arXiv subjects

L. N. Pfeiffer

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

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Localization Transition in a Ballistic Quantum Wire

The many-body wave-function of an interacting one-dimensional electron system is probed, focusing on the low-density, strong interaction regime. The properties of the wave-function are determined using tunneling between two long, clean, parallel quantum wires in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, allowing for gate-controlled electron density. As electron density is lowered to a critical value the many-body state abruptly changes from an extended state with a well-defined momentum to a localized state with a wide range of momentum components. The signature of the localized states appears as discrete tunneling features at resonant gate-voltages, corresponding to the depletion of single electrons and showing Coulomb-blockade behavior. Typically 5-10 such features appear, where the one-electron state has a single-lobed momentum distribution, and the few-electron states have double-lobed distributions with peaks at $\pm k_F$. A theoretical model suggests that for a small number of particles (N<6), the observed state is a mixture of ground and thermally excited spin states.

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arXiv2005

Quantization of the diagonal resistance: Density gradients and the empirical resistance rule in a 2D system

We have observed quantization of the diagonal resistance, R_xx, at the edges of several quantum Hall states. Each quantized R_xx value is close to the difference between the two adjacent Hall plateaus in the off-diagonal resistance, R_xy. Peaks in R_xx occur at different positions in positive and negative magnetic fields. Practically all R_xx features can be explained quantitatively by a ~1%/cm electron density gradient. Therefore, R_xx is determined by R_xy and unrelated to the diagonal resistivity rho_xx. Our findings throw an unexpected light on the empirical resistivity rule for 2D systems.

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arXiv2005

Influence of a Parallel Magnetic Field on Microwave Photoconductivity in a High-Mobility 2D Electron System

We have studied experimentally the influence of a parallel magnetic field ($B_{//}$) on microwave-induced resistance oscillations (MIRO) and zero-resistance states (ZRS) previously discovered in a high-mobility 2D electron system. We have observed a strong suppression of MIRO/ZRS by a modest $B_{//}\sim 0.5$ T. In Hall bar samples, magnetoplasmon resonance (MPR) has also been observed concurrently with the MIRO/ZRS. In contrast to the suppression of MIRO/ZRS, the MPR peak is found to be enhanced by $B_{//}$. These findings have not been addressed by current models proposed to explain the microwave-induced effects.

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arXiv2005

Quantum Hall line junction with impurities as a multi-slit Luttinger liquid interferometer

We report on quantum interference between a pair of counterpropagating quantum Hall edge states that are separated by a high quality tunnel barrier. Observed Aharonov-Bohm oscillations are analyzed in terms of resonant tunneling between coupled Luttinger liquids that creates bound electronic states between pairs of tunnel centers that act like interference slits. We place a lower bound in the range of 20-40 $μ$m for the phase coherence length and directly confirm the extended phase coherence of quantum Hall edge states.

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arXiv2005

Strongly Enhanced Hole-Phonon Coupling in the Metallic State of the Dilute Two-Dimensional Hole Gas

We have studied the temperature dependent phonon emission rate $P$($T$) of a strongly interacting ($r_s\geq$22) dilute 2D GaAs hole system using a standard carrier heating technique. In the still poorly understood metallic state, we observe that $P$($T$) changes from $P$($T$)$\sim T^5$ to $P$($T$)$\sim T^7$ above 100mK, indicating a crossover from screened piezoelectric(PZ) coupling to screened deformation potential(DP) coupling for hole-phonon scattering. Quantitative comparison with theory shows that the long range PZ coupling between holes and phonons has the expected magnitude; however, in the metallic state, the short range DP coupling between holes and phonons is {\it almost twenty times stronger} than expected from theory. The density dependence of $P$($T$) shows that it is {\it easier} to cool low density 2D holes in GaAs than higher density 2D hole systems.

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arXiv2005

High mobility two-dimensional hole system in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells grown on (100) GaAs substrates

We report on the transport properties of a high mobility two-dimensional hole system (2DHS) confined in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells grown molecular-beam epitaxy on the (100) surface of GaAs. The quantum wells are modulation-doped with carbon utilizing a novel resistive filament source. At T=0.3K and carrier density p=1x10^11cm^-2, a mobility of 10^6cm^2/Vs is achieved. At fixed carrier density p=10^11cm^-2, the mobility is found to be a non-monotonic function of the quantum well width. The mobility peaks at 10^6cm^2/Vs for a 15nm well and is reduced for both smaller and larger well widths for these (100) samples. The mobility anisotropy is found to be small. Mobility along (0\bar11) is approximately 20% higher than along the (011) direction. In addition, the low temperature carrier density is found to have low sensitivity to light. The hole density increases by only ~10% after exposure to red light at T=4.2K. In structures designed for a lower carrier density of 3.6x10^10cm^-2, a mobility of 800,000cm^2/Vs is achieved at T=15mK.

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arXiv2005

Evidence for Skyrmion crystallization from NMR relaxation experiments

A resistively detected NMR technique was used to probe the two-dimensional electron gas in a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well. The spin-lattice relaxation rate $(1/T_{1})$ was extracted at near complete filling of the first Landau level by electrons. The nuclear spin of $^{75}$As is found to relax much more efficiently with $T\to 0$ and when a well developed quantum Hall state with $R_{xx}\simeq 0$ occurs. The data show a remarkable correlation between the nuclear spin relaxation and localization. This suggests that the magnetic ground state near complete filling of the first Landau level may contain a lattice of topological spin texture, i.e. a Skyrmion crystal.

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arXiv2004

Competition Between Fractional Quantum Hall Liquid, Bubble and Wigner Crystal Phases in the Third Landau Level

Magnetotransport measurements were performed in a ultra-high mobility GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well of density $\sim 3.0 \times 10^{11}$ $cm^{-2}$. The temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance $R_{xx}$ was studied in detail in the vicinity of $ν={9/2}$. In particular, we discovered new minima in $R_{xx}$ at filling factor $ν\simeq 4{1/5}$ and $4{4/5}$, but only at intermediate temperatures $80\lesssim T\lesssim 120$ mK. We interpret these as evidence for a fractional quantum Hall liquid forming in the N=2 Landau level and competing with bubble and Wigner crystal phases favored at lower temperatures. Our data suggest that a magnetically driven insulator-insulator quantum phase transition occurs between the bubble and Wigner crystal phases at T=0.

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arXiv2004

Tilt Induced Localization and Delocalization in the Second Landau Level

We have investigated the behavior of electronic phases of the second Landau level under tilted magnetic fields. The fractional quantum Hall liquids at $ν=$2+1/5 and 2+4/5 and the solid phases at $ν=$2.30, 2.44, 2.57, and 2.70 are quickly destroyed with tilt. This behavior can be interpreted as a tilt driven localization of the 2+1/5 and 2+4/5 fractional quantum Hall liquids and a delocalization through melting of solid phases in the top Landau level, respectively. The evolution towards the classical Hall gas of the solid phases is suggestive of antiferromagnetic ordering.

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arXiv2004

Measurements of the density-dependent many-body electron mass in 2D GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures

We determine the density-dependent electron mass, m*, in two-dimensional (2D) electron systems of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures by performing detailed low-temperature Shubnikov deHaas measurements. Using very high quality transistors with tunable electron densities we measure m* in single, high mobility specimens over a wide range of r_s (6 to 0.8). Toward low-densities we observe a rapid increase of m* by as much as 40%. For 2>r_s>0.8 the mass values fall ~10% below the band mass of GaAs. Numerical calculations are in qualitative agreement with our data but differ considerably in detail.

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arXiv2004

Microwave resonance of the reentrant insulating quantum Hall phases in the 1st excited Landau Level

We present measurements of the real diagonal microwave conductivity of the reentrant insulating quantum Hall phases in the first excited Landau level at temperatures below 50 mK. A resonance is detected around filling factor $ν=2.58$ and weaker frequency dependence is seen at $ν=2.42$ and 2.28. These measurements are consistent with the formation of a bubble phase crystal centered around these $ν$ at very low temperatures.

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arXiv2004

Temperature and Magnetic Field Enhanced Hall Slope of a Dilute 2D Hole System in the Ballistic Regime

We report the temperature($T$) and perpendicular magnetic field($B$) dependence of the Hall resistivity $ρ_{xy}(B)$ of dilute metallic two-dimensional(2D) holes in GaAs over a broad range of temperature(0.02-1.25K). The low $B$ Hall coefficient, $R_H$, is found to be enhanced when $T$ decreases. Strong magnetic fields further enhance the slope of $ρ_{xy}(B)$ at all temperatures studied. Coulomb interaction corrections of a Fermi liquid(FL) in the ballistic regime can not explain the enhancement of $ρ_{xy}$ which occurs in the same regime as the anomalous metallic longitudinal conductivity. In particular, although the metallic conductivity in 2D systems has been attributed to electron interactions in a FL, these same interactions should reduce, {\it not enhance} the slope of $ρ_{xy}(B)$ as $T$ decreases and/or $B$ increases.

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arXiv2004

Microwave induced resistance oscillations on a high-mobility 2DEG: absorption/reflection and temperature damping experiments

In this work we address experimentally a number of unresolved issues related to microwave induced resistance oscillations (MIRO) and the zero-resistance states observed recently on very high-mobility 2D electron gases in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures. In particular, we examine electrodynamic effects via reflection/absorption experiments and study the exact waveform of MIRO and their damping due to temperature. It is shown that electrodynamic effects due to metallic-like reflection and plasmons are important producing a wide cyclotron resonance line and a number of oscillations which do not coincide with the MIRO. To describe the MIRO waveform a simple model was employed involving radiation-induced scattering with displacement. A very good correlation was found between the temperature dependencies of the quantum lifetime from MIRO and the transport scattering time from the electron mobility. The results are compared with measurements of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations down to 30 mK on the same sample.

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arXiv2004

Oscillatory and Vanishing Resistance States in Microwave Irradiated 2D Electron Systems

Giant-amplitude oscillations in dc magnetoresistance of a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system can be induced by millimeterwave irradiations, leading to zero-resistance states at the oscillation minima. Following a brief overview of the now well-known phenomenon, this paper reports on aspects of more recent experiments on the subject. These are: new zero-resistance states associated with multi-photon processes; suppression of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations by high-frequency microwaves; and microwave photoconductivity of a high-mobility two-dimensional hole system.

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arXiv2004

Effect of in-plane magnetic field on the photoluminescence spectrum of modulation-doped quantum wells and heterojunctions

The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of modulation-doped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (MDQW) and heterojunctions (HJ) is studied under a magnetic field ($B_{\|}$) applied parallel to the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) layer. The effect of $B_{\|}$ strongly depends on the electron-hole separation ($d_{eh}$), and we revealed remarkable $B_{\|}$-induced modifications of the PL spectra in both types of heterostructures. A model considering the direct optical transitions between the conduction and valence subband that are shifted in k-space under $B_{\|}$, accounts qualitatively for the observed spectral modifications. In the HJs, the PL intensity of the bulk excitons is strongly reduced relatively to that of the 2DEG with increasing $B_{\|}$. This means that the distance between the photoholes and the 2DEG decreases with increased $B_{\|}$, and that free holes are responsible for the hole-2DEG PL.

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arXiv2004

Spin Transition in Strongly Correlated Bilayer Two Dimensional Electron Systems

Using a combination of heat pulse and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques we demonstrate that the phase boundary separating the interlayer phase coherent quantum Hall effect at $ν_T = 1$ in bilayer electron gases from the weakly coupled compressible phase depends upon the spin polarization of the nuclei in the host semiconductor crystal. Our results strongly suggest that, contrary to the usual assumption, the transition is attended by a change in the electronic spin polarization.

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arXiv2004

Spin separation in cyclotron motion

Charged carriers with different spin states are spatially separated in a two-dimensional hole gas. Due to strong spin-orbit interaction holes at the Fermi energy have different momenta for two possible spin states travelling in the same direction and, correspondingly, different cyclotron orbits in a weak magnetic field. Two point contacts, acting as a monochromatic source of ballistic holes and a narrow detector in the magnetic focusing geometry are demonstrated to work as a tunable spin filter.

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arXiv2004

Microwave absorption/reflection and magneto-transport experiments on high-mobility electron gas

We have performed simultaneous measurements of microwave absorption/reflection and magneto-transport characteristics of a high mobility two-dimensional electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure in regime of Microwave-Induced Resistance Oscillations (MIROs). It is shown that the electrodynamic aspect of the problem is important in these experiments. In the absorption experiments a broad cyclotron resonance line was observed due to a large reflection from the highly conductive electron gas. There were no additional features observed related to absorption at harmonics of the cyclotron resonance. In near-field reflection experiments a very different oscillation pattern was revealed when compared to MIROs. The oscillation pattern observed in the reflection experiments is probably due to plasma effects occurring in a finite-size sample. The whole microscopic picture of MIROs is more complicated than simply a resonant absorption at harmonics of the cyclotron resonance. Nevertheless, the experimental observations are in good agreement with the model by Ryzhii et al. involving the photo-assisted scattering in the presence of a crossed magnetic field and dc bias. The observed damping factor of MIROs may be attributed to a change in the electron mobility as a function of temperature.

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