Interactions and coherences in electron transport through serially coupled quantum dots

This thesis is considering various aspects of electronic transport through quantum dots, with the focus on two or three dots coupled in series.

In paper I, we study the impact of electron-electron interactions on transport in a system of triple quantum dots with spin. We show that due to electron-electron scattering processes, transport is possible beyond the common single-particle transmission channels. We also check the validity of the Pauli master equation by comparing it with the first-order von Neumann approach.

In paper II, we report the addition of phonon scattering to the recently established numerical package QmeQ for transport in quantum dot systems. Also, we analyze phonon-assisted transport in the absence of applied source-drain voltage.

In paper III, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study of a nanowire double quantum dot system. We investigate the origin and properties of the bias triangle features and predict and observe features directly related to the inter-dot exchange energy.

In paper IV, based on what was presented in paper II, it is shown that by coupling a hot phonon bath to a double quantum dot, phonon assisted transport can be used to drive currents through the double dot and effectively harvest energy from the phonon bath.