Time-dependent simulation and analytical modelling of electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometry with edge-states wave packets

We compute the exact single-particle time-resolved dynamics of electronic Mach–Zehnder interferometers based on Landau edge-states transport, and assess the effect of the spatial localization of carriers on the interference pattern. The exact carrier dynamics is obtained by solving numerically the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with a suitable 2D potential profile reproducing the interferometer design. An external magnetic field, driving the system to the quantum Hall regime with filling factor one, is included. The injected carriers are represented by a superposition of edge states, and their interference pattern—controlled via magnetic field and/or area variation—reproduces the one of (Ji et al 2003 Nature 422 415). By tuning the system towards different regimes, we find two additional features in the transmission spectra, both related to carrier localization, namely a damping of the Aharonov– Bohm oscillations with increasing difference in the arms length, and an increased mean transmission that we trace to the energy-dependent transmittance of quantum point contacts. Finally, we present an analytical model, also accounting for the finite spatial dispersion of the carriers, able to reproduce the above effects.