Many-body effects in transport through a quantum dot

Exact many-body eigenstates in a quantum dot formed in double-barrier heterostructures are calculated in the limit of strong confinement, and the nonlinear coherent transport through the states is studied for temperatures larger than their level broadenings. Energy splittings between many-body states due to exchange and correlation effects manifest themselves as small steps which decorate the Coulomb staircase in the current-voltage characteristics, which strongly depends on the number of electrons in the dot. Clear many-body effects are also found in peak heights and peak separations in the Coulomb oscillation of the linear conductance. © 1996 The American Physical Society.