Non-equilibrium Transport in dissipative one-dimensional Nanostructures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how dissipation and size affect non-equilibrium transport in one-dimensional quantum dot arrays, revealing effects like chemical potential variation, current asymmetry, algebraic temperature dependence, and Coulomb blockade modifications.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of dissipative effects on transport properties in quantum dot arrays using the Keldysh formalism, highlighting new phenomena like current asymmetry and Coulomb blockade softening.

Findings

Dissipation causes spatial chemical potential variation.

Disordered arrays break current invariance under bias reversal.

Coulomb blockade is softened with increased dissipation and size.

Abstract

We study the non-equilibrium transport properties of a one-dimensional array of dissipative quantum dots. Using the Keldysh formalism, we show that the dots' dissipative nature leads to a spatial variation of the chemical potential, which in disordered arrays, breaks the invariance of the current, I, under bias reversal. Moreover, the array's nanoscopic size results in an algebraic low-temperature dependence of I. Finally, we show that a local Coulomb interaction splits the dots' electronic levels, resulting in a Coulomb blockade, which is softened with increasing dissipation and array size.