Electronic Transport in a Three-dimensional Network of 1-D Bismuth Quantum Wires

Abstract

The resistance R of a high density network of 6 nm diameter Bi wires in porous Vycor glass is studied in order to observe its expected semiconductor behavior. R increases from 300 K down to 0.3 K. Below 4 K, where R varies approximately as ln(1/T), the order-of-magnitude of the resistance rise, as well as the behavior of the magnetoresistance are consistent with localization and electron-electron interaction theories of a one-dimensional disordered conductor in the presence of strong spin-orbit scattering. We show that this behaviour and the surface-enhanced carrier density may mask the proposed semimetal-to-semiconductor transition for quantum Bi wires.

19 pages total, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

References in corpus (2)

• Intrinsic Decoherence in Mesoscopic Systems
• Decoherence and the Thouless Crossover in One-Dimensional Conductors

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Quantum interference of surface states in bismuth nanowires probed by the Aharonov-Bohm oscillatory behavior of the magnetoresistance
• Evidence of local superconductivity in granular Bi nanowires fabricated by electrodeposition
• Surface effects on nanowire transport: numerical investigation using the Boltzmann equation
• Superconductivity of Bi Confined in an Opal Host