Dc four-point resistance of a double-barrier quantum pump

Abstract

We investigate the behavior of the dc voltage drop in a periodically driven double-barrier structure (DBS) sensed by voltages probes that are weakly coupled to the system. We find that the four-terminal resistance R4t measured with the probes located outside the DBS results identical to the resistance measured in the same structure under a stationary bias voltage difference between left and right reservoirs. This result valid beyond the adiabatic pumping regime can be taken as an indication of the universal character of R4t as a measure of the resistive properties of a sample, irrespectively, of the mechanism used to induce the transport. © 2009 The American Physical Society.