Strong coupling regime in coherent electron transport in periodic quantum nanostructures

Abstract

We study coherent transport in a system of a periodic linear chain of quantum dots placed between two parallel quantum wires. We show that resonant-tunneling conductance between the wires exhibits a Rabi splitting of the resonance peak as a function of Fermi energy in the wires indicating the emergence of strong coupling between the system constituents. The underlying mechanism of the strong coupling regime is conservation of the quasimomentum in a periodic system that leads to transition resonances between electron states in a quantum dot chain and quantum wires. A perpendicular magnetic field, by breaking the system's left-right symmetry, gives rise to a fine structure of the conductance lineshape.