Electroluminescence Caused by the Transport of Interacting Electrons through Parallel Quantum Dots in a Photon Cavity

We show that a Rabi‐splitting of the states of strongly interacting electrons in parallel quantum dots embedded in a short quantum wire placed in a photon cavity can be produced by either the para‐ or the dia‐magnetic electron‐photon interactions when the geometry of the system is properly accounted for and the photon field is tuned close to a resonance with the electron system. We use these two resonances to explore the electroluminescence caused by the transport of electrons through the one‐ and two‐electron ground states of the system and their corresponding conventional and vacuum electroluminescense as the central system is opened up by coupling it to external leads acting as electron reservoirs. Our analysis indicates that high‐order electron‐photon processes are necessary to adequately construct the cavity‐photon dressed electron states needed to describe both types of electroluminescence.     

Electronic Green's functions in a T-shaped multi-quantum dot system

We developed a set of equations to calculate the electronic Green's functions in a T-shaped multi-quantum dot system using the equation of motion method. We model the system using a generalized Anderson Hamiltonian which accounts for finite intradot on-site Coulomb interaction in all component dots as well as for the interdot electron tunneling between adjacent quantum dots. Our results are obtained within and beyond the Hartree–Fock approximation and provide a path to evaluate all the electronic correlations in the multi-quantum dot system in the Coulomb blockade regime. Both approximations provide information on the physical effects related to the finite intradot on-site Coulomb interaction. As a particular example for our generalized results, we considered the simplest T-shaped system consisting of two dots and proved that our approximation introduces important corrections in the detector and side dots Green's functions, and implicitly in the evaluation of the system's transport properties. The multi-quantum dot T-shaped setup may be of interest for the practical realization of qubit states in quantum dot systems.     

Evidence of quantum interference in transport properties of a triple quantum dot T-shape system

We consider the transport and the noise characteristic in the case of a triple quantum dots T-shape system where two of the dots form a two-level system and the other works in a detector-like setup. Our theoretical results are obtained using the equation of motion method for the case of zero and finite on-site Coulomb interaction in the detector dot. We present analytic results for the electronic Green’s functions in the system’s component quantum dots, and we used numerical calculations to evaluate the system’s transport properties. The transport trough the T-shaped system can be controlled by varying the coupling between the two-level system dots or the coupling between the detector dot and the exterior electrodes. The system’s conductance presents Fano dips for both strong (fast detector) and weak coupling (slow detector) between the detector dot and the external electrodes. Due to stronger electronic correlations the noise characteristics in the case of a slow detector are much higher. This setup may be of interest for the practical realization of qubit states in quantum dots systems.     

电子关联效应对平行双量子点系统磁输运性质的影响

从理论上研究了平行双量子点系统中的电子关联效应对该系统磁输运性质的影响. 基于广义主方程方法, 计算了通过此系统的电流、微分电导和隧穿磁阻. 计算结果表明: 电子自旋关联效应可以促发一个很大的隧穿磁阻, 而电子库仑关联效应不仅可以压制电子自旋关联效应, 还可以导致负隧穿磁阻和负微分电导的出现. 对相关的基本物理问题进行了讨论.     

Probe‐assisted spin manipulation in one‐dimensional quantum dots

We study a spin structure that arises in a one‐dimensional quantum dot with zero total spin under the action of a charged tip of a scanning probe microscope in the presence of a weak magnetic field. The evolution of spin structure with changing the probe position is traced to show that the movable probe can be an effective tool to manipulate the spin. The spin structures are formed when the probe is located in certain regions along the dot due to Coulomb interaction of electrons as they are redistributed between the two sections in which the quantum dot is divided by the potential barrier created by the probe. There are two main states: spin‐polarized and non‐polarized ones. The transition between them is accompanied by a spin precession governed by the Rashba spin–orbit interaction induced by the electric field of the probe. In the transition region the spin density changes strongly while charge distribution remains nearly unchanged. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mean-field dynamics of a quantum dot-microcavity system

Mean-field evolution equations for the exciton and photon populations and polarizations (Bloch–Lamb equations) are written and numerically solved in order to describe the dynamics of electronic states in a quantum dot coupled to the photon field of a microcavity. The equations account for phase space filling effects and Coulomb interactions among carriers, and include also (in a phenomenological way) incoherent pumping of the quantum dot, photon losses through the microcavity mirrors, and electron–hole population decay due to spontaneous emission of the dot. When the dot may support more than one electron–hole pair, asymptotic oscillatory states, with periods between 0.5 and 1.5 ps, are found almost for any values of the system parameters.     

Current correlations for the transport of interacting electrons through parallel quantum dots in a photon cavity

We calculate the current correlations for the steady-state electron transport through multi-level parallel quantum dots embedded in a short quantum wire, that is placed in a non-perfect photon cavity. We account for the electron–electron Coulomb interaction, and the para- and diamagnetic electron–photon interactions with a stepwise scheme of configuration interactions and truncation of the many-body Fock spaces. In the spectral density of the temporal current–current correlations we identify all the transitions, radiative and non-radiative, active in the system in order to maintain the steady state. We observe strong signs of two types of Rabi oscillations.     

Directed self‐assembly of single quantum dots for telecommunication wavelength optical devices

The ability to control the nucleation site of a single quantum dot will have a profound effect on the development of quantum dot‐based photonic devices. The deterministic approach will provide a truly scalable technology that can take full advantage of conventional semiconductor processing for device fabrication. In this review, we discuss the progress towards the integration of deterministically nucleated single quantum dots with top‐down quantum optical devices targeting telecommunication wavelengths. Advances in site‐controlled quantum dot nucleation using selective‐area epitaxy now makes it possible to position quantum dots at predetermined positions on a substrate in registry with alignment markers. This, in turn, has allowed for devices fabricated in subsequent processing steps to be aligned to individual quantum dots. The specific devices being targeted are gated‐single dots and coupled dot‐cavity systems which are key components of efficient sources of single photons and entangled photon pairs.     

I–V characteristic of electronic transport through a quantum dot chain: The role of antiresonance

The I–V spectrum of electronic transport through a quantum dot chain is calculated by means of the nonequilibrium Green function technique. In such a system, two arbitrary quantum dots are connected with two electron reservoirs through leads. When the dot-lead coupling is very weak, a series of discrete resonant peaks in electron transmission function cause staircase-like I–V characteristic. On the contrary, in the relatively strong dot-lead coupling regime, stairs in the I–V spectrum due to resonance vanish. However, when there are some dangling quantum dots in the chain outside two leads, the antiresonance which corresponds to the zero points of electron transmission function brings about novel staircase characteristic in the I–V spectrum. Moreover, two features in the I–V spectrum arising from the antiresonance are pointed out, which are significant for possible device applications. One is the multiple negative differential conductance regions, and another is regarding to create a highly spin-polarized current through the quantum dot chain by the interplay of the resonance and antiresonance. Finally, we focus on the role that the many-body effect plays on the antiresonance. Our result is that the antiresonance remains when the electron interaction is considered to the second order approximation.     

Role of dynamic depolarization for the intersubband resonance in the localization regime

We investigate the electronic intraband absorption in quantum wells with a strong lateral random potential, realized for example by modulation doping with a thin spacer layer. In such systems, electrons become in-plane localized in isolated potential minima and behave like an inhomogeneous array of natural quantum dots. When excited with a coherent light field, the dots respond as individual oscillators, which are however coupled by dynamic dipole–dipole interactions. The absorption spectrum is then determined by the interplay of the single dot properties (related to the disorder potential) and the many-particle Coulomb interactions. Using a simple model for the single-particle states, we calculate the absorption spectrum as a function of the electron density. In the case of light polarized perpendicular to the layer, we find with increasing density a dramatic line narrowing (associated with a collective excitation of the electrons) and a depolarization blue shift. For in-plane polarized light, the peak is shifted to the red. Our theory also applies to far-infrared absorption experiments in artificial quantum dot arrays.     

Effect of topology on the transport properties of two interacting dots

The transport properties of a system of two interacting dots, one of them directly connected to the leads constituting a side-coupled configuration (SCD), are studied in the weak and strong tunnel-coupling limits. The conductance behavior of the SCD structure has new and richer physics than the better-studied system of two dots aligned with the leads (ACD). In the weak coupling regime and in the case of one electron per dot, the ACD configuration gives rise to two mostly independent Kondo states. In the SCD topology, the inserted dot is in a Kondo state while the side-connected one presents Coulomb blockade properties. Moreover, the dot spins change their behavior, from an antiferromagnetic coupling to a ferromagnetic correlation, as a consequence of the interaction with the conduction electrons. The system is governed by the Kondo effect related to the dot that is embedded into the leads. The role of the side-connected dot is to introduce, when at resonance, a new path for the electrons to go through giving rise to the interferences responsible for the suppression of the conductance. These results depend on the values of the intra-dot Coulomb interactions. In the case where the many-body interaction is restricted to the side-connected dot, its Kondo correlation is responsible for the scattering of the conduction electrons giving rise to the conductance suppression.Received: 7 February 2004, Published online: 24 September 2004PACS: 73.63.-b Electronic transport in nanoscale materials and structures - 73.63.Kv Quantum dots     

Quantum coherence in quantum dot—Aharonov–Bohm ring hybrid systems

We investigate coherent transport through hybrid systems of quantum dots and Aharonov–Bohm (AB) rings. Strong coherence over the entire system leads to the Fano effect, which originates from the interference and the phase shift caused by the discrete states in the dots. The high controllability of the system parameters reveals that the Fano effect in mesoscopic transport can be a powerful tool for detecting the phase shift of electrons. We apply it to detect electrostatic phase modulation and the phase shift in a quantum wire with a side-coupled dot. Finally, we provide an experimental answer to the problem of “neighboring in-phase Coulomb peaks”.     

Cavity‐photon contribution to the effective interaction of electrons in parallel quantum dots

A single cavity photon mode is expected to modify the Coulomb interaction of an electron system in the cavity. Here we investigate this phenomena in a parallel double quantum dot system. We explore properties of the closed system and the system after it has been opened up for electron transport. We show how results for both cases support the idea that the effective electron‐electron interaction becomes more repulsive in the presence of a cavity photon field. This can be understood in terms of the cavity photons dressing the polarization terms in the effective mutual electron interaction leading to nontrivial delocalization or polarization of the charge in the double parallel dot potential. In addition, we find that the effective repulsion of the electrons can be reduced by quadrupolar collective oscillations excited by an external classical dipole electric field.     

Exchange and Coulomb interactions of two electrons in double ellipsoidal quantum dots

The present study seeks to scrutinize the interactions of two electrons on the electronic properties of double ellipsoidal quantum dots (EQD). In this regard, the effective-mass approximation within a perturbation scheme is used and the Coulomb and exchange energies of the two electrons ellipsoidal quantum dot are calculated for GaAs/GaAlAs/AlAs structure. The results showed that the Coulomb and exchange energies depend not only on the thickness of the intermediate layer but also on the ellipticity constant.     

Inter-dot coupling effects on transport through correlated parallel coupled quantum dots

Transport through symmetric parallel coupled quantum dot system has been studied, using non-equilibrium Green function formalism. The inter-dot tunnelling with on-dot and inter-dot Coulomb repulsion is included. The transmission coefficient and Landaur-Buttiker like current formula are shown in terms of internal states of quantum dots. The effect of inter-dot tunnelling on transport properties has been explored. Results, in intermediate inter-dot coupling regime show signatures of merger of two dots to form a single composite dot and in strong coupling regime the behaviour of the system resembles the two decoupled dots.      

Electronic structure of the p-shell in single, site-selected InAs/InP quantum dots

The spectroscopy of single InAs/InP quantum dots emitting close to 1.55 μm is described. The dots are produced using a nanotemplate deposition technique that allows precise, a priori control of quantum dot position and electronic configuration. The experimentally observed luminescence signal from the p-shell is composed of several lines. Using exact diagonalization calculations of the emission spectra we interpret the splittings between these lines in terms of Coulomb induced, many-body renormalization of the excitonic states and a template-induced shape asymmetry of the quantum dot.     

Prediction of ferromagnetic correlations in coupled double-level quantum dots

Numerical results for transport properties of two coupled double-level quantum dots (QDs) strongly suggest that under appropriate conditions the dots develop a novel ferromagnetic (FM) correlation at quarter filling (one electron per dot). In the strong coupling regime (Coulomb repulsion larger than electron hopping) and with interdot tunneling larger than tunneling to the leads, an S=1 Kondo resonance develops in the density of states, leading to a peak in the conductance. A qualitative "phase diagram," incorporating the new FM phase, is presented. In addition, the necessary conditions for the FM regime are less restrictive than naively believed, leading to its possible experimental observation in real QDs.     

Influence of inter-dot Coulomb repulsion and exchange interactions on conductance through double quantum dot

Conductance and other physical quantities are calculated in double quantum dots (DQD) connected in series in the limit of coherent tunnelling using a Green's function technique. The inter-dot Coulomb repulsion and the exchange interaction are studied by means of the Kotliar and Ruckenstein slave-boson mean-field approach. The crossover from the atomic to the molecular limit is analyzed in order to show how the conductance in the model depends on the competition between the level broadening (dot-lead coupling) and the dot-dot transmission. The double Kondo effect was found in the gate voltage characteristics of the conductance in the atomic limit. In the case, when each dot accommodates one electron, the Kondo resonant states are formed between dots and their adjacent leads and transport is dominated by hopping between these two resonances. In the molecular limit the conductance vanishes for sufficiently low gate voltages, which means the Kondo effect disappeared. For small dot-lead coupling the transport characteristics are very sensitive on the influence of the inter-dot Coulomb repulsion and the position of the local energy level. The resonance region is widened with increase of the inter-dot Coulomb interactions while the exchange interaction has opposite influence.     

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.