2006/11/12 by B. Hackens, F. Martins, Frederico Martins +9 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Ballistic conduction #Condensed matter physics #Conductance #Electron #Materials science #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Nanodevice #Nanoscopic scale #Nanotechnology #Physics #Quantum #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nphys459
published as Nature Physics, published online 12 november 2006 · 11 text pages + 3 figures
openalex publication_date 2006/11/12 · arxiv created 2006/11/14 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Traditionally, the understanding of quantum transport, coherent and ballistic1, relies on the measurement of macroscopic properties such as the conductance. While powerful when coupled to statistical theories, this approach cannot provide a detailed image of "how electrons behave down there". Ideally, understanding transport at the nanoscale would require tracking each electron inside the nano-device. Significant progress towards this goal was obtained by combining Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) with transport measurements2-7. Some studies even showed signatures of quantum transport in the surrounding of nanostructures4-6. Here, SPM is used to probe electron propagation inside an open quantum ring exhibiting the archetype of electron wave interference phenomena: the Aharonov-Bohm effect8. Conductance maps recorded while scanning the biased tip of a cryogenic atomic force microscope above the quantum ring show that the propagation of electrons, both coherent and ballistic, can be investigated in situ, and even be controlled by tuning the tip potential.