Publications

We study the interaction of a dark exciton Bose-Einstein condensate with the nuclei in gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide coupled quantum wells and find clear evidence for nuclear polarization buildup that accompanies the appearance of the condensate. We show that the nuclei are polarized throughout the mesa area, extending to regions that are far away from the photoexcitation area and persisting for seconds after the excitation is switched off. Photoluminescence measurements in the presence of radio frequency radiation reveal that the hyperfine interaction between the nuclear and electron spins is enhanced by two orders of magnitude. We suggest that this large enhancement manifests the collective nature of the N-exciton condensate, which amplifies the interaction by a factor of √N.

Interferometry is a vital tool for studying fundamental features in the quantum Hall effect. For instance, Aharonov-Bohm interference in a quantum Hall interferometer can probe the wave-particle duality of electrons and quasiparticles. Here, we report an unusual Aharonov-Bohm interference of the outermost edge mode in a quantum Hall Fabry-Pérot interferometer, whose Coulomb interactions were suppressed with a grounded drain in the interior bulk of the interferometer. In a descending bulk filling factor from νb=3 to νb≈(5/3), the magnetic field periodicity, which corresponded to a single "flux quantum,"agreed accurately with the enclosed area of the interferometer. However, in the filling range, νb≈(5/3) to νb=1, the field periodicity increased markedly, a priori suggesting a drastic shrinkage of the Aharonov-Bohm area. Moreover, the modulation gate voltage periodicity decreased abruptly at this range. We attribute these unexpected observations to edge reconstruction, leading to area changing with the field and a modified modulation gate-edge capacitance. These reproducible results support future interference experiments with a quantum Hall Fabry-Pérot interferometer.

The remarkable Cooper-like pairing phenomenon in the Aharonov-Bohm interference of a Fabry-Perot interferometer - operating in the integer quantum Hall regime - remains baffling. Here, we report the interference of paired electrons employing "interface edge modes."These modes are born at the interface between the bulk of the Fabry-Perot interferometer and an outer gated region tuned to a lower filling factor. Such a configuration allows toggling the spin and the orbital of the Landau level of the edge modes at the interface. We find that electron pairing occurs only when the two modes (the interfering outer and the first inner) belong to the same spinless Landau level.

An ensemble of neutral excitations in a 1/3 Laughlin liquid is studied experimentally. It has been found that excitations induce a nonlinear optical response in the form of a quadratic dependence of the reflection signal on the pump power. The reported experimental results have shown that the observed effect is due to the contribution of the coherent anti-StokesStokes scattering from the excited Laughlin liquid.

Multielectron semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) provide a novel platform to study the Coulomb interaction-driven, spatially localized electron states of Wigner molecules (WMs). Although Wigner-molecularization has been confirmed by real-space imaging and coherent spectroscopy, the open system dynamics of the strongly correlated states with the environment are not yet well understood. Here, we demonstrate efficient control of spin transfer between an artificial three-electron WM and the nuclear environment in a GaAs double QD. A LandauZener sweep-based polarization sequence and low-lying anticrossings of spin multiplet states enabled by Wigner-molecularization are utilized. Combined with coherent control of spin states, we achieve control of magnitude, polarity, and site dependence of the nuclear field. We demonstrate that the same level of control cannot be achieved in the non-interacting regime. Thus, we confirm the spin structure of a WM, paving the way for active control of correlated electron states for application in mesoscopic environment engineering.

Fractional quantum Hall states have long been predicted to be a testing ground of fractionalanyonicexchange statistics. These topological states, which can have either an Abelian or non-Abelian character, harbour quasiparticles with fractional charges. The charge of the quasiparticles can be measured by shot noise measurements, whereas their quantum statistics can be revealed by appropriate interference experiments. The multipath FabryPérot electronic interferometer is easier to fabricate, but it is often plagued by Coulomb interactions, area breathing with the magnetic field and fluctuating charges. Yet, recent experiments with an adequately screened FabryPérot interferometer allowed the observation of anyonic interference at a bulk filling factor of ν=1/3. Here we demonstrate the interference and braiding of anyons in an interaction-free two-path MachZehnder interferometer tuned to bulk filling of ν=2/5 with an outermost ν=1/3 edge mode. Interference with this mode reveals a phase dependence that corresponds to the predicted anyonic braiding. This proves that a MachZehnder interferometer is a powerful tool that probes the quantum statistics of complex anyonic states.

The fractional charge of quasiparticles is a fundamental feature of quantum Hall effect states. The chargeimportant in characterizing the state and in interference experimentshas long been measured via shot noise at moderate temperatures, with the Fano factor revealing the charge of the quasiparticles. However, at sufficiently low temperatures of ~10 mK, we previously found that the Fano factor is instead equal to the bulk filling factor. Noise with this pattern was also observed on intermediate conductance plateaux in the transmission of the quantum point contact, where shot noise is not expected. Here, we extend this low-temperature behaviour of the Fano factor to a situation where the edge modes do not sit at the physical edge of the device but instead reside in an artificially constructed interface at the boundary between two adjoining quantum Hall effect states: the tested state and a different state. We attribute the unexpected shot noise behaviour to upstream neutral modes that proliferate at the lowest spinless Landau level. We present a theoretical approach based on an interplay between charge and neutral modes that hints at the origin of the universal Fano factor.

We show that a BoseEinstein condensate consisting of dark excitons forms in GaAs coupled quantum wells at low temperatures. We find that the condensate extends over hundreds of micrometers, well beyond the optical excitation region, and is limited only by the boundaries of the mesa. We show that the condensate density is determined by spin-flipping collisions among the excitons, which convert dark excitons into bright ones. The suppression of this process at low temperature yields a density buildup, manifested as a temperature-dependent blueshift of the exciton emission line. Measurements under an in-plane magnetic field allow us to preferentially modify the bright exciton density and determine their role in the system dynamics. We find that their interaction with the condensate leads to its depletion. We present a simple rate-equations model, which well reproduces the observed temperature, power, and magnetic-field dependence of the exciton density.

A high-electron-mobility GaAs/Al0.36Ga0.64As heterostructure is processed by electron-beam lithography to fabricate samples with a separation of the current-supplying Ohmic contacts of between 28μm and 1.3 mm. Voltage pulses of 20-ms duration, with a 4% filling factor and an amplitude up to 30 V, stimulate terahertz emission from samples cooled to 4 K. The radiation spectrum, centered at about 390 GHz (about 1.6 meV), registered with a Fabry-Perot interferometer, shows almost no dependence on the applied voltage or on the shape of the sample. The emission appears in a threshold manner and is accompanied by a jump of current by more than 2 orders of magnitude. The energy of the emitted photons is about three times smaller than in the case of any previously reported impurity-related emission from either bulk GaAs or GaAs-based quantum wells. The emission is interpreted as resulting from a two-step ionization-recombination process involving shallow donors in the (Al,Ga)As barrier, which create bound states of electrons in the GaAs quantum well. Thus, the frequency of emission is argued to be tuned by the width of the spacer layer. We present these as small convenient sources that can be used for calibration and check-up operation of cooled bolometric systems used in astronomical observations.

A novel experimental optical method, based on photoluminescence and photo-induced resonant reflection techniques, is used to investigate the spin transport over long distances in a new, recently discovered collective statemagnetofermionic condensate. The given BoseEinstein condensate exists in a purely fermionic system (ν = 2 quantum Hall insulator) due to the presence of a non-equilibrium ensemble of spin-triplet magnetoexcitonscomposite bosons. It is found that the condensate can spread over macroscopically long distances of approximately 200 µm. The propagation velocity of long-lived spin excitations is measured to be 25 m/s.

Studies of energy flow in quantum systems complement the information provided by common conductance measurements. The quantum limit of heat flow in one dimensional (1D) ballistic modes was predicted, and experimentally demonstrated, to have a universal value for bosons, fermions, and fractionally charged anyons. A fraction of this value is expected in non-abelian states. Nevertheless, open questions about energy relaxation along the propagation length in 1D modes remain. Here, we introduce a novel experimental setup that measures the energy relaxation in chiral 1D modes of the quantum Hall effect (QHE). Edge modes, emanating from a heated reservoir, are partitioned by a quantum point contact (QPC) located at their path. The resulting noise allows a determination of the 'effective temperature' at the location of the QPC. We found energy relaxation in all the tested QHE states, being integers or fractional. However, the relaxation was found to be mild in particle-like states, and prominent in hole-conjugate states.

The realization of integrated quantum circuits requires precise on-chip control of charge carriers. Aiming at the coherent coupling of distant nanostructures at zero magnetic field, here we study the ballistic electron transport through two quantum point contacts (QPCs) in series in a three terminal configuration. We enhance the coupling between the QPCs by electrostatic focusing using a field effect lens. To study the emission and collection properties of QPCs in detail we combine the electrostatic focusing with magnetic deflection. Comparing our measurements with quantum mechanical and classical calculations we discuss generic features of the quantum circuit and demonstrate how the coherent and ballistic dynamics depend on the details of the QPC confinement potentials.

Fast and high-fidelity quantum state detection is essential for building robust spin-based quantum information processing platforms in semiconductors. The Pauli spin blockade (PSB)-based spin-to-charge conversion and its variants are widely used for the spin state discrimination of two-electron singlet-triplet (ST0) qubits; however, the single-shot measurement fidelity is limited by either the low signal contrast, or the short lifetime of the triplet state at the PSB energy detuning, especially due to strong mixing with singlet states at large magnetic field gradients. Ultimately, the limited single-shot measurement fidelity leads to low visibility of quantum operations. Here, we demonstrate an alternative method to achieve spin-to-charge conversion of ST(0)qubit states using energy-selective tunneling between doubly occupied quantum dots (QDs) and electron reservoirs. We demonstrate a single-shot measurement fidelity of 90% and an S-T(0)oscillation visibility of 81% at a field gradient of 100 mT (similar to 500MHz h (g*center dot mu(B))(-1)); this allows single-shot readout with full electron charge signal contrast and, at the same time, long and tunable measurement time with negligible effect of relaxation even at strong magnetic field gradients. Using an rf-sensor positioned opposite to the QD array, we apply this method to two ST(0)qubits and show high-visibility readout of two individual single-qubit gate operations is possible with a single rf single-electron transistor sensor. We expect our measurement scheme for two-electron spin states can be applied to various hosting materials and provides a simplified and complementary route for multiple qubit state detection with high accuracy in QD-based quantum computing platforms.

Quantum point contacts (QPCs) are fundamental building blocks of nanoelectronic circuits. For their emission dynamics as well as for interaction effects such as the 0.7 anomaly the details of the electrostatic potential are important, but the precise potential shapes are usually unknown. Here, we measure the one-dimensional subband spacings of various QPCs as a function of their conductance and compare our findings with models of lateral parabolic versus hard-wall confinement. We find that a gate-defined QPC near pinch-off is compatible with the parabolic saddle-point scenario. However, as the number of populated subbands is increased, Coulomb screening flattens the potential bottom and a description in terms of a finite hard-wall potential becomes more realistic.

We propose a new design microwave radiation sensor based on a selectively doped semiconductor structure of asymmetrical shape (so-called bow-tie diode). The novelty of the design comes down to the gating of the active layer of the diode above different regions of the two-dimensional electron channel. The gate influences the sensing properties of the bow-tie diode depending on the nature of voltage detected across the ungated one as well as on the location of the gate in regard to the diode contacts. When the gate is located by the wide contact, the voltage sensitivity increases ten times as compared to the case of the ungated diode, and the detected voltage holds the same polarity of the thermoelectric electromotive force of hot electrons in an asymmetrically shaped n-n(+) junction. Another remarkable effect of the gate placed by the wide contact is weak dependence of the detected voltage on frequency which makes such a microwave diode to be a proper candidate for the detection of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave and sub-terahertz frequency range. When the gate is situated beside the narrow contact, the two orders of sensitivity magnitude increase are valid in the microwaves but the voltage sensitivity is strongly frequency-dependent for higher frequencies.

We attempted to measure interference of the outer edge mode in the fractional quantum hall regime with an electronic Mach-zehnder interferometer. The visibility of the interferometer wore off as we approached νB ¼ 1 and the transmission of the quantum point contacts (QPCs) of the interferometer simultaneously developed a v ¼ 1=3 conductance plateau accompanied by shot noise. The appearance of shot noise on this plateau indicates the appearance of nontopological neutral modes resulting from edge reconstruction. We have confirmed the presence of upstream neutral modes measuring upstream noise emanating from the QPC. The lack of interference throughout the lowest Landau level was correlated with a proliferation of neutral modes.

Three different methods of experimental mesoscopic physics, namely, weak antilocalization effects, universal conductance fluctuations, and Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, have been used to extract the electron phase-coherence scattering rate in two-dimensional gas of InGaAs/AlInAs heterostructures. The Aharonov-Bohm oscillations reveal strong beating effects, indicating the existence of two similar periodicities of the flux dependencies. As suggested by certain theoretical models, such a behavior might be expected from the so-called Berry phase acquired by electrons with different spin orientations in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman splitting. In our paper we deduce the experimental values of the dephasing length and try to compare the observed beating pattern with possible scenarios for the appearance of the Berry phase.

Topological edge-reconstruction occurs in hole-conjugate states of the fractional quantum Hall effect. The frequently studied filling factor, ν = 2/3, was originally proposed to harbor two counter-propagating modes: a downstream v = 1 and an upstream v = 1/3. However, charge equilibration between these two modes always led to an observed downstream v = 2/3 charge mode accompanied by an upstream neutral mode. Here, we present an approach to synthetize a v = 2/3 edge mode from its basic counter-propagating charged constituents, allowing a controlled equilibration between the two counter-propagating charge modes. This platform is based on a carefully designed double-quantum-well, which hosts two populated electronic sub-bands (lower and upper), with corresponding filling factors, v _l and v _u . By separating the 2D plane to two gated intersecting halves, each with different fillings, counter-propagating chiral modes can be formed along the intersection line. Equilibration between these modes can be controlled with the top gates voltage and the magnetic field.

The effect of microwave radiation on the amplitudes of the quantum magnetocapacitance oscillations in field-effect transistors has been studied. It has been found that the microwave-induced variation of the oscillation amplitude depends nonmonotonically on the magnetic field including the amplitude enhancement effect. It has been shown that this behavior is due to the band bending near the edge of the gate. The effect has been attributed to the interference of quantum oscillations with radiation-induced magneto-oscillations of the screening length of a static electric field.

The temperature dependence of the microwave photovoltage has been studied in microwave-induced states of a two-dimensional electron system, which are characterized by an almost dissipationless flow of a low-frequency current. At decreasing temperature, a smooth transition has been found from a bistable state, where the photovoltage demonstrates switching between two levels, which are due to reversals of the spontaneous electric field in a domain structure, to a steady state. The transition occurs as the shift of one of the levels of the bistable photovoltage to the other level accompanied by a decrease in the switching frequency. The results indicate the freezing of the dynamic domain structure in the state corresponding to the more stable configuration of the electric field.

Topological states of matter are characterized by topological invariants, which are physical quantities whose values are quantized and do not depend on the details of the system (such as its shape, size and impurities). Of these quantities, the easiest to probe is the electrical Hall conductance, and fractional values (in units of e ²/h, where e is the electronic charge and h is the Planck constant) of this quantity attest to topologically ordered states, which carry quasiparticles with fractional charge and anyonic statistics. Another topological invariant is the thermal Hall conductance, which is harder to measure. For the quantized thermal Hall conductance, a fractional value in units of κ ₀ (κ ₀ = π ²k _B²/(3h), where k _B is the Boltzmann constant) proves that the state of matter is non-Abelian. Such non-Abelian states lead to ground-state degeneracy and perform topological unitary transformations when braided, which can be useful for topological quantum computation. Here we report measurements of the thermal Hall conductance of several quantum Hall states in the first excited Landau level and find that the thermal Hall conductance of the 5/2 state is compatible with a half-integer value of 2.5κ ₀, demonstrating its non-Abelian nature.

Electronic systems harboring one-dimensional helical modes, where spin and momentum are locked, have lately become an important field of its own. When coupled to a conventional superconductor, such systems are expected to manifest topological superconductivity; a unique phase hosting exotic Majorana zero modes. Even more interesting are fractional helical modes, yet to be observed, which open the route for realizing generalized parafermions. Possessing non-abelian exchange statistics, these quasiparticles may serve as building blocks in topological quantum computing. Here, we present a new approach to form protected one-dimensional helical edge modes in the quantum Hall regime. The novel platform is based on a carefully designed double-quantum-well structure in a GaAs based system hosting two electronic sub-bands; each tuned to the quantum Hall effect regime. By electrostatic gating of different areas of the structure, counter-propagating integer, as well as fractional, edge modes with opposite spins are formed. We demonstrate that due to spin-protection, these helical modes remain ballistic for large distances. In addition to the formation of helical modes, this platform can serve as a rich playground for artificial induction of compounded fractional edge modes, and for construction of edge modes based interferometers.

In recent interference experiments with an electronic Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI), implemented in the integer quantum Hall effect regime, a flux periodicity of h/2e was observed at bulk fillings νB>2.5. The halved periodicity was accompanied by an interfering charge e∗=2e, determined by shot-noise measurements. Here, we present measurements demonstrating that, counterintuitively, the coherence and the interference periodicity of the interfering chiral edge channel are solely determined by the coherence and the enclosed flux of the adjacent edge channel. Our results elucidate the important role of the latter and suggest that a neutral chiral edge mode plays a crucial role in the pairing phenomenon. Our findings reveal that the observed pairing of electrons is not a curious isolated phenomenon, but one of many manifestations of unexpected edge physics in the quantum Hall effect regime.

The temperature dependence of the switching frequency of a microwave-induced spontaneous electric field forming a domain structure and the conductance of a doping layer that provides electrons to the two-dimensional electron system have been measured on samples fabricated from the same GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. Both quantities have been found to obey the thermally activated dependence (Arrhenius law) with close activation energies. This result indicates a relation between the quantities and confirms a hypothesis that the observed dynamics of the domain structure originates from the dynamical screening of the spontaneous electric field of domains by charges in the doping layer.

The physics of itinerant electrons in condensed matter is by and large governed by repulsive Coulomb forces. However, attractive interactions may emerge and prevail in determining the ground state despite the pervasive Coulomb repulsion. A notable example is electron pairing and superconductivity. The interplay of attractive and repulsive interactions may also instigate spontaneous symmetry lowering and clustering of charges in geometric patterns even without net attraction. Both types of attractive interaction triggered physics - pairing and charge ordering - are at play in two-dimensional electron systems exposed to a quantizing magnetic field. The charge ordering has been concluded indirectly from transport behaviour. Here we report the observation of negative permittivity present solely when bubble and stripe phases form. In conjunction with a theoretical model, the negative permittivity provides evidence for the underlying attractive exchange-correlation energy which sufficiently countervails Coulomb repulsion at small distances to enable and mediate charge clustering.

We have studied the absorption of monochromatic microwave radiation in high-quality two-dimensional electron systems for the frequency span from 10 to 380 GHz using a bolometric method. For frequencies above 100 GHz the absorption exhibits an anomalous magnetic field dependence. Minima form at harmonics of the cyclotron resonance frequency. The results contrast previously reported data for other frequency ranges. Quasiclassical memory effects originating from the non-Markovian dynamics of electrons in a disorder potential containing short-range scatterers on top of a smooth potential background favorably account for the observed behavior.

The quantum of thermal conductance of ballistic (collisionless) onedimensional channels is a unique fundamental constant1. Although the quantization of the electrical conductance of one-dimensional ballistic conductors has long been experimentally established2, demonstrating the quantization of thermal conductance has been challenging as it necessitated an accurate measurement of very small temperature increase. It has been accomplished for weakly interacting systems of phonons(3,4), photons(5) and electronic Fermi liquids(6-8); however, it should theoretically also hold in strongly interacting systems, such as those in which the fractional quantum Hall effect is observed. This effect describes the fractionalization of electrons into anyons and chargeless quasiparticles, which in some cases can be Majorana fermions(2). Because the bulk is incompressible in the fractional quantum Hall regime, it is not expected to contribute substantially to the thermal conductance, which is instead determined by chiral, one-dimensional edge modes. The thermal conductance thus reflects the topological properties of the fractional quantum Hall electronic system, to which measurements of the electrical conductance give no access(9-12). Here we report measurements of thermal conductance in particle-like (LaughlinJain series) states and the more complex (and less studied) hole-like states in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in GaAsAlGaAs heterostructures. Hole-like states, which have fractional Landau-level fillings of 1/2 to 1, support downstream charged modes as well as upstream neutral modes(13), and are expected to have a thermal conductance that is determined by the net chirality of all of their downstream and upstream edge modes. Our results establish the universality of the quantization of thermal conductance for fractionally charged and neutral modes. Measurements of anyonic heat flow provide access to information that is not easily accessible from measurements of conductance

The authors compare four methods to investigate the threading dislocations (TDs) observed in metamorphic buffers used in the growth of InSb quantum well on GaAs (001) substrates. Three types of buffers with varying number of Al0.24In0.76Sb interlayers (N = 0, 1, and 3) were studied. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) revealed an effective dislocation filtering by the interlayers. Individual TDs were identified with atomic-force microscopy (AFM) as distinct morphological features of dislocation outcrops on the surface. Threading dislocation density (TDD) is reduced by 1 order of magnitude with three interlayers, consistent with the STEM observation. TDD measured with a scanning electron microscope in electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) mode agrees closely with the AFM analysis, except for the N = 0 buffer where the ECCI gives TDD lower by more than a factor of two. The etch pit density of N = 3 buffer, measured with a Nomarski differential interference contrast microscope after defect selective etching (DSE), is almost 1 order of magnitude lower than the TDD measured by AFM and ECCI. Due to the large pit size, the used etching recipe only works well for samples with TDD lower than 10(7) cm(-2). AFM, ECCI, and DSE are excellent alternatives to transmission electron microscopy in the process of metamorphic buffer optimization. The AFM technique offers the additional advantage of high vertical resolution morphology mapping. Such capability is of great importance for the optimization of metamorphic buffers from the perspective of surface smoothness improvement. (C) 2017 American Vacuum Society.

In a two-dimensional electron system, microwave radiation may induce giant resistance oscillations. Their origin has been debated controversially and numerous mechanisms based on very different physical phenomena have been invoked. However, none of them have been unambiguously experimentally identified, since they produce similar effects in transport studies. The capacitance of a two-subband system is sensitive to a redistribution of electrons over energy states, since it entails a shift of the electron charge perpendicular to the plane. In such a system, microwave-induced magnetocapacitance oscillations have been observed. They can only be accounted for by an electron distribution function oscillating with energy due to Landau quantization, one of the quantum mechanisms proposed for the resistance oscillations.

This Rapid Communication was motivated by the quest for observing interference of fractionally charged quasiparticles. Here, we study the behavior of an electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer at the integer quantum Hall effect regime at filling factors greater than 1. Both the visibility and the velocity were measured and found to be highly correlated as a function of the filling factor. As the filling factor approached unity, the visibility quenched, not to recover for filling factors smaller than unity. Alternatively, the velocity saturated around a minimal value at the unity filling factor. We highlight the significant role interactions between the interfering edge and the bulk play as well as that of the defining potential at the edge. Shot-noise measurements suggest that phase averaging (due to phase randomization), rather than single-particle decoherence, is likely to be the cause of the dephasing in the fractional regime.

Nuclear spins are an important source of dephasing for electron spin qubits in GaAs quantum dots. Most studies of their dynamics have focused on the relatively slow longitudinal polarization. We present a semiclassical model and experimental data showing that the dynamics of the transverse hyperfine field can be probed by correlating individual Landau-Zener sweeps across the S-T+ transition of a two-electron spin qubit. The relative Larmor precession of different nuclear spin species leads to oscillations in these correlations, which decay due to dephasing of the nuclei. In the presence of spin-orbit coupling, oscillations with the absolute Larmor frequencies whose amplitude depends on the spin-orbit coupling strength are expected. These oscillations reflect rapid dynamics of the transverse hyperfine field, which are relevant for several qubit control schemes.

The central-spin problem is a widely studied model of quantum decoherence. Dynamic nuclear polarization occurs in central-spin systems when electronic angular momentum is transferred to nuclear spins and is exploited in quantum information processing for coherent spin manipulation. However, the mechanisms limiting this process remain only partially understood. Here we show that spin-orbit coupling can quench dynamic nuclear polarization in a GaAs quantum dot, because spin conservation is violated in the electron-nuclear system, despite weak spin-orbit coupling in GaAs. Using Landau-Zener sweeps to measure static and dynamic properties of the electron spin-flip probability, we observe that the size of the spin-orbit and hyperfine interactions depends on the magnitude and direction of applied magnetic field. We find that dynamic nuclear polarization is quenched when the spin-orbit contribution exceeds the hyperfine, in agreement with a theoretical model. Our results shed light on the surprisingly strong effect of spin-orbit coupling in central-spin systems.

Electron pairing is a rare phenomenon appearing only in a few unique physical systems; for example, superconductors and Kondo-correlated quantum dots. Here, we report on an unexpected electron pairing in the integer quantum Hall effect regime. The pairing takes place within an interfering edge channel in an electronic Fabry-Perot interferometer at a wide range of bulk filling factors, between 2 and 5. We report on three main observations: high-visibility Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations with magnetic flux periodicity equal to half the magnetic flux quantum; an interfering quasiparticle charge equal to twice the elementary electron charge as revealed by quantum shot noise measurements, and full dephasing of the pairs' interference by induced dephasing of the adjacent inner edge channel - a manifestation of inter-channel entanglement. Although this pairing phenomenon clearly results from inter-channel interaction, the exact mechanism that leads to electron-electron attraction within a single edge channel is not clear. We believe that substantial efforts are needed in order to clarify these intriguing and unexpected findings.

Terahertz spectroscopy experiments at magnetic fields and low temperatures were carried out on samples of different gate shapes processed on a high electron mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. For a given radiation frequency, multiple magnetoplasmon resonances were observed with a dispersion relation described within a local approximation of the magnetoconductivity tensor. The second harmonic of the cyclotron resonance was observed and its appearance was interpreted as resulting from a high-frequency, inhomogeneous electromagnetic field on the border of a two-dimensional electron gas with a metallic gate and/or an ohmic contact.

Unwanted interaction between a quantum system and its fluctuating environment leads to decoherence and is the primary obstacle to establishing a scalable quantum information processing architecture. Strategies such as environmental and materials engineering, quantum error correction and dynamical decoupling can mitigate decoherence, but generally increase experimental complexity. Here we improve coherence in a qubit using real-time Hamiltonian parameter estimation. Using a rapidly converging Bayesian approach, we precisely measure the splitting in a singlet-triplet spin qubit faster than the surrounding nuclear bath fluctuates. We continuously adjust qubit control parameters based on this information, thereby improving the inhomogenously broadened coherence time (T∗₂) from tens of nanoseconds to >2 μs. Because the technique demonstrated here is compatible with arbitrary qubit operations, it is a natural complement to quantum error correction and can be used to improve the performance of a wide variety of qubits in both meteorological and quantum information processing applications.

The fractional quantum Hall effect is a canonical example of topological phases. While electric currents flow downstream in edge modes, neutral edge modes, observed only in hole-conjugate states and in v 1/2=5/2, flow upstream. It is believed that the latter transport results from multiple counter-propagating channels-mixed by disorder that is accompanied by Coulomb interaction. Here we report on sensitive shot noise measurements that reveal unexpected presence of neutral modes in non-hole-conjugate fractional states; however, not in the integer states. Furthermore, the incompressible bulk is also found to allow energy transport. While density reconstructions along the edge may account for the energy carrying edge modes, the origin of the bulk energy modes is unidentified. The proliferation of neutral modes changes drastically the accepted transport picture of the fractional quantum Hall effects. Their apparent ubiquitous presence may explain the lack of interference of fractional quasiparticles-preventing observation of fractional statistics.

Low temperature, high magnetic field experiments were carried out with monochromatic terahertz (THz) sources to reveal multimode spectra of magnetoplasmons excited in gated and ungated samples processed on a high electron mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. We show that playing with the geometry and thickness of the gate one can control both the plasmon dispersion relation and selection rules for plasmon excitation, giving a tool to a better control of plasmon resonances in THz detectors.

We report an observation, via sensitive shot noise measurements, of charge fractionalization of chiral edge electrons in the integer quantum Hall effect regime. Such fractionalization results solely from interchannel Coulomb interaction, leading electrons to decompose to excitations carrying fractional charges. The experiment was performed by guiding a partitioned current carrying edge channel in proximity to another unbiased edge channel, leading to shot noise in the unbiased edge channel without net current, which exhibited an unconventional dependence on the partitioning. The determination of the fractional excitations, as well as the relative velocities of the two original (prior to the interaction) channels, relied on a recent theory pertaining to this measurement. Our result exemplifies the correlated nature of multiple chiral edge channels in the integer quantum Hall effect regime.

Excitons in semiconductors may form correlated phases at low temperatures. We report the observation of an exciton liquid in gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide-coupled quantum wells. Above a critical density and below a critical temperature, the photogenerated electrons and holes separate into two phases: an electron-hole plasma and an exciton liquid, with a clear sharp boundary between them. The two phases are characterized by distinct photoluminescence spectra and by different electrical conductance. The liquid phase is formed by the repulsive interaction between the dipolar excitons and exhibits a short-range order, which is manifested in the photoluminescence line shape.

The quantum eraser is a device that illustrates the quantum principle of complementarity and shows how a dephased system can regain its lost quantum behavior by erasing the "which-path" information already obtained about it. Thus far, quantum erasers were constructed predominantly in optical systems. Here, we present a realization of a quantum eraser in a mesoscopic electronic device. The use of interacting electrons, instead of noninteracting photons, allows control over the extracted information and a smooth variation of the degree of quantum erasure. The demonstrated system can serve as a first step toward a variety of more complex setups.

We describe in some detail the desired characteristics of an exceedingly clean MBE system, its optimal growth conditions, and the main parameters of structures design needed in order to obtain extremely high purity AlGaAs-GaAs heterostructures embedding low disorder two-dimensional (2D) electron systems. A significant part of the chapter deals with the main scattering mechanisms and, consequently, with a variety of methods of modulation doping, as it governs the detailed disorder in the 2D electron gas. We discuss the limited applicability of the well known electron mobility, being thus far the main figure of merit for the quality of 2D electron gas, to an observed system behavior in the fractional quantum Hall effect. The implications on basic science as well as on applied one are also put in perspective.

We have observed a multimode spectrum of magnetoplasmons in the Hall bars processed on a high electron mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. We have found that the dispersion relation of these excitation follows square root dependence. Calculated wavelength of the fundamental magnetoplasmon mode fits to the width of sample.

Metamaterials with negative refractive indices can manipulate electromagnetic waves in unusual ways, and can be used to achieve, for example, sub-diffraction-limit focusing, the bending of light in the wrong direction, and reversed Doppler and Cerenkov effects. These counterintuitive and technologically useful behaviours have spurred considerable efforts to synthesize a broad array of negative-index metamaterials with engineered electric, magnetic or optical properties. Here we demonstrate another route to negative refraction by exploiting the inertia of electrons in semiconductor two-dimensional electron gases, collectively accelerated by electromagnetic waves according to Newtons second law of motion, where this acceleration effect manifests as kinetic inductance. Using kinetic inductance to attain negative refraction was theoretically proposed for three-dimensional metallic nanoparticles and seen experimentally with surface plasmons on the surface of a three-dimensional metal. The two-dimensional electron gas that we use at cryogenic temperatures has a larger kinetic inductance than three-dimensional metals, leading to extraordinarily strong negative refraction at gigahertz frequencies, with an index as large as -700. This pronounced negative refractive index and the corresponding reduction in the effective wavelength opens a path to miniaturization in the science and technology of negative refraction.

We demonstrate that branching of the electron flow in semiconductor nanostructures can strongly affect macroscopic transport quantities and can significantly change their dependence on external parameters compared to the ideal ballistic case, even when the system size is much smaller than the mean free path. In a corner-shaped ballistic device based on a GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron gas, we observe a splitting of the commensurability peaks in the magnetoresistance curve. We show that a model which includes a random disorder potential of the two-dimensional electron gas can account for the random splitting of the peaks that result from the collimation of the electron beam. The shape of the splitting depends on the particular realization of the disorder potential. At the same time, magnetic focusing peaks are largely unaffected by the disorder potential.

Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain problems faster than classical computers. To exploit their power, it is necessary to perform interqubit operations and generate entangled states. Spin qubits are a promising candidate for implementing a quantum processor because of their potential for scalability and miniaturization. However, their weak interactions with the environment, which lead to their long coherence times, make interqubit operations challenging. We performed a controlled two-qubit operation between singlet-triplet qubits using a dynamically decoupled sequence that maintains the two-qubit coupling while decoupling each qubit from its fluctuating environment. Using state tomography, we measured the full density matrix of the system and determined the concurrence and the fidelity of the generated state, providing proof of entanglement.

The evolution of the fractional quantum Hall state at filling 5/2 is studied in density tunable two-dimensional electron systems formed in wide wells in which it is possible to induce a transition from single- to two-subband occupancy. In 80 and 60 nm wells, the quantum Hall state at 5/2 filling of the lowest subband is observed even when the second subband is occupied. In a 50 nm well, the 5/2 state vanishes upon second subband population. We attribute this distinct behavior to the width dependence of the capacitive energy for intersubband charge transfer and of the overlap of the subband probability densities.

Fractionally charged quasiparticles, which obey non-Abelian statistics, were predicted to exist in the ν=8/3, ν=5/2, and ν=7/3 fractional quantum Hall states (in the second Landau level). Here we present measurements of charge and neutral modes in these states. For both ν=7/3 and ν=8/3 states, we found a quasiparticle charge e=1/3 and an upstream neutral mode only in ν=8/3-excluding the possibility of non-Abelian Read-Rezayi states and supporting Laughlin-like states. The absence of an upstream neutral mode in the ν=7/3 state also proves that edge reconstruction was not present in the ν=7/3 state, suggesting its absence also in ν=5/2 state, and thus may provide further support for the non-Abelian anti-Pfaffian nature of the ν=5/2 state.

We investigate the quantum Hall stripe phase at filling factor 9/2 at the microscopic level by probing the dispersion of its collective modes with the help of surface acoustic waves with wavelengths down to 60 nm. The dispersion is strongly anisotropic. It is highly dispersive and exhibits a roton minimum for wave vectors aligned along the easy transport direction. In the perpendicular direction, however, the dispersion is featureless, although not flat as predicted by theory. Oscillatory behavior in the absorption intensity of the collective mode with a wave vector perpendicular to the stripes is attributed to a commensurability effect. It allows us to extract the periodicity of the quantum Hall stripes.

We report on the first experimental observation of neutral modes in particle-hole conjugate fractional quantum Hall states using shot noise measurements. The presence of the neutral modes, in addition to producing excess noise in a quantum point contact (QPC), was seen to affect strongly the charge of the tunneling quasiparticles of the charge mode in the QPC and to increase their apparent temperature. The observation of an upstream neutral mode in the 5/2 state may constitute an added indication of its non-abelian nature.

We present the study of DC currents of an open dot generated from two time dependent electric fields in the absence of external bias. Two electrical setups were applied. In one configuration, two fast oscillating voltages were applied on two side gates; in the other, one of the oscillating biases was directly applied to the source lead. The DC current as a function of frequency, coupling strength, and magnetic field was investigated. The current is sinusoidally dependent with the phase shift and bilinearly dependent with the excitation voltage for both configurations. However, the current as a function of frequency, coupling strength, and magnetic fields behaves differently in these two setups. The results indicate that the currents generated in different setups originate from different mechanisms, and moreover, not from any classical circuitry effect.

Experimental results examining the photoluminescence spectra of selectively Si-doped GaAs/ Al_x Ga_1-x As heterostructures is presented. Possible mechanisms of carrier recombination are discussed with a special emphasis on the peculiarities of excitonic photoluminescence. Strong intensity lines in photoluminescence spectra are associated with the formation and enhancement of free exciton and exciton-polariton emission in the flat band region of an active i -GaAs layer. The excitonic PL intensity is sensitive to the excitation intensity indicating high nonlinear behavior of spectral-integrated photoluminescence intensity and exciton line narrowing. These observed phenomena may be related to the collective interaction of excitons and the interaction of excitons with emitted electromagnetic waves. The gain of the amplification of the excitonic photoluminescence intensity in the heterostructure was found to be more than 1000 times larger than the intensity of i -GaAs active layer. The quality factor of the exciton line emission and the exciton-polariton line was found to be 3800 and 7600, respectively.

The quantum Hall effect takes place in a two-dimensional electron gas under a strong magnetic field and involves current flow along the edges of the sample. For some particleĝ\u20ac"hole conjugate states of the fractional regime (for example, with fillings between 1/2 and 1 of the lowest Landau level), early predictions suggested the presence of counter-propagating edge currents in addition to the expected ones. When this did not agree with the measured conductance, it was suggested that disorder and interactions will lead to counter-propagating modes that carry only energyĝ\u20ac"the so called neutral modes. In addition, a neutral upstream mode (the Majorana mode) was expected for selected wavefunctions proposed for the even-denominator filling 5/2. Here we report the direct observation of counter-propagating neutral modes for fillings of 2/3, 3/5 and 5/2. The basis of our approach is that, if such modes impinge on a narrow constriction, the neutral quasiparticles will be partly reflected and fragmented into charge carriers, which can be detected through shot noise measurements. We find that the resultant shot noise is proportional to the injected current. Moreover, when we simultaneously inject a charge mode, the presence of the neutral mode was found to significantly affect the Fano factor and the temperature of the backscattered charge mode. In particular, such observations for filling 5/2 may single out the non-Abelian wavefunctions for the state.

We report the observation of inverse magnetic field periodic, radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures prepared in W. Wegscheider's group, compare their characteristics with similar oscillations in V. Umansky's material, and describe the lineshape variation vs the radiation power, P, in the two systems. We find that the radiation-induced oscillatory resistance, ΔR_xx, in both materials, can be described by ΔR_xx=-A exp(-λ/B)sin(2πF/B), where A is the amplitude, λ is the damping parameter, and F is the oscillation frequency. Both λ and F turn out to be insensitive to P. On the other hand, A grows nonlinearly with P.

We have measured the electric transport of double quantum point contacts in series at low temperatures. Two pairs of metal gates are placed longitudinally and sequentially with an edge-to-edge distance of 600 nm. They are used to form two quantum point contacts in a GaAs / Al_x Ga_{1 - x} As heterostructure. Isolating from an insulating layer, a top gate is also fabricated on top of the quantum point contacts to modify the electron densities in the quantum point contacts and the two dimensional electron gas as well. The transport is characterized by the direct transmission probability T_d which represents the portions of electrons travelling ballistically from one quantum point contact to the other. Our results show that the parameter T_d decreases with decreasing carrier density. The transport is partially adiabatic in high 2D electron densities and transits to completely ohmic regimes in low densities. Because of the correlation between the coherence length and transmission probability, we attribute the result to the reduction of the coherence length and mean free path in the unconstricted electron gas between quantum point contacts.

The effect of the surface treatments on the transport properties of a two-dimensional electron gas was studied at the quantum limit. The surface of the Al0.36 Ga0.64 As/GaAs heterostructure was either coated with gold or etched with HCl solution, or etched and then coated by a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of either phosphonated (ODP-C18 H39 PO3) or thiolated (ODT-C18 H37 S) molecules. The etching process was found to reduce significantly both the mobility and the charge density. This effect was reversed upon sequential adsorption of the phosphonated SAM. We propose fine tuning of the device performance by the flexible chemistry of the assembled molecules, two of them demonstrated here. The results indicate that the surface oxidation does not necessarily play the dominant role in this respect and, in particular, that octadecane phosphonic acid (ODP) can protect the substrate from both oxidation and the formation of a passivating carbon layer. In contrast, octadecanethiol (ODT) is not stable enough and is not effective in eliminating surface states, as a result devices covered with ODT behave like those with etched surfaces.

The exact structure of edge modes in "hole conjugate" fractional quantum Hall states remains an unsolved issue despite significant experimental and theoretical efforts devoted to their understanding. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in such studies led by the search for neutral modes, which in some cases may lead to exotic statistical properties of the excitations. In this Letter, we report on detailed measurements of shot noise, produced by partitioning of the more familiar 2/3 state. We find a fractional charge of (2/3)e at the lowest temperature, decreasing to e/3 at an elevated temperature. Surprisingly, strong shot noise had been measured on a clear 1/3 plateau upon partitioning the 2/3 state. This behavior suggests an uncommon picture of the composite edge channels quite different from the accepted one.

We report the experimental results from a dark study and a photoexcited study of the high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs system at large filling factors, ν. At large ν, the dark study indicates several distinct phase relations ("type 1," "type 2," and "type 3") between the oscillatory diagonal and Hall resistances, as the canonical integral quantum Hall effect (IQHE) is manifested in the type 1 case of approximately orthogonal diagonal and Hall resistance oscillations. Surprisingly, the investigation indicates quantum Hall plateaus also in the type 3 case characterized by approximately "antiphase" Hall and diagonal resistance oscillations, suggesting an unfamiliar and distinct class of IQHE. Transport studies under microwave photoexcitation exhibit radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations in both the diagonal, Rxx, and off-diagonal, Rxy, resistances. Further, when the radiation-induced magnetoresistance oscillations extend into the quantum Hall regime, there occurs a radiation-induced nonmonotonic variation in the amplitude of Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations in Rxx vs B, and a nonmonotonic variation in the width of the quantum Hall plateaus in Rxy. The latter effect leads into the vanishing of IQHE at the minima of the radiation-induced Rxx oscillations with increased photoexcitation. We reason that the mechanism which is responsible for producing the nonmonotonic variation in the amplitude of SdH oscillations in Rxx under photoexcitation is also responsible for eliminating, under photoexcitation, the type 3 associated IQHE in the high-mobility specimen.

Optical absorption measurements are used to probe the spin polarization in the integer and fractional quantum Hall effect regimes. The system is fully spin polarized only at filling factor ν=1 and at very low temperatures (∼40mK). A small change in filling factor (δν ±0.01) leads to a significant depolarization. This suggests that the itinerant quantum Hall ferromagnet at ν=1 is surprisingly fragile against increasing temperature, or against small changes in filling factor.

We observe microwave-induced photocurrent and photovoltage oscillations around zero as a function of the applied magnetic field in high mobility GaAs 2D electron systems. The photosignals pass zero whenever the microwave frequency is close to a multiple of the cyclotron resonance frequency. They originate from built-in electric fields due to for instance band bending at contacts. The oscillations correspond to a suppression (screening) or an enhancement ("antiscreening") of these fields by the photoexcited electrons.

We report experimental results of the effect of Ka-band microwave on the spin dynamics of electrons in a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in a GaAs/ Al_0.35 Ga_0.65 As heterostructure via time-resolved Kerr rotation measurements. While the microwave reduces the transverse spin lifetime of electrons in the bulk GaAs, it significantly increases that in the 2DES, from 745 to 1213 ps, when its frequency is close to the Zeeman splitting of the electrons in the magnetic field. Such a microwave-enhanced spin lifetime is ascribed to the microwave-induced electron scattering which leads to a "motional narrowing" of spins via D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism.

We report on noise measurements in a quantum dot in the presence of Kondo correlations. Close to the unitary limit, with the conductance reaching 1.8 e2 h, we observed an average backscattered charge of e* ∼5e 3, while weakly biasing the quantum dot. This result held to bias voltages up to half the Kondo temperature. Away from the unitary limit, the charge was measured to be e as expected. These results confirm and extend theoretical predictions that suggested that two-electron backscattering processes dominate over single-electron backscattering processes near the unitary limit, with an average backscattered charge e* ∼5e 3.

In this work we study the phase diagram of indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells and show that the system undergoes a phase transition to an unbound electron-hole plasma. This transition is manifested as an abrupt change in the photoluminescence linewidth and peak energy at some critical power density and temperature. By measuring the exciton diamagnetism, we show that the transition is associated with an abrupt increase in the exciton radius. We find that the transition is stimulated by the presence of direct excitons in one of the wells and show that they serve as a catalyst of the transition.

We report on an inelastic light scattering study in the two-dimensional electron system at filling factor nu=1. The energy and the inelastic cross section of the cyclotron spin-flip mode are analyzed. The exchange enhanced electronic g factor in the quantum Hall ferromagnet is measured. In addition to the magnetoplasmon and cyclotron spin-flip modes, inelastic scattering lines associated with spin-singlet and spin-triplet D- complexes are observed. The inelastic light scattering is shown to probe the thermodynamics of the quantum Hall ferromagnet and gives insight into the formation of ferromagnetic order in two dimensions. It is established that at temperatures above the bare Zeeman energy, the ferromagnet breaks up into domains, whose size and number change with temperature. The experimental data allow us to construct a stability diagram of the nu=1 quantum Hall ferromagnet in the temperature versus magnetic field plane.

The complementarity principle demands that a particle reveals wave-like properties only when the different paths that it can take are indistinguishable. The complementarity has been demonstrated in optics with pairs of correlated photons and in two-path solid-state interferometers with phase-coherent electrons. In the latter experiment, a charge detector embedded near one path of a two-path electron interferometer provided which-path information. Here, we report on electron dephasing in an Aharonov-Bohm ring interferometer via a charge detector adjacent to the ring. In contrast to the two-path interferometer, charge detection in the ring does not always provide path information. The interference was suppressed only when path information could be acquired, even if only in principle. Thisconfirms that dephasing is not always induced by disturbingthe interfering particle through the interferometer- environment interactions: path information of the particle must be available too. Our experiment suggests that acquisition of which-path information is more fundamental than the back-action in understanding quantum mechanical complementarity.

In a controlled dephasing experiment, an interferometer loses its coherence owing to entanglement of the interfering electron with a controlled quantum system, which effectively is equivalent to path detection. In previous experiments, only partial dephasing was achieved owing to weak interactions between many detector electrons and the interfering electron, leading to a gaussian-phase randomizing process. Here, we report the opposite extreme, where interference is completely destroyed by a few (that is, one to three) detector electrons, each of which has a strong randomizing effect on the phase. We observe quenching of the interference pattern in a periodic, lobe-type fashion as the detector current is varied, and with a peculiar V-shaped dependence on the detectors partitioning. We ascribe these features to the non-gaussian nature of the noise, which is also important for qubit decoherence. In other words, the interference seems to be highly sensitive to the full counting statistics of the detectors shot noise.

One of the points at issue with closed-loop-type interferometers is beating in the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations. Recent observations suggest the possibility that the beating results from the Berry-phase pickup by the conducting electrons in materials with the strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI). In this study, we also observed beats in the AB oscillations in a gate-defined closed-loop interferometer fabricated on a GaAs Al0.3 Ga0.7 As two-dimensional electron-gas heterostructure. Since this heterostructure has very small SOI, the picture of the Berry-phase pickup is ruled out. The observation of beats in this study, with the controllability of forming a single transverse subband mode in both arms of our gate-defined interferometer, also rules out the often-claimed multiple transverse subband effect. It is observed that nodes of the beats with an h 2e period exhibit a parabolic distribution for varying the side gate. These results are shown to be well interpreted, without resorting to the SOI effect, by the existence of two-dimensional multiple longitudinal modes in a single transverse subband. The Fourier spectrum of measured conductance, despite showing multiple h e peaks with the magnetic-field dependence that are very similar to that from strong-SOI materials, can also be interpreted as the two-dimensional multiple-longitudinal-modes effect.

We study the absorption spectrum of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a magnetic field. We find that at low temperatures, when the 2DEG is spin polarized, the absorption spectra, which correspond to the creation of spin up or spin down electrons, differ in magnitude, linewidth, and filling factor dependence. We show that these differences can be explained as resulting from the creation of a Mahan exciton in one case, and of a power law Fermi-edge singularity in the other.

We present measurements of optical interband absorption in the fractional quantum Hall regime in a GaAs quantum well in the range 0

Shot noise measurements provide information on particle charge and its correlations. We report on shot noise measurements in a generic quantum dot under a quantized magnetic field. The measured noise at the peaks of a sequence of conductance resonances was some 9 times higher than expected, suggesting bunching of electrons as they traverse through the dot. This enhancement might be mediated by an additional level, weakly coupled to the leads or an excited state. Note that in the absence of a magnetic filed no bunching had been observed.

The measurement of phase in coherent electron systems-that is, 'mesoscopic' systems such as quantum dots-can yield information about fundamental transport properties that is not readily apparent from conductance measurements. Phase measurements on relatively large quantum dots recently revealed that the phase evolution for electrons traversing the dots exhibits a 'universal' behaviour, independent of dot size, shape, and electron occupancy. Specifically, for quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime, the transmission phase increases monotonically by π throughout each conductance peak; in the conductance valleys, the phase returns sharply to its starting value. The expected mesoscopic features in the phase evolution-related to the dot's shape, spin degeneracy or to exchange effects-have not been observed, and there is at present no satisfactory explanation for the observed universality in phase behaviour. Here we report the results of phase measurements on a series of small quantum dots, having occupancies of between only 1-20 electrons, where the phase behaviour for electron transmission should in principle be easier to interpret. In contrast to the universal behaviour observed thus far only in the larger dots, we see clear mesoscopic features in the phase measurements when the dot occupancy is less than ∼10 electrons. As the occupancy increases, the manner of phase evolution changes and universal behaviour is recovered for some 14 electrons or more. The identification of a transition from the expected mesoscopic behaviour to universal phase evolution should help to direct and constrain theoretical models for the latter.

Using a scanning single electron transistor we probe the individual localized states in the integer quantum Hall regime. We find that the observed states are utterly different than those predicted by the single-particle theory and are mainly determined by Coulomb interactions. They appear only when quantization of kinetic energy limits the screening ability of electrons. Consequently, the QH effect becomes more diverse acquiring new regimes and phase transitions, absent in the single-particle framework. Our experiments suggest a unified picture of localization within the QH phenomena, in which the validity of the single-particle model is constrained only to the limit of strong disorder.

An outstanding question pertaining to the microscopic properties of the fractional quantum Hall effect is understanding the nature of the particles that participate in the localization but that do not contribute to electronic transport. By using a scanning single electron transistor, we imaged the individual localized states in the fractional quantum Hall regime and determined the charge of the localizing particles. Highlighting the symmetry between filling factors 1/3 and 2/3, our measurements show that quasi-particles with fractional charge e*= e/3 localize in space to submicrometer dimensions, where e is the electron charge.

The optical absorption spectrum of a two dimensional electron system (2DES) in a GaAs quantum well was measured in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic fields. The study focus on Absorption spectrum, which consist of bound electron-hole complexes, trionlike and excitonlike, clears evidence for the formation of electron hole complexes around v=1. It was suggested that the optical spectrum in the fractional quantum hall regime should be understood in terms of bound electron hole complexes for the probe of the 2DES. The results show that oscillator strength were considered as a powerful probes of the 2DES spartial correlation and found that near v = 1 the 2DES ground state consists of Skyrmions of small size.

The spectrum of two dimensional electrons subject to a weak two dimensional potential and a perpendicular magnetic field was discussed. The study suggests that it was composed of Landau bands with a fractal internal pattern of subbands and minigaps referred as a Hofstadter's butterfly. It was observed that due to advance in sampling quality and fabrication, it was possible to resolve higher order minigaps in Hofstadter's energy spectrum with quantum Hall effect. The results shows that complex behavior of the Hall conductance assigned to Landau band-coupling-induced rearrangements within the butterfly.

The dephasing experiment of a quantum dot in the Kondo regime was performed. Dephasing was induced by a capacitively coupled quantum point contact (QPC), which serves as a which path detector. The qualitative dephasing is similar to that of a QD in the Coulomb blockade regime. The results show that the suppression strength is inversely proportional to the Kondo temperature.

A f-independent 1/4-cycle phase shift of the extrema in the radiation-induced oscillary magnetoresistance in GsAs/AlGaAs devices was demonstrated. The phase and the period of the magnetoresistance was examined by utilizing in situ magnetic field calibration by electron spin resonance of diphenyl-picryl-hydrazal. The phase of the R_xx oscillation were consistence with a 1/4- cycle phase shifts only at low B. The small reduction in the effective mas ration with respect to the standard value for GaAs/AlGaAs devices.

We report measurements of spin transitions for GaAs quantum dots in the Coulomb blockade regime and compare ground and excited state transport spectroscopy to direct measurements of the spin polarization of emitted current. Transport spectroscopy reveals both spin-increasing and spin-decreasing transitions, as well as higher-spin ground states, and allows [Formula presented] factors to be measured down to a single electron. The spin of emitted current in the Coulomb blockade regime, measured using spin-sensitive electron focusing, is found to be polarized along the direction of the applied magnetic field regardless of the ground state spin transition.

The interaction between magnetic vortices and artificial point defects by using micro-Hall magnetometry was studied. The examination of disk-shaped Permalloy particles with thickness from 20 to 60 nm and diameters between 300 and 800 nm, which contain a single lithographically defined defect was performed. For different in-plane directions of the applied field, magnetization reversal curves were measured.

We report the unexpected bunching of Laughlins quasiparticles, induced by an extremely weak backscattering potential at exceptionally low electron temperatures ([Formula presented]), deduced from shot noise measurements. Backscattered charges [Formula presented], specifically, [Formula presented], [Formula presented], and [Formula presented], in the respective filling factors, were measured. For the same settings but at a slightly higher electron temperature, the measured backscattered charges were [Formula presented], [Formula presented], and [Formula presented], as expected. Moreover, the backscattered current exhibited distinct temperature dependence that was correlated to the backscattered charge and the filling factor. This observation suggests the existence of \u201clow\u201d and \u201chigh\u201d temperature backscattering states, each with its characteristic charge and energy.

Significant long-range correlations which exist in the disorder potential is shown. It focuses on broad quantum wells (QWs) in which the short-range behavior is averaged by the scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) tip and studies in detail the vertical and lateral long-range order of the exciton energy distribution. It is found that the seemingly random exciton energy fluctuations exhibit a well-defined order.

An overview is given on the experimental evidence that at low temperature the unpaired spin associated with the 0.7 structure forms a Kondo-like many-body state. The evidence presented includes: 1) a narrow conductance peak at zero source-drain bias that forms at low temperature, 2) collapse of conductance data onto a single function, 3) correspondence between the Kondo scaling factor and the width of the zero-bias peak, and 4) splitting of the zero-bias peak in a magnetic field.

We present a microscopic understanding of the underlying physics that governs the photoluminescence spectrum at low electron densities. By performing near- and far-field measurements we show how the various characteristics of the spectrum (intensity, energy, width) are affected by the background electron density and the potential fluctuations due to the remote ionized donors.

The evolution of photoluminescence (PL) spectra with increasing magnetic field (Bless than or equal to7 T) was studied in high-mobility, wide GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As heterojunctions (HJ's) at lattice temperatures T-L = 1.9-25 K. The two-dimensional electron-gas (2DEG) density in the studied samples is n(2D)(o) =(0.9-3) x 10(11) cm(-2), and it was varied with He-Ne laser illumination by optical depletion. For B = 0 the PL is completely dominated by exciton recombination in the undoped GaAs layer. As B increases this band shows a typical exciton diamagnetic shift. For a filling factor nuless than or equal to2 a strong PL transformation is observed: the exciton PL intensity decreases and a new, low-energy PL line abruptly appears and gains intensity at the expense of the exciton PL. We attribute this line to the 2DEG-free hole recombination, and propose that its appearance in the HJ's results from an increased free-exciton dissociation near the 2DEG at nuless than or equal to2. Thus, the evolution of the bulk free exciton to 2DEG-free hole PL with increasing B is due to "condensation" of the bulk excitons on the magnetized 2DEG layer at nuless than or equal to2.

Two-dimensional electron systems were laterally modulated using the method of in situ interferometric illumination. Magnetotransport measurements on 1D and 2D modulated systems revealed a phase change of the commensurability oscillations depending on temperature. This behaviour is surprising and cannot be explained by existing theories.

We studied the evolution of the PL spectra in high mobility wide GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunctions (HJ) at1.9 K with increasing magnetic field (B≤7 T) that was applied perpendicularly to the HJ interface. For different samples the 2DEG density ranges from (0.7-3) × 10¹¹ cm^-2, and it can be varied by He-Ne laser illumination due to optical depletion. At B=0, the PL is completely dominated by free exciton recombination in the undoped GaAs layer. For a filling factor ν≤2 a strong PL transformation is observed: the exciton PL intensity decreases and a low-energy PL due to the 2DEG-free hole recombination sharply appears and quickly gains intensity at the expense of the exciton PL. We propose that this is due to a "condensation" of the bulk excitons on the magnetized 2DEG layer at ν≤2 where the free exciton dissociates into a 2D-electron and hole.

We employ shot noise measurements to characterize the effective charge of quasiparticles, at filling factor [Formula presented] of the fractional quantum Hall regime, as they scatter from an array of identical weak backscatterers. Upon scattering, quasiparticles are known to bunch, e.g., only three [Formula presented] charges, or \u201celectrons\u201d are found to traverse a rather opaque potential barrier. We find here that the effective charge scattered by an array of scatterers is determined by the scattering strength of an individual scatterer and not by the combined scattering strength of the array, which can be very small. Moreover, we also rule out intraedge equilibration of [Formula presented] quasiparticles over a length scale of hundreds of microns.

We have studied the capacitance between a two-dimensional electron system and a gate of field-effect transistors, produced from three different wafers with a single remotely doped GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterojunction. In the vicinity of the Landau-level filling factor v = 1/2, the increment of the capacitance relative to its zero-magnetic-field value, deltaC(1/2), was found to be insensitive to the carrier density, and close to the value as if the particles are noninteracting. This observation implies that electron-electron interaction affects the compressibility of the zero-field and composite-fermion metallic states in a very similar manner.

We demonstrate the feasibility of monolithic integration of a quantum-well infrared detector and a read-out circuit on the same GaAs/AlGaAs crystal. Charge storage capability of 2 × 10⁷ electrons in a 50 × 50 μm² pixel is obtained. The operation of a 5 × 5 test array is reported, performing all the basic functions of a practical focal plane array.

A study was carried out, with the aim of extending the range of quantum point contact (QPC) reflection to the strong backscattering limit. In particular, the evolution of an opaque barrier was followed. As a case, the e/3 and e/5 quasiparticles were considered.

The fractional quantum Hall effect occurs in the conduction properties of a two-dimensional electron gas subjected to a strong perpendicular magnetic field. In this regime, the Hall conductance shows plateaux, or fractional states, at rational fractional multiples of e²/h, where e is the charge of an electron and h is Planck's constant. The explanation of this behaviour invokes strong Coulomb interactions among the electrons that give rise to fractionally charged quasiparticles which can be regarded as noninteracting current carriers. Previous studies have demonstrated the existence of quasiparticles with one-third of an electron's charge, the same fraction as that of the respective fractional state. An outstanding ambiguity is therefore whether these studies measured the charge or the conductance. Here we report the observation of quasiparticles with a charge of e/5 in the 2/5 fractional state, from measurements of shot noise in a two-dimensional electron gas. Our results imply that charge can be measured independently of conductance in the fractional quantum Hall regime, generalizing previous observations of fractionally charged quasiparticles.

The charge of quasi-particles in the fractional quantum Hall regime was determined via quantum shot noise measurements. The noise is generated by a current flow through a partially transmitting quantum point contact in a two dimensional electron gas and is directly proportional to the charge of the quasi-particles. We measured quantum shot noise at a filling factor of 1/3 and found that the charge of the quasi-particles is e/3 as predicted by Laughlin. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

We have investigated magnetotransport through two-dimensional lateral superlattices with periods a of 100 and 120 nm prepared on a shallow, high mobility heterojunction. Measurements of the longitudinal and Hall resistance were carried out at a temperature of 50 mK with the bias voltage of the top gate as parameter. The longitudinal resistance displays an unprecedented richness in oscillatory features of both semiclassical and quantum mechanical origin. The results are discussed on the basis of the zero field miniband energy spectrum and the subband splitting of single Landau-levels.

The interactions between adsorbed organic molecules and the electronic charge carriers in specially made GaAs structures are studied by time- and wavelength-dependent measurements of the photocurrent. The adsorption of the molecules modifies the photocurrent decay time by orders of magnitude. The effects are molecularly specific, as they depend on the electronic properties and absorption spectrum of the molecules. These observations are rationalized by assuming that new surface states are created upon adsorption of the molecules and that the character of these states is controlled by the relative electronegativity of the substrates and the adsorbed molecules. The relevance for surface passivation and for construction of semiconductor-based sensors is indicated.

We report the fabrication and testing of an all-GaAs/AlGaAs hybrid readout circuit operating at 77 K designated for use with an GaAs/AlGaAs background-limited quantum-well infrared photodetector focal plane array (QWIP FPA). The circuit is based on a direct injection scheme, using specially designed cryogenic GaAs/AlGaAs MODFET's and a novel n+-GaAs/A!GaAs/n+-GaAs semiconductor capacitor, which is able to store more than 15 000 electrons/jum2 in a voltage range of ±0.7 V. The semiconductor capacitor shows little voltage dependence, small frequency dispersion, and no hysteresis. We have eliminated the problem of low-temperature degradation of the MODFET I-V characteristics and achieved very low gate leakage current of about 100 fA in the subthreshold regime. The MODFET electrical properties including input-referred noise voltage and subthreshold transconductance were thoroughly tested. Input-referred noise voltage as low as 0.5 /uV/vTlz at 10 Hz was measured for a 2 x 30 fim2 gate MODFET. We discuss further possibilities for monolithic integration of the developed devices.

We report phase-sensitive measurements of microwave propagation through a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field. Two types of configurations were used, one that allows all wave vectors q, and one that selects only specific q values. The spectrum of edge excitations was studied over a broad frequency span, which allowed us to observe the logarithmic dispersion of edge magnetoplasmons.

Transport measurements were performed on surface superlattices, formed by a grating gate on a two-dimensional electron gas. We find a suppression of the differential conductance with increasing electric fields, on a scale of a few V cm^-1. Even more remarkable is a strong suppression of conductance with increasing temperature T, where the T-dependence is quadratic. We attribute these observations to electron-electron (e-e) scattering which, in the presence of an external modulated potential, can have a significant influence on the conductance. We also discuss the role of disorder in these systems.

The transport properties of electronic devices are usually characterized on the basis of conductance measurements. Such measurements are adequate for devices in which transport occurs incoherently, but for very small devices- such as quantum dots-the wave nature of the electrons plays an important role. Because the phase of an electron's wavefunction changes as it passes through such a device, phase measurements are required to characterize the transport properties fully. Here we report the results of a double-slit interference experiment which permits the measurement of the phase-shift of an electron traversing a quantum dot. This is accomplished by inserting the quantum dot into one arm of an interferometer, thereby introducing a measurable phase shift between the arms. We find that the phase evolution within a resonance of the quantum dot can be accounted for qualitatively by a model that ignores the interactions between the electrons within the dot. Although these electrons must interact strongly, such interactions apparently have no observable effect on the phase. On the other hand, we also find that the phase behaviour is identical for all resonances, and that there is a sharp jump of the phase between successive resonance peaks. Adequate explanation of these features may require a model that includes interactions between electrons.