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Applied Physics Letters

A 40-nm-pitch double-slit experiment of hot electrons in a semiconductor under a magnetic field

Hiroo Hongo, Yasuyuki Miyamoto, Kazuhito Furuya, Michihiko Suhara

Published Jan 6, 1997• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report a double-slit experiment of hot electrons in a semiconductor under a magnetic field. The pitch of the double slit buried in the semiconductor is 40 nm and the electron energy is of the order of 100 meV. By applying a magnetic field, the change in current that passes through the slits is observed at the segmented collector. The measured current shows a clear minimum around B=0 T, with this behavior agreeing with a theoretical calculation based on double-slit interference. Quantitative estimation is consistent with this order of current variation. We think that these results show evidence of the observation of hot electron interference by a double slit in a semiconductor.

DOI
10.1063/1.119318

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•Jan 1, 2014•2 citations
We report a double-slit experiment of hot electrons in a semiconductor under a magnetic field. The pitch of the double slit buried in the semiconductor is 40 nm and the electron energy is of the order of 100 meV. By applying a magnetic field, the change in current that passes through the slits is observed at the segmented collector. The measured current shows a clear minimum around B=0 T, with this behavior agreeing with a theoretical calculation based on double-slit interference. Quantitative estimation is consistent with this order of current variation. We think that these results show evidence of the observation of hot electron interference by a double slit in a semiconductor.
We have carried out Young's double-slit experiment for the hot-electron wave in man-made semiconductor structures with a 25-nm-space double slit in an InP layer buried within GaInAs, a 190-nm-thick GaInAsP hot-electron wave propagation layer, and a collector array of 80 nm pitch. At 4.2 K, dependences of the collector current on the magnetic field were measured and found to agree clearly with the double-slit interference theory. The present results show evidence for the wave front spread of hot electrons using the three-dimensional state in materials, for the first time, and the possibility of using top-down fabrication techniques to achieve quantum wave front control in materials.
This is a detailed description of the first definite observation of the double-slit interference of a hot electron in a solid. The observation has been achieved by fabricating a double-slit with a 12 nm opening and a 25 nm center-to-center distance and a detection electrode with a 40 nm width. Various inspections are made theoretically to confirm the double-slit diffraction/interference. This achievement will open the door to the creation of solid-state devices with new functions based on the wave nature of electrons.
We report on a theoretical study of the quantum interference behaviour of electron flow from a double-slit device made from a semiconductor two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) system with the slit widths in the quantum conductance regime. The device consists of a double slit and a single slit in a configuration where the single slit is placed on the source side of the double slit. The wavefunctions of electrons passing through the double-slit structure are calculated on the basis of a scattering matrix method. It is found that including a single slit between the double slit and the source contact in the device is essential for the observation of interference fringes of electron flow in a double-slit experiment with a 2DEG. When only the lowest mode is open for conduction in the individual slits, the interference patterns of electron flow from the double slit resemble the results of a conventional Young's double-slit experiment well. When several modes are open for conduction in the individual slits, the interference patterns of electron flow from the double slit are dominated by the interference of electrons flowing through the highest index open modes in the slits. As a result of the existence of multiple-lobe structures in electron flow from these high index open modes, these interference patterns, in general, show rather complex structures. We also discuss the characteristics of interference patterns in the near-and far-field regimes and the dependence of the fringe spacing on the slit distance in the double slit.
This article describes elucidations of conditions for electron interference observation, device designs, and numerical simulations for the solid-state biprism. The solid-state biprism is solid-state version of the already realized vacuum biprism, and is also proposed as a test ground for electron interference observation and a new conceptual device. Towards the realization of this device, the designed semiconductor device structures show that interference pattern with a pitch of 86 nm and a visibility of 0.6 can be realized with an electron energy of 20 meV, a transverse energy spread of 0.3 meV, and an operation temperature of 4 K.
With significant appraisals to the Original Double-Slit experiment, an audit of nature of electron is drafted. Electron has been proven to demonstrate unpredictable nature. It should behave as a particle, but it shows variations in behaviour when it is passed through two slits. In the experiment, photons (high-intensity light) are utilized as a detector, due to which interference pattern effectuates after detection. The wave-function is collapsed. A contemporary model is proposed, in which magnetic field of low-intensity is applied to canvass ever-changing nature of electron.
Quantum mechanics has fundamentally changed the way scientists think about the world. Quantum mechanical theory has found it's way into our everyday lives through advances in technology. In this dissertation a fundamental quantum mechanical demonstration and the technological development of a new quantum mechanical device are presented. Double-slit diffraction is a corner stone of quantum mechanics. It illustrates key features of quantum mechanics: interference and the particle-wave duality of matter. Here we demonstrate the full realization of Richard Feynman's famous thought experiment. By placing a movable mask in front of a double-slit to control the transmission through the individuals slits. Probability distributions for single- and double-slit arrangements were observed. Additionally, by recording single electron detection events diffracting through a double-slit,a diffraction pattern was built up from individual events. Additionally, a demonstration of a three grating Talbot-Lau interferometer for electrons is presented. As a proof of principle the interferometer is used to measure magnetic fields. The possibility to extend this work to build a scaled-up electron interferometer for sensitive magnetic field sensing is discussed. A theoretical model is presented to simulate the two experiments. This model is developed from Richard Feynman's path integral formalism, where a wave function is propagated through the elements of the system. The theoretical simulations reproduce the experimental data well, except for a large discrepancy of a factor of 5.5 between the experimental and theoretical sensitivity of the Talbot-Lau interferometer. The origin of the discrepancy is currently unknown. These experiments were built off of previous work done here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and improvements to the preexisting system are discussed. While these experiments likely did not demonstrate anything contrary to conventional quantum mechanics, it is important to continually probe these types of experiments to test the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and explore it's technical applications. Advisor: Herman Batelaan