Electron relaxation in disordered gold films

Abstract

The analysis of quantum corrections to magnetoconductivity of thin Au films responsible for by the effect of weak electron localization has made it possible to determine the temperature dependences of electron phase relaxation time in the temperature range 0.5--50 K for different degrees of crystal lattice disorder. The disorder was enhanced by irradiating the films in vacuum with 3.5 keV Ar ions. The experimental data clearly demonstrate that the contribution of electron-electron interaction to electron phase relaxation increases with disorder and support the theoretical prediction that the frequency of electron-phonon scattering tends to diminish upon a decrease in electron mean free path. It is found that the spin-orbit scattering rate decreases with disorder. In our opinion, such unusual behavior can take place for thin films at decreasing the electron mean free path provided, that the surface electron scattering contributes significantly to the total spin-orbit scattering.