH condensate. The period in magnetic field gives the effective area of the antidot state through which tunneling occurs, the period in electric field (obtained from the global gate voltage) then constitutes a direct measurement of the charge of the tunneling particles. We obtain electron charge C in the integer QH regime, and quasiparticle charge C for the QH state.     

Interlayer tunneling in double-layer quantum hall pseudoferromagnets

We show that the interlayer tunneling I-V in double-layer quantum Hall states displays a rich behavior which depends on the relative magnitude of sample size, voltage length scale, current screening, disorder, and thermal lengths. For weak tunneling, we predict a negative differential conductance of a power-law shape crossing over to a sharp zero-bias peak. An in-plane magnetic field splits this zero-bias peak, leading instead to a "derivative" feature at V(B)(B(parallel)) = 2 pi Planck's over 2 pi upsilon B(parallel)d/e phi(0), which gives a direct measurement of the dispersion of the Goldstone mode corresponding to the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the double-layer Hall state.     

Time-dependent electron transport in HgTe/CdTe quantum wells

Based on the Floquet theory and Keldysh's nonequilibrium Green's function methods, we study the electron transport through the HgTe/CdTe quantum wells (QWs) irradiated by a monochromatic laser field. We find that when the laser field is applied, the edge states are split into a series of sidebands. When the Fermi level lies among these sidebands, the quantized plateau of the conductance is destroyed. Instead, the conductance versus the radiation frequency exhibits the successive oscillation peaks corresponding to the resonant tunneling through the sidebands of the edge states. The resonant interaction between the quasiparticles and the radiation field opens the gaps in the crossing region of the sidebands, which can be tuned by the radiation strength and frequency. This leads to the shift of the oscillation peaks in the conductance. We also show that the amplitudes of the oscillation peaks in the conductance are governed by the radiation strength and frequency.     

Kondo-enhanced Andreev tunneling in InAs nanowire quantum dots

We report measurements of the nonlinear conductance of InAs nanowire quantum dots coupled to superconducting leads. We observe a clear alternation between odd and even occupation of the dot, with subgap peaks at |V(sd)| = Delta/e markedly stronger (weaker) than the quasiparticle tunneling peaks at |V(sd)| = 2Delta/e for odd (even) occupation. We attribute the enhanced Delta peak to an interplay between Kondo correlations and Andreev tunneling in dots with an odd number of spins, and we substantiate this interpretation by a poor man's scaling analysis.     

Negative Coulomb drag in coupled wire and quantum dot system

We measure the Coulomb drag between parallel split-gate quantum wires with a quantum dot embedded in one of the two wires (drive wire). We observe negative Coulomb drag when a Coulomb oscillation peak appears in the drive wire and the conductance of the other wire (drag wire) is slightly below the first plateau. This indicates that correlation holes are dragged in the drag wire by single electron tunneling through the quantum dot in the drive wire. The drag is only promoted in the drag wire near the barrier regions of the dot, and low compressibility of the drag wire is necessary for the negative drag to occur.     

Resonance effect of a magnetic quantum ring on the conductance of a two-dimensional sample

The resonant tunneling of electrons through a magnetic quantum ring in a two-dimensional sample and the effect of this resonant tunneling on the conductivity of the sample are studied in this work. The ballistic conductance of the sample is calculated for several values of the ratio (inner radius)/(outer radius) of the ring. The limit of a conductance plateau is recovered for approximately equal radii and previous results for the conductance of a magnetic quantum dot are recovered in the case of an approximately zero inner radius.     

两端线型双量子点分子Aharonov-Bohm干涉仪电输运

设计一个两端线型双量子点分子Aharonov-Bohm (A-B)干涉仪. 采用非平衡格林函数技术, 理论研究无含时外场作用下的体系电导和引入含时外场作用下的体系平均电流. 在不考虑含时外场时, 调节点间耦合强度或磁通可以诱导电导共振峰劈裂. 控制穿过A-B干涉仪磁通的有无, 实现了共振峰电导数值在0与1之间的数字转换, 为制造量子开关提供了一个新的物理方案. 同时借助磁通和Rashba自旋轨道相互作用, 获得了自旋过滤. 当体系引入含时外场时, 平均电流曲线展示了旁带效应. 改变含时外场的振幅, 实现了体系平均电流的大小与位置的有效控制, 而调节含时外场的频率, 则可以实现平均电流峰与谷之间的可逆转换. 通过调节磁通与Rashba自旋轨道相互作用, 与自旋相关的平均电流亦得到有效控制. 研究结果为开发利用耦合多量子点链嵌入A-B 干涉仪体系电输运性质提供了新的认知. 上述结果可望对未来的量子器件设计与量子计算发挥重要的指导作用.     

Tunneling through a coherent "Quantum antidot molecule"

We report experiments on resonant tunneling through a quantum antidot in the fractional quantum Hall regime. The envelope of the conductance peaks indicates tunneling via two resonant states, one of them bound on the lithographic antidot, the other on a hill of the disorder potential. Moreover, our analysis indicates that the coherent tunneling rate between the two states is an order of magnitude higher than the phase breaking rate, thus giving evidence for a coherently coupled "antidot molecule."     

Transport through a double barrier for interacting quasi one-dimensional electrons in a quantum wire in the presence of a transverse magnetic field

We discuss the Luttinger liquid behaviour of a semiconducting quantum wire. We show that the measured value of the bulk critical exponent, α_bulk, for the tunneling density of states can be easily calculated. Then, the problem of the transport through a quantum dot formed by two quantum point contacts along the quantum wire, weakly coupled to spinless Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids is studied, including the action of a strong transverse magnetic field B. The known magnetic dependent peaks of the conductance, G(B), in the ballistic regime at a very low temperature, T, have to be reflected also in the transport at higher T and in different regimes. The temperature dependence of the maximum G_max of the conductance peak, according to the Correlated Sequential Tunneling theory, yields the power law G_max∝T^{2α end-1}, with the critical exponent, α_end, strongly reduced by B. This behaviour suggests the use of a similar device as a magnetic field modulated transistor.     

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.     

量子线/铁基超导隧道结中隧道谱的研究

考虑铁基超导中能带间的相互作用和界面对每一个能带的散射作用, 利用推广的Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk模型, 并通过求解Bogoliubov-de Gennes 方程研究了具有不同类型双能隙系统的量子线/铁基超导隧道结中准粒子的输运系数和隧道谱. 研究表明: 1)在弹道极限时, 随着带间相互作用的增大, s_± 波隧道谱中零偏压附近的平台演变成电导峰; s₊₊ 波的平台演变成凹陷; p波的零偏压电导峰被压低. 2)界面对两个能带的散射作用不为零时, 随着带间相互作用的增大, s_± 波和s₊₊ 波两能隙处的峰值将降低, 而两峰间的凹陷值将变大; p波的零偏压电导峰被压低, 非零偏压电导增大. 3)界面对每个能带的散射, 可使其产生的电导峰变得更加尖锐, 但可压低和抹平另一个带产生的电导峰值. 这些结果对于澄清铁基超导体的能隙结构和区别不同类型铁基超导体有所帮助.     

Kondo correlations and the Fano effect in closed Aharonov-Bohm interferometers

We study the Fano-Kondo effect in a closed Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer which contains a single-level quantum dot and predict a frequency doubling of the AB oscillations as a signature of Kondo-correlated states. Using the Keldysh formalism, the Friedel sum rule, and the numerical renormalization group, we calculate the exact zero-temperature linear conductance G as a function of the AB phase phi and level position epsilon. In the unitary limit, G(phi) reaches its maximum 2e(2)/h at phi = pi/2. We find a Fano-suppressed Kondo plateau for G(epsilon) similar to recent experiments.     

Metal atomic contact under electrochemical potential control

Electric conductance of the metal atomic contacts of Au and Pd was investigated using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in solution under electrochemical potential control. At the hydrogen evolution potential, a fractional conductance peak appeared around 0.5 G(0) (G(0) = 2e(2)/h) in the conductance histograms of Au contacts. For Pd contacts, peaks appeared around 1.0 G(0) in the conductance histograms at the hydrogen evolution potential. The conductance behavior and atomic configuration of the metal atomic contacts at hydrogen evolution potential were discussed based on previously reported experimental results and theoretical calculation results. We have proposed the formation of hydrogen adsorbed metal Au and Pd contacts in solution at the hydrogen evolution potential.     

塞曼效应对正常金属/d波超导结中微分电导的影响

通过外加塞曼磁场在d波超导中,研究磁场对d波超导及其正常金属/d波超导结中隧道谱的影响。研究表明(1)塞曼磁场能使能隙变小,且随着磁场变大,超导态会变为正常态,产生一级相变;(2)塞曼磁场可导致零偏压电导峰劈裂,劈裂宽度为2h0(h0为塞曼能)。     

Universal conductance fluctuations in three dimensional metallic single crystals of Si

In this paper we report the measurement of conductance fluctuations in 3D crystals of Si made metallic by heavy doping. ( L/L(straight phi) approximately 10(3), where L(straight phi) is the phase coherence length.) Temperature and magnetic field dependence of noise strongly indicate the universal conductance fluctuations as a predominant source of the observed magnitude of noise. Conductance fluctuations within a single phase coherent region of L(3)(straight phi) were found to be saturated at <(deltaG(straight phi))(2)> approximately (e(2)/h)(2). An accurate knowledge of the level of disorder enables us to calculate the change in conductance deltaG1 due to movement of a single scatterer as <(deltaG1)(2)> approximately (e(2)/h)(2), which is approximately 2 orders of magnitude higher than its theoretically expected value in 3D systems.     

Andreev reflection in a quantum dot coupled to ferromagnetic and superconductor leads under magnetic fields

By employing the nonequilibrium Green's function, we investigate the spin-dependent linear Andreev reflection (AR) resonant tunneling through a quantum dot connected to a ferromagnetic lead and a superconducting lead, where the magnetization direction in the ferromagnetic lead can be tuned by one. We focus our attention on the effects of the magnetic fields on the AR conductance. One high conductance peak and one low conductance peak are developed in the linear AR conductance when a stronger magnetic field is considered. The interplay between the spin-flip scattering and the magnetic fields on the AR conductance are also studied.     

Spin-dependent transport through quantum dot with inelastic interactions

Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function method, we theoretically investigate the electron transport properties of a quantum dot coupled to two ferromagnetic electrodes, with inelastic electron-phonon interaction and spin flip scattering present in the quantum dot. It is found that the electron-phonon interaction reduces the current, induces new satellite polaronic peaks in the differential conductance spectrum, and at the same time leads to oscillatory tunneling magnetoresistance effect. Spin flip scattering suppresses the zero-bias conductance peak and splits it into two, with different behaviors for parallel and anti-parallel magnetic configuration of the two electrodes. Consequently, a negative tunneling magnetoresistance effect may occur in the resonant tunneling region, with increasing spin flip scattering rate.     

Double point contact in quantum Hall line junctions

We show that multiple point contacts on a barrier separating two laterally coupled quantum Hall fluids induce Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations in the tunneling conductance. These quantum coherence effects provide new evidence for the Luttinger liquid behavior of the edge states of quantum Hall fluids. For a two point contact, we identify coherent and incoherent regimes determined by the relative magnitude of their separation and the temperature. We analyze both regimes in the strong and weak tunneling amplitude limits as well as their temperature dependence. We find that the tunneling conductance should exhibit AB oscillations in the coherent regime, both at strong and weak tunneling amplitudes with the same period but with different functional form.     

Spin-flip effects in a parallel-coupled double quantum dot molecule

We investigate theoretically the electronic transport through a parallel-coupled double quantum dot (DQD) molecule attached to metallic electrodes, in which the spin-flip scattering on each quantum dot is considered. Special attention is paid to the effects of the intradot spin-flip processes on the linear conductance by using the equation of motion approach for Green’s functions. When a weak spin-flip scattering on each quantum dot is present, the single Fano peak splits into two Fano peaks, and the Breit–Wigner resonance may be suppressed slightly. When the spin-flip scattering strength on each quantum dot becomes strong, the linear conductance spectrum consists of two Breit–Wigner peaks and two Fano peaks due to the quantum interference effects. The positions and shapes of these resonant peaks can be controlled by using the magnetic flux through the quantum device.