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Transition from coherent to ohmic conductance explained by a statistical model for the effects of decoherence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Matías Zilly
Affiliation:
[email protected], University Duisburg-Essen, Department of Physics, Duisburg, Germany
Orsolya Ujsághy
Affiliation:
[email protected], Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Theoretical Physics and Condensed Matter Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
Dietrich E. Wolf
Affiliation:
[email protected], University Duisburg-Essen, Department of Physics, Duisburg, Germany
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Abstract

Using a statistical model for the effects of decoherence [1], we show that in linear tight-binding samples ohmic conductance (resistance proportional to length) is reached for any finite density p of decoherence sites, if the chemical potential μ of the contacts is within a conducting band. If μ is outside a band, or if due to disorder, no bands form, for high decoherence densities p>p* still ohmic conductance is reached, where p* is a critical decoherence density. For p<p*, the sample resistance increases exponentially with the length.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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References

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