One-dimensional conduction properties of highly phosphorus-doped planar nanowires patterned by scanning probe microscopy

Abstract

We present a detailed study of the cryogenic temperature conduction properties of a low resistivity, highly P-doped nanowire lithographically defined by a scanning tunneling microscope. Temperature-dependent magnetotransport measurements allow us to determine the dominant scattering mechanism as one-dimensional (1D) Nyquist phase breaking. We extract quantum corrections to the Drude conductivity arising from both 1D weak localization and 1D electron-electron interactions for this quasi-1D system. Below $450\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mK}$, the electron phase coherence length is observed to saturate consistent with a Thouless crossover into the strong localization regime.