Nikhil Bhandari

Observation of a 0.5 conductance plateau in asymmetrically biased GaAs quantum point contact

We report the observation of a robust anomalous conductance plateau near G = 0.5 G0 (G0 = 2e2/h) in asymmetrically biased AlGaAs/GaAs quantum point contacts (QPCs), with in-plane side gates in the presence of lateral spin-orbit coupling. This is interpreted as evidence of spin polarization in the narrow portion of the QPC. The appearance and evolution of the conductance anomaly has been studied at T = 4.2 K as a function of the potential asymmetry between the side gates. Because GaAs is a material with established processing techniques, high mobility, and a relatively high spin coherence length, the observation of spontaneous spin polarization in a side-gated GaAs QPC could eventually lead to the realization of an all-electric spin-valve at tens of degrees Kelvin.

Influence of surface scattering on the anomalous conductance plateaus in an asymmetrically biased InAs/In0.52Al0.48As quantum point contact

We study of the appearance and evolution of several anomalous (i.e., G < G(0) D 2e(2)/h) conductance plateaus in an In(0.52)Al(0.48)As/InAs quantum point contact (QPC). This work was performed at T = 4:2 K as a function of the offset bias ΔV(G) between the two in-plane gates of the QPC. The number and location of the anomalous conductance plateaus strongly depend on the polarity of the offset bias. The anomalous plateaus appear only over an intermediate range of offset bias of several volts. They are quite robust, being observed over a maximum range of nearly 1 V for the common sweep voltage applied to the two gates. These results are interpreted as evidence for the sensitivity of the QPC spin polarization to defects (surface roughness and impurity (dangling bond) scattering) generated during the etching process that forms the QPC side walls. This assertion is supported by non-equilibrium Green function simulations of the conductance of a single QPC in the presence of dangling bonds on its walls. Our simulations show that a spin conductance polarization as high as 98% can be achieved despite the presence of dangling bonds. The maximum in is not necessarily reached where the conductance of the channel is equal to 0:5G(0).

Understanding the anomalous conductance plateau in asymmetrically biased InAs/In0.52Al0.48As quantum point contacts—A step towards a tunable all electric spin valve

The appearance and evolution of an anomalous conductance plateau at 0.4(2e2/h) in an In0.52Al0.48As/InAs quantum point contact (QPC), in the presence of lateral spin-orbit coupling, has been studied at T = 4.2 K as a function of the potential asymmetry between the in-plane gates of the QPC. The anomalous plateau, a signature of spin polarization in the channel, appears only over an intermediate range (around 3 V) of bias asymmetry. It is quite robust, being observed over a maximum range of nearly 1 V of the sweep voltage common to the two in-plane gates. The conductance measurements show evidence of surface roughness and dangling bond scattering from the side walls of the QPC.

Steps toward an all-electric spin valve using side-gated quantum point contacts with lateral spin-orbit coupling

Spin-based electronics or ‘spintronics’ has been a topic of interest for over two decades. Electronic devices based on the manipulation of the electron spin are believed to offer the possibility of very small, non-volatile and ultrafast devices with very low power consumption. Since the proposal of a spin-field-effect transistor (SpinFET) by Datta and Das in 1990, many attempts have been made to achieve spin injection, detection and manipulation in semiconductor materials either by incorporating ferromagnetic materials into device architectures or by using external magnetic fields. This approach has significant design complexities, partly due to the influence of stray magnetic fields on device operation. In addition, magnetic electrodes can have magneto-resistance and spurious Hall voltages that can complicate device performance. To date, there has been no successful report of a working Datta–Das SpinFET. Over the last few years we have investigated an all-electric means of manipulating spins, one that only relies on electric fields and voltages and not on ferromagnetic materials or external magnetic fields. We believe we have found a pathway toward this goal, using in-plane side-gated quantum point contacts (QPCs) that rely on lateral spin–orbit coupling to create spin polarization. In this paper we discuss several aspects of our work, beginning with our finding what we believe is nearly complete spin-polarization in InAs QPCs by purely electrical means, our theoretical work to understand the basic mechanisms leading to that situation (asymmetric lateral confinement, lateral spin–orbit coupling and a strong e–e interaction), and our recent work extending the effort to GaAs and to dual QPC systems where one QPC acts as a polarizer and the other as an analyzer.

Tunable all electric spin polarizer

We propose a tunable all-electric spin polarizer made of a quantum point contact (QPC) with four gates—two in-plane side gates in series. The pair of gates near the source is asymmetrically biased to create spin polarization in the QPC channel, the second pair near the drain is symmetrically biased and this bias is varied to maximize the QPC spin polarization. The range of common mode bias on the first set of gates over which maximum spin polarization is achieved is much broader for the four gate structure compared to a QPC with a single pair of gates.

THz Magneto-photoresponse of an InAs-based quantum point contact in the region of cyclotron resonance

We have studied the THz magneto-photoresponse of a 2DEG in an InAs quantum well with an embedded Quantum Point Contact in the frequency/field region where electron cyclotron resonance (CR) dominates the response. The photoresponse near CR is manifested as an envelope of the amplitude of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations of the 2DEG with a peak near the CR field. Clear spin-splitting of the quantum oscillations is observed for B > 4 T. Data were simulated by a model of resonant carrier heating, and from the simulations the carrier density, the CR effective mass, scattering times and the g-factor were obtained. We find a significantly enhanced g-factor apparently due to exchange interaction.

The g-factor of quasi-two-dimensional electrons in InAs/InGaAs/InAlAs inserted-channels

We have measured the Landau-level spin-splitting of two-dimensional electrons in the composite InAs/InGaAs channels of two InAs/InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructures with different alloy compositions by magnetotransport and THz magneto-photoconductivity in magnetic fields up to 10 T. The structures differ importantly in the mobility of the channel, the electron density and the composition of the barriers. The magnitudes of the experimental g-factors for B along the quantization axis and their anisotropies are larger by at least a factor of 2 than the corresponding calculated single particle values. The angular dependence of many-body exchange contributions and the effects of broadening of Landau–level densities of states are necessary for understanding this behaviour. We find evidence for a marked decrease of the exchange contribution at low perpendicular magnetic fields in the higher mobility sample from coincidence measurements, but no indications of such behaviour in the lower mobility sample.