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Coherent "metallic" resistance and medium localization in a disordered one-dimensional insulator
Martin Mosko1, Pavel Vagner, Michal Bajdich
1Institute of Electrical Engineering, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Physical Review Letters
|October 4, 2003
Summary
Disordered 1D wires transition from insulators to "metallic" behavior with full coherence. This crossover, driven by thermal smearing and resonant tunneling, alters resistance properties in 1D systems.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mesoscopic Physics
- Quantum Transport
Background:
- Disordered one-dimensional (1D) wires with coherent electronic conduction are typically considered insulators.
- Their resistance characteristics are defined by mean resistance
≈ e^(2L/xi) and resistance dispersion Δ(ρ) ≈ e^(L/xi), where L is wire length and ξ is electron localization length.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the transition of a 1D wire from an insulating to a
- metallic
- state under conditions of full coherence.
- To analyze the impact of thermal smearing and resonant tunneling on this crossover.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of electronic conduction in disordered 1D wires.
- Modeling the effects of thermal smearing and resonant tunneling on resistance.
Main Results:
- A crossover from insulating to
- metallic
- behavior is observed in 1D wires at full coherence.
- Resistance dispersion Δ(ρ) becomes less than unity and independent of L/ξ.
- Mean resistance
exhibits nearly linear growth initially, then polynomial growth with L/ξ, indicating medium localization.
Conclusions:
- The study demonstrates a novel transition in 1D disordered wires.
- Thermal smearing and resonant tunneling are key mechanisms driving this insulator-to-metal crossover.
- The findings reveal characteristics of medium localization in 1D systems.