Work

Coulomb Interaction-Controlled Coherence and Entanglement in a Double Quantum Dot Thermoelectric Engine

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We study the thermoelectric performance and stationary quantum correlations of a coherent double quantum dot heat engine driven solely by two conventional electronic reservoirs. The role of coherence is isolated by comparing the fully coherent dynamics with those under an energy-conserving pure dephasing channel that does not alter the system energy. Reducing the dephasing strength enhances the particle current, heat current, output power, and thermodynamic efficiency over a broad voltage range. After optimizing the electrochemical load and the dot energy levels, we find that coherence primarily amplifies the attainable power and efficiency without significantly relocating the optimal operating region. Although appreciable interdot coherence already exists at moderate Coulomb interaction, stationary entanglement emerges only when Coulomb blockade sufficiently suppresses the mixed-state contribution from the empty and doubly occupied states. We further construct a transport-based lower bound on the concurrence, providing an experimentally accessible entanglement witness that avoids full state tomography. These findings establish a clear hierarchy among energy filtering, quantum coherence, and Coulomb blockade in a minimal quantum thermoelectric device.

Source: Entropy

DOI: 10.3390/e28080923