Spin splitting of Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in a small quantum dot

• Published in: Physica. E, Low-dimensional systems & nanostructures Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 25 - 31
• Main Authors: Zverev, V.N, Raichev, O.E, Debray, P, Rahman, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 1999
• Subjects: Aharonov–Bohm oscillations; Magnetic edge states; Quantum dots; 85.30.Vw; Magnetic edge states; 73.61.-r; Quantum dots; Aharonov–Bohm oscillations
• ISSN: 1386-9477; 1873-1759
• DOI: 10.1016/S1386-9477(98)00246-X

The influence of magnetic field B on the ballistic conductance G of a small (0.25μm in diameter) quantum dot has been studied experimentally at 70mK. In the open regime for B≃1T, the conductance as a function of the gate voltage shows several periods of oscillations superimposed on the quantized conductance plateaus. With the increase of the magnetic field, we observe a splitting of the oscillation minima which eventually leads to a halving of the oscillation period accompanied by a pronounced decrease of the amplitude. At B≃1.4T, the oscillations with halved period appear as small resonances on the flat plateaus. We attribute the observed phenomena to spin splitting effect on the Aharonov–Bohm oscillations and interpret our results using a model of electron scattering between propagating and confined magnetic edge channels.