Coherence and Indistinguishability of Single Electrons Emitted by Independent Sources

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1232572
• Publication Date: 2013-01-25T02:38:41Z
• Authors: E. Bocquillon; V. Freulon; J.-M Berroir; P. Degiovanni; B. Plaçais; A. Cavanna; Y. Jin; G. Fève
• Keywords: [PHYS]Physics [physics]; [PHYS.COND.CM-MSQHE] Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect [cond-mat.mes-hall]; Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics; Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall); FOS: Physical sciences; electron quantum optics; 7. Clean energy; [PHYS.COND.CM-MSQHE]Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect [cond-mat.mes-hall]; quantum transport; quantum Hall effect; [PHYS] Physics [physics]

Interfering Single Electrons

Quantum information processing requires the generation of indistinguishable and coherent particles. While these have been demonstrated for photons, carrying it over for electrons and the possibility of quantum electronic implementations has been challenging. Using two independent single-electron sources patterned into a two-dimensional electron gas,

Bocquillon et al.

(p. 1054 , published online 24 January; see the Perspective by

Schönenberger

) performed single-electron interference experiments. The results demonstrate that the generated electrons can possess the desired properties for potential quantum applications.