Do intradot electron-electron interactions induce dephasing?

Abstract

We investigate the degree of coherence of electronic transport through a quantum dot (QD) in the presence of an intradot electron-electron interaction. By using an open multi-terminal Aharonov-Bohm (AB) setup, we find that the intradot interaction does not induce any dephasing effect and the electron transport through the QD is fully coherent. We also observe that the asymmetric amplitude of the AB oscillation in the conductance through the two-terminal AB setup originates from the interplay between the confined structure and the electron-electron interaction. Thus, one can not associate a dephasing process with this asymmetric amplitude, as has been done in previous studies.