h/e Aharonov-Bohm photovoltaic oscillations in mesoscopic Au rings

1996/09/20 by R.E. Bartolo, R. E. Bartolo, N. Giordano +4 · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices #Semiconductor materials and devices #cond-mat

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.55.2384

10 pages (RevTex twocolumn style), 8 figures-2 pages (one postscript file) To be published in Phys. Rev. B

arxiv created 1996/09/20 · openalex publication_date 1997/01/15 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We have investigated a mesoscopic photovoltaic (PV) effect in micrometer-size Au rings in which a dc voltage V_dc is generated in response to microwave radiation. The effect is due to the lack of inversion symmetry in a disordered system. Aharonov-Bohm PV oscillations with flux period h/e have been observed at low microwave intensities for temperatures ranging from 1.4 to 13 K. For moderate microwave intensities the h/e PV oscillations are completely quenched, providing evidence that the microwaves act to randomize the phase of the electrons. Studies of the temperature dependence of V_dc also provide evidence of the dephasing nature of the microwave field. A complete theoretical explanation of the observed behavior seems to require a theory for the PV effect in a ring geometry.

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