Abstract
Due to their high energy, hot electrons in quantum Hall edge (QHE) states can be considered as single particles that have the potential to be used for quantum optics-like experiments. Unlike photons, however, electrons typically undergo scattering processes in transport, which results in a loss of coherence and limits their ability to show quantum-coherent behaviour. Here we study theoretically the decoherence mechanisms of hot electrons in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), and highlight the role played by both acoustic and optical phonon emission. We discuss optimal choices of experimental parameters and show that high visibilities of ≳ 85% are achievable in hot-electron devices over relatively long distances of 10 μm. We also discuss energy filtration techniques to remove decoherent electrons and show that this can increase visibilities to over 95%. This represents an improvement over Fermi-level electron quantum optics, and suggests hot-electron charge pumps as a platform for realising quantum-coherent nanoelectronic devices.
Highlights
The realisation of quantum optics experiments with electrons is a long-standing pursuit of the mesoscopic physics community [1, 2]
Quantum Hall edge (QHE) channels form the electronic analogue of photonic waveguides and quantum point contacts (QPCs) act as beamsplitters
In this paper we have presented an overview of the mechanisms by which hot electrons from dynamical quantum dot charge pumps undergo relaxation and decoherence
Summary
Keywords: electron quantum optics, mesoscopics, electron transport, quantum Hall effect, electron interferometry Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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