Imaging coherent electron flow from a quantum point contact

M. A. Topinka, B. J. LeRoy, S. E.J. Shaw, E. J. Heller, R. M. Westervelt, K. D. Maranowski, A. C. Gossard

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

361 Scopus citations

Abstract

Scanning a charged tip above the two-dimensional electron gas inside a gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide nanostructure allows the coherent electron flow from the lowest quantized modes of a quantum point contact at liquid helium temperatures to be imaged. As the width of the quantum point contact is increased, its electrical conductance increases in quantized steps of 2 e2/h, where e is the electron charge and h is Planck's constant. The angular dependence of the electron flow on each step agrees with theory, and fringes separated by half the electron wavelength are observed. Placing the tip so that it interrupts the flow from particular modes of the quantum point contact causes a reduction in the conductance of those particular conduction channels below 2 e2/h without affecting other channels.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2323-2326
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume289
Issue number5488
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 29 2000
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Imaging coherent electron flow from a quantum point contact'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this