10 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
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.
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
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
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
Finite element simulations of electrostatic dopant potentials in thin semiconductor specimens for electron holography
Two-dimensional finite element simulations of electrostatic dopant potentials in parallel-sided semiconductor specimens that contain p–n junctions are used to assess the effect of the electrical state of the surface of a thin specimen on projected potentials measured using off-axis electron holography in the transmission electron microscope. For a specimen that is constrained to have an equipotential surface, the simulations show that the step in the projected potential across a p–n junction is always lower than would be predicted from the properties of the bulk device, but is relatively insensitive to the value of the surface state energy, especially for thicker specimens and higher dopant concentrations. The depletion width measured from the projected potential, however, has a complicated dependence on specimen thickness. The results of the simulations are of broader interest for understanding the influence of surfaces and interfaces on electrostatic potentials in nanoscale semiconductor devices