Making quantum devices with electrical properties that are robust to thermal cycling using AlGaAs/GaAs HIGFET structures

The transport properties of quantum devices on modulation-doped AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures change after thermal cycling above $\sim$130 K due to charge redistribution in the modulation doping layer. This is particularly evident in a quantum dot's magnetoconductance fluctuations (MCF) which provide a sensitive fingerprint of electron trajectories through the dot. We show that the MCF become reproducible with high-fidelity after thermal cycling to 300 K in quantum dots made using AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures without modulation doping. This is achieved by populating the dot electrostatically using a Heterostructure Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor (HIGFET) architecture. Our result demonstrates ionized impurity scattering has a measurable effect on transport in quantum dots, even in the ballistic transport regime. It highlights the potential for HIGFET-based architectures to provide devices with significantly reduced small-angle scattering at equivalent transport mobility, and more thermally robust electrical properties. More broadly, we suggest a quantum dot's MCF may be a useful tool for studying the temporal/thermal stability of disorder in other semiconductor materials.