2016/11/22 by Mitali Banerjee, Moty Heiblum, Amir Rosenblatt +7 · 226 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Condensed matter physics #Conductance #Conductance quantum #Electron #Fractional quantum Hall effect #Landau quantization #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantization (signal processing) #Quantum Hall effect #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Quantum point contact #Quantum spin Hall effect #Quantum well #Quasiparticle #Superconductivity #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nature22052
published in Nature 545(7652), 75-79 (Nature Portfolio)
arxiv created 2016/11/22 · openalex publication_date 2017/04/17 · arxiv updated 2017/05/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The quantum of heat conductance of ballistic one-dimensional (1D) channels, being gQ=k0T with k0=pi2*2kB2/3h (T - temperature, kB - Boltzmann's constant, h - Planck's constant), is an important fundamental constant. While the quantization of the electrical conductance of 1D ballistic conductors has long been experimentally established, a demonstration of the quantization of thermal conductance proved to be much harder. It has already been accomplished for weakly interacting systems of phonons, photons, and electronic Fermi-liquids. Theoretically, however, the quantization must also hold in strongly interacting systems, such as the Fractional Quantum Hall effect (FQHE), where electrons fractionalize into anyons and chargeless quasiparticles such as neutral Majorana fermions. Since the bulk in the FQHE is incompressible, it is not expected to contribute significantly to the heat conductance, which is determined by chiral 1D edge modes. The thermal conductance reflects topological properties of the FQH electronic systems to which the electrical conductance gives no access. Here, we present results of extensive measurements of the heat conductance in 'particle-like' (Laughlin's) and 'hole-like' fractional states. We verify the universal value of the quantum of thermal conductance of the charged fractional modes as well as for chargeless neutral modes. We also prove the validity of the theoretical predictions for the more complex (and less studied) 'hole-like' states. Heat transport measurements open a door to ample information, not easily accessible by conductance measurements.