Study of scattering processes in quantum wires by a correlation field analysis of the phase coherent interferences

We have studied the field dependence of the correlation field, Bc, and the amplitude, Ig, of the conductance fluctuations in the low-temperature magnetoresistance of split-gate wires. Bc is found to increase as the field increases and Ig is also found to show a similar dependence. Two kinds of scattering processes were found to affect phase breaking of electron interference in the quantum wire. These appear at low and high magnetic fields, and are considered to arise from width-dependent and width-independent scattering processes, respectively. In addition, the inelastic scattering length has been obtained from the phase breaking rate, analyzed via the slope of the field dependence of Bc.