Spectral measurement of weak THz waves with quantum Hall detectors

A terahertz (THz) microspectroscope is developed, in which the frequency of extremely weak THz radiation is resolved by scanning the magnetic field for a quantum Hall detector. The electron density of the detectors is controlled by the back-gate biasing, so that the detector sensitivity is calibrated over a spectral range studied. Reliable spectral measurements with a spectral resolution of 1.2 cm⁻¹ has been made with a sensitivity better than 10 femtowatt level over 1 s integration time.     

Spectroscopy of non-equilibrium electrons in quantum Hall conductors

Spectroscopy of local cyclotron emission from the hot spots is carried out on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure two-dimensional electron gas system at B=6 T (ν=2.5) by applying a terahertz scanning microscope. The spectra of CE at the current entry and exit corners (hot spots) are remarkably broadened towards lower frequencies with increasing I up to 300 μA, indicating substantial relevance of non-equilibrium electrons generated in higher-level LLs; in terms of effective electron temperature, T_E reaching as high as 300 K is suggested while T_E=25–30 K on an average in the surrounding region (within a distance of 50 μm) about the hot point.     

Electrostatic theory for imaging experiments on local charges in quantum Hall systems

We use a simple electrostatic treatment to model recent experiments on quantum Hall systems, in which charging of localised states by addition of integer or fractionally charged quasiparticles is observed. Treating the localised state as a compressible quantum dot or antidot embedded in an incompressible background, we calculate the electrostatic potential in its vicinity as a function of its charge, and the chemical potential values at which its charge changes. The results offer a quantitative framework for analysis of the observations.     

Anomalous quantum Hall effect induced by nearby quantum dots

Transport measurements in high magnetic fields have been performed on two-dimensional electron system (2DES) separated by a thin barrier layer from a layer of InAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). Clear feature of quantum Hall effect was observed in spite of presence of QDs nearby 2DES. However, both magnetoresistance, ρ_xx, and Hall resistance, ρ_xy, are suppressed significantly only in the magnetic field range of filling factor in 2DES ν<1 and voltage applied on a front gate . The results indicate that the electron state in QDs induces spin-flip process in 2DES.     

Thermodynamic properties of a quantum Hall anti-dot interferometer

We study quantum Hall interferometers in which the interference loop encircles a quantum anti-dot. We base our study on thermodynamic considerations, which we believe reflect the essential aspects of interference transport phenomena. We find that similar to the more conventional Fabry–Perot quantum Hall interferometers, in which the interference loop forms a quantum dot, the anti-dot interferometer is affected by the electro-static Coulomb interaction between the edge modes defining the loop. We show that in the Aharonov–Bohm regime, in which effects of fractional statistics should be visible, is easier to access in interferometers based on anti-dots than in those based on dots. We discuss the relevance of our results to recent measurements on anti-dots interferometers.     

Imaging of cyclotron emission from edge channels in quantum Hall conductors

A local probing technique of cyclotron emission is applied to image nonequilibrium electrons generated along edge channels in quantum Hall conductors. In a lower-magnetic field region of a quantum Hall state plateau (filling factor 2相似文献   

Integer quantum Hall effect in a PbTe quantum well

Transport measurements have been carried out on a 10 nm n-type PbTe/Pb_0.9Eu_0.1Te quantum well at millikelvin temperatures. The Hall and longitudinal resistances are measured in a Van der Pauw geometry under high magnetic fields up to 23 T. A robust signature of the integer quantum Hall effect is observed without any sign of parasitic parallel conduction. The unconventional sequence of filling factors associated with the integer quantum Hall effect is discussed in terms of the occupancy of multiple valleys.     

Ballistic transport under quantum Hall effect conditions

The paper addresses details of the single-particle electron spectrum ?_l(p)${?}_l(p)$ in narrow Coulomb channels (l is the transverse spectrum part discrete index and p   is the continuous longitudinal electron momentum). The channel is said to be narrow if differences between transverse spectrum branches ?_l(p)${?}_l(p)$ are larger than temperature. Considered are two extreme cases with respect to magnetic field. For the first case where ?_F≥?ω_c${?}_F\ge \mathit{?}{\omega }_c$, the spectrum ?_l(p)${?}_l(p)$ first calculated by Stern et al. numerically is obtained with approximate analytical analysis (here ?_F${?}_F$ is the Fermi energy of the 2D electron system ?ω_c$\mathit{?}{\omega }_c$ is the cyclotron frequency). In the second case the proposed formalism is extended to high magnetic fields satisfying the inequality ?_F≤?ω_c${?}_F\le \mathit{?}{\omega }_c$. Calculated results are compared with available experimental data.     

Anyons and the quantum Hall effect—A pedagogical review

The dichotomy between fermions and bosons is at the root of many physical phenomena, from metallic conduction of electricity to super-fluidity, and from the periodic table to coherent propagation of light. The dichotomy originates from the symmetry of the quantum mechanical wave function to the interchange of two identical particles. In systems that are confined to two spatial dimensions particles that are neither fermions nor bosons, coined “anyons”, may exist. The fractional quantum Hall effect offers an experimental system where this possibility is realized. In this paper we present the concept of anyons, we explain why the observation of the fractional quantum Hall effect almost forces the notion of anyons upon us, and we review several possible ways for a direct observation of the physics of anyons. Furthermore, we devote a large part of the paper to non-abelian anyons, motivating their existence from the point of view of trial wave functions, giving a simple exposition of their relation to conformal field theories, and reviewing several proposals for their direct observation.     

Experimental probes of emergent symmetries in the quantum Hall system

Experiments studying renormalization group flows in the quantum Hall system provide significant evidence for the existence of an emergent holomorphic modular symmetry Γ₀(2)${\Gamma }_0(2)$. We briefly review this evidence and show that, for the lowest temperatures, the experimental determination of the position of the quantum critical points agrees to the parts per mille   level with the prediction from Γ₀(2)${\Gamma }_0(2)$. We present evidence that experiments giving results that deviate substantially from the symmetry predictions are not cold enough to be in the quantum critical domain. We show how the modular symmetry extended by a non-holomorphic particle–hole duality leads to an extensive web of dualities related to those in plateau–insulator transitions, and we derive a formula relating dual pairs (B,Bd)$(B,B_d)$ of magnetic field strengths across any transition. The experimental data obtained for the transition studied so far is in excellent agreement with the duality relations following from this emergent symmetry, and rule out the duality rule derived from the “law of corresponding states”. Comparing these generalized duality predictions with future experiments on other transitions should provide stringent tests of modular duality deep in the non-linear domain far from the quantum critical points.     

Detection of hidden localized states by the quantum Hall effect in graphene

We fabricated a monolayer graphene transistor device in the shape of the Hall-bar structure, which produced an exactly symmetric signal following the sample geometry. During electrical characterization, the device showed the standard integer quantum Hall effect of monolayer graphene except for a broader range of several quantum Hall plateaus corresponding to small filling factors in the electron region. We investigated this anomaly on the basis of localized states owing to the presence of possible electron traps, whose energy levels were estimated to be near the Dirac point. In particular, the inequality between the filling of electrons and holes was ascribed to the requirement of excess electrons to fill the trap levels. The relations between the quantum Hall plateau, Landau level, and filling factor were carefully analyzed to reveal the details of the localized states in this graphene device.     

Nuclear-spin-lattice relaxation in a bilayer quantum Hall system

We examined the electron spin degree of freedom around the total Landau-level filling factor ν=1 in a bilayer system via nuclear spins. In a balanced bilayer system, nuclear-spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T₁, which probes low-energy electron spin fluctuations, increases gradually as the system is driven from the quantum Hall (QH) state through a phase transition to the compressible state. This result demonstrates that the electron spin degree of freedom is not frozen either in the QH or compressible states. Furthermore, as the density difference between the two layers is increased from balanced bilayer to monolayer configurations, 1/T₁ around ν=1 shows a rapid yet smooth increase. This suggests that pseudospin textures around the bilayer ν=1 system evolves continuously into the spin texture for the monolayer system.     

Electron–hole states in the fractional quantum Hall regime probed by photoluminescence

The electron–hole states in the fractional quantum Hall regime is investigated with a back-gated undoped quantum well by photoluminesccence in magnetic fields. The evolution of the photoluminescence spectra is discussed depending on the electron density. We find anomalies of the photoluminescence at the integer as well as the fractional filling factors.     

Theory of the integer quantum Hall effect in graphene

A Hall resistivity formula for the 2DES in graphene is derived from the zero-mass Dirac field model adopting the electron reservoir hypothesis. The formula reproduces perfectly the experimental resistivity data [K.S. Novoselov, et al., Nature 438 (2005) 201]. This perfect agreement cannot be achieved by any other existing models. The electron reservoir is shown to be the 2DES itself.     

The enigma of the quantum Hall effect in graphene

We apply Laughlin’s gauge argument to analyze the ν=0 quantum Hall effect observed in graphene when the Fermi energy lies near the Dirac point, and conclude that this necessarily leads to divergent bulk longitudinal resistivity in the zero temperature thermodynamic limit. We further predict that in a Corbino geometry measurement, where edge transport and other mesoscopic effects are unimportant, one should find the longitudinal conductivity vanishing in all graphene samples which have an underlying ν=0 quantized Hall effect. We argue that this ν=0 graphene quantum Hall state is qualitatively similar to the high field insulating phase (also known as the Hall insulator) in the lowest Landau level of ordinary semiconductor two-dimensional electron systems. We establish the necessity of having a high magnetic field and high mobility samples for the observation of the divergent resistivity as arising from the existence of disorder-induced density inhomogeneity at the graphene Dirac point.     

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.     

Umklapp scattering at reconstructed quantum Hall edges

We study the low-lying excitations of a quantum Hall sample that has undergone edge reconstruction such that there exist three branches of chiral edge excitations. Among the interaction processes that involve electrons close to the three Fermi points is a new type of Umklapp-scattering process which has not been discussed before. Using bosonization and a refermionization technique, we obtain exact results for electronic correlation functions and discuss the effect Umklapp scattering has on the Luttinger-liquid properties of quantum Hall edges.     

PLE studies of two-dimensional hole systems in the quantum Hall regime

We report a spectroscopic investigation of the densities of both occupied and unoccupied states of a high-quality two-dimensional hole system, in the regime of the quantum Hall effects (QHEs). Photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopies are used to elucidate the complicated valence band structure of the holes, and to establish their optical response to the QHEs.     

Observation of the quantum Hall effect in cleaved InAs surfaces

We have performed the in-plane magnetotransport measurements on the two-dimensional electron gas at the cleaved p-InAs (1 1 0) surface by deposition of Ag. The surface electron density N_s is determined from the Hall coefficient at . The coverage dependence of N_s is well explained by the assumption that each adsorbed Ag atom denotes one electron into InAs until the surface Fermi level reaches the adsorbate-induced donor level. The electron mobility μ is about and does not show a clear dependence on the coverage over . In the high-magnetic field regime of B>1/μ, Shubnikov–de Hass oscillations were observed. A beating pattern due to the strong spin–orbit interaction appears for high N_s. For lower N_s of , an apparent quantum Hall plateau for ν=4 and vanishing of the longitudinal resistivity were observed around .     

Metal insulator transition in modulated quantum Hall systems

The quantum Hall effect is studied numerically in modulated two-dimensional electron systems in the presence of disorder. Based on the scaling property of the Hall conductivity as well as the localization length, the critical energies where the states are extended are identified. We find that the critical energies, which are distributed to each of the subbands, combine into one when the disorder becomes strong, in the way depending on the symmetry of the disorder and/or the periodic potential.