Electron transport through interacting quantum dots

Abstract

We present a detailed theoretical investigation of the effect of Coulomb interactions on electron transport through quantum dots and double barrier structures connected to a voltage source via an arbitrary linear impedance. Combining real time path integral techniques with the scattering matrix approach we derive the effective action and evaluate the current-voltage characteristics of quantum dots at sufficiently large conductances. Our analysis reveals a reach variety of different regimes which we specify in details for the case of chaotic quantum dots. At sufficiently low energies the interaction correction to the current depends logarithmically on temperature and voltage. We identify two different logarithmic regimes with the crossover between them occurring at energies of order of the inverse dwell time of electrons in the dot. We also analyze the frequency-dependent shot noise in chaotic quantum dots and elucidate its direct relation to interaction effects in mesoscopic electron transport.

21 pages, 4 figures. References added, discussion slightly extended

References in corpus (6)

• Transition from insulating to a non-insulating temperature dependence of the conductivity in granular metals
• Statistics of current fluctuations at non-zero frequencies
• Cascade approach to current fluctuations in a chaotic cavity
• Current Fluctuations and Electron-Electron Interactions in Coherent Conductors
• Coherent transport in disordered metals: zero dimensional limit
• Coulomb Blockade and Insulator-to-Metal Quantum Phase Transition

Cited by in corpus (33)

• Superconductivity in one dimension
• Coulomb blockade of Majorana fermion induced transport
• Nonequilibrium theory of Coulomb blockade in open quantum dots
• Quantum simulation of an exotic quantum critical point in a two-site charge Kondo circuit
• Full Counting Statistics of Interacting Electrons
• Electron transport and current fluctuations in short coherent conductors
• DC-transport in superconducting point contacts: a full counting statistics view
• Coulomb Blockade in an Open Quantum Dot
• Quantum decoherence of interacting electrons in arrays of quantum dots and diffusive conductors
• Transport of interacting electrons in arrays of quantum dots and diffusive wires
• Coexistence of Coulomb blockade and zero bias anomaly in a strongly coupled quantum dot
• Fluctuations of the Josephson current and electron-electron interactions in superconducting weak links
• Nonequilibrium dephasing in Coulomb blockade quantum dots
• Weak Coulomb blockade effect in quantum dots
• Spin Related Effects in Transport Properties of "Open" Quantum Dots
• Charge fluctuations in open chaotic cavities
• Quantum chaotic scattering in time-dependent external fields: random matrix approach
• Weak localization in a system with a barrier: Dephasing and weak Coulomb blockade
• Shot noise and Coulomb blockade of Andreev reflection
• Frequency dispersion of photon-assisted shot noise in mesoscopic conductors
• Coulomb blockade without potential barriers
• Quasiparticle transport in arrays of chaotic cavities
• Temperature and magnetic-field dependence of the quantum corrections to the conductance of a network of quantum dots
• Superconductor-insulator transition in capacitively coupled superconducting nanowires
• Current fluctuations in composite conductors: Beyond the second cumulant
• Interaction correction to the conductance of a ballistic conductor
• Weak localization, Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and decoherence in arrays of quantum dots
• Zero bias anomaly in a two dimensional granular insulator
• Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in coupled quantum dots: Effect of electron-electron interactions
• Coulomb blockade of non-local electron transport in metallic conductors
• Effect of Coulomb interaction on current noise in open quantum dots
• Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in disordered nanorings with quantum dots: Effect of electron-electron interactions
• Current noise and Coulomb effects in superconducting contacts