Universality and Multiplication of Gigahertz-Operated Silicon Pumps with Parts Per Million-Level Uncertainty

Nano Lett. 2024 Jan 10;24(1):9-15. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c02858. Epub 2023 Dec 19.

Abstract

The universality of physical phenomena is a pivotal concept underlying quantum standards. In this context, the realization of a quantum current standard using silicon single-electron pumps necessitates the verification of the equivalence across multiple devices. Herein, we experimentally investigate the universality of pumped currents from two different silicon single-electron devices which are placed inside the cryogen-free dilution refrigerator whose temperature (mixing chamber plate) was ∼150 mK under the operation of the pump devices. By direct comparison using an ultrastable current amplifier as a galvanometer, we confirm that two pumped currents are consistent with ∼1 ppm uncertainty. Furthermore, we realize quantum-current multiplication with a similar uncertainty by adding the currents of two different gigahertz (GHz)-operated silicon pumps, whose generated currents are confirmed to be identical. These results pave the way for realizing a quantum current standard in the nanoampere range and a quantum metrology triangle experiment using silicon pump devices.

Keywords: parallel operation; quantum dot; quantum electrical metrology; silicon; single-electron pump; universality.