Heating Effects in a Chain of Quantum Dots

Abstract

We study heating effects in a chain of weakly coupled grains due to electron-hole pair creation. The main mechanism for the latter at low temperatures is due to inelastic electron cotunneling processes in the array. We develop a quantitative kinetic theory for these systems and calculate the array temperature profile as a function of grain parameters, bias voltage or current, and time and show that for nanoscale size grains the heating effects are pronounced and easily measurable in experiments. In the low- and high-voltage limits we solve the stationary heat-flux equation analytically. We demonstrate the over-heating hysteresis in the large-current or voltage regimes. In addition we consider the influence of a substrate on the system which acts as a heat sink. We show that nano dot chains can be used as highly sensitive thermometers over a broad range of temperatures.