Quantum Coherence Beyond the Thermal Length
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
Recent experiments have used scattering to map the flow of electrons in a two-dimensional electron gas. Among other things, the data from these experiments show perseverance of regular interference fringes beyond the kinematic thermal length. These fringes are seen in full quantum-mechanical simulations with thermal averaging, and within the phase coherence length they can also be understood with a simple, single-scattering model. This effect provides a new way to gauge the coherence length independent of thermal broadening. Appealing to higher-order scattering, we present a mechanism by which interference fringes may survive even beyond the phase coherence length.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0105354,
title = {Quantum Coherence Beyond the Thermal Length},
author = {S. E. J. Shaw and R. Fleischmann and E. J. Heller},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0105354},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRL