Time-dependent transport via a quantum shuttle

Muhammad Tahir, Angus MacKinnon

Published 2011-05-27Version 1

We present a theoretical study of time-dependent transport via a quantum shuttle within the non-equilibrium Green's function technique. An arbitrary voltage is applied to the tunnel junction and electrons in the leads are considered to be at zero temperature. The transient and the steady state behavior of the system is considered here in order to explore the quantum dynamics of the shuttle device as a function of time and applied bias. The properties of the phonon distribution of the oscillating dot coupled to the electrons are investigated using a non-perturbative approach. We derive a relation for the oscillator momentum charge density correlation function which is an interesting physical example for the visualization of shuttling phenomenon. We consider the crossover between the tunneling and shuttling regimes for different values of the key parameters as a function of applied bias and time. We also consider the energy transferred from the electrons to the oscillating dot as a function of time. This will provide useful insight for the design of experiments aimed at studying the quantum behavior of a shuttling device.