Time-Domain Spectroscopy of Mesoscopic Conductors Using Voltage Pulses

TL;DR

This paper proposes using voltage pulses generated by single-electron sources to perform time-domain spectroscopy of mesoscopic conductors, enabling extraction of characteristic timescales from charge pulse waiting times.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for electronic spectroscopy of mesoscopic devices using voltage pulses and analyzes waiting time distributions with Floquet scattering theory.

Findings

Waiting time distributions reveal characteristic timescales of quantum conductors.

Theoretical evaluation for Fabry-Pérot cavity and Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

Discussion of experimental feasibility and future developments.

Abstract

The development of single-electron sources has paved the way for a novel type of experiments in which individual electrons are emitted into a quantum-coherent circuit. In one approach, single-electron excitations are generated by applying Lorentzian-shaped voltage pulses to a contact. Here, we propose to use such voltage pulses for electronic spectroscopy of mesoscopic devices. Specifically, we show how characteristic timescales of a quantum-coherent conductor can be extracted from the distribution of waiting times between charge pulses propagating through a mesoscopic circuit. To illustrate our idea, we employ Floquet scattering theory to evaluate the electron waiting times for an electronic Fabry-P\'erot cavity and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. We discuss the perspectives for an experimental realization of our proposal and identify possible avenues for further developments.