CLASSICAL CHAOS AND BALLISTIC TRANSPORT IN A MESOSCOPIC CHANNEL

We study transport properties in the classical ballistic regime of a t wo-dimensional electron channel with sinusoideal (rippled) boundaries. We calculate the transmission coefficient, the average number of coll isions, and the mean path length, as a function of ripple amplitude. T he Poincare plots of the associated dynamical system (the infinitely l ong channel) exhibit the generic transition to chaos as the amplitude of the ripples is increased. The chaotic nature of the finite channel is manifested by the fractal character of a response function. Transpo rt features and dynamical properties are correlated. We compare our re sults with those that consider collisions with random (rough) boundari es. A criterion is proposed to distinguish between regular and chaotic dynamics by measuring classical resistivity.