Superfluidity in e-h bilayers in graphene and GaAs has been predicted many times but not observed. A key problem is how to treat the screening of the Coulomb interaction for pairing. Different mean-field theories give dramatically different conclusio
ns, and we test them against diffusion Monte-Carlo calculations. We get excellent agreement with the mean-field theory that uses screening in the superfluid state, but large discrepancies with the others. The theory predicts no superfluidity in existing devices and gives pointers for new devices to generate superfluidity.
We report the observation of Kondo physics in a spin- 3/2 hole quantum dot. The dot is formed close to pinch-off in a hole quantum wire defined in an undoped AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure. We clearly observe two distinctive hallmarks of quantum dot Kon
do physics. First, the Zeeman spin-splitting of the zero-bias peak in the differential conductance is independent of gate voltage. Second, this splitting is twice as large as the splitting for the lowest one-dimensional subband. We show that the Zeeman splitting of the zero-bias peak is highly-anisotropic, and attribute this to the strong spin-orbit interaction for holes in GaAs.
We have fabricated quantum dot single electron transistors, based on AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunctions without modulation doping, which exhibit clear and stable Coulomb blockade oscillations. The temperature dependence of the Coulomb blockade peak lineshap
e is well described by standard Coulomb blockade theory in the quantum regime. Bias spectroscopy measurements have allowed us to directly extract the charging energy, and showed clear evidence of excited state transport, confirming that individual quantum states in the dot can be resolved.
The use of a nearby metallic ground-plane to limit the range of the Coulomb interactions between carriers is a useful approach in studying the physics of two-dimensional (2D) systems. This approach has been used to study Wigner crystallization of ele
ctrons on the surface of liquid helium, and most recently, the insulating and metallic states of semiconductor-based two-dimensional systems. In this paper, we perform calculations of the screening effect of one 2D system on another and show that a 2D system is at least as effective as a metal in screening Coulomb interactions. We also show that the recent observation of the reduced effect of the ground-plane when the 2D system is in the metallic regime is due to intralayer screening.
