Inelastic cotunneling in quantum dots and molecules with weakly broken degeneracies

Abstract

We calculate the nonlinear cotunneling conductance through interacting quantum dot systems in the deep Coulomb blockade regime using a rate equation approach based on the T-matrix formalism, which shows in the concerned regions very good agreement with a generalized master equation approach. Our focus is on inelastic cotunneling in systems with weakly broken degeneracies, such as complex quantum dots or molecules. We find for these systems a characteristic gate dependence of the non-equilibrium cotunneling conductance. While on one side of a Coulomb diamond the conductance decreases after the inelastic cotunneling threshold towards its saturation value, on the other side it increases monotonously even after the threshold. We show that this behavior originates from an asymmetric gate voltage dependence of the effective cotunneling amplitudes.

12 pages, 12 figures; revised published version

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• Full counting statistics and shot noise of cotunneling in quantum dots and single-molecule transistors
• Image charge effects in single-molecule junctions: Breaking of symmetries and negative differential resistance in a benzene transistor
• Transport mirages in single-molecule devices
• Sharp peaks in the conductance of double quantum dot and quantum dot spin-valve systems at high temperatures: A hierarchical quantum master equation approach
• Open quantum systems beyond Fermi's golden rule: Diagrammatic expansion of the steady-state time-convolutionless master equation
• Distribution of waiting times between electron cotunnelings
• Theory of tunneling spectra for a few-electron bilayer graphene quantum dot
• Spin excitations in an all-organic double quantum dot molecule
• Time-convolutionless master equation: Perturbative expansions to arbitrary order and application to quantum dots
• Electron-Electron interactions, topological phase and optical properties of a charged artificial benzene ring
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• Ground state spin and excitation energies in half-filled Lieb lattices
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