Unambiguous path discrimination in a two-path interferometer

Unexpected behavior in a two-path electron interferometer.

We report the observation of an unpredictable behavior of a simple, two-path, electron interferometer. Utilizing an electronic analog of the well-known optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer, with current carrying edge channels in the quantum Hall effect regime, we measured high contrast Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations. Surprisingly, the amplitude of the oscillations varied with energy in a lobe f...

Electromechanical Which–Path Interferometer

An Electromechanical Which–Path Interferometer

We investigate the possibility of an electromechanical which–path interferometer, in which electrons travelling through an Aharonov–Bohm ring incorporating a quantum dot in one of the arms are dephased by an interaction with the fundamental flexural mode of a radio frequency cantilever. The cantilever is positioned so that its tip lies just above the dot and a bias is applied so that an electri...

All-fiber three-path Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

We report the realization of a three-path Mach-Zehnder interferometer using single-mode fibers and two integrated 3 x 3 fiber couplers. We observed enhanced phase sensitivity, as compared with two-path interferometers, with a visibility of the interference pattern of more than 97%. This interferometer has an analog in two-photon interferometry, and we believe it to be the first nontrivial examp...

Heterodyne interferometer with unequal path lengths

Laser interferometry is an extensively used diagnostic for plasma experiments. Existing plasma interferometers are designed on the presumption that the scene and reference beam path lengths have to be equal, a requirement that is costly in both the number of optical components and the alignment complexity. It is shown here that having equal path lengths is not necessary, instead, what is requir...