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Science 25 May 2007:
Vol. 316. no. 5828, pp. 1169 - 1172
DOI: 10.1126/science.1141243
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Reports

An On-Demand Coherent Single-Electron Source

G. Fève,1 A. Mahé,1 J.-M. Berroir,1 T. Kontos,1 B. Plaçais,1 D. C. Glattli,1,2* A. Cavanna,3 B. Etienne,3 Y. Jin3

We report on the electron analog of the single-photon gun. On-demand single-electron injection in a quantum conductor was obtained using a quantum dot connected to the conductor via a tunnel barrier. Electron emission was triggered by the application of a potential step that compensated for the dot-charging energy. Depending on the barrier transparency, the quantum emission time ranged from 0.1 to 10 nanoseconds. The single-electron source should prove useful for the use of quantum bits in ballistic conductors. Additionally, periodic sequences of single-electron emission and absorption generate a quantized alternating current.

1 Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain, Département de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
2 Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
3 Laboratoire de Photonique et Nanostructures, UPR20 CNRS, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis Cedex, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: glattli{at}lpa.ens.fr

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)