Abstract

Pumping transport mechanisms have attracted much interest as an alternative means to generate a directed current independent of a bias voltage. The current results from periodic modulation of certain system parameters of a nanostructure connected to source and drain leads. Of particular interest is the quantized regime where exactly one or two electrons are emitted in each period. Dynamic semiconductor quantum dots with tunable barriers are among the most promising candidates: On the one hand they can produce quantized charge currents even at GHz driving frequency which is of great interest for electrical metrology. On the other hand they can be integrated with one dimensional ballistic conductors formed at the edge of a quantum Hall system, opening the route to electron optics experiments. In this talk I will present different experiments touching both aspects: Concerning metrology I will show how electron counting techniques can be used not only to characterize the quantized electron pumps but also to correct errors related to the statistical properties of the single electron source. Towards electron quantum optics and quantum information applications I will present the results of a Hanbury Brown Twiss type correlation experiment for single electrons and electron pairs emitted into a one dimensional ballistic conductor and partitioned at a potential barrier.