Spin-Incoherent Transport in Quantum Wires

TL;DR

This paper investigates spin-incoherent transport in quantum wires, showing how conductance plateaus evolve with carrier density and magnetic field, supporting the spin-incoherent transport model in one-dimensional systems.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence for spin-incoherent transport in quantum wires and details how conductance quantization is affected by magnetic fields.

Findings

Conductance plateau at e^2/h appears at low density

Magnetic field suppresses and then restores the conductance plateaus

Results support the spin-incoherent transport model

Abstract

When a quantum wire is weakly confined, a conductance plateau appears at e^2/h with decreasing carrier density in zero magnetic field accompanied by a gradual suppression of the 2e^2/h plateau. Applying an in-plane magnetic field B|| does not alter the value of this quantization; however, the e^2/h plateau weakens with increasing B|| up to 9 T, and then strengthens on further increasing B||, which also restores the 2e^2/h plateau. Our results are consistent with spin-incoherent transport in a one-dimensional wire.