Electrons surfing on a sound wave as a platform for quantum optics with flying electrons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a high-efficiency single electron source and detector using surface acoustic waves in a quantum channel, enabling precise electron transport for quantum optics experiments and potential quantum information applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to isolate and detect single flying electrons with high efficiency using surface acoustic waves in a 1D channel, advancing quantum electron optics.

Findings

Single electron transport with 96% emission efficiency.

Detection efficiency of 92% for single electrons.

Electron transfer can be triggered faster than the coherence time of GaAs spin qubits.

Abstract

Electrons in a metal are indistinguishable particles that strongly interact with other electrons and their environment. Isolating and detecting a single flying electron after propagation to perform quantum optics like experiments at the single electron level is therefore a challenging task. Up to date, only few experiments have been performed in a high mobility two-dimensional electron gas where the electron propagates almost ballistically. Flying electrons were detected via the current generated by an ensemble of electrons and electron correlations were encrypted in the current noise. Here we demonstrate the experimental realisation of high efficiency single electron source and single electron detector for a quantum medium where a single electron is propagating isolated from the other electrons through a one-dimensional channel. The moving potential is excited by a surface acoustic wave, which carries the single electron along the 1D-channel at a speed of 3\mum/ns. When such a quantum channel is placed between two quantum dots, a single electron can be transported from one quantum dot to the other, which is several micrometres apart, with a quantum efficiency of emission and detection of 96% and 92%, respectively. Furthermore, the transfer of the electron can be triggered on a timescale shorter than the coherence time T2* of GaAs spin qubits6. Our work opens new avenues to study the teleportation of a single electron spin and the distant interaction between spatially separated qubits in a condensed matter system.