Transmission and I– V characteristics of laterally-confined resonant tunneling structures

Abstract

Several experiments on electron transport through quantum dots of various geometries have shown the existence of fine structure superposed on the conventional resonant tunneling current peaks. These features were attributed to resonant tunneling through the laterally confined states inside the quantum dots. In this work we investigate the effects on the electron transport induced by the inclusion of narrow connecting constrictions between the laterally confined double-barrier resonant tunneling structures and the reservoirs. We show that if the interfaces between the constrictions and reservoirs are made abrupt, longitudinal resonant states are formed in the constrictions, giving rise to additional fine structure in the current. Furthermore, the constrictions introduce a fast pinch-off of the current peaks.