Energy spectra and quantum crystallization in two-electron quantum dots in a magnetic field

Abstract

Quantum crystallization of electrons in a quantum dot (QD) subjected to an external magnetic field is considered. Two-electron QDs with two-dimensional (2D) parabolic confining potential in an external transverse magnetic field are calculated. The Hamiltonian is numerically diagonalized in the basis of one-particle functions to find the energy spectra and wave functions for the relative motion of electrons with inclusion of electron-electron interaction for a broad range of the confining-potential steepness (α) and external magnetic fields (B). The region of the external parameters (α, B) within which a gradual transition to quantum crystalline order occurs is numerically determined. In contrast to a 2D unbounded system, a magnetic field acts nonmonotonically on “crystallization” in a quantum dot with several electrons because of a competition between two effects taking place with increasing B, namely, decreasing spread of the electron wave functions and increasing effective steepness of the confining potential, which reduces the average separation between electrons.