Electron tunneling energies of a quantum dot in a magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of electron energy levels in a quantum dot under a magnetic field, revealing a better explanation for experimental data through a tunneling mechanism involving an intermediate state.

Contribution

It introduces a new tunneling mechanism involving an intermediate state that explains experimental energy levels more accurately than previous models.

Findings

Analytic solution matches low magnetic field data.

Discrepancy at high magnetic fields explained by new tunneling mechanism.

Experimental data aligns with the theory using the intermediate state model.

Abstract

Theoretical analysis of the experimental data for the energy levels of two interacting electrons confined by a finite Gaussian potential in a 2D quantum dot and subjected to a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the dot is presented. While a previously published analytic solution for the magnetic field at which the ground state transitions from the spin-singlet to the spin-triplet state agreed well with the data, the calculated energy at higher magnetic fields diverged from the experimental data. It is shown that the experimental data do not support the current hypothesis that the experimental energy corresponds to the lowest electronic state in the quantum dot being resonant with the Fermi level of the n+ electrode. Instead the experimental data agree remarkably well with the theory when we use a mechanism in which the added electron to the QD tunnels from an intermediate state that is not dependent on the applied magnetic field to the 2-e state in the QD before it is manifested at the electrode.