arXiv subjects

J. P. Griffiths

Publications and source records attributed to J. P. Griffiths.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On-chip quantum sensing of Kondo spins in a high-mobility quasi-one-dimensional nanoconstriction

The precise nature of Kondo spins has remained enigmatic when extended to multiple spin impurities or, more intriguingly, when the localized spin itself may already be the consequence of many-body interactions in a presumably-delocalized open nanoconstriction, such as a quantum point contact (QPC). It is experimentally challenging to distinguish the Kondo state from other coexisting many-body spin states in such a strongly correlated system. Here we lithographically define an all-on-chip electronic resonator (ER) and a QPC in a high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure transistor. Local Kondo screening of the QPC spin and nonlocal spin singlet across the ER-QPC integration are controllable in response to ER occupancy parity. We also show that the 0.7 anomaly, another strongly-correlated state in QPCs, not only has a different physical origin but furthermore counteracts the Kondo spin singlet. These results demonstrate a noninvasive quantum method for sensing spontaneous magnetic impurities within an open nanoconstriction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Coulomb sensing of single ballistic electrons

While ballistic electrons are a key tool for applications in sensing and flying qubits, sub-nanosecond propagation times and complicated interactions make control of ballistic single electrons challenging. Recent experiments have revealed Coulomb collisions of counterpropagating electrons in a beam splitter, giving time resolved control of interactions between single electrons. Here we use remote Coulomb interactions to demonstrate a scheme for sensing single ballistic electrons. We show that interactions are highly controllable via electron energy and emission timing. We use a weakly-coupled `sensing' regime to characterise the nanoscale potential landscape of the beam splitter and the strength of the Coulomb interaction, and show multi-electron sensing with picosecond resolution.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Fast characterization of multiplexed single-electron pumps with machine learning

We present an efficient machine learning based automated framework for the fast tuning of single-electron pump devices into current quantization regimes. It uses a sparse measurement approach based on an iterative active learning algorithm to take targeted measurements in the gate voltage parameter space. When compared to conventional parameter scans, our automated framework allows us to decrease the number of measurement points by about an order of magnitude. This corresponds to an eight-fold decrease in the time required to determine quantization errors, which are estimated via an exponential extrapolation of the first current plateau embedded into the algorithm. We show the robustness of the framework by characterizing 28 individual devices arranged in a GaAs/AlGaAs multiplexer array, which we use to identify a subset of devices suitable for parallel operation at communal gate voltages. The method opens up the possibility to efficiently scale the characterization of such multiplexed devices to a large number of pumps.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Formation of a lateral p-n junction light-emitting diode on an n-type high-mobility GaAs/Al$_{0.33}$Ga$_{0.67}$As heterostructure

We have fabricated a device which includes two lateral p-n junctions on an n-type GaAs/Al$_{0.33}$Ga$_{0.67}$As heterostructure. A section of the n-type material has been converted to p-type by removing dopants and applying a voltage to a gate placed in this region. Controlled electroluminescence from both of the p-n junctions has been demonstrated by varying the applied bias voltages. An emission peak with a width of ~8 nm is observed around 812 nm. The electroluminescence seen from both junctions is considered to originate from the GaAs quantum well layer in the device. The lithographic techniques that we have developed are compatible for further integration of gated quantum devices such as single-electron pumps to build on-demand single-photon sources.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2024

Statistical study and parallelisation of multiplexed single-electron sources

Increasing electric current from a single-electron source is a main challenge in an effort to establish the standard of the ampere defined by the fixed value of the elementary charge $e$ and operation frequency $f$. While the current scales with $f$, due to an operation frequency limit for maintaining accurate single-electron transfer, parallelisation of singleelectron sources is expected to be a more practical solution to increase the generated electric current $I = Nef$, where $N$ is a number of parallelised devices. One way to parallelise single-electron sources without increasing the complexity in device operation is to use a common gate. Such a scheme will require each device to have the same operation parameters for single-electron transfer. In order to investigate this possibility, we study the statistics for operation gate voltages using single-electron sources embedded in a multiplexer circuit. The multiplexer circuit allows us to measure 64 single-electron sources individually in a single cooldown. We also demonstrate the parallelisation of three single-electron sources and observe the generated current enhanced by a factor of three.

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arXiv2024

Photon emission by hot electron injection across a lateral \textit{pn} junction

We demonstrate a method to generate photons by injecting hot electrons into a {\it pn} junction within a \ce{GaAs/AlGaAs} heterostructure. Hot electrons are generated by biasing across a mesoscopic potential in {\it n}-type region and travel toward {\it p}-type region through quantum Hall edge channel in the presence of magnetic field perpendicular to the substrate. The {\it p}-type region is created several microns away from the hot electron emitter by inducing interfacial charges using a surface gate. The energy relaxation of the hot electrons is suppressed by separating the orbitals before and after longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon emission. This technique enables the hot electrons to reach the {\it p}-type region and to recombine with induced holes followed by photon emissions. Hot electron-induced hole recombination is confirmed by a peak around \qty{810}{nm} in an optical spectrum that corresponds to excitonic recombination in a \ce{GaAs} quantum well. An asymmetric structure observed in the optical spectrum as a function of the magnetic field originates from the chiral transport of the hot electrons in the Hall edge channel. We propose the combination of our technology and on-demand single-electron source would enable the development of an on-demand single photon source that is an essential building block to drive an optical quantum circuit and to transfer quantum information for a long distance.

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arXiv2023

Decoupling of the many-body effects from the electron mass in GaAs by means of reduced dimensionality

Determining the (bare) electron mass $m_0$ in crystals is often hindered by many-body effects since Fermi-liquid physics renormalises the band mass, making the observed effective mass $m^*$ depend on density. Here, we use a one-dimensional (1D) geometry to amplify the effect of interactions, forcing the electrons to form a nonlinear Luttinger liquid with separate holon and spinon bands, therefore separating the interaction effects from $m_0$. Measuring the spectral function of gated quantum wires formed in GaAs by means of magnetotunnelling spectroscopy and interpreting them using the 1D Fermi-Hubbard model, we obtain $m_0=(0.0525\pm0.0015)m_\textrm{e}$ in this material, where $m_\textrm{e}$ is the free-electron mass. By varying the density in the wires, we change the interaction parameter $r_\textrm{s}$ in the range from $\sim$1-4 and show that $m_0$ remains constant. The determined value of $m_0$ is $\sim 22$% lighter than observed in GaAs in geometries of higher dimensionality $D$ ($D>1$), consistent with the quasi-particle picture of a Fermi liquid that makes electrons heavier in the presence of interactions.

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arXiv2022

Time-resolved Coulomb collision of single electrons

Precise control over interactions between ballistic electrons will enable us to exploit Coulomb interactions in novel ways, to develop high-speed sensing, to reach a non-linear regime in electron quantum optics and to realise schemes for fundamental two-qubit operations on flying electrons. Time-resolved collisions between electrons have been used to probe the indistinguishability, Wigner function and decoherence of single electron wavepackets. Due to the effects of screening, none of these experiments were performed in a regime where Coulomb interactions were particularly strong. Here we explore the Coulomb collision of two high energy electrons in counter-propagating ballistic edge states. We show that, in this kind of unscreened device, the partitioning probabilities at different electron arrival times and barrier height are shaped by Coulomb repulsion between the electrons. This prevents the wavepacket overlap required for the manifestation of fermionic exchange statistics but suggests a new class of devices for studying and manipulating interactions of ballistic single electrons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Observing separate spin and charge Fermi seas in a strongly correlated one-dimensional conductor

An electron is usually considered to have only one form of kinetic energy, but could it have more, for its spin and charge, by exciting other electrons? In one dimension (1D), the physics of interacting electrons is captured well at low energies by the Tomonaga-Luttinger model, yet little has been observed experimentally beyond this linear regime. Here, we report on measurements of many-body modes in 1D gated-wires using tunnelling spectroscopy. We observe two parabolic dispersions, indicative of separate Fermi seas at high energies, associated with spin and charge excitations, together with the emergence of two additional 1D 'replica' modes that strengthen with decreasing wire length. The effective interaction strength is varied by changing the amount of 1D inter-subband screening by over 45%. Our findings demonstrate the existence of spin-charge separation in the whole energy band outside the low-energy limit of validity of the Tomonaga-Luttinger model, and also set a constraint on the validity of the newer nonlinear Tomonaga-Luttinger theory.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Microscopic metallic air-bridge arrays for connecting quantum devices

We present a single-exposure fabrication technique for a very large array of microscopic air-bridges using a tri-layer resist process with electron-beam lithography. The technique is capable of forming air-bridges with strong metal-metal or metal-substrate connections. This was demonstrated by its application in an electron tunnelling device consisting of 400 identical surface gates for defining quantum wires, where the air-bridges are used as suspended connections for the surface gates. This technique enables us to create a large array of uniform one-dimensional channels that are open at both ends. In this article, we outline the details of the fabrication process, together with a study and the solution of the challenges present in the development of the technique, which includes the use of water-IPA (isopropyl alcohol) developer, calibration of resist thickness and numerical simulation of the development.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Continuous-Variable Tomography of Solitary Electrons

A method for characterising the wave-function of freely-propagating particles would provide a useful tool for developing quantum-information technologies with single electronic excitations. Previous continuous-variable quantum tomography techniques developed to analyse electronic excitations in the energy-time domain have been limited to energies close to the Fermi level. We show that a wideband tomography of single-particle distributions is possible using energy-time filtering and that the Wigner representation of the mixed-state density matrix can be reconstructed for solitary electrons emitted by an on-demand single-electron source. These are highly localised distributions, isolated from the Fermi sea. While we cannot resolve the pure state Wigner function of our excitations due to classical fluctuations, we can partially resolve the chirp and squeezing of the Wigner function imposed by emission conditions and quantify the quantumness of the source. This tomography scheme, when implemented with sufficient experimental resolution, will enable quantum-limited measurements, providing information on electron coherence and entanglement at the individual particle level.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Experimental realization of a quantum dot energy harvester

We demonstrate experimentally an autonomous nanoscale energy harvester that utilises the physics of resonant tunnelling quantum dots. Gate defined quantum dots on GaAs/AlGaAs high-electron-mobility transistors are placed on either side of a hot electron reservoir. The discrete energy levels of the quantum dots are tuned to be aligned with low energy electrons on one side and high energy electrons on the other side of the hot reservoir. The quantum dots thus act as energy filters and allow for the conversion of heat from the cavity into electrical power. This energy harvester device, measured at an estimated base temperature of 75 mK in a He3/He4 dilution refrigerator, can generate a thermal power of 0.13 fW when the temperature difference across each dot is about 67 mK.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Quantised conductance of one-dimensional strongly-correlated electrons in an oxide heterostructure

Oxide heterostructures are versatile platforms with which to research and create novel functional nanostructures. We successfully develop one-dimensional (1D) quantum-wire devices using quantum point contacts on MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures and observe ballistic electron transport with conductance quantised in units of 2e^{2}/h. Using DC-bias and in-plane field measurements, we find that the g-factor is enhanced to around 6.8, more than three times the value in bulk ZnO. We show that the effective mass m^{*} increases as the electron density decreases, resulting from the strong electron-electron interactions. In this strongly interacting 1D system we study features matching the 0.7 conductance anomalies up to the fifth subband. This paper demonstrates that high-mobility oxide heterostructures such as this can provide good alternatives to conventional III-V semiconductors in spintronics and quantum computing as they do not have their unavoidable dephasing from nuclear spins. This paves a way for the development of qubits benefiting from the low defects of an undoped heterostructure together with the long spin lifetimes achievable in silicon.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Momentum-dependent power law measured in an interacting quantum wire beyond the Luttinger limit

Power laws in physics have until now always been associated with a scale invariance originating from the absence of a length scale. Recently, an emergent invariance even in the presence of a length scale has been predicted by the newly-developed nonlinear-Luttinger-liquid theory for a one-dimensional (1D) quantum fluid at finite energy and momentum, at which the particle's wavelength provides the length scale. We present the first experimental example of this new type of power law in the spectral function of interacting electrons in a quantum wire using a transport-spectroscopy technique. The observed momentum dependence of the power law in the high-energy region matches the theoretical predictions, supporting not only the 1D theory of interacting particles beyond the linear regime but also the existence of a new type of universality that emerges at finite energy and momentum.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Rectification in mesoscopic AC-gated semiconductor devices

We measure the rectified dc currents resulting when a 3-terminal semiconductor device with gate-dependent conductance is driven with an ac gate voltage. The rectified currents exhibit surprisingly complex behaviour as the dc source-drain bias voltage, the dc gate voltage and the amplitude of the ac gate voltage are varied. We obtain good agreement between our data and a model based on simple assumptions about the stray impedances on the sample chip, over a wide frequency range. This method is applicable to many types of experiment which involve ac gating of a non-linear device, and where an undesireable rectified contribution to the measured signal is present. Finally, we evaluate the small rectified currents flowing in tunable-barrier electron pumps operated in the pinched-off regime. These currents are at most $10^{-12}$ of the pumped current for a pump current of 100 pA. This result is encouraging for the development of tunable-barrier pumps as metrological current standards.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Error detection in a tunable-barrier electron pump

We measure the average number of electrons loaded into an electrostatically-defined quantum dot (QD) operated as a tunable-barrier electron pump, using a point-contact (PC) charge sensor 1 micron away from the QD. The measurement of the electron number probes the QD loading dynamics even in the limit of slow gate voltage rise-times, when the pumped current is too small to measure. Using simulations we show that, with optimised QD-PC coupling, the experiment can make single-shot measurements of the number of electrons in the QD with sufficiently high fidelity to test the error rate of the electron pump with metrological precision.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

High-resolution error detection in the capture process of a single-electron pump

The dynamic capture of electrons in a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) by raising a potential barrier is a crucial stage in metrological quantized charge pumping. In this work, we use a quantum point contact (QPC) charge sensor to study errors in the electron capture process of a QD formed in a GaAs heterostructure. Using a two-step measurement protocol to compensate for $1/f$ noise in the QPC current, and repeating the protocol more than $10^{6}$ times, we are able to resolve errors with probabilities of order $10^{-6}$. For the studied sample, one-electron capture is affected by errors in $\sim30$ out of every million cycles, while two-electron capture was performed more than $10^6$ times with only one error. For errors in one-electron capture, we detect both failure to capture an electron, and capture of two electrons. Electron counting measurements are a valuable tool for investigating non-equilibrium charge capture dynamics, and necessary for validating the metrological accuracy of semiconductor electron pumps.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Magnetoresistance in an electronic cavity coupled to one-dimensional systems

In this work, we performed magnetoresistance measurement in a hybrid system consisting of an arc-shaped quantum point contact (QPC) and a flat, rectangular QPC, both of which together form an electronic cavity between them. The results highlight a transition between collimation-induced resistance dip to a magnetoresistance peak as the strength of coupling between the QPC and the electronic cavity was increased. The initial results show the promise of hybrid quantum system for future quantum technologies.

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