Quantum Transport in Semiconductor and Metal Microstructures

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This research is concerned with mesoscopic phenomena in gallium arsenide and metal microstructures, primarily related to conductance fluctuations, tunneling, and phase coherence. One- dimensional wires will be fabricated using electron-beam lithograpy techniques followed by ion-beam irradiation that produces a relatively sharp boundary between insulating and metallic regions. These one-dimensional wires will be used to study quantum chaotic scattering, a new and active field of physics. One-dimensional wires of beta-tantalum will also be made to provide a cleaner system for the study of universal conductance fluctuations. In a third area a Wheatstone Bridge will be constructed of four gallium arsenide arms that will be utilized to detect single photons. A DX center in the gallium arsenide will absorb a single photon leading to a conductance fluctuation "step". This is a novel optical processing approach that leads to a discrete known change in the configuration of scattering centers.