Fractionalization noise in edge channels of integer quantum Hall states

A theoretical calculation is presented of current noise which is due charge fractionalization, in two interacting edge channels in the integer quantum Hall state at filling factor ν=2. Because of the capacitive coupling between the channels, a tunneling event, in which an electron is transferred from a biased source lead to one of the two channels, generates propagating plasma mode excitations which carry fractional charges on the other edge channel. When these excitations impinge on a quantum point contact, they induce low-frequency current fluctuations with no net average current. A perturbative treatment in the weak tunneling regime yields analytical integral expressions for the noise as a function of the bias on the source. Asymptotic expressions of the noise in the limits of high and low bias are found.     

Nonlinear quantum shock waves in fractional quantum Hall edge states

Using the Calogero model as an example, we show that the transport in interacting nondissipative electronic systems is essentially nonlinear and unstable. Nonlinear effects are due to the curvature of the electronic spectrum near the Fermi energy. As is typical for nonlinear systems, a propagating semiclassical wave packet develops a shock wave at a finite time. A wave packet collapses into oscillatory features which further evolve into regularly structured localized pulses carrying a fractionally quantized charge. The Calogero model can be used to describe fractional quantum Hall edge states. We discuss perspectives of observation of quantum shock waves and a direct measurement of the fractional charge in fractional quantum Hall edge states.     

Current breakdown of the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects detected by torque magnetometry

We have developed a novel technique that enables measurements of the breakdown of both the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects in a two-dimensional electron system without the need to contact the sample. The critical Hall electric fields that we measure are significantly higher than those reported by other workers, and support the quasi-elastic inter-Landau-level tunnelling model of breakdown. Comparison of the fractional quantum Hall effect results with those obtained on the integer quantum Hall effect allows the fractional quantum Hall effect energy gap to be determined and provides a test of the composite-fermion theory. The temperature dependence of the critical current gives an insight into the mechanism by which momentum may be conserved during the breakdown process.     

Electron correlations at the fractional quantum Hall edge

This paper reviews tunnel spectroscopy of fractional quantum Hall edges using cleaved-edge overgrown devices. Beginning with an intuitive introduction to various experimental and theoretical aspects, the device structure is reviewed, and the experimental result of a continuum of power-law tunneling exponents is revisited. The unanticipated behavior of the exponent with fractional filling factor is described, and all subsequent theoretical explanations for these results are laid out for comparison. Finally, we propose new directions for experimentally resolving the remaining questions.     

Two-terminal conductance of a fractional quantum Hall edge

We have found a solution to a model of tunneling between a multichannel Fermi liquid reservoir and an edge of the principal fractional quantum Hall liquid (FQHL) in the strong-coupling limit. The solution explains how the chiral edge propagation makes the universal two-terminal conductance of the FQHL fractionally quantized and different from that of a 1D Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid wire, where a similar model, but preserving the time reversal symmetry, predicts unsuppressed free-electron conductance.     

Noise dephasing in edge states of the integer quantum Hall regime

An electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer is used in the integer quantum Hall regime at a filling factor 2 to study the dephasing of the interferences. This is found to be induced by the electrical noise existing in the edge states capacitively coupled to each other. Electrical shot noise created in one channel leads to phase randomization in the other, which destroys the interference pattern. These findings are extended to the dephasing induced by thermal noise instead of shot noise: it explains the underlying mechanism responsible for the finite temperature coherence time tau_{phi}(T) of the edge states at filling factor 2, measured in a recent experiment. Finally, we present here a theory of the dephasing based on Gaussian noise, which is found to be in excellent agreement with our experimental results.     

Resonant tunneling into a biased fractional quantum Hall edge

We observe resonant tunneling into a voltage biased fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) edge, using atomically sharp tunnel barriers unique to cleaved-edge overgrown devices. The resonances demonstrate different tunnel couplings to the metallic lead and the FQHE edge. Weak coupling to the FQHE edge produces clear non-Fermi liquid behavior with a sixfold increase in resonance area under bias arising from the power law density of states at the FQHE edge. A simple device model uses the resonant tunneling formalism for chiral Luttinger liquids to successfully describe the data.     

Symanzik's method applied to fractional quantum Hall edge states

The method of separability, introduced by Symanzik, is applied in order to describe the effect of a boundary for a fractional quantum Hall liquid in the Laughlin series. An Abelian Chern‐Simons theory with plane boundary is considered and the Green functions both in the bulk and on the edge are constructed, following a rigorous, perturbative, quantum field theory treatment. We show that the conserved boundary currents find an explicit interpretation in terms of the continuity equation with the electron density satisfying the Tomonaga‐Luttinger commutation relation.     

Realizing universal edge properties in graphene fractional quantum Hall liquids

Universal chiral Luttinger liquid behavior has been predicted for fractional quantum Hall edge states, but so far has not been observed experimentally in semiconductor-based two-dimensional electron gases. One likely cause of this absence of universality is the generic occurrence of edge reconstruction in such systems, which is the result of a competition between confinement potential and Coulomb repulsion. We show that due to a completely different mechanism of confinement, edge reconstruction can be avoided in graphene, which allows for the observation of the predicted universality.     

Semiclassical analysis of edge state energies in the integer quantum Hall effect

Analysis of edge-state energies in the integer quantum Hall effect is carried out within the semiclassical approximation. When the system is wide so that each edge can be considered separately, this problem is equivalent to that of a one dimensional harmonic oscillator centered at x = x_c and an infinite wall at x = 0, and appears in numerous physical contexts. The eigenvalues E_n(x_c) for a given quantum number n are solutions of the equation S(E,x_c)=π[n+ γ(E,x_c)] where S is the WKB action and 0 < γ < 1 encodes all the information on the connection procedure at the turning points. A careful implication of the WKB connection formulae results in an excellent approximation to the exact energy eigenvalues. The dependence of γ[E_n(x_c),x_c] ≡γ_n(x_c) on x_c is analyzed between its two extreme values as x_c ↦-∞ far inside the sample and as x_c ↦∞ far outside the sample. The edge-state energiesE_n(x_c) obey an almost exact scaling law of the form and the scaling function f(y) is explicitly elucidated.     

Correlated tunneling and the instability of the fractional quantum Hall edge

We consider a class of interaction terms that describes correlated tunneling of composite fermions between effective Landau levels. Despite being generic and of similar strength to that of the usual density-density couplings, these terms are not included in the accepted theory of the edges of fractional quantum Hall systems. Here we show that they may lead to an instability of the edge towards a new reconstructed state with additional channels, and thereby demonstrate the incompleteness of the traditional edge theory.     

Optical detection of the breakdown phenomena of integer and fractional quantum Hall effects in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures

We have studied photoluminescence (PL) signals from GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure devices in strong magnetic fields with finite current flowing in the Hall-bar samples. An additional PL peak was found when the current density exceeds the critical value of current-induced breakdown of the quantum Hall effect. This phenomenon gives us the information of heating property of electrons.