Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3366–3369 (1997)Intrinsic Decoherence in Mesoscopic SystemsReceived 17 December 1996; published in the issue dated 28 April 1997 We present measurements of the phase coherence time τφ in six quasi-1D Au wires and clearly show that τφ is temperature independent at low temperatures. We suggest that zero-point fluctuations of the phase coherent electrons are responsible for the observed saturation of τφ. We introduce a new functional form for the temperature dependence and present the results of a calculation for the saturation value of τφ. This explains the observed temperature dependence of our samples as well as many 1D and 2D systems reported to date. © 1997 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3366
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3366
PACS:
73.23.-b, 03.65.Bz, 72.70.+m, 73.20.Fz
|
|
About | Terms and Conditions | Subscriptions | Search | Help
Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our Terms and Conditions and any applicable Subscription Agreement. Physical Review®, Physical Review Letters®, Reviews of Modern Physics®, and Physical Review Special Topics® are trademarks of the American Physical Society.