arXiv subjects

L. N. Pfeiffer

Publications and source records attributed to L. N. Pfeiffer.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Evolution of the 7/2 fractional quantum Hall state in two-subband systems

We report the evolution of the fractional quantum Hall state (FQHS) at even-denominator filling factor $ν=7/2$ in wide GaAs quantum wells in which electrons occupy two electric subbands. The data reveal subtle and distinct evolutions as a function of density, magnetic field tilt-angle, or symmetry of the charge distribution. When the charge distribution is strongly asymmetric, there is a remarkable persistence of a resistance minimum near $ν=7/2$ when two Landau levels belonging to the two subbands cross at the Fermi energy. The field position of this minimum tracks the 5/2 filling of the symmetric subband, suggesting a pinning of the crossing levels and a developing 5/2 FQHS in the symmetric subband even when the antisymmetric level is partially filled.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Quantum-Classical Crossover and Apparent Metal-Insulator Transition in a Weakly Interacting 2D Fermi Liquid

We report the observation of a parallel magnetic field induced metal-insulator transition (MIT) in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) for which spin and localization physics most likely play no major role. The high-mobility metallic phase at low field is consistent with the established Fermi liquid transport theory including phonon scattering, whereas the insulating phase at higher field shows a large negative temperature dependence at resistances much smaller than the quantum of resistance, $h/e^2$. We argue that this observation is a direct manifestation of a quantum-classical crossover arising predominantly from the magneto-orbital coupling between the finite width of the 2DEG and the in-plane magnetic field.

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↗

arXiv2011

Anomalous spin-resolved point-contact transmission of holes due to cubic Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Evidence is presented for the finite wave vector crossing of the two lowest one-dimensional spin-split subbands in quantum point contacts fabricated from two-dimensional hole gases with strong spin-orbit interaction. This phenomenon offers an elegant explanation for the anomalous sign of the spin polarization filtered by a point contact, as observed in magnetic focusing experiments. Anticrossing is introduced by a magnetic field parallel to the channel or an asymmetric potential transverse to it. Controlling the magnitude of the spin-splitting affords a novel mechanism for inverting the sign of the spin polarization.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Exciton Transport and Andreev Reflection in a Bilayer Quantum Hall System

We demonstrate that counterflowing electrical currents can move through the bulk of the excitonic quantized Hall phase found in bilayer two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) even as charged excitations cannot. These counterflowing currents are transported by neutral excitons which are emitted and absorbed at the inner and outer boundaries of an annular 2DES sample via an Andreev reflection process.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Particle-hole Asymmetry of Fractional Quantum Hall States in the Second Landau Level of a Two-dimensional Hole System

We report the first unambiguous observation of a fractional quantum Hall state in the Landau level of a two-dimensional hole sample at the filling factor $ν=8/3$. We identified this state by a quantized Hall resistance and an activated temperature dependence of the longitudinal resistance and found an energy gap of 40 mK. To our surprise the particle-hole conjugate state at filling factor $ν=7/3$ in our sample does not develop down to 6.9 mK. This observation is contrary to that in electron samples in which the 7/3 state is typically more stable than the 8/3 state. We present evidence that the asymmetry between the 7/3 and 8/3 states in our hole sample is due to Landau level mixing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Scattering Mechanisms in a High Mobility Low Density Carbon-Doped (100) GaAs Two-Dimensional Hole System

We report on a systematic study of the density dependence of mobility in a low-density Carbon-doped (100) GaAs two-dimensional hole system (2DHS). At T= 50 mK, a mobility of 2.6 x 10^6 cm^2/Vs at a density p=6.2 x 10^10 cm^- was measured. This is the highest mobility reported for a 2DHS to date. Using a back-gated sample geometry, the density dependence of mobility was studied from 2.8 x 10^10 cm^-2 to 1 x 10^11 cm^-2. The mobility vs. density cannot be fit to a power law dependence of the form mu ~ p^alpha using a single exponent alpha. Our data indicate a continuous evolution of the power law with alpha ranging from ~ 0.7 at high density and increasing to ~ 1.7 at the lowest densities measured. Calculations specific to our structure indicate a crossover of the dominant scattering mechanism from uniform background impurity scattering at high density to remote ionized impurity scattering at low densities. This is the first observation of a carrier density-induced transition from background impurity dominated to remote dopant dominated transport in a single sample.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Integrated Electronic Transport and Thermometry at milliKelvin Temperatures and in Strong Magnetic Fields

We fabricated a He-3 immersion cell for transport measurements of semiconductor nanostructures at ultra low temperatures and in strong magnetic fields. We have a new scheme of field-independent thermometry based on quartz tuning fork Helium-3 viscometry which monitors the local temperature of the sample's environment in real time. The operation and measurement circuitry of the quartz viscometer is described in detail. We provide evidence that the temperature of two-dimensional electron gas confined to a GaAs quantum well follows the temperature of the quartz viscometer down to 4mK.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Giant microwave photoresistivity in a high-mobility quantum Hall system

We report the observation of a remarkably strong microwave photoresistivity effect in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system subject to a weak magnetic field and low temperature. The effect manifests itself as a giant microwave-induced resistivity peak which, in contrast to microwave-induced resistance oscillations, appears only near the second harmonic of the cyclotron resonance and only at sufficiently high microwave frequencies. Appearing in the regime linear in microwave intensity, the peak can be more than an order of magnitude stronger than the microwave-induced resistance oscillations and cannot be explained by existing theories.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Non-linear response of a high mobility two-dimensional electron system near the second harmonic of the cyclotron resonance

Recent experiments on microwave-irradiated high-mobility two-dimensional electron systems revealed a novel photoresistivity peak in the vicinity of the second cyclotron resonance harmonic. Here we report on the nonlinear transport measurements and demonstrate that the peak can be induced by modest dc fields and that its position is not affected even by strong dc fields, in contrast to microwave-induced resistance oscillations that shift to higher magnetic fields. These findings reinforce the notion that the peak cannot be described by existing models and provides important constraints for further theoretical considerations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Zero-Bias Anomalies in Narrow Tunnel Junctions in the Quantum Hall Regime

We report on the study of cleaved-edge-overgrown line junctions with a serendipitously created narrow opening in an otherwise thin, precise line barrier. Two sets of zero-bias anomalies are observed with an enhanced conductance for filling factors $ν> 1$ and a strongly suppressed conductance for $ν< 1$. A transition between the two behaviors is found near $ν\approx 1$. The zero-bias anomaly (ZBA) line shapes find explanation in Luttinger liquid models of tunneling between quantum Hall edge states. The ZBA for $ν< 1$ occurs from strong backscattering induced by suppression of quasiparticle tunneling between the edge channels for the $n = 0$ Landau levels. The ZBA for $ν> 1$ arises from weak tunneling of quasiparticles between the $n = 1$ edge channels.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Hall field-induced resistance oscillations in tilted magnetic fields

We have studied the effect of an in-plane magnetic field on Hall field-induced resistance oscillations in high mobility two-dimensional electron systems. We have found that the oscillation frequency depends only on the perpendicular component of the magnetic field but the oscillation amplitude decays exponentially with an in-plane component. While these findings cannot be accounted for by existing theories of nonlinear transport, our analysis suggests that the decay can be explained by an in-plane magnetic field-induced modification of the quantum scattering rate.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Nonconventional odd denominator fractional quantum Hall states in the second Landau level

We report the observation of a new fractional quantum Hall state in the second Landau level of a two-dimensional electron gas at the Landau level filling factor $ν=2+6/13$. We find that the model of noninteracting composite fermions can explain the magnitude of gaps of the prominent 2+1/3 and 2+2/3 states. The same model fails, however, to account for the gaps of the 2+2/5 and the newly observed 2+6/13 states suggesting that these two states are of exotic origin.omposite fermion model. However, the weaker 2+2/5 and 2+6/13 states deviate significantly suggesting that these states are of exotic origin.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

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

Spatially probed electron-electron scattering in a two-dimensional electron gas

Using scanning gate microscopy (SGM), we probe the scattering between a beam of electrons and a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) as a function of the beam's injection energy, and distance from the injection point. At low injection energies, we find electrons in the beam scatter by small-angles, as has been previously observed. At high injection energies, we find a surprising result: placing the SGM tip where it back-scatters electrons increases the differential conductance through the system. This effect is explained by a non-equilibrium distribution of electrons in a localized region of 2DEG near the injection point. Our data indicate that the spatial extent of this highly non-equilibrium distribution is within ~1 micrometer of the injection point. We approximate the non-equilibrium region as having an effective temperature that depends linearly upon injection energy.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Observation of a cyclotron harmonic spike in microwave-induced resistances in ultraclean GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

We report the observation of a colossal, narrow resistance peak that arises in ultraclean (mobility 3X10^7cm^2/Vs) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs) under millimeterwave irradiation and a weak magnetic field. Such a spike is superposed on the 2nd harmonic microwave-induced resistance oscillations (MIRO) but having an amplitude > 300% of the MIRO, and a typical FWHM ~50 mK, comparable with the Landau level width. Systematic studies show a correlation between the spike and a pronounced negative magnetoresistance in these QWs, suggesting a mechanism based on the interplay of strong scatterers and smooth disorder. Alternatively, the spike may be interpreted as a manifestation of quantum interference between the quadrupole resonance and the higher-order cyclotron transition in well-separated Landau levels.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Tilt-Induced Anisotropic to Isotropic Phase Transition at $ν= 5/2$

A modest in-plane magnetic field \Bpar\ is sufficient to destroy the fractional quantized Hall states at $ν= 5/2$ and 7/2 and replace them with anisotropic compressible phases. Remarkably, we find that at larger \Bpar\ these anisotropic phases can themselves be replaced by isotropic compressible phases reminiscent of the composite fermion fluid at $ν= 1/2$. We present strong evidence that this transition is a consequence of the mixing of Landau levels from different electric subbands. We also report surprising dependences of the energy gaps at $ν= 5/2$ and 7/3 on the width of the confinement potential.

cond-mat.str-el↗