Correlation between peak-height modulation and phase-lapses in transport through quantum dots

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a close relationship between Coulomb blockade peak-height modulation and phase-lapses in quantum dot transport, supported by analytic and numerical evidence, with implications for experimental testing.

Contribution

It establishes a theoretical and numerical link between two mesoscopic transport phenomena and characterizes the statistical distribution of partial-width amplitudes.

Findings

Peak-height modulation and phase-lapses are correlated in quantum dots.

Analytic and numerical methods confirm the relationship.

Distribution parameters are estimated from simple models.

Abstract

We show that two intriguing features of mesoscopic transport, namely the modulation of Coulomb blockade peak-heights and the transmission phase-lapses occurring between subsequent peaks, are closely related. Our analytic arguments are corroborated by numerical simulations for chaotic ballistic quantum dots. The correlations between the two properties are experimentally testable. The statistical distribution of the partial-width amplitude, at the heart of the previous relationship, is determined, and its characteristic parameters are estimated from simple models.