Probing Pauli blocking with shot noise in resonant tunneling diodes: Experiment and theory

The Pauli exclusion principle is one of the fundamental tenets of quantum mechanics and determines the structure of matter at the atomic and molecular levels. Here, we show that Pauli blocking, a consequence of the exclusion principle according to which electron transitions are inhibited if the arrival state is occupied by another electron, has an observable effect on shot noise in resonant tunneling diodes. We measure a double valley feature in the plot of the noise suppression factor (the 'Fano' factor) as a function of the applied voltage, which has been theoretically predicted a few years ago but has never been observed, and which suggests that Pauli blocking must be considered in the evaluation of transport in mesoscopic and nanoelectronic devices.