Coherent transport of charge through a double barrier in a Luttinger liquid

Abstract

We study the transport of interacting electrons through a double-barrier structure in the Coulomb-blockade regime. By employing a real-time approach, we identify the various pathways contributing to the cotunneling process and derive a uniform expression for the current-voltage characteristics. Our treatment includes the cases of finite and of zero level spacing on the island. We also study the conduction peak near threshold. For a continuous spectrum on the island, we find that the effects of electron interaction can be shifted onto an effective temperature-dependent tunneling density of states. This quantity exhibits in the asymptotic regime characteristic power-law behaviors which are reflected in the transport properties. We also compute the conductance in the regime where the level spacing on the island is a relevant energy scale.