We describe in this short review the influence of discrete symmetries in complex quantum dots on the Kondo co-tunneling through these nano-objects. These discrete symmetries stem from the geometrical structure of the tunneling devices (e.g spatial symmetry of multivalley quantum dot in a tunneling contact with leads). They affect the dynamical symmetry of spin multiplets characterizing the ground state and excitations in quantum dots with definite electron number occupation. The influence of external electric and magnetic fields on these symmetries is examined, and analogies with the physics of quantum tunneling through molecular complexes are discussed.
We show that in quantum dots the physical quantities probed by local tunneling spectroscopies, namely the quasi-particle wavefunctions of interacting electrons, can considerably deviate from their single-particle counterparts as an effect of Coulomb correlation. From the exact solution of the few-particle Hamiltonian for prototype dots, we find that such deviations are crucial to predict wavefunction images at low electron densities or high magnetic fields.
Manifestations of quantum coherence in the electronic conductance through nearly closed quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime are addressed. We show that quantum coherent tunneling processes explain some puzzling statistical features of the conductance peak-heights observed in recent experiments at low temperatures. We employ the constant interaction model and the random matrix theory to model the quantum dot electronic interactions and its single-particle statistical fluctuations, taking full account of the finite decay width of the quantum dot levels.
We present exact results on the non-equilibrium current fluctuations for 2 quantum dots in series throughout a crossover from non-Fermi liquid to Fermi liquid behavior described by the 2 impurity Kondo model. The result corresponds to resonant tunneling of carriers of charge $2e$ for a critical inter-impurity coupling. At low energy scales, the result can be understood from a Fermi liquid approach that we develop and use to also study non-equilibrium transport in an alternative double dot realization of the 2 impurity Kondo model under current experimental study.
Tunneling conductance of an Aharonov-Bohm circuit including two quantum dots is calculated based on the general expression of the conductance in the linear response regime of the bias voltage. The calculation is performed in a wide temperature range by using numerical renormalization group method. Various types of AB oscillations appear depending on the temperature and the potential depth of the dots. Especially, AB oscillations have strong higher harmonics components as a function of the magnetic flux when the potential of the dots is deep. This is related to the crossover of the spin state d…
We show that through an interdot off-site electron correlation in a double quantum-dot (DQD) device, Kondo resonances emerge in the local density of states without the electron spin-degree of freedom. We identify the physical mechanism behind this phenomenon: rather than forming a spin singlet in the device as required in the conventional Kondo physics, we found that exchange of electron position between the two quantum dots, together with the off-site Coulomb interaction, are sufficient to induce the Kondo resonance. Due to peculiar co-tunneling events, the Kondo resonance in one dot may be p…
Double quantum dots can provide an experimental realization of the 2 impurity Kondo model which exhibits a non-Fermi liquid quantum critical point (QCP) at a special value of its parameters. We generalize our recent study of double quantum dots in series \cite{Sela08} to a parallel configuration with an Aharonov-Bohm flux. We present an exact universal result for the finite temperature and finite voltage conductance $G[V,T]$ along the crossover from the QCP to the low energy Fermi liquid phase. Compared to the series configuration, here generically $G[V,T] \ne G[-V,T]$, leading to current rect…
We theoretically investigate resonant tunneling through a linear array of quantum dots with subsequent tunnel coupling. We consider two limiting cases: (i) strong Coulomb blockade, where only one extra electron can be present in the array (ii) limit of almost non-interacting electrons. We develop a density matrix description that incorporates the coupling of the dots to reservoirs. We analyze in detail the dependence of the stationary current on the electron energies, tunnel matrix elements and rates, and on the number of dots. We describe interaction and localization effects on the resonant c…
We show both theoretically and experimentally that scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) images of semiconductor quantum dots may display clear signatures of electron-electron correlation. We apply many-body tunneling theory to a realistic model which fully takes into account correlation effects and dot anisotropy. Comparing measured STS images of freestanding InAs quantum dots with those calculated by the full configuration interaction method, we explain the wave function sequence in terms of images of one- and two-electron states. The STS map corresponding to double charging is significantly…
The mesoscopic Stoner instability is an intriguing manifestation of symmetry breaking in isolated metallic quantum dots, underlined by the competition between single-particle energy and Heisenberg exchange interaction. Here we study this phenomenon in the presence of tunnel coupling to a reservoir. We analyze the spin susceptibility of electrons on the quantum dot for different values of couplings and temperature. Our results indicate the existence of a quantum phase transition at a critical value of the tunneling coupling, which is determined by the Stoner-enhanced exchange interaction. This …
Indirect exchange interaction between itinerant electrons and nano-structures with non-trivial geometrical configurations manifests a plethora of unexpected results. These configurations can be realized either in quantum dots with several potential valleys or in real complex molecules with strong correlations. Here we demonstrate that the Kondo effect may be suppressed under certain conditions in triple quantum dots with mirror symmetry at odd electron occupation. First, we show that the indirect exchange has ferromagnetic sign in the ground state of triple quantum dot in a two-terminal cross …
We propose to study the transport through tunneling-coupled double quantum dots (DQDs) connected in series to leads, using the finite-$U$ slave-boson mean field approach developed initially by Kotliar and Ruckenstein [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 57}, 1362 (1986)]. This approach treats the dot-lead coupling and the inter-dot tunnelling $t$ nonperturbatively at arbitrary Coulomb correlation $U$, thus allows the anti-ferromagnetic exchange coupling parameter $J=4t^2/U$ to appear naturally. We find that, with increasing the inter-dot hopping, the DQDs manifest three distinct physical scenarios: the Kond…
Guided by the analogy to Mie scattering of light on small particles we show that the propagation of a Dirac-electron wave in graphene can be manipulated by a circular gated region acting as a quatum dot. Large dots enable electron lensing, while for smaller dots resonant scattering entails electron confinement in quasibound states. Forward scattering and Klein tunneling can be almost switched off for small dots by a Fano resonance arising from the interference between resonant scattering and the background partition.
We describe the mechanism of charge-spin transformation in a double quantum dot (DQD) with even occupation, where a time dependent gate voltage v(t) is applied to one of its two valleys, whereas the other one is coupled to the source and drain electrodes. The Kondo tunneling regime under strong Coulomb blockade may be realized when the spin spectrum of the DQD is formed by the ground state spin triplet and two singlet excitations. Charge fluctuations induced by v(t) result in transitions within the spin multiplet characterized by the SO(5) dynamical symmetry group. In a weakly non-adiabatic re…
This paper reviews recent studies of mesoscopic fluctuations in transport through ballistic quantum dots, emphasizing differences between conduction through open dots and tunneling through nearly isolated dots. Both the open dots and the tunnel-contacted dots show random, repeatable conductance fluctuations with universal statistical proper-ties that are accurately characterized by a variety of theoretical models including random matrix theory, semiclassical methods and nonlinear sigma model calculations. We apply these results in open dots to extract the dephasing rate of electrons within the…
Kondo tunneling reveals hidden SO(n) dynamical symmetries of evenly occupied quantum dots. As is exemplified for an experimentally realizable triple quantum dot in parallel geometry, the possible values n=3,4,5,7 can be easily tuned by gate voltages. Following construction of the corresponding o(n) algebras, scaling equations are derived and Kondo temperatures are calculated. The symmetry group for a magnetic field induced anisotropic Kondo tunneling is SU(2) or SO(4).
System of two quantum dots attached to external electrodes is considered theoretically in orbital Kondo regime. In general, the double dot system is coupled via both Coulomb interaction and direct hoping. Moreover, the indirect hopping processes between the dots (through the leads) are also taken into account. To investigate system's electronic properties we apply slave-boson mean field (SBMF) technique. With help of the SBMF approach the local density of states for both dots and the transmission (as well as linear and differencial conductance) is calculated. We show that Dicke- and Fano-like …
We consider transport through quantum dots with two tunneling paths. Interference between paths gives rise to Fano resonances exhibiting Kondo-like physics. In studying such quantum dots, we employ a generalized Anderson model which we argue to be integrable. The exact solution is non-perturbative in the tunneling strengths of both paths. By exploiting this integrability, we compute the zero temperature linear response conductance of the dot and so obtain reasonable quantitative agreement with the experimental measurements reported in Gores et al. PRB 62, 2188 (2000).
We investigate correlated electronic transport in single-walled carbon nanotubes with two intramolecular tunneling barriers. We suggest that below a characteristic temperature the long range nature of the Coulomb interaction becomes crucial to determine the temperature dependence of the maximum G_max of the conductance peak. Correlated sequential tunneling dominates transport yielding the power-law G_max ~ T^{α_{end-end}-1}, typical for tunneling between the ends of two Luttinger liquids. Our predictions are in agreement with recent measurements.
We theoretically investigate the Stark shift of the exciton goundstate in two vertically coupled quantum dots as a function of the interdot distance. The coupling is shown to enhance the tuneability of the linear optical properties, including energy and oscillator strength, as well as the exciton polarizability. The coupling regime that maximizes these properties results from the detailed balance between the effects of the single-particle tunneling, of the electric field and of the carrier-carrier interaction. We discuss the relevance of these results to the possible implementation of quantum-…
We investigate correlation effects in the regime of a few electrons in uncapped InAs quantum dots by tunneling spectroscopy and wave function (WF) mapping at high tunneling currents where electron-electron interactions become relevant. Four clearly resolved states are found, whose approximate symmetries are roughly s and p, in order of increasing energy. Because the major axes of the p-like states coincide, the WF sequence is inconsistent with the imaging of independent-electron orbitals. The results are explained in terms of many-body tunneling theory, by comparing measured maps with those ca…
The concept of dynamical symmetries is specified for quantum dots under strong Coulomb blockade. It is shown that the electron cotunneling through quantum dots may be described in terms of generators of SO(n) or SU(n) dynamical groups, which characterize the energy spectrum of quantum dots. Various experimental manifestations of dynamical symmetry in Kondo tunneling both in equilibrium and out of equilibrium are reviewed. Special attention is payed to algebraic aspects of dynamical symmetries: various representation of group generators in terms of Hubbard operators, bosonic and fermionic field…
We review recent progresses in the theoretical description of correlation and quantum fluctuation phenomena in charge transport through single molecules, quantum dots, and quantum wires. A variety of physical phenomena is addressed, relating to co-tunneling, pair-tunneling, adiabatic quantum pumping, charge and spin fluctuations, and inhomogeneous Luttinger liquids. We review theoretical many-body methods to treat correlation effects, quantum fluctuations, nonequilibrium physics, and the time evolution into the stationary state of complex nanoelectronic systems.
Electron transport through parallel double quantum dot system with interdot tunneling and strong on-site Coulomb interaction is studied in the Kondo regime by using the finite-$U$ slave boson technique. For a system of quantum dots with degenerate energy levels, the linear conductance reaches the unitary limit ($2e^2/h$) due to the Kondo effect at low temperature when the interdot tunneling is absent. As the interdot tunneling amplitude increases, the conductance decreases in the singly occupied regime and a conductance plateau structure appears. In the crossover to the doubly occupied regime,…
The inclusion of charging and spin-exchange interactions within the Universal Hamiltonian description of quantum dots is challenging as it leads to a non-Abelian action. Here we present an exact analytical solution of the probem, in particular, in the vicinity of the Stoner instabilty. We calculate the tunneling density of states and the spin susceptibility. We demonstrate that near the Stoner instability the spin susceptibility follows a Curie law with an effective spin. The latter depends logarithmically on temperature due to the statistical fluctuations of the single-particle levels. Near t…
We have investigated numerically the electron addition spectra in quantum dots containing a small number (N < 11) of interacting electrons, in presence of strong disorder. For a short-range Coulomb repulsion, we find regimes in which two successive electrons enter the dot at very close values of the chemical potential. In the strongly correlated regime these close additions, or pairing, are associated with electrons tunneling into distinct electron puddles within the dot. We discuss the tunneling rates at pairing, and we argue that our results are related to a phenomenon known as "bunching", r…
We investigate theorerically the non-equilibrium transport through a molecular quantum dot as a function of gate and bias voltage, taking into account the typical situation in molecular electronics. In this respect, our study includes asymmetries both in the capacitances and tunneling rates to the source and drain electrodes, as well as an infinitely large charging energy on the molecule. Our calculations are based on the out-of-equilibrium Non-Crossing-Approximation (NCA), which is a reliable technique in the regime under consideration. We find that Coulomb blockade edges and Kondo peaks disp…
A system consisting of two independently contacted quantum dots with strong electrostatic interaction shows interdot Coulomb blockade when the dots are weakly tunnel coupled to their leads. It is studied experimentally how the blockade can be overcome by correlated tunneling when tunnel coupling to the leads increases. The experimental results are compared with numerical renormalization group calculations using predefined (measured) parameters. Our results indicate Kondo correlations due to the electrostatic interaction in this double quantum dot system.
Numerical results are presented for transport properties of two coupled double-level quantum dots. The results strongly suggest that under appropriate circumstances the dots can 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 the inter-dot tunneling larger than the 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. It is a…
The concept of dynamical symmetries is used for formulation of the renormalization group approach to the Kondo effect in the Anderson model with repulsive and attractive interaction $U$. It is shown that the generic local symmetry of the Anderson Hamiltonian is determined by the SU(4) Lie group. The Anderson Hamiltonian is rewritten in terms of the Gell-Mann matrices of the 4-th rank, which form the set of group generators and the basis for construction of irreducible vector operators describing the excitation spectra in the charge and spin sectors. The multistage Kondo sceening is described i…
We study a pseudo-spin-1/2 quantum dot in the cotunneling regime close to the particle-hole symmetric point. For a generic tunneling matrix we find a generic fixed point with interesting nonequilibrium properties, characterized by effective reservoirs with compensating spin orientation vectors weighted by the polarizations and the tunneling rates. At large bias voltage we study the magnetic field dependence of the dot magnetization and the current. The fixed point can be clearly identified by analyzing the magnetization of the dot. We characterize in detail the universal properties for the cas…
The problem of tunneling control in systems "quantum dot - quantum well" (as well as "quantum dot - quantum dot" or quantum molecule) and "quantum dot - bulk contact" is studied as a quantum tunneling with dissipation process in the semiclassical (instanton) approximation. For these systems temperature and correlation between a quantum dot radius and a quantum well width (or another quantum dot radius) are considered to be control parameters. The condition for a single electron blockade is found in the limit of quantum dot. The criteria for an extreme tunneling current in quantum molecules are…
The inclusion of charging and spin-exchange interactions within the Universal Hamiltonian description of quantum dots is challenging as it leads to a non-Abelian action. Here we present an {\it exact} analytical solution of the probem, in particular, in the vicinity of the Stoner instabilty point. We calculate several observables, including the tunneling density of states (TDOS) and the spin susceptibility. Near the instability point the TDOS exhibits a non-monotonous behavior as function of the tunneling energy, even at temperatures higher than the exchange energy. Our approach is generalizab…
Few-electron states in carbon-nanotube quantum dots are studied by means of the configuration-interaction method. The peculiar non-interacting feature of the tunneling spectrum for two electrons, recently measured by Kuemmeth et al. [Nature 452, 448 (2008)], is explained by the splitting of a low-lying isospin multiplet due to spin-orbit interaction. Nevertheless, the strongly-interacting ground state forms a `Wigner molecule' made of electrons localized in space. Signatures of the electron molecule may be seen in tunneling spectra by varying the tunable dot confinement potential.
We investigate the effect of vibrational degrees of freedom on the linear thermoelectric transport through a single-level quantum dot described by the spinless Anderson-Holstein impurity model. To study the effects of strong electron-phonon coupling, we use the nonperturbative numerical renormalization group approach. We also compare our results, at weak to intermediate coupling, with those obtained by employing the functional renormalization group method, finding good agreement in this parameter regime. When applying a gate voltage at finite temperatures, the inelastic scattering processes, i…
We theoretically investigate the effect of various symmetries of the superconducting order parameter Delta(omega) on the normalized tunneling conductance of SIN junctions by directly solving the real-axis Eliashberg equations (EEs) for a half-filled infinite band, with the simplifying assumption mu*=0. We analyze six different symmetries of the order parameter: s, d, s+id, s+d, extended s and anisotropic s, by assuming that the spectral function alpha^{2}F(Omega) contains an isotropic part alpha^{2}F(Omega)_{is} and an anisotropic one, alpha^{2}F(Omega)_{an}, such that alpha^{2}F(Omega)_{an} =…
