Intrinsic Decoherence in Mesoscopic Systems

Author(s)

P. Mohanty
E. M.Q. Jariwala
Richard A. Webb, University of South Carolina - ColumbiaFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

We present measurements of the phase coherence time τ_φ in six quasi-1D Au wires and clearly show that τ_φ is temperature independent at low temperatures. We suggest that zero-point fluctuations of the phase coherent electrons are responsible for the observed saturation of τ_φ. We introduce a new functional form for the temperature dependence and present the results of a calculation for the saturation value of τ_φ. This explains the observed temperature dependence of our samples as well as many 1D and 2D systems reported to date.

Publication Info

Published in Physical Review Letters, Volume 78, Issue 17, 1997, pages 3366-3369.

Mohanty, P., Jariwala, E.M.Q., and Webb, R.A. (1997). Intrinsic Decoherence in Mesoscopic Systems. Physical Review Letters, 78(17), 3366-3369. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3366

© 1997 The American Physical Society.