Electric-field-driven insulating-to-conducting transition in a mesoscopic quantum dot lattice

Neal E. Staley, Nirat Ray, Marc A. Kastner, Micah P. Hanson, and Arthur C. Gossard
Phys. Rev. B 90, 195443 – Published 24 November 2014

Abstract

We investigate electron transport through a finite two dimensional mesoscopic periodic potential, consisting of an array of lateral quantum dots with electron density controlled by a global top gate. We observe a transition from an insulating state at low-bias voltages to a conducting state at high-bias voltages. The insulating state shows simply activated temperature dependence, with strongly gate voltage dependent activation energy. At low temperatures the transition between the insulating and conducting states becomes very abrupt and shows strong hysteresis. The high-bias behavior suggests underdamped transport through a periodic washboard potential resulting from collective motion.

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  • Received 24 June 2014
  • Revised 12 November 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.195443

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Neal E. Staley*, Nirat Ray, and Marc A. Kastner

  • Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Micah P. Hanson and Arthur C. Gossard

  • Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5050, USA

  • *nstaley@mit.edu

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Vol. 90, Iss. 19 — 15 November 2014

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