Mitigating decoherence in hot electron interferometry

Abstract: Due to their high energy, hot electrons in quantum Hall edge states can be considered as single particles that have the potential to be used for quantum optics-like experiments. Unlike photons, however, electrons typically undergo scattering processes in transport, which results in a loss of coherence and limits their ability to show quantum-coherent behaviour. Here we study theoretically the decoherence mechanisms of hot electrons in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and highlight the role played by both acoustic and optical phonon emission. We discuss optimal choices of experimental parameters and show that high visibilities of $\gtrsim 85\%$ are achievable in hot-electron devices over relatively long distances of 10 $\mu$m. We also discuss energy filtration techniques to remove decoherent electrons and show that this can increase visibilities to over $95\%$. This represents an improvement over Fermi-level electron quantum optics, and suggests hot-electron charge pumps as a platform for realising quantum-coherent nanoelectronic devices.