arXiv subjects

M. Heiblum

Publications and source records attributed to M. Heiblum.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

Interaction-induced interference in the integer quantum Hall effect

In recent interference experiments with an electronic Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI), implemented in the integer quantum Hall effect regime, a flux periodicity of $h/2e$ was observed at bulk fillings $ν_B>2.5$. 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.

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arXiv2017

Why a noninteracting model works for shot noise in fractional charge experiments

A fractional quasiparticle charge is a manifestation of strong interactions in the fractional quantum Hall effect. Nevertheless, shot noise of quasiparticles is well described by a formula, derived for noninteracting charges. We explain the success of that formula by proving that in the limits of strong and weak backscattering it holds irrespectively of microscopic details in weakly and strongly interacting systems alike. The derivation relies only on principles of statistical mechanics. We also derive an approximate model-independent formula for shot noise in the regime of intermediate backscattering. The equation is numerically close to the standard `noninteracting' fitting formula but suggests a different physical interpretation of the experimental results. We verify our theoretical predictions with a shot noise experiment at the filling factor $3/5$.

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arXiv2013

An Electronic Quantum Eraser

Complementarity, the incomplete nature of a quantum measurement - a core concept in quantum mechanics - stems from the choice of the measurement apparatus. The notion of complementarity is closely related to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, but the exact relation between the two remains a source of debate. For example, knowledge of a particle's position in a double slit interference experiment will quench its wave-like nature and, vice versa, observing the wave property via interference implies lack of knowledge of the particle's path. A canonical system for exploring complementarity is the quantum eraser (QE), predominantly studied thus far in photonic systems. A QE is an interference experiment consisting of two stages. First, one of the interfering paths is coupled to a 'which path' (WP) detector - demonstrating loss of interference due to acquisition of WP information. Second, the WP information is being 'erased' by projecting the detector's wavefunction on a particular basis; this renders the WP information inaccessible, thus allowing reconstruction of the interference pattern. In this work, we present a first implementation of a QE in an electronic system. Our system consists of two identical electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) entangled via Coulomb interactions. Such novel setup has already attracted a considerable theoretical attention. With one MZI serving as a path detector and the other as the system interferometer, the visibility of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillation in the System can be controlled by the Detector. We demonstrate how a continuous change of the measurement basis, followed by post selection (via cross correlation of current fluctuations), allows a smooth transition between keeping and erasing the WP information.

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arXiv2012

Controlled dephasing of an electron interferometer with a path detector at equilibrium

Controlled dephasing of electrons, via 'which path' detection, involves, in general, coupling a coherent system to a current driven noise source. However, here, we present a case in which a nearly isolated electron puddle at thermal equilibrium strongly affects the coherence of a nearby electronic interferometer. Moreover, for certain average electron occupations of the puddle, the interferometer exhibits complete dephasing. This robust phenomenon stems from the Friedel Sum Rule, which relates a system's occupation with its scattering phases. The interferometer opens a peeping window into physics of the isolated electron puddle, which cannot be accessed otherwise.

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arXiv2011

Upstream neutral modes in the fractional quantum Hall effect regime: heat waves or coherent dipoles

Counter propagating (upstream) chiral neutral edge modes, which were predicted to be present in hole-conjugate states, were observed recently in a variety of fractional quantum Hall states (v=2/3,v=3/5,v=8/3 & v=5/2), by measuring charge noise that resulted after partitioning the neutral mode by a constriction (denoted, as N\rightarrowC). Particularly noticeable was the observation of such modes in the v=5/2 fractional state - as it sheds light on the non-abelian nature of the state's wavefunction. Yet, the nature of these unique, upstream, chargeless modes and the microscopic process in which they generate shot noise, are not understood. Here, we study the ubiquitous v=2/3 state and report of two main observations: First, the nature of the neutral modes was tested by 'colliding' two modes, emanating from two opposing sources, in a narrow constriction. The resultant charge noise was consistent with local heating of the partitioned quasiparticles. Second, partitioning of a downstream charge mode by a constriction gave birth to a dual process, namely, the appearance of an upstream neutral mode (C\rightarrowN). In other words, splitting 'hole conjugated' type quasiparticles will lead to an energy loss and decoherence, with energy carried away by neutral modes.

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arXiv2011

A Quantized $ν=5/2$ State in a Two-Subband Quantum Hall System

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.

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arXiv2011

Characterizing Neutral Modes of Fractional States in the Second Landau Level

Quasiparticles, which obey non abelian statistics, were predicted to exist in different physical systems, but are yet to be observed directly. Possible candidate states, which are expected to support such quasiparticles, are the ν=8/3, ν=5/2 and ν=7/3 fractional quantum Hall states (in the second Landau level). The non abelian quasiparticles are expected to carry charge and a unique form of a chiral neutral edge mode. Recent measurements in the ν=5/2 state detected quasiparticle charge e/4 and an upstream (opposite to charge transport) chiral neutral mode; both agreeing with a non abelian anti-Pfaffian state; although not excluding the possibility of edge reconstruction as the source for the detected upstream neutral mode and a different type of state. Here we present results of detailed measurements of charge and neutral modes in the main three quantum Hall states of the second Landau level. For the ν=8/3 state we found a quasiparticle charge e/3 and an upstream neutral mode - excluding the possibility of a non abelian Read-Rezayi state and supporting a Laughlin-like state. Such exclusion holds for the hole-conjugate ν=7/3 state as well, in which no upstream neutral mode was detected. This 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 supporting further the non abelian anti Pfaffian state.

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arXiv2010

Is the charge determined via shot noise measurements unique?

Charged excitations in the fractional quantum Hall effect are known to carry fractional charges, as theoretically predicted and experimentally verified. Here we report on the dependence of the tunneling quasiparticle charge, as determined via highly sensitive shot noise measurements, on the measurement conditions, in the odd denominators states v=1/3 and v=7/3 and in the even denominator state v=5/2. In particular, for very weak backscattering probability and sufficiently small excitation energies (temperature and applied voltage), tunneling charges across a constriction were found to be significantly higher than the theoretically predicted fundamental quasiparticle charges.

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arXiv2008

Tunable 0.7 conductance plateau in quantum dots

A consistent approach in forming the 0.7 structure by using a quantum dot rather than a quantum point contact is demonstrated. With this scheme, it was possible to tune on and off the 0.7 structure. The 0.7 structure continuously evolved into a normal integer conductance plateau by varying the tuning condition. Unlike the conventional 0.7 plateau, the new 0.7 structure was observed even at low electron temperatures down to 100 mK, with unprecedented flatness. From our results, it is concluded that electron interference should be taken into consideration to explain the 0.7 structure.

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arXiv2008

Towards identification of a non-abelian state: observation of a quarter of electron charge at $ν=5/2$ quantum Hall state

The fractional quantum Hall effect, where plateaus in the Hall resistance at values of coexist with zeros in the longitudinal resistance, results from electron correlations in two dimensions under a strong magnetic field. Current flows along the edges carried by charged excitations (quasi particles) whose charge is a fraction of the electron charge. While earlier research concentrated on odd denominator fractional values of $ν$, the observation of the even denominator $ν=5/2$ state sparked a vast interest. This state is conjectured to be characterized by quasiparticles of charge e/4, whose statistics is non-abelian. In other words, interchanging of two quasi particles may modify the state of the system to an orthogonal one, and does not just add a phase as in for fermions or bosons. As such, these quasiparticles may be useful for the construction of a topological quantum computer. Here we report data of shot noise generated by partitioning edge currents in the $ν=5/2$ state, consistent with the charge of the quasiparticle being e/4, and inconsistent with other potentially possible values, such as e/2 and e. While not proving the non-abelian nature of the $ν=5/2$ state, this observation is the first step toward a full understanding of these new fractional charges.

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arXiv2007

Two-electron bunching in transport through a QD induced by Kondo correlations

We report on noise measurements in a quantum dot in the presence of Kondo correlations. Close to the unitary limit, with the conductance reaching 1.8e2/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 the prediction by E. Sela et al. [1], 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.

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arXiv2007

Transmission phase of a singly occupied quantum dot in the Kondo regime

We report on the phase measurements on a quantum dot containing a single electron in the Kondo regime. Transport takes place through a single orbital state. Although the conductance is far from the unitary limit, we measure for the first time, a transmission phase as theoretically predicted of π/2. As the dot's coupling to the leads is decreased, with the dot entering the Coulomb blockade regime, the phase reaches a value of π. Temperature shows little effect on the phase behaviour in the range 30--600 mK, even though both the two-terminal conductance and amplitude of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations are strongly affected. These results confirm that previous phase measurements involved transport through more than a single level.

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arXiv2007

Interference between two independent electrons: observation of two-particle Aharonov-Bohm interference

Very much like the ubiquitous quantum interference of a single particle with itself, quantum interference of two independent, but indistinguishable, particles is also possible. This interference is a direct result of quantum exchange statistics, however, it is observed only in the joint probability to find the particles in two separated detectors. Here we report the first observation of such interference fringes between two independent and non-interacting electrons in an interferometer proposed by Yurke et al. and Samuelsson et al. Our experiment resembles the "Hanbury Brown and Twiss" (HBT) experiment, which was performed with classical waves. In the experiment, two independent and mutually incoherent electron beams were each partitioned into two trajectories. The combined four trajectories enclosed an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) flux (but not the two trajectories of a single electron). While individual currents were found to be independent of the AB flux, as expected, the cross-correlation between current fluctuations in two opposite points across the device exhibited strong AB oscillations. This is a direct signature of orbital entanglement between two electrons even though they never interact with each other.

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arXiv2007

Electron Bunching in Transport Through Quantum Dots in High Magnetic Field

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

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arXiv2006

Controlled Dephasing of Electrons by Non-Gaussian Shot Noise

In a 'controlled dephasing' experiment [1-3], an interferometer loses its coherence due to entanglement with a controlled quantum system ('which path' detector). In experiments that were conducted thus far in mesoscopic systems only partial dephasing was achieved. This was due to weak interactions between many detector electrons and the interfering electron, resulting in a Gaussian phase randomizing process [4-10]. Here, we report the opposite extreme: a complete destruction of the interference via strong phase randomization only by a few electrons in the detector. The realization was based on interfering edge channels (in the integer quantum Hall effect regime, filling factor 2) in a Mach-Zehnder electronic interferometer, with an inner edge channel serving as a detector. Unexpectedly, the visibility quenched in a periodic lobe-type form as the detector current increased; namely, it periodically decreased as the detector current, and thus the detector's efficiency, increased. Moreover, the visibility had a V-shape dependence on the partitioning of the detector current, and not the expected dependence on the second moment of the shot noise, T(1-T), with T the partitioning. We ascribe these unexpected features to the strong detector-interferometer coupling, allowing only 1-3 electrons in the detector to fully dephase the interfering electron. Consequently, in this work we explored the non-Gaussian nature of noise [11], namely, the direct effect of the shot noise full counting statistics [12-15].

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arXiv2006

Entanglement, Dephasing, and Phase Recovery via Cross-Correlation Measurements of Electrons

Determination of the path taken by a quantum particle leads to a suppression of interference and to a classical behavior. We employ here a quantum 'which path' detector to perform accurate path determination in a two-path-electron-interferometer; leading to full suppression of the interference. Following the dephasing process we recover the interference by measuring the cross-correlation between the interferometer and detector currents. Under our measurement conditions every interfering electron is dephased by approximately a single electron in the detector - leading to mutual entanglement of approximately single pairs of electrons.

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arXiv2005

Coherence and Phase in an Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer: An Unexpected Behavior of Interfering Electrons

We report the observation of an unpredicted behavior of interfering 2D electrons in the integer quantum Hall effect (IQHE) regime via a utilization of an electronic analog of the well-known Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The beauty of this experiment lies in the simplicity of two path interference. Electrons that travel the two paths via edge channels, feel only the edge potential and the strong magnetic field; both typical in the IQHE regime. Yet, the interference of these electrons via the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect, behaves surprisingly in a most uncommon way. We found, at filling factors 1 and 2, high visibility interference oscillations, which were strongly modulated by a lobe-type structure as we increased the electron injection voltage. The visibility went through a few maxima and zeros in between, with the phase of the AB oscillations staying constant throughout each lobe and slipping abruptly by at each zero. The lobe pattern and the 'stick-slip' behavior of the phase were insensitive to details of the interferometer structure; but highly sensitive to magnetic field. The observed periodicity defines a 'new energy scale' with an unclear origin. The phase rigidity, on the other hand, is surprising since Onsager relations are not relevant here.

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arXiv2005

Crossover from mesoscopic to universal phase for electron transmission in quantum dots

Measuring phase in coherent electron systems (mesoscopic systems) provides ample information not easily revealed by conductance measurements. Phase measurements in relatively large quantum dots (QDs) recently demonstrated a universal like phase evolution independent of dot size, shape, and occupancy. Explicitly, in Coulomb blockaded QDs the transmission phase increased monotonically by pi throughout each conductance peak, thereafter, in the conductance valleys the phase returned sharply to its base value. Expected mesoscopic features in the phase, related to spin degeneracy or to exchange effects, were never observed. Presently, there is no satisfactory full explanation for the observed phase universality. Unfortunately, the phase in a few-electron QDs, where it can be better understood was never measured. Here we report on such measurements on a small QD that occupy only 1-20 electrons. Such dot was embedded in one arm of a two path electron interferometer, with an electron counter near the dot. Unlike the repetitive behavior found in larger dots we found now mesoscopic features for dot occupation of less than some 10 electrons. An unexpected feature in this regime is a clear observation of the occupation of two different orbital states by the first two electrons - contrary to the recent publications. As the occupation increased the phase evolved and turned universal like for some 14 electrons and higher. The present measurements allowed us to determine level occupancy and parity. More importantly, they suggest that QDs go through a phase transition, from mesoscopic to universal like behavior, as the occupancy increases. These measurements help in singling out potential few theoretical models among the many proposed.

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