Magnetic Field Effects on the Transport Properties of One-sided Rough Wires

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetic fields influence the transport properties of one-sided rough wires, revealing increased localization length and mean free path, while confirming universal relationships and agreement with Random Matrix Theory.

Contribution

It provides a detailed numerical analysis of magnetic field effects on transport in disordered wires, highlighting boundary state influences and validating theoretical predictions.

Findings

Magnetic field increases localization length and mean free path.

Universal relationship between mean free path and localization length holds.

Conductance distribution matches Random Matrix Theory predictions.

Abstract

We present a detailed numerical analysis of the effect of a magnetic field on the transport properties of a `small-$N$' one-sided surface disordered wire. When time reversal symmetry is broken due to a magnetic field $B$, we find a strong increase with $B$ not only of the localization length $\xi$ but also of the mean free path $\ell$ caused by boundary states. Despite this, the universal relationship between $\ell$ and $\xi$ does hold. We also analyze the conductance distribution at the metal-insulator crossover, finding a very good agreement with Random Matrix Theory with two fluctuating channels within the Circular Orthogonal(Unitary) Ensemble in absence(presence) of $B$