Circular transmission resonances and magnetic field effects in a ring of quantum dots connected to external leads in the meta-configuration

Abstract

The transmission and the circular transmission are investigated for a ring of quantum dots (in a benzene-type configuration) connected to external leads in the meta-configuration. A computational method utilizing the tight-binding approximation to the Schrodinger equation is used to solve for the transmission probabilities as a function of the electron energy and external magnetic flux. The flux dependence is incorporated into the model using a standard procedure involving the Aharonov–Bohm effect. The positions of the transmission zeros and poles in the complex energy plane, and their possible interference with or even complete cancellation of each other, are shown to correlate with the amplitude and structure of the circular transmission resonances. Large-amplitude resonances of the circular transmission are found to occur when two poles of the transmission are separated along the imaginary axis. These resonances demonstrate a high degree of flux sensitivity at specific energy values and flux ranges. A small change in flux causes the orientation of the resonance poles in the complex energy plane to rotate parallel to the real energy axis, resulting in a concurrent decrease in the circular transmission amplitude. The flux-dependent interference between the transmission poles and zeros in the complex energy plane leads to a decrease of the circular transmission resonance amplitudes. The circular transmission and its corresponding current–voltage characteristic provide more information related to the external flux than can be obtained from the normal transmission alone.