title: Coherent time evolution of a single-electron wave function.
abstract: Observation of coherent single-electron dynamics is severely limited by experimental bandwidth. We present a method to overcome this using moving quantum dots defined by surface acoustic waves. Each dot holds a single electron, and travels through a static potential landscape. When the dot passes abruptly between regions of different confinement, the electron is excited into a superposition of states, and oscillates unitarily from side to side. We detect these oscillations by using a weak, repeated measurement of the current across a tunnel barrier, and find close agreement with simulations.
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Astley
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Thorn
authors.forename: D K L
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Oi
authors.forename: C H W
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: C J B
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: G A C
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Farrer
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pepper