13 research outputs found
Sawtooth-like thermopower oscillations of a quantum dot in the Coulomb blockade regime
Wetensch. publicatieFaculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappe
Observation of excess conductance of a constricted electron gas in the fractional quantum Hall regime
Wetensch. publicatieFaculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappe
Contacts and Edge State Equilibration in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
We develop a simple kinetic equation description of edge state dynamics in
the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), which allows us to examine in detail
equilibration processes between multiple edge modes. As in the integer quantum
Hall effect (IQHE), inter-mode equilibration is a prerequisite for quantization
of the Hall conductance. Two sources for such equilibration are considered:
Edge impurity scattering and equilibration by the electrical contacts. Several
specific models for electrical contacts are introduced and analyzed. For FQHE
states in which edge channels move in both directions, such as , these
models for the electrical contacts {\it do not} equilibrate the edge modes,
resulting in a non-quantized Hall conductance, even in a four-terminal
measurement. Inclusion of edge-impurity scattering, which {\it directly}
transfers charge between channels, is shown to restore the four-terminal
quantized conductance. For specific filling factors, notably and
, the equilibration length due to impurity scattering diverges in the
zero temperature limit, which should lead to a breakdown of quantization for
small samples at low temperatures. Experimental implications are discussed.Comment: 14 pages REVTeX, 6 postscript figures (uuencoded and compressed
Impurity scattering and transport of fractional Quantum Hall edge state
We study the effects of impurity scattering on the low energy edge state
dynamic s for a broad class of quantum Hall fluids at filling factor , for integer and even integer . When is positive all
of the edge modes are expected to move in the same direction, whereas for
negative one mode moves in a direction opposite to the other modes.
Using a chiral-Luttinger model to describe the edge channels, we show that for
an ideal edge when is negative, a non-quantized and non-universal Hall
conductance is predicted. The non-quantized conductance is associated with an
absence of equilibration between the edge channels. To explain the robust
experimental Hall quantization, it is thus necessary to incorporate impurity
scattering into the model, to allow for edge equilibration. A perturbative
analysis reveals that edge impurity scattering is relevant and will modify the
low energy edge dynamics. We describe a non-perturbative solution for the
random channel edge, which reveals the existence of a new
disorder-dominated phase, characterized by a stable zero temperature
renormalization group fixed point. The phase consists of a single propagating
charge mode, which gives a quantized Hall conductance, and neutral modes.
The neutral modes all propagate at the same speed, and manifest an exact SU(n)
symmetry. At finite temperatures the SU(n) symmetry is broken and the neutral
modes decay with a finite rate which varies as at low temperatures.
Various experimental predictions and implications which follow from the exact
solution are described in detail, focusing on tunneling experiments through
point contacts.Comment: 19 pages (two column), 5 post script figures appended, 3.0 REVTE
Observation of excess conductance of a constricted electron gas in the fractional quantum Hall regime
Low temperature current transport of Sn-GaAs contacts
We measure low temperature current transport properties of superconducting Sn contacts to p+-GaAs. For contacts alloyed at 450 °C, the current-voltage characteristics show a strong dependence on alloying time. The critical temperature of Sn near the superconductor-semiconductor interface decreases from 3.8 to 1.8 K as the alloying time increases from 0 to 120 s. On the other hand, a long-time alloying increases the transparency of the interface. Using the Blonder, Tinkham, and Klapwijk model, we find that the transmission coefficient of the interface increases from 0.2 to 0.7 by alloying. However, the normal state resistance calculated using the model is much smaller than the experimental value.