Nonequilibrium electron transport in quantum dot and quantum point contact systems

Much experimental research has been performed in the equilibrium regime on individual quantum dots and quantum point contacts (QPCs). The focus of the research presented here is electron transport in the nonequilibrium regime in coupled quantum dot and QPC systems fabricated on AlGaAs/GaAs material using the split gate technique.; Near equilibrium magnetoconductance measurements were performed on a quantum dot and a QPC. Oscillations were seen in the conductance of the sensor which corresponded to Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the quantum dot, to our knowledge the first such observation. Sudden jumps in the conductance of the QPC were observed under certain gate biases and under certain magnetic fields. When the gate biases and magnetic field were held constant and the conductance was observed over time, switching was observed with the form of a random telegraph signal (RTS). RTS switching is usually attributed to charging of a single impurity. However, in this case switching may have been due to tunneling via edge states in the dot.; Nonequilibrium transport in single quantum dots was investigated. A knee or kink was observed in the current-voltage characteristics of two dots on different material. The bias conditions under which the knee occurred point to electron heating as the physical mechanism for the observed behavior. However, the data can not be fit accurately over all bias ranges with an energy balance hot electron model. Modifications to the model are needed to accurately represent the devices studied here.; Finally, the effect of nonlinear transport through a one dimensional (1D) QPC on the equilibrium conductance of an adjacent 0D quantum dot was explored. This was the first attempt to observe Coulomb drag between a 0D and 1D system. It was observed that the equilibrium conductance peaks in the quantum dot were broadened as the current in the QPC increased. This apparent electron heating effect in the dot can be explained by a simple ballistic phonon model. However, reasonable phase coherence times can be estimated from peak fitting using a Breit-Wigner formula which points to a Coulomb interaction. More detailed numerical calculations should illuminate the dominant scattering processes.