Channel-resolved wavefunctions of transverse magnetic focusing

Abstract

Transverse magnetic focusing (TMF) is a staple technique in mesoscopic physics, used to study quasiparticles in a manner akin to mass spectrometry. However, the quantum nature of TMF has been difficult to appreciate due to several challenges in addressing the wavelike properties of the quasiparticles. Here, we report a numerical solution and experimental demonstration of the TMF wavefunction for the multichannel case, implemented using quantum point contacts in a two-dimensional electron gas. The wavefunctions could be understood as transverse modes of the emitter tracing a classical trajectory, and the geometric origins of multichannel effects were easily intuited from this simple picture. We believe our results may correspond to a near-field regime of TMF, in contrast to a far-field regime where the well-established semiclassical results are valid. Based on disorder analysis, we expect these results will apply to a wide range of realistic devices, suggesting that spatially coherent features even at the wavelength scale can be appreciated from TMF. Transverse magnetic focusing (TMF) has been widely used in mesoscopic physics, yet its quantum mechanical properties remain difficult to fully appreciate. Here, the authors present a numerical solution of TMF, analysed with channel-resolution and compared against experimental data, to expose the multichannel signatures of the TMF wavefunction.