Ballistic, diffusive, and localized transport in surface-disordered systems: two-mode waveguide

This paper presents an analytical study of the coexistence of different transport regimes in quasi-one-dimensional surface-disordered waveguides (or electron conductors). To elucidate main features of surface scattering, the case of two open modes (channels) is considered in great detail. Main attention is paid to the transmission in dependence on various parameters of the model with two types of rough-surface profiles (symmetric and antisymmetric). It is shown that depending on the symmetry, basic mechanisms of scattering can be either enhanced or suppressed. As a consequence, different transport regimes can be realized. Specifically, in the two-mode waveguide with symmetric rough boundaries, there are ballistic, localized and coexistence transport regimes. In the waveguide with antisymmetric roughness of lateral walls, another regime of the diffusive transport can arise. Our study allows to reveal the interplay between all relevant scattering mechanisms, in particular, the role of the so-called square-gradient scattering which is typically neglected in literature, however, can give a strong impact to the transmission.