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Quantum coherence in sub-10 nm metal wires

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

Douglas Natelson ,
Robert L. Willett ,
Kenneth W. West  and
Loren N. Pfeiffer
Douglas Natelson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, MS61, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005
Robert L. Willett
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ 07974
Kenneth W. West
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ 07974
Loren N. Pfeiffer
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ 07974
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Abstract

We report weak localization studies of quantum coherence in metal nanowires with widths as small as 5 nm, demonstrating that structures fabricated at sub-50 nm length scales can reveal coherence phenomena not accessible in larger devices. Through selective etching of cleaved molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown substrates, we produce precise nanoscale surface relief then used as a stencil for metal deposition. This nonlithographic method of lateral definition allows the fabrication of metal (AuPd) nanowires greater than one micron in length with widths below 5 nm, a previously unexplored size regime in studies of quantum corrections to the conductance of disordered metals. Analyzing magnetoresistance data, we find that the coherence time, Tφ, shows a low temperature T dependence close to quasi-1D theoretical expectations (Tφ ∼ T-2/3 in 5 nm wide wires, while exhibiting a relative saturation as T 0 for wide samples of the same material. Since an externally controlled parameter, the sample geometry, can cause a single material to exhibit both suppression and divergence ofTφ, this finding provides a new constraint on models of dephasing phenomena.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 636: Symposium D – Nonlithographic and Lithographic Methods of Nanofabrication-From Ultralarge Scale , 2000 , D10.3.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001

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