Competing drag inducing mechanism in quasi-1D quantum wires*

We report 1D Coulomb drag measurements in laterally-coupled single layer GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wires. The drag resistance RD exhibits the standard modulation as the wires’ subband occupancy is varied. In contrast to previous Coulomb drag studies in one-dimensional GaAs systems, both symmetric and anti-symmetric components to the drag signals are observed upon current reversal, highlighting the presence of competing drag-inducing mechanisms. The dependence of each contribution is studied as a function of both current amplitude and temperature. The anti-symmetric results are compared with theories for momentum transfer-induced drag while the symmetric contribution is interpreted in terms of a rectification of charge fluctuations.

This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) OoS. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by NTESS LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. DOE or the United States Government