Phase and amplitude of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in nonlinear three-terminal transport through a double quantum dot

Abstract

We study three-terminal linear and nonlinear transport through an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer containing a double quantum dot using the nonequilibrium Green's function method. Under the condition that one of the three terminals is a voltage probe, we show that the linear conductance is symmetric with respect to the magnetic field (phase symmetry). However, in the nonlinear transport regime, the phase symmetry is broken. Unlike two-terminal transport, the phase symmetry is broken even in noninteracting electron systems. Based on the lowest-order nonlinear conductance coefficient with respect to the source-drain bias voltage, we discuss the direction in which the phase shifts with the magnetic field. When the higher harmonic components of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations are negligible, the phaseshift is a monotonically increasing function with respect to the source-drain bias voltage. To observe the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations with higher visibility, we need strong coupling between the quantum dots and the voltage probe. However, this leads to dephasing since the voltage probe acts as a Büttiker dephasing probe. The interplay between such antithetic concepts provides a peak in the visibility of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations when the coupling between the quantum dots and the voltage probe changes.

17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review B

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