We present a new scheme to detect the quantum shot noise in coupled mesoscopic systems. By applying the noise thermometry to the capacitively coupled quantum point contacts (QPCs) we prove that the noise temperature of one QPC is in perfect proportion to that of the other QPC which is driven to non-equilibrium to generate quantum shot noise. We also found an unexpected effect that the noise in the source QPC is remarkably suppressed possibly due to the cooling effect by the detector QPC.
Current noise is measured with a SQUID in low impedance and transparent Nb-Al-Nb j unctions of length comparable to the phase breaking length and much longer than the thermal length. The shot noise amplitude is compared with theoretical predictions of doubled shot noise in diffusive normal/superconductor (NS) junctions due to the Andreev reflections. We discuss the heat dissipation away from the normal part through the NS interfaces. A weak applied magnetic field reduces the amplitude of the 1/f noise by a factor of two, showing that even far from equilibrium the sample is in the mesoscopic regime.
Semiclassical methods can now explain many mesoscopic effects (shot-noise, conductance fluctuations, etc) in clean chaotic systems, such as chaotic quantum dots. In the deep classical limit (wavelength much less than system size) the Ehrenfest time (the time for a wavepacket to spread to a classical size) plays a crucial role, and random matrix theory (RMT) ceases to apply to the transport properties of open chaotic systems. Here we summarize some of our recent results for shot-noise (intrinsically quantum noise in the current through the system) in this deep classical limit. For systems with perfect coupling to the leads, we use a phase-space basis on the leads to show that the transmission eigenvalues are all 0 or 1 -- so transmission is noiseless [Whitney-Jacquod, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 116801 (2005), Jacquod-Whitney, Phys. Rev. B 73, 195115 (2006)]. For systems with tunnel-barriers on the leads we use trajectory-based semiclassics to extract universal (but non-RMT) shot-noise results for the classical regime [Whitney, Phys. Rev. B 75, 235404 (2007)].
We have investigated the noise properties of the tunneling current through vertically coupled self-assembled InAs quantum dots. We observe super-Poissonian shot noise at low temperatures. For increased temperature this effect is suppressed. The super-Poissonian noise is explained by capacitive coupling between different stacks of quantum dots.
We perform a numerical investigation of the effect of the disorder associated with randomly located impurities on shot noise in mesoscopic cavities. We show that such a disorder becomes dominant in determining the noise behavior when the amplitude of the potential fluctuations is comparable to the value of the Fermi energy and for a large enough density of impurities. In contrast to existing conjectures, random potential fluctuations are shown not to contribute to achieving the chaotic regime whose signature is a Fano factor of 1/4, but, rather, to the diffusive behavior typical of disordered conductors. In particular, the 1/4 suppression factor expected for a symmetric cavity can be achieved only in high-quality material, with a very low density of impurities. As the disorder strength is increased, a relatively rapid transition of the suppression factor from 1/4 to values typical of diffusive or quasi-diffusive transport is observed. Finally, on the basis of a comparison between a hard-wall and a realistic model of the cavity, we conclude that the specific details of the confinement potential have a minor influence on noise.
We present a numerical investigation of shot noise suppression in mesoscopic cavities and an intuitive semiclassical explanation of the behavior observed in the presence of an orthogonal magnetic field. In particular, we conclude that the decrease of shot noise for increasing magnetic field is the result of the interplay between the diameter of classical cyclotron orbits and the width of the apertures defining the cavity. Good agreement with published experimental results is obtained, without the need of introducing fitting parameters.