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Published Online July 13, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1126940

Reports

Submitted on March 2, 2006
Accepted on June 26, 2006

Violation of Kirchhoff's Laws for a Coherent RC Circuit

J. Gabelli 1, G. Fève 1, J.-M. Berroir 1, B. Plaçais 1, A. Cavanna 2, B. Etienne 2, Y. Jin 2, D. C. Glattli 3*

1 Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain, Département de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
2 Laboratoire de Photonique et Nanostructures, UPR20 CNRS, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis Cedex, France.
3 Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain, Département de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France; Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé (CNRS URA 2464), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) Saclay, F91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
D. C. Glattli , E-mail: christian.glattli{at}lpa.ens.fr

What is the complex impedance of a fully coherent quantum resistance-capacitance (RC) circuit at gigahertz frequencies in which a resistor and a capacitor are connected in series? While Kirchhoff's laws predict addition of capacitor and resistor impedances, we report on observation of a different behavior. The resistance, here associated with charge relaxation, differs from the usual transport resistance given by the Landauer formula. In particular, for a single-mode conductor, the charge-relaxation resistance is half the resistance quantum, regardless of the mode transmission. The new mesoscopic effect reported here is relevant for the dynamical regime of all quantum devices.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
An On-Demand Coherent Single-Electron Source.
G. Feve, A. Mahe, J.-M. Berroir, T. Kontos, B. Placais, D. C. Glattli, A. Cavanna, B. Etienne, and Y. Jin (2007)
Science 316, 1169-1172
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)