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A shot in the arm for fractional charge

Nature volume 389, pages 119–120 (1997)Cite this article

The theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect implies the existence of quasiparticles, collective electron states that have fractional charge. New experiments provide a direct measurement of the charge of these strange states.

One of the most basic features of the physical world is the quantization of charge in units of the electron charge, e. The only exceptions are quarks, which have charges that are multiples of e/3, but they are inseparably confined inside nuclear particles. Otherwise, all observed charges in nature are integer multiples of e. So it was quite a surprise when Robert Laughlin1, in his 1982 theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect, made the bold proposal that objects with fractional charge, e/3, could exist inside tiny semiconductor devices. In the past 15 years nearly every aspect of Laughlin's theory has been experimentally confirmed, but a direct observation of the fractional charge of the Laughlin quasiparticle has remained elusive. Now two groups (de-Picciotto et al. on page 162of this issue2, and Saminadayar et al.3) have performed a new class of experiments which probe shot noise in the quantum Hall effect, and provide compelling evidence for the fractional charge.

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Figure 1: A quantum point contact in a two-dimensional electron gas (blue).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Charles L. Kane

  2. Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kohn Hall

    Matthew P. A. Fisher

  3. University of California at Santa Barbara, California, 93106-4030, USA

    Matthew P. A. Fisher

Authors
  1. Charles L. Kane
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  2. Matthew P. A. Fisher
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Kane, C., Fisher, M. A shot in the arm for fractional charge. Nature 389, 119–120 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/38104

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