Reversing the Sign of Current-Current Correlations

Abstract

Current-correlations are a very sensitive probe of the fluctuations of small conductors. For non-interacting particles injected from thermal sources there is a simple connection between the sign of correlations and statistics: current-current correlations of Fermions are negative, intensity-intensity correlations of Bosons can be positive. In contrast to photons, electrons are interacting entities, and we can expect the simple connection between statistics and the sign of current-current correlations to be broken, if interactions play a crucial role. We present a number of examples in which interactions are important. At a voltage probe the potential fluctuates to maintain zero current. It is shown that there are geometries for which these fluctuations lead to positive correlations. Displacement currents at capacitively coupled contacts are also positively correlated if both contacts contribute to screening of the same excess charge fluctuation. Hybrid normal superconducting systems provide another example which permits positive correlations. The conditions for positive correlations differ strongly depending on whether the normal conductor is open and well coupled to the superconductor or is only weakly coupled via a barrier to the superconductor. In latter case, positive correlations result if the partition noise generated by Cooper pairs is overcome by pairs which are broken up and emit one electron into the contacts of interest.