Published April 7, 2016 | Version v1
Journal article

A new regime of Pauli-spin blockade

  • 1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (United States)
  • 2. Joint Quantum Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (United States)
  • 3. Department of Physics, California State University San Marcos, California 92096 (United States)

Description

Pauli-spin blockade (PSB) is a transport phenomenon in double quantum dots that allows for a type of spin to charge conversion often used to probe fundamental physics such as spin relaxation and singlet-triplet coupling. In this paper, we theoretically explore Pauli-spin blockade as a function of magnetic field B applied parallel to the substrate. In the well-studied low magnetic field regime, where PSB occurs in the forward (1, 1) → (0, 2) tunneling direction, we highlight some aspects of PSB that are not discussed in detail in existing literature, including the change in size of both bias triangles measured in the forward and reverse biasing directions as a function of B. At higher fields, we predict a crossover to "reverse PSB" in which current is blockaded in the reverse direction due to the occupation of a spin singlet as opposed to the traditional triplet blockade that occurs at low fields. The onset of reverse PSB coincides with the development of a tail like feature in the measured bias triangles and occurs when the Zeeman energy of the polarized triplet equals the exchange energy in the (0, 2) charge configuration. In Si quantum dots, these fields are experimentally accessible; thus, this work suggests a way to observe a crossover in magnetic field to qualitatively different behavior.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Journal of Applied Physics
Journal Volume
119
Journal Issue
13
Journal Page Range
p. 134307-134307.5
ISSN
0021-8979
CODEN
JAPIAU

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