Magnetic Field Dependence of Dephasing Rate due to Diluted Kondo Impurities

TL;DR

This paper explores how magnetic fields affect electron dephasing caused by diluted Kondo impurities, combining analytical and numerical methods to compare with experimental data.

Contribution

It generalizes the dephasing rate analysis from Kondo impurities to broader dynamical defects and examines magnetic field effects using analytical and numerical approaches.

Findings

Magnetic fields influence dephasing rates in measurable ways.

Numerical renormalization group results align with experimental observations.

Dephasing behavior varies with impurity type and magnetic field strength.

Abstract

We investigate the dephasing rate, 1/tau_phi, of weakly disordered electrons due to scattering from diluted dynamical impurities. Our previous result for the weak-localization dephasing rate is generalized from diluted Kondo impurities to arbitrary dynamical defects with typical energy transfer larger than 1/tau_phi. For magnetic impurities, we study the influence of magnetic fields on the dephasing of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and universal conductance fluctuations both analytically and using the numerical renormalization group. These results are compared to recent experiments.