2002/09/24 by F. Pierre, Norman O. Birge · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Aharonov–Bohm effect #Amplitude #Condensed matter physics #Conductance #Dephasing #Electron #Impurity #Magnetic field #Magnetic impurity #Magnetic properties of thin films #Magnetoresistance #Mesoscopic physics #Phase (matter) #Phase coherence #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Saturation (graph theory) #Weak localization #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.89.206804
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 206804 (2002) · Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters
arxiv created 2002/09/24 · openalex publication_date 2002/10/29 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have probed the magnetic field dependence of the electron phase coherence time tau(phi) by measuring the Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations of mesoscopic Cu rings. Whereas tau(phi) determined from the low-field magnetoresistance saturates below 1 K, the amplitude of Aharonov-Bohm h/e oscillations increases strongly on a magnetic field scale proportional to the temperature. This provides strong evidence that a likely explanation for the frequently observed saturation of tau(phi) at low temperature in weakly disordered metallic thin films is the presence of extremely dilute magnetic impurities.