Paper detail

Electronic Conduction in Disordered Materials: Wave-like or Particle-like?

When materials are in the diffusive regime, i.e. when the scattering length is less than the sample size, charge transport is mediated by diffusons and cooperons. We argue that these charge carriers are not always spread out throughout the sample, like waves. When the scattering length is smaller than the sample size, diffusons and cooperons follow trajectories inside the sample which have an effective width determined by the scattering length. The net effect is particle-like motion. We discuss three experiments whose results confirm the existence of cooperons following particle-like trajectories. One experiment, with magnetic field perpendicular to a topological insulator surface, resolved and measured the areas of Cooperon loops. The other two experiments, with magnetic field parallel to wires where conduction occurred on the wire surface, measured the number of times that a Cooperon trajectory wound around the wire.