On the origins of transport inefficiencies in mesoscopic networks

A counter-intuitive behavior analogous to the Braess paradox is encountered in a two-terminal mesoscopic network patterned in a two-dimensional electron system (2DES). Decreasing locally the electron density of one channel of the network paradoxically leads to an increased network electrical conductance. Our low temperature scanning gate microscopy experiments reveal different occurrences of such puzzling conductance variations, thanks to tip-induced localized modifications of electron flow throughout the network’s channels in the ballistic and coherent regime of transport. The robustness of the puzzling behavior is inspected by varying the global 2DES density, magnetic field and the tip-surface distance. Depending on the overall 2DES density, we show that either Coulomb Blockade resonances due to disorder-induced localized states or Fabry-Perot interferences tuned by the tip-induced electrostatic perturbation are at the origin of transport inefficiencies in the network, which are lifted when gradually closing one channel of the network with the tip.