Effects of electron confinement on the acoustoelectric current in suspended quantum point contacts

An acoustoelectric current driven through a quantum point contact (QPC) on a suspended nanobridge by surface acoustic waves displays a non-trivial behavior in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Our study reveals that the dependencies of this current on the QPC gate voltage and magnetic field can be explained by a variable material parameter σm . We develop a theoretical model for this phenomenon based on the modification of the Coulomb interaction and, correspondingly, the electron-SAWs coupling in the presence of the electron confinement.