Coulomb blockade in a lateral triangular small quantum dot

An AlGaAs/GaAs lateral quantum dot of triangular shape with a characteristic size $L<100\,$nm (the smallest size for dots of this type) containing less than ten electrons was studied theoretically and experimentally. Single-electron oscillations of the conductance $G$ of this dot were measured at $G<e^2/h$. When going from $G\ll e^2/h$ to $G\approx0.5\,e^2/h$, a decrease was found not only in the amplitude but also in the period of oscillations. A calculation of the electrostatics demonstrated that this effect is due to a change in the dot size produced by control voltages.