Aharonov-Bohm effect induced by light

Abstract

The quantum interferometry of normal metallic loops based on the Aharonov-Bohm effect is usually applied to measurements at low temperatures in the case of static or slowly time-varying magnetic fields (e.g., see [1]). Recently, an important case of an ac field of high frequency ω » v F /R (v F is the Fermi velocity and R is the radius of the metallic ring) has been considered [2]. This consideration is based on the assumption that the position dependent time-varying electromagnetic field produces the static electron energy minibands in the ring which appear due to electron motion in a time-averaged electrostatic potential periodic with coordinate along the ring circumference, produced by the square of an ac electric field [3]. it should be noted that, in the quantum case, an electron reflection from an oscillating potential causes a time-dependent phase shift, resulting in an effective chaotization of the phase of electron wave function, except at energy multiples of ħω.