Abstract
During the last two decades quantum interference effects have been extensively studied in the transport properties of diffusive systems such as metals and semiconductors. When the spatial disorder in these systems exceeds a critical value the electronic wavefunctions are localized and their ground state is insulating (the Anderson transition). At finite temperatures charge transport in this phase involves phonon-assisted tunnelling between localized states. This mode of transport is purely quantum mechanical and has no classical analogue. Anderson insulators are therefore the paradigmatic system for studying interference phenomena of electron waves in random media. In this paper we discuss the question of quantum coherence in Anderson insulators and review some of the experimental manifestations of interference phenomena in their transport properties.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 241-253 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Waves in Random and Complex Media |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Apr 1999 |