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Originally published in Science Express on 13 July 2006
Science 28 July 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5786, pp. 499 - 502
DOI: 10.1126/science.1126940
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Reports

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. Glattli1,3*

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 transmission of the mode. The new mesoscopic effect reported here is relevant for the dynamical regime of all quantum devices.

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 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. E-mail: glattli{at}lpa.ens.fr

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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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