title: Direct observation of the Aharonov-Casher phase.
abstract: Ring structures fabricated from HgTe/HgCdTe quantum wells have been used to study Aharonov-Bohm type conductance oscillations as a function of Rashba spin-orbit splitting strength. We observe nonmonotonic phase changes indicating that an additional phase factor modifies the electron wave function. We associate these observations with the Aharonov-Casher effect. This is confirmed by comparison with numerical calculations of the magnetoconductance for a multichannel ring structure within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut (EP 3), Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tschetschetkin
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hankiewicz
authors.forename: Jairo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sinova
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hock
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Daumer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schäfer
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Buhmann
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Molenkamp