Electron interference and spin transport in nanowire structures

Electron interference effects and spin transport are investigated in semiconductor nanowires. In InAs bulk nanowires, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, the phase coherence length is determined by analyzing universal conductance fluctuations. Information on spin-orbit scattering is obtained by employing the weak antilocalization effect. In GaAs/InAs core/shell nanowires magnetic flux periodic oscillations are observed in the conductance under application of an axially oriented magnetic field. These oscillations are explained by the presence of quantized closed-loop states in the InAs shell.