Scanning-Probe Electronic Imaging of Lithographically Patterned Quantum Rings

International audienceQuantum rings patterned from two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures exhibit a wealth of quantum transport phenomena at low temperature and in a magnetic field that can be mapped in real space thanks to dedicated scanning probe techniques. Here, we summarize our studies of GaInAs- and graphene-based quantum rings by means of scanning-gate microscopy both at low magnetic field, where Aharonov-Bohm interferences and the electronic local density-of-states are imaged, and at high magnetic field and very low temperatures, where the scanning probe can image Coulomb islands in the quantum Hall regime. This allows decrypting the apparent complexity of the magneto-resistance of a mesoscopic system in this regime. Beyond imaging and beyond a strict annular shape of the nanostructure, we show that this scanning-probe technique can also be used to unravel a new counter-intuitive behavior of branched-out rectangular quantum rings, which turns out to be a mesoscopic analog of the Braess paradox, previously known for road or other classical networks only

A reference-free clustering method for the analysis of molecular break-junction measurements

Single-molecule break-junction measurements are intrinsically stochastic in nature, requiring the acquisition of large datasets of “breaking traces” to gain insight into the generic electronic properties of the molecule under study. For example, the most probable conductance value of the molecule is often extracted from the conductance histogram built from these traces. In this letter, we present an unsupervised and reference-free machine learning tool to improve the determination of the conductance of oligo(phenylene ethynylene)dithiol from mechanically controlled break-junction (MCBJ) measurements. Our method allows for the classification of individual breaking traces based on an image recognition technique. Moreover, applying this technique to multiple merged datasets makes it possible to identify common breaking behaviors present across different samples, and therefore to recognize global trends. In particular, we find that the variation in the extracted molecular conductance can be significantly reduced resulting in a more reliable estimation of molecular conductance values from MCBJ datasets. Finally, our approach can be more widely applied to different measurement types which can be converted to two-dimensional images

A reference-free clustering method for the analysis of molecular break-junction measurements

Single-molecule break-junction measurements are intrinsically stochastic in nature, requiring the acquisition of large datasets of “breaking traces” to gain insight into the generic electronic properties of the molecule under study. For example, the most probable conductance value of the molecule is often extracted from the conductance histogram built from these traces. In this letter, we present an unsupervised and reference-free machine learning tool to improve the determination of the conductance of oligo(phenylene ethynylene)dithiol from mechanically controlled break-junction (MCBJ) measurements. Our method allows for the classification of individual breaking traces based on an image recognition technique. Moreover, applying this technique to multiple merged datasets makes it possible to identify common breaking behaviors present across different samples, and therefore to recognize global trends. In particular, we find that the variation in the extracted molecular conductance can be significantly reduced resulting in a more reliable estimation of molecular conductance values from MCBJ datasets. Finally, our approach can be more widely applied to different measurement types which can be converted to two-dimensional images.QN/van der Zant LabQN/Quantum Nanoscienc

Conformation-dependent charge transport through short peptides

We report on charge transport across single short peptides using the Mechanically Controlled Break Junction (MCBJ) method. We record thousands of electron transport events across single-molecule junctions and with an unsupervised machine learning algorithm, we identify several classes of traces with multifarious conductance values that may correspond to different peptide conformations. Data analysis shows that very short peptides, which are more rigid, show conductance plateaus at low conductance values of about 10-3G0 and below, with G0 being the conductance quantum, whereas slightly longer, more flexible peptides also show plateaus at higher values. Fully stretched peptide chains exhibit conductance values that are of the same order as that of alkane chains of similar length. The measurements show that in the case of short peptides, different compositions and molecular lengths offer a wide range of junction conformations. Such information is crucial to understand mechanism(s) of charge transport in and across peptide-based biomolecules. This journal is QN/van der Zant La

Current crowding effects in superconducting corner-shaped Al microstrips

The superconducting critical current of corner-shaped Al superconducting microstrips has been investigated. We demonstrate that the sharp turns lead to asymmetric vortex dynamics, allowing for easier penetration from the inner concave angle than from the outer convex angle. This effect is evidenced by a rectification of the voltage signal otherwise absent in straight superconducting strips. At low magnetic fields, an enhancement of the critical current with increasing magnetic field is observed for a particular combination of field and current polarity, confirming a theoretically predicted competing interplay of superconducting screening currents and applied currents at the inner side of the turn

Scanning-Probe Electronic Imaging of Lithographically Patterned Quantum Rings

Quantum rings patterned from two-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures exhibit a wealth of quantum transport phenomena at low temperature and in a magnetic field that can be mapped in real space thanks to dedicated scanning probe techniques. Here, we summarize our studies of GaInAs- and graphene-based quantum rings by means of scanning-gate microscopy both at low magnetic field, where Aharonov-Bohm interferences and the electronic local density-of-states are imaged, and at high magnetic field and very low temperatures, where the scanning probe can image Coulomb islands in the quantum Hall regime. This allows decrypting the apparent complexity of the magneto-resistance of a mesoscopic system in this regime. Beyond imaging and beyond a strict annular shape of the nanostructure, we show that this scanning-probe technique can also be used to unravel a new counter-intuitive behavior of branched-out rectangular quantum rings, which turns out to be a mesoscopic analog of the Braess paradox, previously known for road or other classical networks only