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New Method for High-Accuracy Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant Based on Quantized Hall Resistance

K. v. Klitzing, G. Dorda, and M. Pepper
Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 494 – Published 11 August 1980
Physics logo See Focus story: Landmarks—Accidental Discovery Leads to Calibration Standard
An article within the collection: Letters from the Past - A PRL Retrospective
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Abstract

Measurements of the Hall voltage of a two-dimensional electron gas, realized with a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, show that the Hall resistance at particular, experimentally well-defined surface carrier concentrations has fixed values which depend only on the fine-structure constant and speed of light, and is insensitive to the geometry of the device. Preliminary data are reported.

  • Received 30 May 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.45.494

©1980 American Physical Society

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This article appears in the following collection:

Letters from the Past - A PRL Retrospective

2008 marked PRL’s 50th anniversary. As part of the celebrations a collection of milestone Letters was started. The collection contains Letters that have made long-lived contributions to physics, either by announcing significant discoveries, or by initiating new areas of research.

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Landmarks—Accidental Discovery Leads to Calibration Standard

Published 15 May 2015

The quantum Hall effect, discovered unexpectedly 35 years ago, is now the basis for defining the unit of electrical resistance.

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Authors & Affiliations

K. v. Klitzing

  • Physikalisches Institut der Universität Würzburg, D-8700 Würzburg, Federal Republic of Germany, and Hochfeld-Magnetlabor des Max-Planck-Instituts für Festkörperforschung, F-38042 Grenoble, France

G. Dorda

  • Forschungslaboratorien der Siemens AG, D-8000 München, Federal Republic of Germany

M. Pepper

  • Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge CB3 OHE, United Kingdom

References

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Issue

Vol. 45, Iss. 6 — 11 August 1980

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