Two-electron correlations and the acoustoelectric current through a quantum dot

Abstract

We examine the two-electron correlations in a surface acoustic wave (SAW)-induced quantum dot moving in a pinched-off channel. For a small SAW amplitude and a narrow channel, singlet and triplet states are quasidegenerate and both contribute to the second plateau of the quantized acoustoelectric current. If SAW dots containing two electrons are driven through a small static dot whose confining potential is tuned by a gate pulse, then due to the Pauli principle, the current displays a fractional plateau.