Ultrashort electron wave packets via frequency-comb synthesis

Aluffi, M., Vasselon, T., Ouacel, S., Edlbauer, H., Geffroy, C., Roulleau, P., Glattli, D. C., Georgiou, G. and Bäuerle, C. (2023) Ultrashort electron wave packets via frequency-comb synthesis. Physical Review Applied, 20(3), 034005. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.034005)

Abstract

Single-electron sources are an essential component of modern quantum nanoelectronic devices. Owing to their high accuracy and stability, they have been successfully employed for metrology applications, studying fundamental matter interactions and more recently for electron quantum optics. They are traditionally driven by state-of-the-art arbitrary wave-form generators that are capable of producing single-electron pulses on the sub-100-ps time scale. In this work, we use an alternative approach for generating ultrashort electron wave packets. By combining several harmonics provided by a frequency comb, we synthesize Lorentzian voltage pulses and then use them to generate electron wave packets. Through this technique, we report on the generation and detection of an electron wave packet with a temporal duration of 27 ps generated on top of the Fermi sea of a two-dimensional electron gas. Electron pulses this short enable studies on elusive ultrafast fundamental quantum dynamics in nanoelectronic systems and may pave the way to implementing flying-electron qubits by means of levitons.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This project has received funding from the European Union H2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 862683, “UltraFastNano”. C.B. and D.C.G. acknowledge funding from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), Project Fully Quantum ANR-16-CE30-0015. C.B. acknowledges funding from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), Project ANR QCONTROL ANR-18-JSTQ-0001. C.B., D.C.G., and P.R. acknowledge funding from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), Programmes et Équipements Prioritaire de Recherche (PEPR) Technologies Quantiques, Project E-QUBIT-FLY, ANR-22-PETQ-0012. T.V. acknowledges funding from the French Laboratory of Excellence project “LANEF” (ANR-10-LABX-0051). M.A. acknowledges the MSCA co-fund QuanG Grant No. 101081458, funded by the European Union.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Georgiou, Dr Giorgos
• Authors: Aluffi, M., Vasselon, T., Ouacel, S., Edlbauer, H., Geffroy, C., Roulleau, P., Glattli, D. C., Georgiou, G., and Bäuerle, C.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Physical Review Applied
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 2331-7019
• ISSN (Online): 2331-7019
• Published Online: 05 September 2023

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