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Electronic systems in the mesoscopic regime are ideal testing-grounds for investigating the quantum-to-classical transition from a microscopic coherent world (where quantum interference effects prevail) to a macroscopic classical world.
On one hand, their size is intermediate between macroscopic and microscopic (atomic) systems, on the other hand, today's experimental control over their design and precision of measurement allows one to investigate them in regimes ranging from almost fully coherent to purely classical.The extent to which quantum coherence is preserved in these systems is usually determined by the ratio τφ/&taucl of the dephasing time τφ to some relevant classical time scale τcl. Consequently we investigate the effect of dephasing / decoherence on quantum transport through open chaotic ballistic conductors in the semiclassical limit of small Fermi wavelength to system size ratio, &lambdaF/L << 1. We use the trajectory-based semiclassical theory to study a two-terminal chaotic dot with decoherence originating from: (i) an external closed quantum chaotic environment, (ii) a classical source of noise, (iii) a voltage probe, i.e. an additional current-conserving terminal. We focus on the pure dephasing regime, where the coupling to the external source of dephasing is so weak that it does not induce energy relaxation. In addition to the universal algebraic suppression of weak localization, we find an exponential suppression of weak-localization ∝ exp[-˜τ/τφ], with the dephasing rate &tauφ. The parameter ˜τ depends strongly on the source of dephasing. For a voltage probe, ˜τ is of order the Ehrenfest time ∝ ln [L/λF}]. In contrast, for a chaotic environment or a classical source of noise, it has the correlation length ξ of the coupling/noise potential replacing the Fermi wavelength λF. We explicitly show that the Fano factor for shot noise is unaffected by decoherence. We connect these results to earlier works on dephasing due to electron-electron interactions, and numerically confirm our findings. References : [1] C. Petitjean, Ph. Jacquod and R.S Whitney, JPis'ma v ZhETF (JETP Letters) 86, 736 (2007). [2] A. Altland, P.W. Brouwer, and C. Tian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 036804 (2007). [3] R.S Whitney, Ph. Jacquod and C. Petitjean arXiv:0710.5137v1; to appear in Phys. Rev. B. |
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