# Mach-Zehnder interferometry using spin- and valley-polarized quantum   Hall edge states in graphene

**Authors:** Di S. Wei, Toeno van der Sar, Javier D. Sanchez-Yamagishi, Kenji, Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Bertrand I. Halperin and, Amir Yacoby

arXiv: 1703.00110 · 2017-08-22

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates high-visibility Mach-Zehnder electron interferometers in graphene using spin- and valley-polarized quantum Hall edge states, revealing robust coherence and new insights into edge-channel interactions.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel graphene-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer with record visibility, utilizing spin- and valley-polarized edge channels and exploring their scattering and coherence properties.

## Key findings

- Achieved up to 98% visibility in electron interference.
-  Demonstrated robustness of the interferometer at high energies.
-  Showed inter-channel scattering can act as beamsplitters.

## Abstract

Confined to a two-dimensional plane, electrons in a strong magnetic field travel along the edge in one-dimensional quantum Hall channels that are protected against backscattering. These channels can be used as solid-state analogues of monochromatic beams of light, providing a unique platform for studying electron interference. Electron interferometry is regarded as one of the most promising routes for studying fractional and non-Abelian statistics and quantum entanglement via two-particle interference. However, creating an edge-channel interferometer in which electron-electron interactions play an important role requires a clean system and long phase coherence lengths. Here we realize electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometers with record visibilities of up to 98% using spin- and valley-polarized edge channels that co-propagate along a PN junction in graphene. We find that inter-channel scattering between same-spin edge channels along the physical graphene edge can be used to form beamsplitters, while the absence of inter-channel scattering along gate-defined interfaces can be used to form isolated interferometer arms. Surprisingly, our interferometer is robust to dephasing effects at energies an order of magnitude larger than observed in pioneering experiments on GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. Our results shed light on the nature of edge-channel equilibration and open up new possibilities for studying exotic electron statistics and quantum phenomena.

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.00110/full.md

## Figures

11 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.00110/full.md

## References

32 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.00110/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1703.00110