Carrier-envelope phase control electron transport in an asymmetric double quantum dot irradiated by a few-cycle pulse

We propose a theoretical scheme to coherently control the transport of a single electron in an asymmetric double-quantum-dot system. The single-electron transport originates from the intrinsic interplay between the externally applied few-cycle pulse and the inter-dot tunneling. Solving the equations of motion for dot-density matrix, we reveal numerically that the current exhibits a significant dependence on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the few-cycle pulse, which is similar to the magnetic flux controlled coherent transport in an Aharnov–Bohm (AB) interferometer. As a result, by varying the CEP of the pulse one can suppress or enhance the current either instantaneously or periodically. Our results illustrate the potential to utilize few-cycle pulses for excitation in quantum dot systems through the CEP control, as well as a guidance in the design for possible experimental implementations. & 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.