The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interference patterns in ring-shaped conductors are usually dominated by random features. The amplitude of the oscillations is random from sample to sample and from point to point on the magnetic field axis owing to random scattering of the electron trajectories by impurities within the wires. We report experiments on new devices made with wet etching and global gates, which have shown major progress towards removing the random features. In loops that exhibit ballistic conductance plateaux and cyclotron orbit trapping at 4.2K, the random pattern of AB oscillations (observed for T < 0.1K) can be replaced by much more ordered one -especially if only a few transverse modes are populated in the ring. The amplitude and shape of the oscillation envelope function change systematically as subbands are populated in the wires forming the loops. Mechanisms governing the AB effect in the ballistic regime are discussed. Correlation has been found between the G(V g , B = 0) staircase and the "beating period" of the envelope functions. Quantum oscillations in G(V g , B = 0) are consistent with direct interference of paths of unequal length. Both the correlations and the quantum oscillations in gate voltage are signatures of ballistic transport.
In GaAs/Al Gaq As coupled four-ring and two-ring samples, large Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations have been observed for magnetic fields 0 ( B ( 4.5 T. The oscillation spectrum changes systematically corresponding to the subband (Landau level) population inside the one-dimensional channels. Multiple tunneling between the edge states encircling the lithographically defined islands causes well-resolved high harmonics ne/h of the fundamental Aharonov-Bohm oscillation frequency with n & 8. Such high harmonics indicate participation from several islands and require very long phase coherence lengths Ls The fre. quencies f"= ne/h of all harmonics decrease with increasing B in accord with a simple model. These findings are evidence for ballistic transport in these large complex devices. The B dependence of the quantum interference amplitudes G"(B) for AB oscillations of frequency ne/h is qualitatively difFerent from the previously published results: They increase by about an order of magnitude with increasing B before decaying at very high field. The increase in G"(B) is exploited to infer Ls and indicates that Ls(B) increases with B at a rate ) 1.3 Lsm/T.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.