Temperature dependence of the normal-metal Aharonov-Bohm effect

Abstract

The amplitude of h/e periodic oscillations in the magnetoresistance of very small normal-metal (Au) rings, as well as the harmonic h/2e, have been studied as a function of temperature. The amplitudes depend on the temperature T roughly as $T^{\mathrm{-}1/2}$, as expected from the averaging of conduction channels in the absence of inelastic scattering, but may not be entirely consistent with this model. At the lowest T, the size of the fluctuations in the conductance is about ΔG∼$e^2$/h, as predicted recently.