THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION OF SHELL FILLING IN CYLINDRICAL QUANTUM DOTS

A theoretical quantitative description is given for non-periodic oscil lations observed in a current vs. gate voltage characteristics of cyli ndrical quantum dots. Energy eigenvalues and chemical potentials for a system of N confined electrons (N = 1,...,13) are calculated by the u nrestricted Hartree-Fock method with a confinement potential proportio nal to the gate voltage. The positions of the observed peaks of the cu rrent are reproduced with a very good accuracy. The non-periodicity of the characteristic is explained as a result of the shell filling, whi ch is a signature of the quantum Coulomb blockade.