We investigate the current noise in HgTe-based quantum wells with an inverted band structure in the regime of disordered edge transport. Consistent with previous experiments, the edge resistance strongly exceeds $h/e^2$ and weakly depends on the temp
erature. The shot noise is well below the Poissonian value and characterized by the Fano factor with gate voltage and sample to sample variations in the range $0.1<F<0.3$. Given the fact that our devices are shorter than the most pessimistic estimate of the ballistic dephasing length, these observations exclude the possibility of one-dimensional helical edge transport. Instead, we suggest that a disordered multi-mode conduction is responsible for the edge transport in our experiment.
We study nonlinear transport and non-equilibrium current noise in quasi-classical point contacts (PCs) defined in a low-density high-quality two-dimensional electron system in GaAs. At not too high bias voltages $V$ across the PC the noise temperatur
e is determined by a Joule heat power and almost independent on the PC resistance that can be associated with a self-heating of the electronic system. This commonly accepted scenario breaks down at increasing $V$, where we observe extra noise accompanied by a strong decrease of the PCs differential resistance. The spectral density of the extra noise is roughly proportional to the nonlinear current contribution in the PC $delta Sapprox2F^*|edelta I|sim V^2$ with the effective Fano factor $F^*<1$, indicating that a random scattering process is involved. A small perpendicular magnetic field is found to suppress both $delta I$ and $delta S$. Our observations are consistent with a concept of a drag-like mechanism of the nonlinear transport mediated by electron-electron scattering in the leads of quasi-classical PCs.
We investigate energy transfer between counter-propagating quantum Hall edge channels (ECs) in a two-dimensional electron system at filling factor u=1. The ECs are separated by a thin impenetrable potential barrier and Coulomb coupled, thereby const
ituting a quasi one-dimensional analogue of a spinless Luttinger liquid (LL). We drive one, say hot, EC far from thermal equilibrium and measure the energy transfer rate P into the second, cold, EC using a quantum point contact as a bolometer. The dependence of P on the drive bias indicates breakdown of the momentum conservation, whereas P is almost independent on the length of the region where the ECs interact. Interpreting our results in terms of plasmons (collective density excitations), we find that the energy transfer between the ECs occurs via plasmon backscattering at the boundaries of the LL. The backscattering probability is determined by the LL interaction parameter and can be tuned by changing the width of the electrostatic potential barrier between the ECs.
We study a current shot noise in a macroscopic insulator based on a two-dimensional electron system in GaAs in a variable range hopping (VRH) regime. At low temperature and in a sufficiently depleted sample a shot noise close to a full Poissonian val
ue is measured. This suggests an observation of a finite-size effect in shot noise in the VRH conduction and demonstrates a possibility of accurate quasiparticle charge measurements in the insulating regime.
We experimentally investigate the temperature (T) dependence of the resistance of a classical ballistic point contact (PC) in a two-dimensional electron system (2DES). The split-gate PC is realized in a high-quality AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure. The P
C resistance is found to drop by more than 10% as T is raised from 0.5 K to 4.2 K. In the absence of a magnetic field, the T dependence is roughly linear below 2 K and tends to saturate at higher T. Perpendicular magnetic fields on the order of a few 10 mT suppress the T-dependent contribution dR. This effect is more pronounced at lower temperatures, causing a crossover to a nearly parabolic T dependence in a magnetic field. The normalized magnetic field dependencies dR(B) permit an empiric single parameter scaling in a wide range of PC gate voltages. These observations give strong evidence for the influence of electron-electron (e-e) scattering on the resistance of ballistic PCs. Our results are in qualitative agreement with a recent theory of the e-e scattering based T dependence of the conductance of classical ballistic PCs [ Phys. Rev. Lett. 101 216807 (2008) and Phys. Rev. B 81 125316 (2010)].
We study a shot noise of a wide channel gated high-frequency transistor at temperature of 4.2K near pinch-off. In this regime, a transition from the metallic to the insulating state is expected to occur, accompanied by the increase of the partition n
oise. The dependence of the noise spectral density on current is found to be slightly nonlinear. At low currents, the differential Fano factor is enhanced compared to the universal value 1/3 for metallic diffusive conductors. We explain this result by the effect of thermal fluctuations in a nonlinear regime near pinch-off, without calling for the enhanced partition noise.
