This proposal describes a program of research which builds upon work done while the principal investigator was a postdoctoral member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories. In previous studies it was demonstrated that within the ballistic mean free path, electrons in two- dimensional electron systems can be controlled in a manner similar to the manipulation of photons in optical systems. This field of research can aptly be labeled ballistic electron optics. The low temperature electronic mobilities in the devices of the previous studies were extremely high (> 5x106cm2/Vs), corresponding to elastic mean free paths of many tens of micrometers. This enabled the manipulation of ballistic carriers over relatively long distances (>10um). Since the characteristic electron wavelength is typically two orders of magnitude smaller than this, the wave nature of the electrons did not play an important role, and analogies with geometrical optics have been made. In order to further this field of research and to investigate whether ballistic electron optical devices have the potential for the creation of new types of switching systems and computer architectures, the present research is focused on the following areas: 1) the investigation of how these devices can be scaled down in size and what role the wave nature of the electrons will play, 2) integrating two or more devices together, and 3) the development of new ballistic electron devices. The equipment necessary to carry out this research (3He cryostat with 11 Tesla magnet, and photolithography and electron beam lithography facilities) are available within the Center For Solid State Electronics Research of which the principle investigator is a member.
