Phase Relaxation Time in Open Chaotic Billiards

Abstract

Phase relaxation time τ _φ due to Coulomb interactions is studied semiclassically for electrons in open chaotic billiards with two leads of width W. When W is much larger than the Fermi wavelength λ _F, the phase relaxation time at temperature T is shown to be τ _φ^-1=c(λ _F/W)T, where c is a numerical constant of the order of unity. The behavior τ _φ∝ T^-1, similar to that in two-dimensional diffusive systems, is in agreement with the experimental results.