Approaching Collimation with a Graphene-based Quantum Point Contact

Quantum point contacts (QPCs) are narrow constrictions on the order of the Fermi wavelength that bridge together two electrically conducting regions. QPCs display sensitive conductance quantization and are a classic playing field to illustrate clean, ballistic transport in low-dimensional materials. However, graphene-based QPCs are challenging to fabricate, in part due to two reasons: edge disorder that suppresses conductance quantization and imperfect gate depletion leading to charge puddles. Using graphene-boron nitride heterostructures, we demonstrate improvements over a simple etch and Au-gating method by introducing a protective alumina dielectric layer. We use this method to create two QPCs in series and explore potential electron-beam collimation at low magnetic field, in the spirit of Molenkamp (1990).