Electron Coherence in Mesoscopic Kondo Wires

We present measurements of the magnetoresistance of long and narrow quasi one-dimensional gold wires containing magnetic iron impurities. The electron phase coherence time extracted from the weak antilocalisation shows a pronounced plateau in a temperature region of 300 mK - 800 mK, associated with the phase breaking due to the Kondo effect. Below the Kondo temperature, the phase coherence time increases, as expected in the framework of Kondo physics. At much lower temperatures, the phase coherence time saturates again, in contradiction with standard Fermi liquid theory. In the same temperature regime, the resistivity curve displays a characteristic maximum at zero magnetic field, associated with the formation of a spin glass state. We argue that the interactions between the magnetic moments are responsible for the low temperature saturation of the phase coherence time.Comment: To appear in Advances in Solid State Physics, Vol 43, edited by B. Kramer (Springer Verlag, Berlin 2003

Practical quantum realization of the ampere from the electron charge

One major change of the future revision of the International System of Units (SI) is a new definition of the ampere based on the elementary charge \emph{e}. Replacing the former definition based on Amp\`ere's force law will allow one to fully benefit from quantum physics to realize the ampere. However, a quantum realization of the ampere from \emph{e}, accurate to within $10^{-8}$ in relative value and fulfilling traceability needs, is still missing despite many efforts have been spent for the development of single-electron tunneling devices. Starting again with Ohm's law, applied here in a quantum circuit combining the quantum Hall resistance and Josephson voltage standards with a superconducting cryogenic amplifier, we report on a practical and universal programmable quantum current generator. We demonstrate that currents generated in the milliampere range are quantized in terms of $ef_\mathrm{J}$ ($f_\mathrm{J}$ is the Josephson frequency) with a measurement uncertainty of $10^{-8}$. This new quantum current source, able to deliver such accurate currents down to the microampere range, can greatly improve the current measurement traceability, as demonstrated with the calibrations of digital ammeters. Beyond, it opens the way to further developments in metrology and in fundamental physics, such as a quantum multimeter or new accurate comparisons to single electron pumps.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Effect of Magnetic Impurities on Energy Exchange between Electrons

In order to probe quantitatively the effect of Kondo impurities on energy exchange between electrons in metals, we have compared measurements on two silver wires with dilute magnetic impurities (manganese) introduced in one of them. The measurement of the temperature dependence of the electron phase coherence time on the wires provides an independent determination of the impurity concentration. Quantitative agreement on the energy exchange rate is found with a theory by G\"{o}ppert et al. that accounts for Kondo scattering of electrons on spin-1/2 impurities.Comment: 4 page

Quantum Hall resistance standards from graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition on silicon carbide

Replacing GaAs by graphene to realize more practical quantum Hall resistance standards (QHRS), accurate to within $10^{-9}$ in relative value, but operating at lower magnetic fields than 10 T, is an ongoing goal in metrology. To date, the required accuracy has been reported, only few times, in graphene grown on SiC by sublimation of Si, under higher magnetic fields. Here, we report on a device made of graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition on SiC which demonstrates such accuracies of the Hall resistance from 10 T up to 19 T at 1.4 K. This is explained by a quantum Hall effect with low dissipation, resulting from strongly localized bulk states at the magnetic length scale, over a wide magnetic field range. Our results show that graphene-based QHRS can replace their GaAs counterparts by operating in as-convenient cryomagnetic conditions, but over an extended magnetic field range. They rely on a promising hybrid and scalable growth method and a fabrication process achieving low-electron density devices.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure