1994/06/30 by C. W. J. Beenakker · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall
published as "Mesoscopic Quantum Physics", edited by E. Akkermans, G. Montambaux, J.-L. Pichard, and J. Zinn-Justin (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1995) · 38 pages, 17 figures (included in version 2)
arxiv created 2005/09/10 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
Recent experiments on conduction between a semiconductor and a superconductor have revealed a variety of new mesoscopic phenomena. Here is a review of the present status of this rapidly developing field. A scattering theory is described which leads to a conductance formula analogous to Landauer's formula in normal-state conduction. The theory is used to identify features in the conductance which can serve as "signatures" of phase-coherent Andreev reflection, i.e. for which the phase coherence of the electrons and the Andreev-reflected holes is essential. The applications of the theory include a quantum point contact, quantum dot, weak localization, universal conductance fluctuations, shot noise, and reflectionless tunneling. This review is based on lectures at the Les Houches summer school, Session LXI, 1994.