Interference effects in a double quantum dot system with inter-dot Coulomb correlations

Electron transport through a double quantum dot system is studied with the use of the Green function formalism based on the equation of motion method, and an interplay between interference and Coulomb blockade effects due to interdot correlations is discussed. A double structure with two Fano resonances (or antiresonances) is found in the conductance spectrum. Fano features are weakly influenced by the presence of Coulomb interaction but the conductance is strongly suppressed in the energy region with the Fermi level in the leads close to the aligned levels of both dots. This Coulomb blockade effect takes place when the coupling between the dots is of repulsive character. On the other hand, the conductance of an artificial molecule with attractive inter-dot coupling is only slightly modified in this energy region. As a sign of the coupling can be easily changed in a presence of an external magnetic field by changes of the magnetic flux there is the possibility to control variations of the conductance, which may be important from the application point of view.