We use time-resolved charge detection techniques to investigate single-electron tunneling in semiconductor quantum dots. The ability to detect individual charges in real-time makes it possible to count electrons one-by-one as they pass through the st
ructure. The setup can thus be used as a high-precision current meter for measuring ultra-low currents, with resolution several orders of magnitude better than that of conventional current meters. In addition to measuring the average current, the counting procedure also makes it possible to investigate correlations between charge carriers. In quantum dots, we find that the strong Coulomb interaction makes electrons try to avoid each other. This leads to electron anti-bunching, giving stronger correlations and reduced noise compared to a current carried by statistically independent electrons. The charge detector is implemented by monitoring changes in conductance in a near-by capacitively coupled quantum point contact. We find that the quantum point contact not only serves as a detector but also causes a back-action onto the measured device. Electron scattering in the quantum point contact leads to emission of microwave radiation. The radiation is found to induce an electronic transition between two quantum dots, similar to the absorption of light in real atoms and molecules. Using a charge detector to probe the electron transitions, we can relate a single-electron tunneling event to the absorption of a single photon. Moreover, since the energy levels of the double quantum dot can be tuned by external gate voltages, we use the device as a frequency-selective single-photon detector operating at microwave energies.
We use time-resolved charge detection techniques to probe virtual tunneling processes in a double quantum dot. The process involves an energetically forbidden state separated by an energy $delta$ from the Fermi energy in the leads. The non-zero tunne
ling probability can be interpreted as cotunneling, which occurs as a direct consequence of time-energy uncertainty. For small energy separation the electrons in the quantum dots delocalize and form molecular states. In this regime we establish the experimental equivalence between cotunneling and sequential tunneling into molecular states for electron transport in a double quantum dot. Finally, we investigate inelastic cotunneling processes involving excited states of the quantum dots. Using the time-resolved charge detection techniques, we are able to extract the shot noise of the current in the cotunneling regime.
We demonstrate real-time detection of self-interfering electrons in a double quantum dot embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer, with visibility approaching unity. We use a quantum point contact as a charge detector to perform time-resolved meas
urements of single-electron tunneling. With increased bias voltage, the quantum point contact exerts a back-action on the interferometer leading to decoherence. We attribute this to emission of radiation from the quantum point contact, which drives non-coherent electronic transitions in the quantum dots.
We use a nanowire quantum dot to probe high-frequency current fluctuations in a nearby quantum point contact. The fluctuations drive charge transitions in the quantum dot, which are measured in real-time with single-electron detection techniques. The
quantum point contact (GaAs) and the quantum dot (InAs) are fabricated in different material systems, which indicates that the interactions are mediated by photons rather than phonons. The large energy scales of the nanowire quantum dot allow radiation detection in the long-wavelength infrared regime.
A highly sensitive charge detector is realized for a quantum dot in an InAs nanowire. We have developed a self-aligned etching process to fabricate in a single step a quantum point contact in a two-dimensional electron gas and a quantum dot in an InA
s nanowire. The quantum dot is strongly coupled to the underlying point contact which is used as a charge detector. The addition of one electron to the quantum dot leads to a change of the conductance of the charge detector by typically 20%. The charge sensitivity of the detector is used to measure Coulomb diamonds as well as charging events outside the dot. Charge stability diagrams measured by transport through the quantum dot and charge detection merge perfectly.
We measure current by counting single electrons tunneling through an InAs nanowire quantum dot. The charge detector is realized by fabricating a quantum point contact in close vicinity to the nanowire. The results based on electron counting compare w
ell to a direct measurements of the quantum dot current, when taking the finite bandwidth of the detector into account. The ability to detect single electrons also opens up possibilities for manipulating and detecting individual spins in nanowire quantum dots.
The two-terminal magneto-conductance of a hole gas in C-doped AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with ohmic contacts consisting of alloyed In/Zn/Au displays a pronounced hysteresis of the conductance around zero magnetic field. The hysteresis disappears ab
ove magnetic fields of around 0.5 T and temperatures above 300 mK. For magnetic fields below 10 mT we observe a pronounced dip in the magneto-conductance. We tentatively discuss these experimental observations in the light of superconductivity of the ohmic contacts.
Strong spin-orbit interaction characteristic for p-type GaAs systems, makes such systems promising for the realization of spintronic devices. Here we report on transport measurements in nanostructures fabricated on p-type, C-doped GaAs heterostructur
es by scanning probe oxidation lithography. We observe conductance quantization in a quantum point contact, as well as pronounced Coulomb resonances in two quantum dots with different geometries. Charging energies for both dots, extracted from Coulomb diamond measurements are in agreement with the lithographic dimensions of the dots. The absence of excited states in Coulomb diamond measurements indicates that the dots are in the multi-level transport regime.
We measure transport at finite bias through a double quantum dot formed by top-gates in an InAs nanowire. Pauli spin-bockade is confirmed with several electrons in the dot. This is expected due to the small exchange interactions in InAs and the large
singlet-triplet splitting, which can be measured and tuned by a gate voltage.
We use a double quantum dot as a frequency-tunable on-chip microwave detector to investigate the radiation from electron shot-noise in a near-by quantum point contact. The device is realized by monitoring the inelastic tunneling of electrons between
the quantum dots due to photon absorption. The frequency of the absorbed radiation is set by the energy separation between the dots, which is easily tuned with gate voltages. Using time-resolved charge detection techniques, we can directly relate the detection of a tunneling electron to the absorption of a single photon.
