Coherent transport in disordered metals: zero dimensional limit

TL;DR

This paper investigates non-equilibrium electron transport in disordered metals, deriving universal current-voltage characteristics for short wires connected to reservoirs, and discusses experimental relevance and theoretical connections.

Contribution

It provides a new calculation of interaction corrections to current in disordered conductors, revealing universal behavior in the zero-dimensional limit.

Findings

Derived universal current-voltage characteristics

Identified the role of resistive interfaces in transport

Connected theoretical results with experimental observations

Abstract

We consider non-equilibrium transport in disordered conductors. We calculate the interaction correction to the current for a short wire connected to electron reservoirs by resistive interfaces. In the absence of charging effects we find a universal current-voltage-characteristics. The relevance of our calculation for existing experiments is discussed as well as the connection with alternative theoretical approaches.