17 research outputs found
An avalanche-photodiode-based photon-number-resolving detector
Avalanche photodiodes are widely used as practical detectors of single
photons.1 Although conventional devices respond to one or more photons, they
cannot resolve the number in the incident pulse or short time interval.
However, such photon number resolving detectors are urgently needed for
applications in quantum computing,2-4 communications5 and interferometry,6 as
well as for extending the applicability of quantum detection generally. Here we
show that, contrary to current belief,3,4 avalanche photodiodes are capable of
detecting photon number, using a technique to measure very weak avalanches at
the early stage of their development. Under such conditions the output signal
from the avalanche photodiode is proportional to the number of photons in the
incident pulse. As a compact, mass-manufactured device, operating without
cryogens and at telecom wavelengths, it offers a practical solution for photon
number detection.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Resonant Raman scattering of surface phonon polaritons mediated by excitons in WSe films
Surface phonon-polaritons propagating along interfaces of polar dielectrics
coexist with excitons in many van der Waals heterostructures, so understanding
their mutual interactions is of great interest. Here, we investigate the type I
surface phonon polariton of hBN via low-temperature resonant-Raman spectroscopy
in hBN/WSe2 heterostructures. The resonantly enhanced hBN surface phonon
polariton (SPhP) Raman signal, when laser energy is such that the scattered
photons have energy close to that of the WSe2 excitons, enables detailed
characterization of type I SPhP in hBN even when hBN is one monolayer thick. We
find that the measured bandwidth of the SPhP Raman signal depends on the
thicknesses of the hBN layer. We are able explain the experimental data using
transfer matrix method simulations of SPhP dispersions providing that we assume
the Raman scattering to be momentum non-conserving, as could be the case if
localized WSe2 exciton states participated in the process. We further show that
resonant Raman scattering from SiO2 SPhP can also be mediated by WSe.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figure
Mesoscopic effects in tunneling between parallel quantum wires
We consider a phase-coherent system of two parallel quantum wires that are
coupled via a tunneling barrier of finite length. The usual perturbative
treatment of tunneling fails in this case, even in the diffusive limit, once
the length L of the coupling region exceeds a characteristic length scale L_t
set by tunneling. Exact solution of the scattering problem posed by the
extended tunneling barrier allows us to compute tunneling conductances as a
function of applied voltage and magnetic field. We take into account charging
effects in the quantum wires due to applied voltages and find that these are
important for 1D-to-1D tunneling transport.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, improved Figs., added Refs. and appendix, to
appear in Phys. Rev.
Probing Spin-Charge Separation in Tunnel-Coupled Parallel Quantum Wires
Interactions in one-dimensional (1D) electron systems are expected to cause a
dynamical separation of electronic spin and charge degrees of freedom. A
promising system for experimental observation of this non-Fermi-liquid effect
consists of two quantum wires coupled via tunneling through an extended uniform
barrier. Here we consider the minimal model of an interacting 1D electron
system exhibiting spin-charge separation and calculate the differential
tunneling conductance as well as the density-density response function. Both
quantities exhibit distinct strong features arising from spin-charge
separation. Our analysis of these features within the minimal model neglects
interactions between electrons of opposite chirality and applies therefore
directly to chiral 1D electron systems realized, e.g., at the edge of integer
quantum-Hall systems. Physical insight gained from our results is useful for
interpreting current experiment in quantum wires as our main conclusions still
apply with nonchiral interactions present. In particular, we discuss the effect
of charging due to applied voltages, and the possibility to observe spin-charge
separation in a time-resolved experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, expanded version with many detail
The spin-orbit interaction as a source of new spectral and transport properties in quasi-one-dimensional systems
We present an exact theoretical study of the effect of the spin-orbit (SO)
interaction on the band structure and low temperature transport in long
quasi-one-dimensional electron systems patterned in two-dimensional electron
gases in zero and weak magnetic fields. We reveal the manifestations of the SO
interaction which cannot in principle be observed in higher dimensional
systems.Comment: 5 pages including 5 figures; RevTeX; to appear in Phys.Rev.B (Rapid
Communications
Magnetotunneling as a Probe of Luttinger-Liquid Behavior
A novel method for detecting Luttinger-liquid behavior is proposed. The idea
is to measure the tunneling conductance between a quantum wire and a parallel
two-dimensional electron system as a function of both the potential difference
between them, , and an in-plane magnetic field, . We show that the
two-parameter dependence on and allows for a determination of the
characteristic dependence on wave vector and frequency of the {\it
spectral function}, , of the quantum wire. In particular,
the separation of spin and charge in the Luttinger liquid should manifest
itself as singularities in the --characteristic. The experimental
feasibility of the proposal is discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Momentum-Resolved Tunneling into Fractional Quantum Hall Edges
Tunneling from a two-dimensional contact into quantum-Hall edges is
considered theoretically for a case where the barrier is extended, uniform, and
parallel to the edge. In contrast to previously realized tunneling geometries,
details of the microscopic edge structure are exhibited directly in the voltage
and magnetic-field dependence of the differential tunneling conductance. In
particular, it is possible to measure the dispersion of the edge-magnetoplasmon
mode, and the existence of additional, sometimes counterpropagating,
edge-excitation branches could be detected.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTex
Effect of the spin-orbit interaction on the band structure and conductance of quasi-one-dimensional systems
We discuss the effect of the spin-orbit interaction on the band structure,
wave functions and low temperature conductance of long quasi-one-dimensional
electron systems patterned in two-dimensional electron gases (2DEG). Our model
for these systems consists of a linear (Rashba) potential confinement in the
direction perpendicular to the 2DEG and a parabolic confinement transverse to
the 2DEG. We find that these two terms can significantly affect the band
structure introducing a wave vector dependence to subband energies, producing
additional subband minima and inducing anticrossings between subbands. We
discuss the origin of these effects in the symmetries of the subband wave
functions.Comment: 15 pages including 14 figures; RevTeX; to appear in Phys.Rev.B (15
Nov 1999
Extreme sensitivity of the spin-splitting and 0.7 anomaly to confining potential in one-dimensional nanoelectronic devices
Quantum point contacts (QPCs) have shown promise as nanoscale spin-selective
components for spintronic applications and are of fundamental interest in the
study of electron many-body effects such as the 0.7 x 2e^2/h anomaly. We report
on the dependence of the 1D Lande g-factor g* and 0.7 anomaly on electron
density and confinement in QPCs with two different top-gate architectures. We
obtain g* values up to 2.8 for the lowest 1D subband, significantly exceeding
previous in-plane g-factor values in AlGaAs/GaAs QPCs, and approaching that in
InGaAs/InP QPCs. We show that g* is highly sensitive to confinement potential,
particularly for the lowest 1D subband. This suggests careful management of the
QPC's confinement potential may enable the high g* desirable for spintronic
applications without resorting to narrow-gap materials such as InAs or InSb.
The 0.7 anomaly and zero-bias peak are also highly sensitive to confining
potential, explaining the conflicting density dependencies of the 0.7 anomaly
in the literature.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure