Electron coherence at low temperatures:: The role of magnetic impurities

We review recent experimental progress on the saturation problem in metallic quantum wires. In particular, we address the influence of magnetic impurities on the electron phase coherence time. We also present new measurements of the phase coherence time in ultra-clean gold and silver wires and analyse the saturation of tau(phi) in these samples, cognizant of the role of magnetic scattering. For the cleanest samples, Kondo temperatures below 1 mK and extremely small magnetic-impurity concentration levels of less than 0.08 ppm have to be assumed to attribute the observed saturation to the presence of magnetic impurities. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.