Analysis of electron transfer among quantum dots in two-dimensional quantum dot network

Two-dimensional quantum dot networks are single-electron (SE) circuits. Although conventional SE circuits are vulnerable to thermal noise, two-dimensional quantum dot networks increase the possibility of gaining special capabilities that can harness noise energy. However, the behavior of these networks has not yet been analyzed. Thus, they need to be analyzed in thermal noise environments. We evaluated the effect of thermal noise, bias voltage, and network size on these networks. We focused on electron transfers between quantum dots in these networks and tested them with Monte Carlo computer simulations. We were able to control electron transfers and electric current in thermal noise environments by controlling the bias voltage. Therefore, two-dimensional quantum dot networks have noise-harnessing capabilities and are useful as noise-exploiting SE devices. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics