Electric-field driven insulating to conducting transition in a mesoscopic quantum dot lattice

TL;DR

This paper studies how applying an electric field causes a transition from insulating to conducting behavior in a mesoscopic quantum dot lattice, revealing temperature-dependent activation and hysteresis effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates the electric-field driven insulator-to-conductor transition in a quantum dot array with detailed analysis of temperature dependence and collective transport phenomena.

Findings

Insulating state exhibits activated temperature dependence.

Transition becomes abrupt with strong hysteresis at low temperatures.

High-bias behavior indicates underdamped collective transport.

Abstract

We investigate electron transport through a finite two dimensional mesoscopic periodic potential, consisting of an array of lateral quantum dots with electron density controlled by a global top gate. We observe a transition from an insulating state at low bias voltages to a conducting state at high bias voltages. The insulating state shows simply activated temperature dependence, with strongly gate voltage dependent activation energy. At low temperatures the transition between the insulating and conducting states becomes very abrupt and shows strong hysteresis. The high-bias behavior suggests underdamped transport through a periodic washboard potential resulting from collective motion.