Transmission of interacting electrons through a one-dimensional periodic potential

Electron transport through a periodic potential in the presence of a short-range repulsive interaction is investigated in the mean-field approximation. The Coulomb repulsion lifts the spin degeneracy at low energies. The peaks in the transmission due to multiple reflections in the periodic potential split into two branches and their amplitude is suppressed by half. For moderate energies and interaction strengths, the quantum dots are filled with spin-up and spin-down states alternately. The nonuniform spin density distribution is found to quench the overall transmission. © 1996 The American Physical Society.