Abstract
In a “thought experiment,” now a classic in physics pedagogy, Feynman visualizes Young’s double-slit interference experiment with electrons in magnetic field. He shows that the addition of an Aharonov-Bohm phase is equivalent to shifting the zero-field wave interference pattern by an angle expected from the Lorentz force calculation for classical particles. We have performed this experiment with one slit, instead of two, where ballistic electrons within two-dimensional electron gas diffract through a small orifice formed by a quantum point contact (QPC). As the QPC width is comparable to the electron wavelength, the observed intensity profile is further modulated by the transverse waveguide modes present at the injector QPC. Our experiments open the way to realizing diffraction-based ideas in mesoscopic physics.
- Received 7 September 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.010403
© 2014 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Vector Potentials Rule
Published 3 January 2014
A famous thought experiment on quantum particles in magnetic fields has been realized with nanostructures.
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