Oscillatory persistent currents in self-assembled quantum rings

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Oct 5;99(14):146808. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.146808. Epub 2007 Oct 5.

Abstract

We report the direct measurement of the persistent current carried by a single electron by means of magnetization experiments on self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum rings. We measured the first Aharonov-Bohm oscillation at a field of 14 T, in perfect agreement with our model based on the structural properties determined by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy measurements. The observed oscillation magnitude of the magnetic moment per electron is remarkably large for the topology of our nanostructures, which are singly connected and exhibit a pronounced shape asymmetry.