Work

Self-Sustaining Dynamical Nuclear Polarization Oscillations in Quantum Dots

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: Early experiments on spin-blockaded double quantum dots revealed robust, large-amplitude current oscillations in the presence of a static (dc) source-drain bias. Despite experimental evidence implicating dynamical nuclear polarization, the mechanism has remained a mystery. Here we introduce a minimal albeit realistic model of coupled electron and nuclear spin dynamics which supports self-sustained oscillations. Our mechanism relies on a nuclear spin analog of the tunneling magnetoresistance phenomenon (spin-dependent tunneling rates in the presence of an inhomogeneous Overhauser field) and nuclear spin diffusion, which governs dynamics of the spatial profile of nuclear polarization. The proposed framework naturally explains the differences in phenomenology between vertical and lateral quantum dot structures as well as the extremely long oscillation periods.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.110.086601

Authors: M. S. Rudner, L. S. Levitov

Institutions: Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Innsbruck, The Ohio State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Quantum and electron transport phenomena

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W1990447292

FWCI: 1.194

Cites: 23

Cited by: 8

Related to: 10