Evidence for universality of tunable-barrier electron pumps

Abstract

We review recent precision measurements on semiconductor tunable-barrier electron pumps operating in a ratchet mode. Seven studies on five different designs of pumps have reported measurements of the pump current with relative total uncertainties around $10^{-6}$ or less. Combined with theoretical models of electron capture by the pumps, these experimental data exhibits encouraging evidence that the pumps operate according to a universal mechanism, independent of the details of device design. Evidence for robustness of the pump current against changes in the control parameters is at a more preliminary stage, but also encouraging, with two studies reporting robustness of the pump current against three or more parameters in the range of $\sim 5\times 10^{-7}$ to $\sim 2\times 10^{-6}$. This review highlights the need for an agreed protocol for tuning the electron pump for optimal operation, as well as more rigorous evaluations of the robustness in a wide range of pump designs.

18 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (9)

• Single-parameter non-adiabatic quantized charge pumping
• Robust single-parameter quantized charge pumping
• Precision comparison of the quantum Hall effect in graphene and gallium arsenide
• Counting statistics for electron capture in a dynamic quantum dot
• An accurate single-electron pump based on a highly tunable silicon quantum dot
• Single-parameter quantized charge pumping in high magnetic fields
• Enhanced current quantization in high frequency electron pumps in a perpendicular magnetic field
• Quantum fluctuations and coherence in high-precision single-electron capture
• A summary of the Planck constant measurements using a watt balance with a superconducting solenoid at NIST

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Roadmap on quantum nanotechnologies
• Improvements of the programmable quantum current generator for better traceability of electrical current measurements
• Single-Hole Pump in Germanium
• Controlling the error mechanism in a tunable-barrier non-adiabatic charge pump by dynamic gate compensation