Interaction-Induced Strong Localization in Quantum Dots

Abstract

We argue that Coulomb blockade phenomena are a useful probe of the cross-over to strong correlation in quantum dots. Through calculations at low density using variational and diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (up to r_s ~ 55), we find that the addition energy shows a clear progression from features associated with shell structure to those caused by commensurability of a Wigner crystal. This cross-over (which occurs near r_s ~ 20 for spin-polarized electrons) is, then, a signature of interaction-driven localization. As the addition energy is directly measurable in Coulomb blockade conductance experiments, this provides a direct probe of localization in the low density electron gas.

4 pages, published version, revised discussion

References in corpus (4)

• Metal-insulator transition in two-dimensional electron systems
• Full configuration interaction approach to the few-electron problem in artificial atoms
• Path-integral Monte Carlo simulations for interacting few-electron quantum dots with spin-orbit coupling
• Interaction Effects in the Mesoscopic Regime: A Quantum Monte Carlo Study of Irregular Quantum Dots