New resonant backscattering mode in a small-size quantum interferometer

Giant conductance oscillations quasi-periodic in the gate voltage are observed in the open state of a small-size quantum interferometer (of effective radius r ≈ 100 nm) based on the high-mobility 2D electron gas of an AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction. These oscillations presumably result from the multiparticle effects that occur in the interferometer arms and give rise to a strong backscattering and to conductance peaks, whose period corresponds to a one-electron change in the number of electrons in the arms.