Adiabatic Edge Channel Transport in a Nanowire Quantum Point Contact Register

We report on a prototype device geometry where a number of quantum point contacts are connected in series in a single quasi-ballistic InAs nanowire. At finite magnetic field the backscattering length is increased up to the micron-scale and the quantum point contacts are connected adiabatically. Hence, several input gates can control the outcome of a ballistic logic operation. The absence of backscattering is explained in terms of selective population of spatially separated edge channels. Evidence is provided by regular Aharonov-Bohm-type conductance oscillations in transverse magnetic fields, in agreement with magnetoconductance calculations. The observation of the Shubnikov-de Haas effect at large magnetic fields corroborates the existence of spatially separated edge channels and provides a new means for nanowire characterization.

× drift momentum spectrometer with high resolution and large phase space acceptance

We propose a new type of momentum spectrometer, which uses the R×B drift effect to disperse the charged particles in a uniformly curved magnetic field, and measures the particles with large phase space acceptance and high resolution. This kind of R×B spectrometer is designed for the momentum analyses of the decay electrons and protons in the PERC (Proton and Electron Radiation Channel) beam station, which provides a strong magnetic field to guide the charged particles in the instrument. Instead of eliminating the guiding field, the R×B spectrometer evolves the field gradually to the analysing field, and the charged particles can be adiabatically transported during the dispersion and detection. The drifts of the particles have similar properties as their dispersion in the normal magnetic spectrometer. Besides, the R×B spectrometer is especially ideal for the measurements of particles with low momenta and large incident angles. We present a design of the R×B spectrometer, which can be used in PERC. For the particles with solid angle smaller than 88 msr, the maximum aberration is below 10-4. The resolution of the momentum spectra can reach 14.4 keV/c, if the particle position measurements have a resolution of 1 mm.