Abstract
Electric conductors with dimensions reduced to the nanometer scale are the prerequisite of the quantum devices upon which the future advanced electronics is expected to be based. In the past, the fabrication of one-dimensional (1D) wires has been a particular challenge because they have to be defect-free over their whole length, which can be several tens µm. Excellent 1D wires have been produced by cleaving semiconductors (GaAs, AlGaAs) in ultra high vacuum and overgrowing the pristine edge surface by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)1,2. Unfortunately, this cleaved edge overgrowth (CEO) technique did not find wide-spread use because it requires a series of elaborate steps that are difficult to accomplish. In this Letter, we present a greatly simplified variation of this technique where the cleaving takes place in ambient air and the MBE overgrowth is replaced by a standard deposition process. Wires produced by this cleaved edge deposition (CED) technique have properties that are as least as good as the traditional CEO ones. Due to its simplicity, the CED technique offers a generally accessible way to produce 1D devices.
Highlights
Electric conductors with dimensions reduced to the nanometer scale are the prerequisite of the quantum devices upon which the future advanced electronics is expected to be based
The confinement potential in this novel method is induced by applying a positive side-gate voltage, whereas in the traditional cleaved edge overgrowth (CEO) method the potential gets created by a doping layer in the (110) growth
By simplifying the CEO method and overcoming the most significant part of the experimental challenge, the accessibility of such high-quality one-dimensional quantum wires is no longer restricted to researchers operating highly specialized molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems
Summary
Electric conductors with dimensions reduced to the nanometer scale are the prerequisite of the quantum devices upon which the future advanced electronics is expected to be based. We found that by cleaving the sample outside the MBE system and depositing a side-gate onto the (110) cleaved edge, we can induce a ballistic quantum wire with a high yield, eliminating the problems of the 2nd MBE overgrowth. The confinement potential in this novel method is induced by applying a positive side-gate voltage, whereas in the traditional CEO method the potential gets created by a doping layer in the (110) growth.
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