Young's double-slit interference observation of hot electrons in semiconductors

We have carried out Young's double-slit experiment for the hot-electron wave in man-made semiconductor structures with a 25-nm-space double slit in an InP layer buried within GaInAs, a 190-nm-thick GaInAsP hot-electron wave propagation layer, and a collector array of 80 nm pitch. At 4.2 K, dependences of the collector current on the magnetic field were measured and found to agree clearly with the double-slit interference theory. The present results show evidence for the wave front spread of hot electrons using the three-dimensional state in materials, for the first time, and the possibility of using top-down fabrication techniques to achieve quantum wave front control in materials.