We consider resonant vortices around nodal points of the wave function describing electron transport through a mesoscopic device. With a suitable choice of the device geometry, the dominating role is played by single vortices with a preferred orientation. To characterize the strength of the resulting magnetic moment, we have introduced a “magnetance,” the quantity defined in analogy with the device conductance. Its basic properties and possible experimental detection are discussed.

• Received 9 July 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.1710