Theory of excess noise of a quantum dot in the presence of a microwave field

Abstract

The power spectrum of excess noise of a quantum dot coupled to two leads and irradiated by a microwave field of frequency Ω is derived exactly by directly solving the Heisenberg equation. We found that for Γ<ħΩ, where Γ is the linewidth of the intradot energy level, the power spectrum can be nonzero even if the averaged current is zero. This property originates from photon-assisted tunneling and is very different from the shot noise in steady state. For Γ≫ħΩ, our results are consistent with the recent experiment by Schoelkopf et al. and previous theory.