arXiv subjects

A. Pinczuk

Publications and source records attributed to A. Pinczuk.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

Optical emission spectroscopy study of competing phases of electrons in the second Landau level

Quantum phases of electrons in the filling factor range $2 \leqν\leq 3$ are probed by the weak optical emission from the partially populated second Landau level and spin wave measurements. Observations of optical emission include a multiplet of sharp peaks that exhibit a strong filling factor dependence. Spin wave measurements by resonant inelastic light scattering probe breaking of spin rotational invariance and are used to link this optical emission with collective phases of electrons. A remarkably rapid interplay between emission peak intensities manifests phase competition in the second Landau level.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Fractionally charged skyrmions in fractional quantum Hall effect

The fractional quantum Hall effect has inspired searches for exotic emergent topological particles, such as fractionally charged excitations, composite fermions, abelian and nonabelian anyons and Majorana fermions. Fractionally charged skyrmions, which support both topological charge and topological vortex-like spin structure, have also been predicted to occur in the vicinity of 1/3 filling of the lowest Landau level. The fractional skyrmions, however, are anticipated to be exceedingly fragile, suppressed by very small Zeeman energies. Here we show that, slightly away from 1/3 filling, the smallest manifestations of the fractional skyrmion exist in the excitation spectrum for a broad range of Zeeman energies, and appear in resonant inelastic light scattering experiments as well-defined resonances slightly below the long wavelength spin wave mode. The spectroscopy of these exotic bound states serves as a sensitive tool for investigating the residual interaction between composite fermions, responsible for delicate new fractional quantum Hall states in this filling factor region.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Gapped Excitations of unconventional FQHE states in the Second Landau Level

We report the observation of low-lying collective charge and spin excitations in the second Landau level at ν = 2 + 1/3 and also for the very fragile states at ν = 2 + 2/5, 2 + 3/8 in inelastic light scattering experiments. These modes exhibit a clear dependence on filling factor and temperature substantiating the unique access to the characteristic neutral excitation spectra of the incompressible FQHE states. A detailed mode analysis reveals low energy modes at around 70 μeV and a sharp mode slightly below the Zeeman energy interpreted as gap and spin wave excitation, respectively. The lowest energy collective charge excitation spectrum at ν = 2 + 1/3 exhibits significant similarities and a universal scaling of the energies with its cousin state in the lowest Landau level at ν = 1/3 suggesting similar underlying physics. The observed excitation spectra facilitate to distinguish between theoretical descriptions of the nature of those FQHE states. A striking polarization dependence in light scattering is discussed in the framework of anisotropic electron phases that allow for the stabilization of nematic FQHE states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Experimental evidence of low-lying gapped excitations in the quantum fluid at nu=5/2

The low-lying neutral excitation spectrum of the incompressible quantum Hall fluid at $ν=5/2$ is investigated by inelastic light scattering. Gapped modes are observable only in a very narrow filling factor range centered at 5/2 at energies that overlap estimates from transport activation gaps. The modes are interpreted as critical points in the wave-vector dispersion of excitations that preserve spin orientation. For very small changes $|δν|\lesssim 0.01$ the gapped modes disappear and a continuum of low-lying excitations takes over indicating the transition from an incompressible fluid at 5/2 to a compressible state. Observations of spin wave modes indicate spin polarization of the 5/2 and 2+1/3 quantum Hall fluids.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Observation of non-conventional spin waves in composite fermion ferromagnets

We find unexpected low energy excitations of fully spin-polarized composite-fermion ferromagnets in the fractional quantum Hall liquid, resulting from a complex interplay between a topological order manifesting through new energy levels and a magnetic order due to spin polarization. The lowest energy modes, which involve spin reversal, are remarkable in displaying unconventional negative dispersion at small momenta followed by a deep roton minimum at larger momenta. This behavior results from a nontrivial mixing of spin-wave and spin-flip modes creating a spin-flip excitonic state of composite-fermion particle-hole pairs. The striking properties of spin-flip excitons imply highly tunable mode couplings that enable fine control of topological states of itinerant two-dimensional ferromagnets.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Two-dimensional Mott-Hubbard electrons in an artificial honeycomb lattice

Electrons in artificial lattices enable explorations of the impact of repulsive Coulomb interactions in a tunable system. We have trapped two-dimensional electrons belonging to a gallium arsenide quantum well in a nanofabricated lattice with honeycomb geometry. We probe the excitation spectrum in a magnetic field identifying novel collective modes that emerge from the Coulomb interaction in the artificial lattice as predicted by the Mott-Hubbard model. These observations allow us to determine the Hubbard gap and suggest the existence of a novel Coulomb-driven ground state. This approach offers new venues for the study of quantum phenomena in a controllable solid-state system.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Observation of exchange Coulomb interactions in the quantum Hall state at nu=3

Coulomb exchange interactions of electrons in the nu=3 quantum Hall state are determined from two inter-Landau level spin-flip excitations measured by resonant inelastic light scattering. The two coupled collective excitations are linked to inter-Landau level spin-flip transitions arising from the N=0 and N=1 Landau levels. The strong repulsion between the two spin-flip modes in the long-wave limit is clearly manifested in spectra displaying Coulomb exchange contributions that are comparable to the exchange energy for the quantum Hall state at nu=1. Theoretical calculations within the Hartree-Fock approximation are in a good agreement with measured energies of spin-flip collective excitations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

The Atomic-scale Growth of Large-Area Monolayer Graphene on Single-Crystal Copper Substrates

We study the growth and microscopic structure of large-area graphene monolayers, grown on copper single crystals by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). Using atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we find that graphene grows primarily in registry with the underlying copper lattice for both Cu(111) and Cu(100). The graphene has a hexagonal superstructure on Cu(111) with a significant electronic component, whereas it has a linear superstructure on Cu(100). The film quality is limited by grain boundaries, and the best growth is obtained on the Cu(111) surface.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Observation of magneto-phonon resonance of Dirac fermions in graphite

Coherent coupling of Dirac fermion magneto-excitons with an optical phonon is observed in graphite as marked magnetic-field dependent splittings and anti-crossing behavior of the two coupled modes. The sharp magneto-phonon resonance occurs in regions of the graphite sample with properties of superior single-layer graphene having enhanced lifetimes of Dirac fermions. The greatly reduced carrier broadening to values below the graphene electron-phonon coupling constant explains the appearance of sharp resonances that reveal a fundamental interaction of Dirac fermions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Engineering artificial graphene in a two-dimensional electron gas

At low energy, electrons in doped graphene sheets behave like massless Dirac fermions with a Fermi velocity which does not depend on carrier density. Here we show that modulating a two-dimensional electron gas with a long-wavelength periodic potential with honeycomb symmetry can lead to the creation of isolated massless Dirac points with tunable Fermi velocity. We provide detailed theoretical estimates to realize such artificial graphene-like system and discuss an experimental realization in a modulation-doped GaAs quantum well. Ultra high-mobility electrons with linearly-dispersing bands might open new venues for the studies of Dirac-fermion physics in semiconductors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Optical absorption to probe the quantum Hall ferromagnet at filling factor $ν=1$

Optical absorption measurements are used to probe the spin polarization in the integer and fractional quantum Hall effect regimes. The system is fully spin polarized only at filling factor $ν=1$ and at very low temperatures($\sim40$ mK). A small change in filling factor ($δν\approx\pm0.01$) leads to a significant depolarization. This suggests that the itinerant quantum Hall ferromagnet at $ν=1$ is surprisingly fragile against increasing temperature, or against small changes in filling factor.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Soft Spin Wave Near nu=1: Evidence for a Magnetic Instability in Skyrmion Systems

The ground state of the two dimensional electron gas near $ν$=1 is investigated by inelastic light scattering measurements carried down to very low temperatures. Away from $ν$=1, the ferromagnetic spin wave collapses and a new low-energy spin wave emerges below the Zeeman gap. The emergent spin wave shows soft behavior as its energy increases with temperature and reaches the Zeeman energy for temperatures above 2 K. The observed softening indicates an instability of the two dimensional electron gas towards a magnetic order that breaks spin rotational symmetry. We discuss our findings in light of the possible existence of a Skyrme crystal.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

The Fermi edge singularity of spin polarized electrons

We study the absorption spectrum of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a magnetic field. We find that that at low temperatures, when the 2DEG is spin polarized, the absorption spectra, which correspond to the creation of spin up or spin down electron, differ in magnitude, linewidth and filling factor dependence. We show that these differences can be explained as resulting from creation of a Mahan exciton in one case, and of a power law Fermi edge singularity in the other.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Absorption in the fractional quantum Hall regime: trion dichroism and spin polarization

We present measurements of optical interband absorption in the fractional quantum Hall regime in a GaAs quantum well in the range 0 < nu < 1. We investigate the mechanism of singlet trion absorption, and show that its circular dichroism can be used as a probe of the spin polarization of the ground state of the two-dimensional electron system (2DES). We find that at nu = 1/3 the 2DES is fully spin-polarized. Increasing the filling factor results in a gradual depolarization, with a sharp minimum in the dichroism near nu = 2/3. We find that in the range 0.5 < nu < 0.85 the 2DES remains partially polarized for the broad range of magnetic fields from 2.75 to 11 Tesla. This is consistent with the presence of a mixture of polarized and depolarized regions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Transition from Free to Interacting Composite Fermions away from $ν$=1/3

Spin excitations from a partially populated composite fermion level are studied above and below $ν=1/3$. In the range $2/7<ν<2/5$ the experiments uncover significant departures from the non-interacting composite fermion picture that demonstrate the increasing impact of interactions as quasiparticle Landau levels are filled. The observed onset of a transition from free to interacting composite fermions could be linked to condensation into the higher order states suggested by transport experiments and numerical evaluations performed in the same filling factor range.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Resonant Rayleigh scattering from quantum phases of cold electrons in semiconductor heterostructures

Resonant Rayleigh scattering of light from electrons confined in gallium arsenide double quantum wells displays significant changes at temperatures that are below one degree Kelvin. The Rayleigh resonance occurs for photon energies that overlap a quantum well exciton and when electron bilayers condense into a quantum-Hall state. Marked changes in Rayleigh scattering intensities that occur in response to application of an in-plane magnetic field indicate that the unexpected temperature dependence is linked to formation of non-uniform electron fluids in a disordered quantum-Hall phase. These results demonstrate a new realm of study in which resonant Rayleigh scattering methods probe quantum phases of cold electrons in semiconductor heterostructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Spin excitations in the Fractional Quantum Hall regime at $ν\lesssim1/3$

We report inelastic light scattering experiments in the fractional quantum Hall regime at filling factors $ν\lesssim1/3$. A spin mode is observed below the Zeeman energy. The filling factor dependence of the mode energy is consistent with its assignment to spin flip excitations of composite fermions with four attached flux quanta ($ϕ$=4). Our findings reveal a composite fermion Landau level structure in the $ϕ$=4 sequence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Splitting of Long-Wavelength Modes of the Fractional Quantum Hall Liquid at $ν=1/3$

Resonant inelastic light scattering experiments at $ν=1/3$ reveal a novel splitting of the long wavelength modes in the low energy spectrum of quasiparticle excitations in the charge degree of freedom. We find a single peak at small wavevectors that splits into two distinct modes at larger wavevectors. The evidence of well-defined dispersive behavior at small wavevectors indicates a coherence of the quantum fluid in the micron length scale. We evaluate interpretations of long wavelength modes of the electron liquid.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗