Flux-dependent anti-crossing of resonances in parallel non-coupled double quantum dots

We present novel resonant phenomena through parallel non-coupled double quantum dots (QDs) embedded in each arm of an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) ring with magnetic flux passing through its center. The electron transmission through this AB ring with each QD formed by two short-range potential barriers is calculated using a scattering matrix at each junction and a transfer matrix in each arm. We show that as the magnetic flux modulates, a distortion of the grid-like square transmission occurs and an anti-crossing of the resonances appears. Hence, the modulation of magnetic flux in this system can have an equivalent effect to the control of inter-dot coupling between the two QDs.     

Fano effect in a T-shaped double quantum dot structure in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling

The influence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling on the Fano lineshape of the conductance spectrum in a T-shaped double quantum dot structure is theoretically studied. By second-quantizing the electron Hamiltonian in this structure, it is found that the Rashba interaction brings about a spin-flip interdot hopping term. With the enhancement of the Rashba interaction, this term separates the two resonant peaks in the conductance spectrum from each other. More importantly, it causes the broadening of the narrow Fano peak, and the narrowing of the broader peak. Finally, the asymmetric Fano lineshape changes into a symmetric profile in the global conductance spectrum.     

Exciton tunnelling in ZnCdSe quantum well/CdSe quantum dots

Exciton tunnelling through a ZnSe barrier layer of various thicknesses is investigated in a Zn_0.72Cd_0.28Se/CdSe coupled quantum well/quantum dots (QW/QDs) structure using photoluminescence (PL) spectra and near resonant pump-probe technique. Fast exciton tunnelling from quantum well to quantum dots is observed by transient differential transmission. The tunnelling time is 1.8, 4.4 and 39 ps for barrier thickness of 10, 15 and 20 nm, respectively.     

ac field-induced Fano resonances in a parallel-coupled double quantum dot system

The effects of an ac electric field on the Fano resonance in a parallel-coupled double quantum dot system are investigated theoretically. The field can induce the photon-assisted Fano resonances for both symmetrical and asymmetrical parallel configurations. The magnitude and position of the photon-assisted Fano peak can be tuned by the ac field strength and frequency, respectively. Furthermore, the Fano resonance can appear with increasing the field frequency for both the symmetrical and asymmetrical configurations. This provides an efficient mechanism to control the Fano resonance. The photon-electron pumping effects for the symmetrical and asymmetrical cases are also studied in the weak- and strong-coupling regime.     

Large magnetoresistance induced by quantum charge fluctuations in magnetic double dots

We study electron tunnelling through two small ferromagnetic dots. Quantum charge fluctuations and interdot coupling cause each Coulomb peak of conductance at zero interdot coupling to split. The interdot tunnel coupling depends on the relative orientation of magnetizations of the two dots, leading to different splitting energies of the Coulomb peaks in parallel and antiparallel magnetization alignments. As a result, a very large tunnelling magnetoresistance occurs near the Coulomb peaks, and its sign may be either positive or negative.     

Transport properties of a double quantum dot molecule in the presence of impurity effects

In this Letter, we studied the electronic transport through a parallel-coupled double quantum dot (DQD) molecule including impurity effects at zero temperature. The linear conductance can be calculated by using the Green's function method. An obvious Fano resonance arising from the impurity state in the quantum dot is observed for the symmetric dot-lead coupling structure in the absence of the magnetic flux through the quantum device. When the magnetic flux is presented, two groups of conductance peaks appear in the linear conductance spectra. Each group is decomposed into one Breit-Wigner and one Fano resonances. Tuning the system parameters, we can control effectively the shapes of these conductance peaks. The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillation for the magnetic flux is also studied. The oscillation period of the linear conductance with π, 2π or 4π may be observed by tuning the interdot tunneling coupling or the dot-impurity coupling strengths.     

Single-electron quantum dots in silicon MOS structures

We present experimental results for two types of quantum dots, which are embedded within a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor structure. Evidence is found for single-electron charging at low temperature, and for an asymmetric shape of the dot. First results of simulations of these dots are presented. Received: 14 April 2000 / Accepted: 17 April 2000 / Published online: 6 September 2000     

Flux-dependent transport through an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer with embedded multiple coupled quantum dots

The electron transport through an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer with embedded four coupled quantum dots (QDs) is studied with the Green's function technique. The QDs are coupled to each other by the hopping integral tc. Two among them connect with the left lead and the other two with the right lead by the tunneling matrix element T which incorporates the effects of the applied magnetic field φ. The linear conductance spectra swap between the molecular levels and the atomic states by adjusting tc and T. Fano effect appears when the electrons tunnel through different channels contributed by different QDs energy levels, and the Fano resonance peaks split for large tc. The Fano factor can be manipulated by tc, T, φ, and the QD energy levels.     

Spin Filter Based on an Aharonov--Bohm Interferometer with Rashba Spin--Orbit Effect

We propose a spin filter based on both the quantum interference and the Rashba spin-orbit （RSO） effects. This spin filter consists of a Aharonov-Bohm （AB） interferometer with two quantum dots （QDs） inserted in its arms. The influences of a magnetic flux φ threading through the AB ring and the RSO interaction inside the two QDs are taken into account by using the nonequilibrium Green＇s function technique. Due to the existence of the RSO interaction, the electrons flowing through different arms of the ring will acquire a spin-dependent phase factor in the linewidth matrix elements. This phase factor, combined with the influence of the magnetic flux, will induce a spin-dependent electron transport through the device. Moreover, we show that by tuning the magnetic flux, the RSO strength and the inter-dot tunnelling coupling strength, a pure spin-up or spin-down conductance can be obtained when a spin-unpolarized current is injected from the external leads, which can be used to filter the electron spin.     

Voltage-controllable spin-polarized transport through parallel-coupled double quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbit interaction

A spin device, consisting of parallel-coupled double quantum dots and three normal metal leads, is proposed to realize spin-polarized current without the help of magnetic field and magnetic material. Based on the Keldysh nonequilibrium Green function technique and equation of motion method, the spin-dependent current formula in each lead is derived. It is shown that not only a fully polarized current but also a tunable pure spin current can be obtained by modulating the structure parameters, strength of Rashba spin-orbit interaction and bias voltages properly. It further demonstrates the dependence of the spin-polarized current on the strength of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction.     

Spatial weak infrared-light bright and dark solitons in semiconductor quantum-dot nanostructures

The formation of spatial weak infrared-light solitons through interband and intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) is theoretically investigated with feasible parameters. Our analysis is shown using GaAs-Al-GaAs QD structures that allow operation at communication wavelength. Such a three-level QD solid-state system for the infrared-light-soliton operation is much more practical than that in gaseous media as a result of its flexible design and the wide adjustable parameters and thus facilitate more practical applications in optical signal processing and telecommunication.     

Photon-Assisted Conductance Structure for a Quantum Dot

We investigate theoretically the electron transport of a two-level quantum dot irradiated under a weak laser field at low temperatures in the rotating wave approximation. Using the method of the Keldysh equation of motion for nonequilibrium Green function, we examine the conductance for the system with photon polarization perpendicular to the tunnelling current direction. It is demonstrated that by analytic analysing and numerical examples, a feature of conductance peak splitting appears, and the dependence of conductance on the incident laser frequency and self-energy are discussed.     

Correlations of conductance peaks and transmission phases in deformed quantum dots

We investigate the Coulomb blockade resonances and the phase of the transmission amplitude of a deformed ballistic quantum dot weakly coupled to leads. We show that preferred single-particle levels exist which stay close to the Fermi energy for a wide range of values of the gate voltage. These states give rise to sequences of Coulomb blockade resonances with correlated peak heights and transmission phases. The correlation of the peak heights becomes stronger with increasing temperature. The phase of the transmission amplitude shows lapses by between the resonances. Implications for recent experiments on ballistic quantum dots are discussed. Received 17 July 1998     

Excitons in coupled quantum dots

Properties of excitons in vertically coupled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots were investigated using the variational method within the envelope function and effective mass approximations. It was found that when the thickness of the spacer layer becomes less than about one exciton Bohr radius, both the exciton binding energy and the fundamental optical transition energy are reduced compared to those in isolated quantum dots. This is a result of increased space extension of exciton due to the penetration of carrier wave functions into the spacer layer and corresponding reduction in confinement energy which dominates over the Coulomb interaction between the electron and the hole.     

Controlling spin-dependent transport via inhomogeneous magnetic flux in double-dot Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

We study the spin-dependent electron transport through parallel coupled quantum dots (QDs) embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interferometer connected asymmetrically to leads. Both the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) inside one of the QDs, which acquires a spin-dependent phase factor in the tunnel-coupling strengths when the electrons flow through this arm of the AB ring, and an inhomogeneous magnetic flux penetrating the structure are taken into account. Due to the existence of the RSOI induced phase factor, magnetic flux and the interdot coupling, a spin-dependent Fano effect will arise. We pay special attention on the properties of the local density of states and the conductance when the electron phase factor is close to integer multiplies of a quantum of flux. It is shown that the roles and lifetimes of the bonding and antibonding states of the two spin components are very sensitive to the phase factor and can be well controlled accordingly. This manipulation of the spin degree of freedom relies on the existence of RSOI but can be fulfilled even when its strength is very weak. The proposed structure can be easily realized with present technology and might be of practical applications in spintronics devices and quantum computing.     

Triple Quantum Dot Molecule as a Spin-Splitter

We propose a spin-splitter composed of triple quantum dots that works due to the Coulomb blockade effect and the charge and spin biases applied on external electron source and drains. The spin biases are applied only on the two drains and give their spin-dependent chemical potentials, which act as the driving forces for electron spin-polarized transport. By tuning the biases and the dots＇ levels, spin-up and spin-down electrons can be simultaneously split or separated from the source into two different drains. We show that such a tunneling process is detectable in terms of the spin accumulations on the dots or the currents flowing through the external leads. The present device is quite simple and realizable within currently existing technologies.     

pH-dependent aggregation and photoluminescence behavior of thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots in aqueous solutions

pH-dependent aggregation of thiol-capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) in solutions was observed with a confocal microscope. The average size of the QD aggregates increased from 28 nm to 1.4 μm as the pH decreased from 12 to 3. The basic condition improved the dispersion of QDs while the acidic condition caused the detachment of surface ligands, leading to the aggregation of QDs. A PL lifetime of 80 ns was detected for QDs at pH from 12 to 7, while it was shortened to 57 and 34 ns at pH 5 and 3, respectively, due to the formation of surface defects.     

Four-wave mixing in coupled semiconductor quantum dots

We present a theoretical analysis of four-wave mixing in coupled quantum dots subject to inhomogeneous broadening. For the biexciton transitions, a clear signature of interdot-coupling appears in the spectra. The possibility of experimental observation is discussed.     

Optical transition pathways in type-II Ga(As)Sb quantum dots

We present results of room temperature photoreflectance (PR) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements of molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown GaAsSb/GaAs quantum dot structures: one with an In_0.14Ga_0.86As capping quantum well and one without it. PL was used to determine the structures’ ground-state transition energies. This result was employed in an 8-band k·p Hamiltonian to achieve a band structure of the structures, which have different electron confinement. The dot emission energies suggest a large amount of As incorporation into the dots, which is due to enhanced adatom mixing at a higher than normal growth temperature of 510 °C. Our calculations indicate a dot composition of 25-50% Sb gives the best fit to experiment. This uncertainty in composition arises due to the fact that different bowing parameters of the ternary alloy could be applied in the calculations. The theoretical analysis accounts well for the main feature in the PR spectra of both samples.     

Phase time in Kane type barrier tunneling

The behavior of Wigner phase delay time in the reflection mode is studied taking into account the real band structure of Kane type semiconductor quantum ring. It's calculated the analytical expression for the saturated delay time. It's shown that the saturated delay time is independent of the width of the opaque barrier.