Observation of quantum states without a semiclassical equivalence bound by a magnetic field gradient

B. Schüler, M. Cerchez, Hengyi Xu, J. Schluck, T. Heinzel, D. Reuter, A. D. Wieck

Published 2014-07-11Version 1

Resonant transmission through electronic quantum states that exist at the zero points of a magnetic field gradient inside a ballistic quantum wire is reported. Since the semiclassical motion along such a line of zero magnetic field takes place in form of unidirectional snake trajectories, these states have no classical equivalence. The existence of such quantum states has been predicted more than a decade ago by theoretical considerations of Reijniers and coworkers [1]. We further show how their properties depend on the amplitude of the magnetic field profile as well as on the Fermi energy.