Engineering Research Equipment: Superconducting Magnet for Electron Waveguide Device Research

这项工程研究设备补助金将使麻省理工学院电气工程和计算机科学系能够购买一个超导磁体用于支持工程研究。该设备将主要用于加强正在进行的新型电子波导器件的研究。最近在一维（1D）半导体异质结构中的电子波导演示为构思先进的电子器件开辟了全新的可能性。就像光波导中的光子一样，在电子波导中，电子传播的模式是由限制静电势的几何形状决定的。与光子不同，如果使用分闸技术，电子波导模式可以很容易地通过金属栅极的场效应作用进行调谐。通过这种方法，可以合成耦合一维系统。这代表了一种前所未有的电子相互作用的全新几何结构。我们的研究计划的目标是演示两个紧密间隔的电子波导之间的电子定向耦合。到目前为止，在国家科学基金会的赞助下，包括第一个弹道双电子波导器件的制造和第一个电子波导隧穿光谱的实现。详细的磁场研究将有助于阐明这些双电子波导器件中电子的输运和隧穿的物理性质。

This Engineering Research Equipment Grant will enable the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to purchase a superconducting magnet to be dedicated to support research in engineering. The equipment will be used primarily to strengthen on- going research on novel electron waveguide devices. The recent demonstration of electron waveguiding in one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor heterostructures has opened up entirely new possibilities for conceiving advanced electron devices. Much like photons in optical waveguides, in an electron waveguide the modes of electron propagation are determined by the geometry of the confining electrostatic potential. Unlike photons, if a split-gate technology is used, the electron waveguide modes can be easily tuned through the field-effect action of metal gates. In this approach, coupled 1D systems can be synthesized. This represents an entirely novel geometry for electron interaction never before examined. The goal of our research program is the demonstration of electron directional coupling between two closely spaced electron waveguides. Progress to date, under the sponsorship of NSF, include the fabrication of the first balistic dual electron waveguide device and the realization of the first tunneling spectroscopy of an electron waveguide. Detailed magnetic field studies will be instrumental in clarifying the physics of transport and tunneling of electrons in these dual electron waveguide devices.