Modulation of one-dimensional electron density in n-AlGaAs/GaAs edge quantum wire transistor

An array of AlGaAs/GaAs edge quantum wires (EQWIs) with an effective width of 80 nm was successfully prepared on a (111)B microfacet structure on a patterned substrate by molecular beam epitaxy. By forming a gate electrode on the wires, field effect transistor action has been successfully demonstrated. The conductance of the wire measured in magnetic fields has exhibited a clear Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillation, and its Landau plot shows a characteristic nonlinearity caused by the magnetic depopulation of one-dimensional (1D) subbands. It has been found that as the gate voltage decreases, the SdH peaks shift systematically toward lower magnetic fields, indicating a successful modulation of 1D electron density in the EQWI.