Effects of single scatterers on transport and tunneling in a dual-electron-waveguide device.

Abstract

The effects of single scatterers on the transport and tunneling characteristics of a dual-electron-waveguide device have been studied. We observe a dramatic degradation in the quantized conductance steps of the waveguides as the one-dimensional channel is electrostatically steered into a scatterer. By analyzing the magnitude and shape of the quantized conductance steps for different lateral regions between the confining split gates, we are able to pinpoint the location of the scatterers in the device. In addition, the oscillations in the tunneling current out of one of the waveguides are found to also be very sensitive to the presence of a single scatterer within the waveguide and in the tunneling region.