2013/12/19 by Lukas Fricke, Michael Wulf, B. Kaestner +16 · 81 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Computational physics #Current (fluid) #Detector #Electron #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Metrology #Optics #Physics #Quantum #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Quantum tunnelling #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.112.226803
published in Physical Review Letters 112(22), 226803 (American Physical Society)
arxiv created 2013/12/19 · openalex publication_date 2014/06/06 · arxiv updated 2014/06/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The future redefinition of the international system of units in terms of natural constants requires a robust, high-precision quantum standard for the electrical base unit ampere. However, the reliability of any single-electron current source generating a nominally quantized output current I=ef by delivering single electrons with charge e at a frequency f is eventually limited by the stochastic nature of the underlying quantum mechanical tunneling process. We experimentally explore a path to overcome this fundamental limitation by serially connecting clocked single-electron emitters with multiple in situ single-electron detectors. Correlation analysis of the detector signatures during current generation reveals erroneous pumping events and enables us to determine the deviation of the output current from the nominal quantized value ef. This demonstrates the concept of a self-referenced single-electron source for electrical quantum metrology.