Mechanical effects in quantum dots in magnetic and electric fields

2001

The mechanical effects in finite two-dimensional electron systems (quantum dots or droplets) in a strong perpendicular magnetic field are studied. It is shown that, due to asymmetry of the cyclotron dynamics, an additional in-plane electric field causes a ground state transition accompanied by a change in the average total angular momentum of the system, unless the lateral confining potential is exactly parabolic. A precise mechanical experiment is proposed in which a macroscopic angular momentum of a dense matrix of quantum dots could be measured and used to detect and estimate anharmonicity of the confinement.