Transport through dirty interfaces

The transport properties of a single dirty interface are calculated starting from the Schrödinger equation. The disordered scattering potential is modeled by a high density of short-range scatterers, randomly distributed in a plane perpendicular to the direction of transport. The distribution function of transmission matrix eigenvalues is shown to be universal in the sense that it scales with a single parameter, the conductance, and does not depend on the dimension or the precise values of the microscopic parameters. It differs, however, from the well-known universal distribution for diffusive bulk conductors. These general results are supported by analytical and numerical calculations of the conductance and the angular dependence of the transmission and reflection probabilities as a function of the microscopic parameters. The conductance fluctuations are nonuniversal and a localization transition does not occur.