Electron Transport in Quantum Dots

When I was contacted by Kluwer Academic Publishers in the Fall of 200 I, inviting me to edit a volume of papers on the issue of electron transport in quantum dots, I was excited by what I saw as an ideal opportunity to provide an overview of a field of research that has made significant contributions in recent years, both to our understanding of fundamental physics, and to the development of novel nanoelectronic technologies. The need for such a volume seemed to be made more pressing by the fact that few comprehensive reviews of this topic have appeared in the literature, in spite of the vast activity in this area over the course of the last decade or so. With this motivation, I set out to try to compile a volume that would fairly reflect the wide range of opinions that has emerged in the study of electron transport in quantum dots. Indeed, there has been no effort on my part to ensure any consistency between the different chapters, since I would prefer that this volume instead serve as a useful forum for the debate of critical issues in this still developing field. In this matter, I have been assisted greatly by the excellent series of articles provided by the different authors, who are widely recognized as some of the leaders in this vital area of research.

Table of Contents:
1 Interactions, Spins and the Kondo Effect in Quantum-Dot Systems.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Atom-Like Properties of Electrons Confined in a Quantum Dot.- 3 Tunable Spin States with Magnetic Field.- 4 Spin Blockade in Single Electron Tunneling.- 5 Energy Relaxation with and Without Spin-Flip.- 6 The Kondo Effect in Quantum Dots.- 7 Summary.- 2 Microwave Spectroscopy on Single and Coupled Quantum Dots.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Aspects of Fabrication.- 3 Measurement Techniques.- 4 Coherent Modes in Quantum Dots.- 5 Photon Assisted Tunneling in Quantum Dots.- 6 Dynamic Response of Single Quantum Dots.- 7 The On-Chip Spectrometer.- 8 Non-Linear Transmission-Lines for Probing Single Dots.- 9 Summary.- 3 Nano-Spintronics with Lateral Quantum Dots.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Theoretical Framework.- 3 Experimental Devices and Techniques.- 4 Spin-Polarized Injection and Detection.- 5 Coulomb and Spin Blockade Spectrum.- 6 The First Few Electrons.- 7 The ? = 2 Regime.- 8 The Spin Flip Regime.- 9 Negative Differential Resistance Achieved by Spin Blockade.- 10 Conclusions.- 4 Novel Phenomena in Small Individual and Coupled Quantum Dots.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Models of Single and Double Quantum Dot Systems.- 3 Non-Gaussian Distribution of Coulomb Blockade Peak Heights in Individual Quantum Dots: Porter-Thomas Distribution of Resonance Widths.- 4 Spin and Pairing Effects in Ultra-Small Dots.- 5 Coupling between Two Dots and Leads-Coherent Many-Body Kondo States.- 6 Other Ultra-Small Devices and Phenomena.- 5 Classical and Quantum Transport in Antidot Arrays.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Antidot Arrays.- 3 Early Experiments and Pinball Model.- 4 Chaotic Dynamics in Antidot Lattices.- 5 Quantum Effects in Antidot Arrays.- 6 Random Antidot Arrays.- 7 Finite Antidot Lattices.- 8 InAs Based Arrays.- 9 OtherExperiments.- 6 On the Influence of Resonant States on Ballistic Transport in Open Quantum Dots: Spectroscopy and Tunneling in the Presence of Multiple Conducting Channels.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Some Comments about Semiclassical Theories and their Underlying Assumptions.- 3 The Method of Calculation Used Primarily in this Work: A Fully Quantum Mechanical Treatment.- 4 Conductance Resonances in Open Dots.- 5 The Correspondence Between Conductance Resonances in Open Dots and Closed Dot Eigenstates.- 6 The Effect of Finite Temperature and Ensemble Averaging.- 7 Direct Comparisons of Theory with Experiment.- 8 An Alternate Semiclassical Interpretation of Transport in Open Quantum Dots: Dynamical Tunneling.- 9 Summary.- 10 Acknowledgment.- 7 A Review of Fractal Conductance Fluctuations in Ballistic Semiconductor Devices.- 1 Introduction.- 2 The Semiconductor Sinai Billiard: Can Chaos be Controlled with the “Flick of a Switch?”.- 3 The Experimental Observation of Exact Self-Affinity.- 4 The Interpretation of Exact Self-Affinity.- 5 The Observation of Statistical Self-Affinity.- 6 The Classical to Quantum Transition: How do Fractals “Disappear?”.- 7 The Role Played by the Billiard Walls.- 8 Conclusions.- 8 Electron Ratchets—Nonlinear Transport in Semiconductor Dot and Antidot Structures.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Non-Linear Rectification in the Quantum Regime.- 3 Nonlinear Transport in Antidot Structures.- 4 Outlook.- 9 Single-Photon Detection with Quantum Dots in the Far-Infrared/Submillimeter-Wave Range.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Fundamental Characteristics of the SET.- 3 Designing a Single-Photon Detector.- 4 Detection in Magnetic Fields.- 5 Detection in the Absence of Magnetic Field.- 6 Detector Performance.- 7 Conclusion.- 10 Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata.- 1 Introduction.-2 The Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata Paradigm.- 3 Experimental Demonstrations of QCA: Metal-Dot Systems.- 4 Molecular QCA.- 5 Architecture for QCA.- 6 Magnetic QCA.- 11 Carbon Nanotubes for Nanoscale Spin-Electronics.- 1 Introduction.- 2 Spin Transport in Carbon Nanotubes.- 3 Conclusions.