Thermal Gating of Charge Currents with Coulomb Coupled Quantum Dots

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates thermal gating in a double quantum dot system, where hot electrons influence charge current, enabling control of electronic flow through temperature manipulation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel thermal gating mechanism in Coulomb-coupled quantum dots driven by hot electrons, showing control of charge current via temperature changes.

Findings

Current depends strongly on the heat reservoir's temperature.

Charge current can be enhanced or suppressed by hot electrons.

The system enables control of charge flow through thermal effects.

Abstract

We have observed thermal gating, i.e. electrostatic gating induced by hot electrons. The effect occurs in a device consisting of two capacitively coupled quantum dots. The double dot system is coupled to a hot electron reservoir on one side (QD1), whilst the conductance of the second dot (QD2) is monitored. When a bias across QD2 is applied we observe a current which is strongly dependent on the temperature of the heat reservoir. This current can be either enhanced or suppressed, depending on the relative energetic alignment of the QD levels. Thus, the system can be used to control a charge current by hot electrons.