Half-mirror for electrons on quantum Hall copropagating edge channels

TL;DR

This paper introduces a coherent half-mirror device for dividing spin-polarized electrons into copropagating quantum Hall edge channels, demonstrating high-visibility interference and potential for quantum information applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel half-mirror device for electrons, with experimental validation, theoretical modeling, and insights into spin-orbit interaction effects.

Findings

High-visibility Aharonov-Bohm oscillations up to 60%

Stable device performance suitable for quantum info processing

Successful numerical simulation matching experimental results

Abstract

A half-mirror that divides a spin-polarized electron into two parallel copropagating spin-resolved quantum Hall edge channels one half each is presented in this study. The partition process was coherent, as confirmed by observing the Aharonov-Bohm oscillation at a high visibility of up to 60% in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which comprised two such half-mirrors. The device characteristics were highly stable, making the device promising in the application of quantum information processing. The beam-splitting process is theoretically modelled, and the numerical simulation successfully reproduces the experimental observation. The partition of the electron accompanied by the spin rotation is explained by the angular momentum transfer from the orbital to the spin via spin-orbit interactions.