No Arabic abstract
The properties of conductance in one-dimensional (1D) quantum wires are statistically investigated using an array of 256 lithographically-identical split gates, fabricated on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. All the split gates are measured during a single cooldown under the same conditions. Electron many-body effects give rise to an anomalous feature in the conductance of a one-dimensional quantum wire, known as the `0.7 structure (or `0.7 anomaly). To handle the large data set, a method of automatically estimating the conductance value of the 0.7 structure is developed. Large differences are observed in the strength and value of the 0.7 structure [from $0.63$ to $0.84times (2e^2/h)$], despite the constant temperature and identical device design. Variations in the 1D potential profile are quantified by estimating the curvature of the barrier in the direction of electron transport, following a saddle-point model. The 0.7 structure appears to be highly sensitive to the specific confining potential within individual devices.
The unexpected 0.7 plateau of conductance quantisation is usually observed for ballistic one-dimensional devices. In this work we study a quasi-ballistic quantum wire, for which the disorder induced backscattering reduces the conductance quantisation steps. We find that the transmission probability resonances coexist with the anomalous plateau. The studies of these resonances as a function of the in-plane magnetic field and electron density point to the presence of spin polarisation at low carrier concentrations and constitute a method for the determination of the effective g-factor suitable for disordered quantum wires.
Ninety eight one-dimensional channels defined using split gates fabricated on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure are measured during one cooldown at 1.4 K. The devices are arranged in an array on a single chip, and individually addressed using a multiplexing technique. The anomalous conductance feature known as the 0.7 structure is studied using statistical techniques. The ensemble of data show that the 0.7 anomaly becomes more pronounced and occurs at lower values as the curvature of the potential barrier in the transport direction decreases. This corresponds to an increase in the effective length of the device. The 0.7 anomaly is not strongly influenced by other properties of the conductance related to density. The curvature of the potential barrier appears to be the primary factor governing the shape of the 0.7 structure at a given T and B.
We study 95 split gates of different size on a single chip using a multiplexing technique. Each split gate defines a one-dimensional channel on a modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, through which the conductance is quantized. The yield of devices showing good quantization decreases rapidly as the length of the split gates increases. However, for the subset of devices showing good quantization, there is no correlation between the electrostatic length of the one dimensional channel (estimated using a saddle point model), and the gate length. The variation in electrostatic length and the one-dimensional subband spacing for devices of the same gate length exceeds the variation in the average values between devices of different length. There is a clear correlation between the curvature of the potential barrier in the transport direction and the strength of the 0.7 anomaly: the conductance value of the 0.7 anomaly reduces as the barrier curvature becomes shallower. These results highlight the key role of the electrostatic environment in one-dimensional systems. Even in devices with clean conductance plateaus, random fluctuations in the background potential are crucial in determining the potential landscape in the active device area such that nominally identical gate structures have different characteristics.
Undoped GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures have been used to fabricate quantum wires in which the average impurity separation is greater than the device size. We compare the behavior of the Zero-Bias Anomaly against predictions from Kondo and spin polarization models. Both theories display shortcomings, the most dramatic of which are the linear electron-density dependence of the Zero-Bias Anomaly spin-splitting at fixed magnetic field B and the suppression of the Zeeman effect at pinch-off.
We study the conductance threshold of clean nearly straight quantum wires in the magnetic field. As a quantitative example we solve exactly the scattering problem for two-electrons in a wire with planar geometry and a weak bulge. From the scattering matrix we determine conductance via the Landauer-Buettiker formalism. The conductance anomalies found near 0.25(2e^2/h) and 0.75(2e^2/h) are related to a singlet resonance and a triplet resonance, respectively, and survive to temperatures of a few degrees. With increasing in-plane magnetic field the conductance exhibits a plateau at e^2/h, consistent with recent experiments.