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.     

Stability of soliton lattice phase in the bilayer quantum Hall state under tilted magnetic fields

The bilayer quantum Hall (QH) state at the filling factor ν=1 shows various fascinating quantum phenomena due to the layer degree of freedom called ‘pseudospin’. We report an experimental evidence of the soliton lattice (SL) phase, which is a domain structure of pseudospin, by the appearance of a local maximum of magnetoresistance near the ν=1 QH state. We investigate the stability of the SL phase by changing B and the total electron density n_T. Detailed magnetotransport measurements under tilted magnetic fields were carried out to obtain a B–n_T plane phase diagram containing the C, IC and SL phases. We found the SL phase is only stable at low n_T region. Namely, the C–SL–IC phase transition occurs only at low n_T region as B increases. On the contrary, the C–IC phase transition directly occurs without passing through the SL phase at high n_T region.     

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.     

Spin-dependent resistivity and quantum Hall ferromagnetism in two-dimensional electrons confined to AlAs quantum wells

We observe a strong dependence of the amplitude and field position of longitudinal resistivity (ρ_xx) peaks in the spin-resolved integer quantum Hall regime on the spin orientation of the Landau level (LL) in which the Fermi energy resides. The amplitude of a given peak is maximal when the partially filled LL has the same spin as the lowest LL, and amplitude changes as large as an order of magnitude are observed as the sample is tilted in field. In addition, the field position of both the ρ_xx peaks and plateau–plateau transitions in the Hall resistance shift depending on the spin orientation of the LLs. The spin dependence of the resistivity points to a new explanation for resistivity spikes, associated with first-order quantum Hall ferromagnetic transitions, that occur at the edges of quantum Hall states.     

Quantum Hall ferromagnetism in a two-valley strained Si quantum well

Tilted field magnetotransport study was performed in a two-valley strained Si quantum well and hysteretic diagonal resistance spikes were observed near the coincidence angles. The spike around filling factor ν=3 develops into a giant feature when it moves to the high-field edge of the quantum Hall (QH) state and quenches for higher tilt angles. When the spike is most prominent, its peak resistance is temperature independent from T20 mK up to 0.3 K, which is different from the critical behavior previously reported near the Curie temperature of the QH ferromagnet in AlAs quantum wells. Our data suggest a strong interplay between spins and valleys near the coincidence.     

Collapse of quantized Hall resistance and breakdown of dissipationless state in the integer quantum Hall effect: filling factor dependence

Magnetic field dependence of critical current for collapse of quantized Hall resistance I_cr(collapse) and critical current for breakdown of dissipationless state I_cr(breakdown) have been measured near the filling factor ν=4 of Landau levels in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure Hall bar. The difference I_cr(breakdown)−I_cr(collapse) decreases against the increase and the decrease in ν from 4 and the critical behavior disappears outside of the region 3.85<ν<4.15.     

On the phase boundaries of the integer quantum Hall effect. Part II

It has been shown that the observation of the transitions between the dielectric phase and the integer-quantum-Hall-effect phases with the quantized Hall conductivity σ _xy ^q ≥ 3e ²/h announced in a number of works is unjustified. In these works, the crossing points of the magnetic-field dependence of the diagonal resistivity ρ _xx at different temperatures T and ω_cτ = 1 have been misidentified as the critical points of the phase transitions. In fact, these crossing points are due to the sign change of the derivative dρ _xx /dT owing to the quantum corrections to the conductivity. Here, ω_c = eB/m is the cyclotron frequency, τ is the transport relaxation time, and m is the effective electron mass.     

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.     

Fractional quantum Hall effect at a suppressed energy gap

In the fractional quantum Hall effect regime, the diagonal (ρ_xx) and Hall (ρ_xy) magnetoresistivity tensor components of the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in gated GaAs/Al_xGa_1−x As heterojunctions are measured together with the capacitance between 2DES and the gate. The 1/3-and 2/3-fractional quantum Hall effects are observed at rather low magnetic fields where the corresponding fractional minima in the thermodynamic density of the states have already disappeared, thus, implying the suppression of the quasiparticle energy gaps. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Phase transitions in the quantum Hall liquid in a quantum wire

Two scenarios for the collapse of the ν=1 quantum Hall liquid (QHL) state, with the effective quantum wire (QW) width defined by the Fermi vector k_F, are studied. Here, ν for the QW is defined as the filling factor of Landau levels (LL) at the center of the QW. In the first one there is no electron redistribution at critical magnetic field , where the Fermi energy, E_F, coincides with the bottom of the empty upper spin-split LL. For the ν=1 state is unstable due to exchange-correlation effects and lateral confinement. In the second scenario, a transition to the ν=2 state occurs, with much smaller width, at . The latter scenario is analyzed in the Hartree–Fock approximation (HFA). Here the Hartree contribution to the total energy affects drastically due to strong electron redistribution in the QW. In both scenarios, the exchange-enhanced g-factor is suppressed at B_cr. The critical fields, activation energy, and optical g-factor obtained in the first scenario are very close to the measured ones.     

Quantum transport study of canted antiferromagnetic phase in the bilayer quantum Hall state

We examine the ν=2 bilayer quantum Hall (QH) state in clean two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) to study effects due to not only the layer degree of freedom called pseudospin but also the real spin degree of freedom. The novel canted antiferromagnetic phase (CAF phase) has been predicted to emerge from subtle many-body electron interactions between the singlet (S) and ferromagnet (F) phases. Though several experiments indicate an onset of the CAF phase, a systematic transport study is not yet to be demonstrated. We have carried out magnetotransport measurements of the ν=2 bilayer QH state using a sample with tunneling energy . Activation energy was precisely measured as a function of the total density of the 2DES and the density difference between the two layers. Results support an appearance of the CAF phase between the S and F phases.     

Weak-field Hall resistance and effective carrier density measurements across the metal-insulator transition in Si-MOS structures

The weak-field Hall voltage in Si-MOS structures with different mobility is studied on both sides of the metal-insulator transition. In the vicinity of the critical density on the metallic side of the transition, the Hall voltage is found to deviate by 6–20 % from its classical value. The deviation does not correlate with the strong temperature dependence of the diagonal resistivity ρ _xx (T). In particular, the smallest deviation in R _xy is found in the highest-mobility sample, which exhibits the largest variation in the diagonal resistivity ρ _xx with temperature. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 1, 48–52 (10 July 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Ultra-low temperature study of the even-denominator FQHE state

We present experimental data showing unambiguously an even-denominator fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) state at . At a bath temperature T_b=8 mK, we observe a Hall plateau quantized to a value of 2h/5e² with an uncertainty smaller than 2 parts in 10⁶ and a vanishing R_xx (R_xx=1.7±1.7 Ω). The thermal activation energy gaps Δ at Landau level filling factors , and are 0.11, 0.10, and 0.055 K, respectively. Adding a disorder broadening (typically 2 K) to these values, we deduce that all three FQHE states have probably very similar energy gaps. The electron heating experiment shows that the 2D electrons are efficiently cooled to the bath temperature for T_b8 mK. We also explore the density dependence of the activation gap at . Preliminary results at T_b25 mK show that the state is very sensitive to disorder.     

Line Positions and Intensities of the ν1+ ν2+ 3ν3, ν2+ 4ν3, and 3ν1+ 2ν2Bands of Ozone

Using a Fourier transform spectrometer, we have recorded the spectra of ozone in the region of 4600 cm⁻¹, with a resolution of 0.008 cm⁻¹. The strongest absorption in this region is due to the ν₁+ ν₂+ 3ν₃band which is in Coriolis interaction with the ν₂+ 4ν₃band. We have been able to assign more than 1700 transitions for these two bands. To correctly reproduce the calculation of energy levels, it has been necessary to introduce the (320) state which strongly perturbs the (113) and (014) states through Coriolis- and Fermi-type resonances. Seventy transitions of the 3ν₁+ 2ν₂band have also been observed. The final fit on 926 energy levels withJ_max= 50 andK_max= 16 gives RMS = 3.1 × 10⁻³cm⁻¹and provides a satisfactory agreement of calculated and observed upper levels for most of the transitions. The following values for band centers are derived: ν₀(ν₁+ ν₂+ 3ν₃) = 4658.950 cm⁻¹, ν₀(3ν₁+ 2ν₂) = 4643.821 cm⁻¹, and ν₀(ν₂+ 4ν₃) = 4632.888 cm⁻¹. Line intensities have been measured and fitted, leading to the determination of transition moment parameters for the two bands ν₁+ ν₂+ 3ν₃and ν₂+ 4ν₃. Using these parameters we have obtained the following estimations for the integrated band intensities,S_V(ν₁+ ν₂+ 3ν₃) = 8.84 × 10⁻²²,S_V(ν₂+ 4ν₃) = 1.70 × 10⁻²², andS_V(3ν₁+ 2ν₂) = 0.49 × 10⁻²²cm⁻¹/molecule cm⁻²at 296 K, which correspond to a cutoff of 10⁻²⁶cm⁻¹/molecule cm⁻².     

Is the peak value of σ xx at the quantum Hall transition universal?

The question of the universality of the longitudinal peak conductivity at the integer quantum Hall transition is considered. For this purpose, a system of 2D Dirac fermions with random mass characterised by variance g is proposed as a model which undergoes a quantum Hall transition. Whilst for some specific models the longitudinal peak conductivity σ _xx was found to be universal (in agreement with the conjecture of Lee et al. as well as with some numerical work), we find that σ _xx is reduced by a factor (1 + g/2π)^?1, at least for small g. This provides some theoretical evidence for the non-universality of σ _xx , as observed in a number of experiments.     

Investigations of the exciton condensate

Recent experiments on quantum Hall bilayers in the vicinity of total filling factor 1 (ν_T=1) have revealed many exciting observations characteristic of a superfluidic exciton condensate. We report on our experimental work involving the ν_T=1 exciton condensate in independently contacted bilayer two-dimensional electron systems. We observe previously reported phenomena as a zero-bias resonant tunneling peak, a quantized Hall drag resistivity, and in counter-flow configuration, the near vanishing of both ρ_xx and ρ_xy resistivity components. At balanced electron densities in the layers, we find for both drag and counter-flow current configurations, thermally activated transport with a monotonic increase of the activation energy for d/ℓ_B<1.65 with activation energies up to 0.4 K. In the imbalanced system the activation energies show a striking asymmetry around the balance point, implying that the gap to charge excitations is considerably different in the separate layers that form the bilayer condensate. This indicates that the measured activation energy is neither the binding energy of the excitons, nor their condensation energy.     

Millimeter-Wave and High-Resolution Infrared Spectra of Monoisotopic SCSe: Equilibrium, Ground State, and ν1, mν2, and nν3 Rovibrational Parameters

The Fourier transform infrared spectrum of monoisotopic SC⁸⁰Se has been investigated in the ν₂, ν₃, 2ν₂, 2ν₃, and ν₁ regions with a resolution between 3 and 4 × 10⁻³ cm⁻¹. In addition, the millimeter-wave spectrum has been studied in the region 150 to 320 GHz, and ground and ν₂ = 1 excited state transitions have been measured. Ground state constants, B₀ = 2043.285 4(4) MHz and D₀ = 146.53(5) Hz, have been determined from a merge of millimeter-wave data and ground state combination differences spanning J values up to 77 and 143, respectively. The band centers ν₂ = 352.341 075(9) cm⁻¹ and ν₃ = 505.480 06(5)cm⁻¹ have been determined. The rovibrational parameters of numerous overtone and combination levels (ν₁ν^l2₂ν₃) = 02⁰0, 02²0, 03¹0, 03³0, 04⁰0, 04²0, 00⁰2, and 00⁰3 have been obtained from polynomial analyses whose standard deviations ranged from 0.7 to 3.5 × 10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹. The 10⁰0 level, ν_eff 1435.840 cm⁻¹, is anharmonically perturbed by the 04⁰0 level, with an avoided crossing at J = 55, and W₁₂₂₂₂ = 0.963 09(1) cm⁻¹. Transitions to both the upper (E⁺) and lower (E⁻) sublevels of the dyad were observed for 1 ≤ J′ ≤ 117 and 4 ≤ J′ ≤ 171, respectively, and the deperturbed wavenumbers ν₁ = 1435.542 76(2) and 4ν⁰₂ = 1432.725 00(3) cm⁻¹ were derived. Furthermore, a local crossing of the E⁻ and 04²0 levels involving l-type resonance was observed at J = 91.     

Numerical renormalization group studies of SU(4) Kondo effect in quantum dots

We theoretically study an enhancement of the Kondo effect in quantum dots with two orbitals and spin . The Kondo temperature and conductance are evaluated as functions of energy difference Δ between the orbitals, using the numerical renormalization group method. The Kondo temperature is maximal around the degeneracy point (Δ=0) and decreases with increasing |Δ| following a power law, T_K(Δ)=T_K(0)(T_K(0)/|Δ|)^γ, which is consistent with the scaling analysis. The conductance at T=0 is almost constant 2e²/h. Both the orbitals contribute to the conductance around Δ=0, whereas the current through the upper orbital is negligibly small when |Δ|T_K(0). These are characteristics of SU(4) Kondo effect.     

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 .     

Fermi-liquid instability at magnetic–nonmagnetic quantum phase transitions

In metals with strong electronic correlations such as heavy-fermion systems or itinerant-electron magnets it is possible to change from a magnetically ordered to a nonmagnetic groundstate by variation of an external parameter such as composition or pressure. In principle a transition between these groundstates can occur at zero temperature. In case of a continuous transition quantum fluctuations take the role of thermal fluctuations in finite-temperature transitions. The abundance of low-lying magnetic excitations leads in the vicinity of the quantum critical point to unusual behavior of thermodynamic and transport properties at low temperatures T not envisioned by the classical Fermi-liquid behavior that is observed even in strongly correlated electron systems away from the quantum phase transition. We discuss in detail a few examples of this ‘non-Fermi-liquid behavior', viz., CeCu_6−xAu_x, Ce_1−xLa_xRu₂Si₂, Ce₇Ni₃, CeCu₂Si₂ and CeCu₂Ge₂, CePd₂Si₂, and UCu_1−xPd_x. In CeCu_6−xAu_x the very unusual low-T behavior of the linear specific-heat coefficient C/T−ln(T/T₀) and of the resistivity ΔρT can be attributed to quasi-two-dimensional fluctuations as determined from inelastic neutron scattering. The systems CeCu₂Ge₂ and CePd₂Si₂ are particuarly interesting since here the magnetic order which is suppressed under hydrostatic pressure gives way to superconductivity, suggesting that spin fluctuations mediate the formation of Cooper pairs at least in the latter system.