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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Novel Techniques for Observing Structural Dynamics of Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals
Published on: May 29, 2018
Direct observation of the Aharonov-Casher phase
M König1, A Tschetschetkin, E M Hankiewicz
1Physikalisches Institut (EP 3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Ring structures fabricated from HgTe/HgCdTe quantum wells have been used to study Aharonov-Bohm type conductance oscillations as a function of Rashba spin-orbit splitting strength. We observe nonmonotonic phase changes indicating that an additional phase factor modifies the electron wave function. We associate these observations with the Aharonov-Casher effect. This is confirmed by comparison with numerical calculations of the magnetoconductance for a multichannel ring structure within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism.
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