Abstract

In one-dimensional conductors, electron-electron interactions result in correlated electronic systems markedly different from conventional Fermi liquids. At low energy, a hallmark signature of these so-called Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids (TLL) is the universal conductance scaling curve in presence of an impurity. A seemingly different problem is that of the quantum laws of electricity, when distinct quantum conductors are assembled in a circuit. In particular, the conductance across a quantum conductor embedded in a dissipative circuit is suppressed at low energy, a phenomenon called dynamical Coulomb blockade (DCB).

In this talk, I will present an experimental investigation of the DCB on a single-channel quantum conductor realized by a quantum point contact in a two-dimensional electron gas. A remarkable feature of the data is that it points to a general phenomenological expression for the conductance, for whatever single-channel quantum conductor that is embedded in an arbitrary linear circuit. In the particular case of a pure resistance in series with the single-channel conductor, theory predicts a mapping between DCB and the transport across a TLL with an impurity. By confronting the phenomenological expression and the data with the TLL universal conductance scaling curve, we demonstrate experimentally this mapping.

The powerful TLL framework advances our understanding of the laws governing quantum transport with distinct quantum components. Reciprocally, the demonstrated mapping provides a new test-bed for TLL predictions.

A. Anthore, S. Jezouin, F.D. Parmentier, M. Albert, U. Gennser, A. Cavanna, I. Safi & F. Pierre CNRS / Univ Paris Diderot, Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures, 91460 Marcoussis, France CNRS / Univ Paris Sud, Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, 91405 Orsay, France