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Jean-Marc Berroir

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Marc Berroir.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Electrostatic splitting of an Edge Magnetoplasmon Resonator

Edge-magnetoplasmon resonators have been proposed as a powerful tool to detect anyons by introducing a quantum point contact into an isolated quantum Hall system probed via radiofrequency radiation. In this paper, we study the effect of a quantum point contact embedded within an edge-magnetoplasmon resonator and how its polarization influences the propagating magnetoplasmonic mode. Combining dc and rf measurements, we unambiguously evidence the signature of both integer ($ν= 1$ and $2$) and fractional quantum Hall states ($ν= 4/3$ and $2/3$) within the radiofrequency transmission signal. Using electrostatic gating, we determine the physical parameters characterizing the electrostatic edge of an AlGaAs/GaAs based two-dimensional electron gas. We extract the dependence of the cavity perimeter with the gate voltage of the quantum point contact and fully characterize the path followed by edge magnetoplasmons in this system. Finally, we provide a geometric model in good agreement with experimental results.

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Quantized heat flow in the Hofstadter butterfly

When subjected to a strong magnetic field, electrons on a two-dimensional lattice acquire a fractal energy spectrum called Hofstadter's butterfly. In addition to its unique recursive structure, the Hofstadter butterfly is intimately linked to non-trivial topological orders, hosting a cascade of ground states characterized by non-zero topological invariants. These states, called Chern insulators, are usually understood as replicas of the ground states of the quantum Hall effect, with electrical and thermal conductances that should be quantized, reflecting their topological order. The Hofstadter butterfly is now commonly observed in van-der-Waals heterostructures-based moiré superlattices. However, its thermal properties, particularly the quantized heat flow expected in the Chern insulators, have not been investigated, potentially questioning their similarity with standard quantum Hall states. Here we probe the heat transport properties of the Hofstadter butterfly, obtained in a graphene~/~hexagonal boron nitride moiré superlattice. We observe a quantized heat flow, uniquely set by the topological invariant, for all investigated states of the Hofstadter butterfly: quantum Hall states, Chern insulators, and even symmetry-broken Chern insulators emerging from strong electronic interactions. Our work firmly establishes the universality of the quantization of heat transport and its intimate link with topology.

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Time-domain braiding of anyons

Contrary to fermions and bosons, anyons are quasiparticles that keep a robust memory of particle exchanges via a braiding phase factor. This provides them with unique dynamical properties so far unexplored. When an anyon excitation is emitted toward a quantum point contact (QPC) in a fractional quantum Hall (FQH) fluid, this memory translates into tunneling events that may occur long after the anyon excitation has exited the QPC. Here, we use triggered anyon pulses incident on a QPC in a $ν= 1/3$ FQH fluid to investigate anyon tunneling in the time domain. We observe that braiding increases the tunneling timescale, which is set by the temperature and the anyon scaling dimension that characterizes the edge state dynamics. This contrasts with the electron behavior where braiding is absent and the tunneling timescale is set by the temporal width of the generated electron pulses. Our experiment introduces time-domain measurements for characterizing the braiding phase and scaling dimension of anyons.

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Time-resolved sensing of electromagnetic fields with single-electron interferometry

Characterizing quantum states of the electromagnetic field at microwave frequencies requires fast and sensitive detectors that can simultaneously probe the field time-dependent amplitude and its quantum fluctuations. In this work, we demonstrate a quantum sensor that exploits the phase of a single electron wavefunction, measured in an electronic Fabry-Perot interferometer, to detect a classical time-dependent electric field. The time resolution, limited by the temporal width of the electronic wavepacket, is a few tens of picoseconds. The interferometry technique provides a voltage resolution of a few tens of microvolts, corresponding to a few microwave photons. Importantly, our detector simultaneously probes the amplitude of the field from the phase of the measured interference pattern and its fluctuations from the interference contrast. This capability paves the way for on-chip detection of quantum radiation, such as squeezed or Fock states.

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Velocity and confinement of edge plasmons in HgTe-based 2D topological insulators

High-frequency transport in the edge states of the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect has to date rarely been explored, though it could cast light on the scattering mechanisms taking place therein. We here report on the measurement of the plasmon velocity in topological HgTe quantum wells both in the QSH and quantum Hall (QH) regimes, using harmonic GHz excitations and phase-resolved detection. We observe low plasmon velocities corresponding to large transverse widths, which we ascribe to the prominent influence of charge puddles forming in the vicinity of edge channels. Together with other recent works, it suggests that puddles play an essential role in the edge state physics and probably constitute a main hurdle on the way to clean and robust edge transport.

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Characterization of helical Luttinger liquids in microwave stepped-impedance edge resonators

Coulomb interaction has important consequences on the physics of quantum spin Hall edge states, weakening the topological protection via two-particle scattering and renormalizing both the velocity and charge of collective plasmon modes compared to that of free electrons. Despite these effects, interactions remain difficult to quantify. We propose here simple and robust edge resonator geometries to characterize Coulomb interaction by means of high-frequency measurements. They rely on a transmission line approach, and take advantage of the impedance mismatch between the edge states and their microwave environment.

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RF compressibility of topological surface and interface states in metal-hBN-Bi2Se3 capacitors

The topological state that emerges at the surface of a topological insulator (TI) and at the TI-substrate interface are studied in metal-hBN-Bi2Se3 capacitors. By measuring the RF admittance of the capacitors versus gate voltage, we extract the compressibility of the Dirac state located at a gated TI surface. We show that even in the presence of an ungated surface that hosts a trivial electron accumulation layer, the other gated surface always exhibits an ambipolar effect in the quantum capacitance. We succeed in determining the velocity of surface Dirac fermions in two devices, one with a passivated surface and the other with a free surface that hosts trivial states. Our results demonstrate the potential of RF quantum capacitance techniques to probe surface states of systems in the presence of a parasitic density-of-states.

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Dynamical separation of bulk and edge transport in HgTe-based 2D topological insulators

Topological effects in edge states are clearly visible on short lengths only, thus largely impeding their studies. On larger distances, one may be able to dynamically enhance topological signatures by exploiting the high mobility of edge states with respect to bulk carriers. Our work on microwave spectroscopy highlights the responses of the edges which host very mobile carriers, while bulk carriers are drastically slowed down in the gap. Though the edges are denser than expected, we establish that charge relaxation occurs on short timescales, and suggests that edge states can be addressed selectively on timescales over which bulk carriers are frozen.

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Two-particle interferometry in quantum Hall edge channels

Since pioneering works of Hanbury-Brown and Twiss, intensity-intensity correlations have been widely used in astronomical systems, for example to detect binary stars. They reveal statistics effects and two-particle interference, and offer a decoherence-free probe of the coherence properties of light sources. In the quantum Hall edge channels, the concept of quantum optics can transposed to electrons, and an analogous two-particle interferometry can be developed, in order to characterize single-electron states. We review in this article the recent experimental and theoretical progress on this topic.

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Klein-tunneling transistor with ballistic graphene

Today the availability of high mobility graphene up to room temperature makes ballistic transport in nanodevices achievable. In particular, p-n-p transistor in the ballistic regime gives access to the Klein tunneling physics and allows the realization of devices exploiting the optics-like behavior of Dirac Fermions (DF) as in the Vesalego lens or the Fabry Pérot cavity. Here we propose a Klein tunneling transistor based on geometrical optics of DF. We consider the case of a prismatic active region delimited by a triangular gate, where total internal reflection may occur, which leads to the tunable suppression of the transistor transmission. We calculate the transmission and the current by means of scattering theory and the finite bias properties using Non Equilibrium Green's Function(NEGF) simulation.

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A Coherent RC Circuit

We review the first experiment on dynamic transport in a phase-coherent quantum conductor. In our discussion, we highlight the use of time-dependent transport as a means of gaining insight into charge relaxation on a mesoscopic scale. For this purpose, we studied the ac conductance of a model quantum conductor, i.e. the quantum RC circuit. Prior to our experimental work, M. Büttiker, H. Thomas and A. Prêtre first worked on dynamic mesoscopic transport in the 1990s. They predicted that the mesoscopic RC circuit can be described by a quantum capacitance related to the density of states in the capacitor and a constant charge relaxation resistance value equal to half of the resistance quantum h/2e^2, when a single mode is transmitted between the capacitance and a reservoir. By applying a microwave excitation to a gate located on top of a coherent submicronic quantum dot that is coupled to a reservoir, we validate this theoretical prediction on the ac conductance of the quantum RC circuit. Our study demonstrates that the ac conductance is directly related to the dwell time of electrons in the capacitor. Thereby, we observed a counterintuitive behavior of a quantum origin: as the transmission of the single conducting mode decreases, the resistance of the quantum RC circuit remains constant while the capacitance oscillates.

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Single electron quantum tomography in quantum Hall edge channels

We propose a quantum tomography protocol to measure single electron coherence in quantum Hall edge channels and therefore access for the first time the wave function of single electron excitations propagating in ballistic quantum conductors. Its implementation would open the way to quantitative studies of single electron decoherence and would provide a quantitative tool for analyzing single to few electron sources. We show how this protocol could be implemented using ultrahigh sensitivity noise measurement schemes.

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A high sensitivity ultra-low temperature RF conductance and noise measurement setup

We report on the realization of a high sensitivity RF noise measurement scheme to study small current fluctuations of mesoscopic systems at milliKelvin temperatures. The setup relies on the combination of an interferometric ampli- fication scheme and a quarter-wave impedance transformer, allowing the mea- surement of noise power spectral densities with GHz bandwith up to five orders of magnitude below the amplifier noise floor. We simultaneously measure the high frequency conductance of the sample by derivating a portion of the signal to a microwave homodyne detection. We describe the principle of the setup, as well as its implementation and calibration. Finally, we show that our setup allows to fully characterize a subnanosecond on-demand single electron source. More generally, its sensitivity and bandwith make it suitable for applications manipulating single charges at GHz frequencies.

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Subnanosecond single electron source in the time-domain

We describe here the realization of a single electron source similar to single photon sources in optics. On-demand single electron injection is obtained using a quantum dot connected to the conductor via a tunnel barrier of variable transmission (quantum point contact). Electron emission is triggered by a sudden change of the dot potential which brings a single energy level above the Fermi energy in the conductor. A single charge is emitted on an average time ranging from 100 ps to 10 ns ultimately determined by the barrier transparency and the dot charging energy. The average single electron emission process is recorded with a 0.5 ns time resolution using a real-time fast acquisition card. Single electron signals are compared tosimulation based on scattering theory approach adapted for finite excitation energies.

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Single Carbon Nanotube Transistor at GHz Frequency

We report on microwave operation of top-gated single carbon nanotube transistors. From transmission measurements in the 0.1-1.6 GHz range, we deduce device transconductance gm and gate-nanotube capacitance Cg of micro- and nanometric devices. A large and frequency-independent gm of about 20 microSiemens is observed on short devices, which meets the best dc results. The capacitance per unit gate length of 60 aF/micrometer is typical of top gates on a conventional oxide with a dielectric constant equal to 10. This value is a factor of 3-5 below the nanotube quantum capacitance which, according to recent simulations, favors high transit frequencies . For our smallest devices, we find a large transit frequency equal to 50 GHz with no evidence of saturation in length dependence.

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An On-Demand Coherent Single Electron Source

We report on the electron analog of the single photon gun. On demand single electron injection in a quantum conductor was obtained using a quantum dot connected to the conductor via a tunnel barrier. Electron emission is triggered by application of a potential step which compensates the dot charging energy. Depending on the barrier transparency the quantum emission time ranges from 0.1 to 10 nanoseconds. The single electron source should prove useful for the implementation of quantum bits in ballistic conductors. Additionally periodic sequences of single electron emission and absorption generate a quantized AC-current.

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The relaxation time of a chiral quantum R-L circuit

We report on the GHz complex admittance of a chiral one dimensional ballistic conductor formed by edge states in the quantum Hall regime. The circuit consists of a wide Hall bar (the inductor L) in series with a tunable resistor (R) formed by a quantum point contact. Electron interactions between edges are screened by a pair of side gates. Conductance steps are observed on both real and imaginary parts of the admittance. Remarkably, the phase of the admittance is transmission-independent. This shows that the relaxation time of a chiral R-L circuit is resistance independent. A current and charge conserving scattering theory is presented that accounts for this observation with a relaxation time given by the electronic transit time in the c cuit.

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Violation of Kirchhoff's Laws for a Coherent RC Circuit

What is the complex impedance of a fully coherent quantum resistance-capacitance (RC) circuit at GHz frequencies in which a resistor and a capacitor are connected in series? While Kirchhoff's laws predict addition of capacitor and resistor impedances, we report on observation of a different behavior. The resistance, here associated with charge relaxation, differs from the usual transport resistance given by the Landauer formula. In particular, for a single mode conductor, the charge relaxation resistance is half the resistance quantum, regardless of the transmission of the mode. The new mesoscopic effect reported here is relevant for the dynamical regime of all quantum devices.

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