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Waveform measurement of charge- and spin-density wavepackets in a chiral Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid

Nature Physics volume 13, pages 559–562 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

In contrast to a free-electron system, a Tomonaga–Luttinger (TL) liquid in a one-dimensional (1D) electron system hosts charge and spin excitations as independent entities1,2,3,4. When an electron is injected into a TL liquid, it transforms into charge- and spin-density wavepackets that propagate at different group velocities and move away from each other. This process, known as spin–charge separation, is the hallmark of TL physics. While spin–charge separation has been probed in momentum- or frequency-domain measurements in various 1D systems5,6,7,8,9, waveforms of separated excitations, which are a direct manifestation of the TL behaviour, have been long awaited to be measured. Here, we present a waveform measurement for the pseudospin–charge separation process in a chiral TL liquid comprising quantum Hall edge channels9,10,11,12,13. The charge- and pseudospin-density waveforms are captured by utilizing a spin-resolved sampling scope that records the spin-up or -down component of the excitations. This experimental technique provides full information for time evolution of the 1D electron system, including not only propagation of TL eigenmodes but also their decay in a practical device14.

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Figure 1: Principle of the experiment.
Figure 2: Experimental set-up.
Figure 3: Representative experimental results.
Figure 4: Tuning transport properties.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank H. Kamata, N. Kumada and Y. Tokura for their beneficial discussions. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (JP26103508, JP15H05854, JP26247051, JP16H06009) and the Nanotechnology Platform Program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-H81 Ookayama, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan

    M. Hashisaka, N. Hiyama & T. Fujisawa

  2. NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato-Wakamiya, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan

    T. Akiho & K. Muraki

Authors
  1. M. Hashisaka
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  2. N. Hiyama
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  3. T. Akiho
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  4. K. Muraki
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Contributions

M.H. and T.F. designed and supervised this study. N.H. and M.H. performed the experiment and analysed the data. T.A. and K.M. grew the wafer. M.H. wrote the manuscript with help from T.F. and K.M. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. Hashisaka or T. Fujisawa.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Hashisaka, M., Hiyama, N., Akiho, T. et al. Waveform measurement of charge- and spin-density wavepackets in a chiral Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid. Nature Phys 13, 559–562 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4062

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