Frequency,power and temperature dependence of the off-resonance magnetoresistance spike in irradiated 2D-electron systems

We present calculated results on frequency, power and temperature dependence of the recently discovered giant radiation-induced off-resonance magnetoresistance spike obtained in ultraclean two-dimensional electron systems. This spike shows up on the second harmonic of the cyclotron resonance. We apply the radiation-driven electron orbit model to this novel ultraclean scenario. In agreement with experiments, we obtain that the spike intensity is strongly dependent on temperature and radiation power. On the other hand, the spike position is mainly dependent on radiation frequency. These results would be of special interest from the application perspective, such as nanophotonics, ultrasensitive microwave detectors or solar cells given the strong translation of radiation energy into electrical current.     

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 ～3×10? cm2/V s) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells (QWs) under millimeter wave 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.     

Commensurability oscillations in a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas subject to strong in-plane magnetic field

We report on a theoretical study of the commensurability oscillations in a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas modulated by a unidirectional periodic potential and subject to tilted magnetic fields with a strong in-plane component. As a result of coupling of the in-plane field component and the confining potential in the finite-width quantum well, the originally circular cyclotron orbits become anisotropic and tilted out of the sample plane. A quasi-classical approach to the theory, that relates the magneto-resistance oscillations to the guiding-center drift, is extended to this case.     

Coexistence of collective and single-particle effects in the photoresponse of a 2D electron gas to microwave radiation

The photoresponse of magnetoresistance of a high-density two-dimensional electron system to microwave electromagnetic radiation is studied. The damping of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation by radiation with a non-monotonic dependence of this effect on the magnetic field and the radiation-induced oscillations of magnetoresistance are observed. The damping is most pronounced within isolated narrow magnetic field intervals that closely correspond to the expected positions of magnetoplasma resonances in the sample under study and also near the cyclotron resonance position. A “window” is observed in the photoresponse near the field value predicted on the basis of a single-particle electron spectrum consisting of broadened Landau levels. The radiation-induced oscillations, the window in the photoresponse, and the damping of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations near the cyclotron resonance are described in terms of the theory based on the concept of the nonequilibrium filling of single-electron states. Thus, it is demonstrated that the photoresponse pattern observed in the experiment is formed by both single-particle and collective (magnetoplasma) effects.     

Corrugated graphene: effects of in-plane and tilted out-of-plane magnetic fields

The electronic energy level structure of the corrugated graphene electron subjected to a magnetic field tilted with respect to the graphene plane and an in-plane homogeneous magnetic field is investigated theoretically within the perturbation framework. It is shown that the anisotropy induced by the tilted magnetic field strongly modifies the Fermi velocity of the corrugated graphene electron, and the corrugated structure yields intrinsic Weiss oscillations in both Fermi velocity and the graphene Landau levels.     

Occurrence of a gap in the spectrum of magnetoplasma excitations of a two-dimensional electron disk subjected to a strong in-plane magnetic field

The effect of a parallel magnetic field on the dispersion of bulk and edge magnetoplasmons in a disk-shaped two-dimensional electron system is investigated. It is found that the anisotropy of the electron effective mass that appears in a parallel magnetic field lifts the degeneracy of plasma oscillations in the disk. This is accompanied by the occurrence of a gap in the spectrum of magnetoplasmons, and the magnetic dispersion of these excitations changes from a linear to a parabolic one. The width of the gap is determined by the difference between the frequencies of plasma oscillations along the field and transverse to the field and grows quadratically with the in-plane field strength.     

Ultrafast Fiske effect in semiconductor superlattices

The current flowing across a semiconductor superlattice in tilted electric and magnetic fields is known to exhibit resonant enhancement, when Landau states of neighboring wells align at certain ratios of the field strengths. We show that the ultrafast version of this effect, in which coherent electron wave packets are involved, has a profound analogy to the Fiske effect in superconductor Josephson junctions and superfluid weak links, in that the coupling of the tunneling-induced charge oscillations (magneto-Bloch versus Josephson oscillations) to another oscillator (in-plane cyclotron oscillations versus external oscillator modes) opens an elastic rectifying transport channel. We explore the superlattice effect both theoretically and experimentally, and find that the transient self-induced current can be adequately modeled if the damping of both types of coupled electron oscillations is properly taken into account.     

Exotic electronic phases in the second Landau level

Recent experiments have shown that two-dimensional electron systems with an externally applied magnetic field are an extremely rich ground for many-body physics. In particular, when only two of the Landau levels (LL) are filled an intricate magnetoresistance is found. This result stems from an interesting competition of electronic phases such as fractional quantum Hall liquids, reentrant integer Hall states, and unique quantized states at even denominator LL filling factors. We present a brief review of the transport properties of these electronic phases and discuss in detail the effects of an added in-plane magnetic field.     

Exotic electronic phases in the second Landau level

Recent experiments have shown that two-dimensional electron systems with an externally applied magnetic field are an extremely rich ground for many-body physics. In particular, when only two of the Landau levels (LL) are filled an intricate magnetoresistance is found. This result stems from an interesting competition of electronic phases such as fractional quantum Hall liquids, reentrant integer Hall states, and unique quantized states at even denominator LL filling factors. We present a brief review of the transport properties of these electronic phases and discuss in detail the effects of an added in-plane magnetic field.     

Cyclotron Resonance in the Hidden-Order Phase of URu_{2}Si_{2}

We report the first observation of cyclotron resonance in the hidden-order phase of ultraclean URu_{2}Si_{2} crystals, which allows the full determination of angle-dependent electron-mass structure of the main Fermi-surface sheets. We find an anomalous splitting of the sharpest resonance line under in-plane magnetic-field rotation. This is most naturally explained by the domain formation, which breaks the fourfold rotational symmetry of the underlying tetragonal lattice. The results reveal the emergence of an in-plane mass anisotropy with hot spots along the [110] direction, which can account for the anisotropic in-plane magnetic susceptibility reported recently. This is consistent with the "nematic" Fermi liquid state, in which itinerant electrons have unidirectional correlations.     

Out-of-plane spin polarization from in-plane electric and magnetic fields

We show that the joint effect of spin-orbit and magnetic fields leads to a spin polarization perpendicular to the plane of a homogeneous two-dimensional electron system with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and in-plane parallel dc magnetic and electric fields, for angle-dependent impurity scattering or nonparabolic energy spectrum, while only in-plane polarization persists for simplified models. We derive Bloch equations, describing the main features of recent experiments, including the magnetic field dependence of static and dynamic responses.     

Free magnetization oscillations in garnet ferrite films with quasi-planar anisotropy

Free magnetization oscillations in garnet ferrite films with quasi-planar anisotropy was studied. The oscillations were excited by a pulse of an in-plane magnetic field. An analytic expression relating the oscillation frequency to the film parameters and the external magnetic field was derived; the expression is in good agreement with the experimental data. The planar anisotropy is shown to increase the free-oscillation damping.     

Ballistic electron transport in AlAs quantum wells

We report the observation of commensurability oscillations in an AlAs two-dimensional electron system where two conduction-band valleys with elliptical in-plane Fermi contours are occupied. The Fourier power spectrum of the oscillations shows two frequency components consistent with those expected for the Fermi contours of the two valleys. From an analysis of the spectra we deduce m(l)/m(t)=5.2+/-0.5 for the ratio of the longitudinal and transverse electron effective masses, a fundamental parameter that cannot be directly measured from other transport experiments.     

Finite-temperature density instability at high landau level occupancy

We study here the onset of charge density wave instabilities in quantum Hall systems at finite temperature for Landau level filling nu>4. Specific emphasis is placed on the role of disorder as well as on an in-plane magnetic field. Beyond some critical value, disorder is observed to suppress the charge density wave melting temperature to zero. In addition, we find that a transition from perpendicular to parallel stripes (relative to the in-plane magnetic field) exists when the electron gas thickness exceeds approximately 60 A. The perpendicular alignment of the stripes is in agreement with the experimental finding that the easy conduction direction is perpendicular to the in-plane field.     

Optical out-of-plane spin polarization and charge conductivities in spin-orbit-coupled systems in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field

Out-of-plane spin and charge responses to the terahertz field for a clean two-dimensional electron gas with a Rashba spin-orbit interaction in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field are studied. We show that the characteristic optical spectral behavior is remarkably different from that of the system in the absence of in-plane magnetic fields. It is found that the optical spin polarization normal to the plane is nonzero even for this clean system, in sharp contrast to the static case. Due to the combined effect of spin-orbit coupling and in-plane magnetic field, both diagonal and off-diagonal components of optical charge conductivity tensor are nonvanishing. It is indicated that one can control the spin polarization and the optical current by adjusting the optical frequency. In addition, the out-of-plane spin polarization and conductivities strongly rely on the direction of the external magnetic field. Nevertheless, they meet different angle-dependent relations. This dynamical out-of-plane spin polarization could be measured by the time-resolved Kerr rotation technique.     

Unconventional field and angle dependences of the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations spectra in the quasi two-dimensional organic superconductor (BEDO-TTF) 2ReO 4H 2O

We report on the inter-layer oscillatory conductance of the two-dimensional organic superconductor (BEDO-TTF)₂ReO₄H₂O measured in static and pulsed magnetic fields of up to 15 and 52 T, respectively. In agreement with previous in-plane studies, two Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation series linked to the two electron and the hole orbits are observed. The influence of the magnitude and orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the conducting plane is studied in the framework of the conventional two- and three-dimensional Lifshits-Kosevich (LK) model. Deviations of the data from this model are observed in low fields strongly tilted with respect to the normal to the conducting plane. In this latter case, the observed behaviour is consistent with an unexplained lowering of the cyclotron effective mass. At high magnetic field, the oscillatory data could have been compatible with the occurrence of a magnetic breakdown orbit built from the hole and electron orbits. However, the increase of the cyclotron effective mass, linked to the electron orbits, as the magnetic field increases above ∼12 T is consistent with a field-induced phase transition. In the lower field range, where the conventional LK model holds, the analysis of the angle dependence of the oscillations amplitude suggests significant renormalisation of the effective Landé factor. Received 22 August 2000 and Received in final form 20 December 2000     

Strain induced novel quantum magnetotransport properties of topological insulators

Recent theoretical and experimental researches have revealed that the strained bulk HgTe can be regarded as a three-dimensional topological insulator (TI). Motivated by this, we explore the strain effects on the transport properties of the HgTe surface states, which are modulated by a weak 1D in-plane electrostatic periodic potential in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. We analytically derive the zero frequency (dc) diffusion conductivity for the case of quasielastic scattering in the Kubo formalism, and find that, in strong magnetic field regime, the Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations are superimposed on top of the Weiss oscillations due to the electric modulation for null and finite strain. Furthermore, the strain is shown to remove the degeneracy in inversion symmetric Dirac cones on the top and bottom surfaces. This accordingly gives rise to the splitting and mixture of Landau levels, and the asymmetric spectrum of the dc conductivity. These phenomena, not known in a conventional 2D electron gas and even in a strainless TI and graphene, are a consequence of the anomalous spectrum of surface states in a fully stained TI. These results should be valuable for electronic and spintronic applications of TIs, and thus we fully expect to see them in the further experiment.     

Gate control of quantum dot-based electron spin–orbit qubits

We investigate theoretically the coherent spin dynamics of gate control of quantum dot-based electron spin–orbit qubits subjected to a tilted magnetic field under electric-dipole spin resonance (EDSR). Our results reveal that Rabi oscillation of qubit states can be manipulated electrically based on rapid gate control of SOC strength. The Rabi frequency is strongly dependent on the gate-induced electric field, the strength and orientation of the applied magnetic field. There are two major EDSR mechanisms. One arises from electric field-induced spin–orbit hybridization, and the other arises from magnetic field-induced energy-level crossing. The SOC introduced by the gate-induced electric field allows AC electric fields to drive coherent Rabi oscillations between spin-up and -down states. After the crossing of the energy-levels with the magnetic field, the spin-transfer crossing results in Rabi oscillation irrespective of whether or not the external electric field is present. The spin–orbit qubit is transferred into the orbit qubit. Rabi oscillation is anisotropic and periodic with respect to the tilted and in-plane orientation of the magnetic field originating from the interplay of the SOC, orbital, and Zeeman effects. The strong electrically-controlled SOC strength suggests the possibility for scalable applications of gate-controllable spin–orbit qubits.     

Temperature effects on the magnetoplasmon spectrum of a weakly modulated graphene monolayer

In this work, we determine the effects of temperature on the magnetoplasmon spectrum of an electrically modulated graphene monolayer as well as a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). The intra-Landau band magnetoplasmon spectrum within the self-consistent field approach is investigated for both the aforementioned systems. Results obtained not only exhibit Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations but also commensurability oscillations (Weiss oscillations). These oscillations are periodic as a function of inverse magnetic field. We find that both the magnetic oscillations, SdH and Weiss, have a greater amplitude and are more robust against temperature in graphene compared to a conventional 2DEG. Furthermore, there is a π phase shift between the magnetoplasmon oscillations in the two systems which can be attributed to Dirac electrons in graphene acquiring a Berry's phase as they traverse a closed path in a magnetic field.     

Zitterbewegung of electrons in quantum wells and dots in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field

We study the effect of an in-plane magnetic field on the zitterbewegung (ZB) of electrons in a semiconductor quantum well (QW) and in a quantum dot (QD) with the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions (SOIs). We obtain a general expression of the time-evolution of the position vector and current of the electron in a semiconductor QW. The amplitude of the oscillatory motion is directly related to the Berry connection in momentum space. We find that in presence of the magnetic field the ZB in a QW does not vanish when the strengths of the Rashba and Dresselhaus SOIs are equal. The in-plane magnetic field helps to sustain the ZB in QWs even at a low value of k(0)d (where d is the width of the Gaussian wavepacket and k(0) is the initial wavevector). The trembling motion of an electron in a semiconductor QW with high Landé g-factor (e.g. InSb) is sustained over a long time, even at a low value of k(0)d. Further, we study the ZB of an electron in QDs within the two sub-band model numerically. The trembling motion persists in time even when the magnetic field is absent as well as when the strengths of the SOI are equal. The ZB in QDs is due to the superposition of oscillatory motions corresponding to all possible differences of the energy eigenvalues of the system. This is an another example of multi-frequency ZB phenomenon.