Transport in an ac-driven triple dot quantum shuttle

A full quantum dynamical approach is introduced to analyze the main features of the electric current in a triple dot quantum shuttle driven by an ac gate voltage, V(t)=Vaccosωact, applied between the left and right quantum dots. We show that the tunneling dynamics is governed by photo-assisted tunneling, which manifests itself as peaks in the electronic current. The peaks can be labeled by two degrees of freedom, (ν,n), which correspond to processes involving the absorption or emission of ν photons, leaving the electron transmitted in the nth quantum state of the oscillator.