Temperature dependence of the spin polarization of composite fermions

It is found that at a critical value of the magnetic field in which a system of composite fermions becomes completely spin-polarized, the temperature dependence of the electronic spin polarization is a linear function at low temperatures. It is shown that the slope of this dependence is determined by the Fermi energy of the composite fermions. This made it possible to measure the Fermi energy and the Zeeman splitting of the composite fermions. A large amplification of the spin splitting of composite fermions for complete spin polarization of the system is found. This makes it possible to measure the strength of the interaction between composite fermions. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 11, 722–726 (10 December 1999)     

Circular-polarization-dependent study of the microwave-induced magneto-resistance oscillations in the 2D electron system

We have investigated the influence of the polarization of the incident radiation on the recently discovered microwave-induced resistance oscillations in state-of-the-art highest purity 2D electron systems. A quasi-optical setup allows us to tune in situ between different circular as well as linear polarization states. We find that the microwave-induced zero resistance and the resistance oscillations are notably immune to changes in the polarization. This observation is discrepant with a number of proposed theories. Deviations for different polarizations only occur for a bolometric contribution to the resistance associated with the resonant heating at the cyclotron resonance itself.     

Responsive Aqueous Foams

Remarkable properties have emerged recently for aqueous foams, including ultrastability and responsiveness. Responsive aqueous foams refer to foams for which the stability can be switched between stable and unstable states with a change in environment or with external stimuli. Responsive foams have been obtained from various foam stabilizers, such as surfactants, proteins, polymers, and particles, and with various stimuli. Different strategies have been developed to design this type of soft material. We briefly review the two main approaches used to obtain responsive foams. The first approach is based on the responsiveness of the interfacial layer surrounding the gas bubbles, which leads to responsive foams. The second approach is based on modifications that occur in the aqueous phase inside the foam liquid channels to tune the foam stability. We will highlight the most sophisticated approaches, which use light, temperature, and magnetic fields and lead to switchable foam stability.     

Atom number calibration in absorption imaging at very small atom numbers

Cold atom experiments often use images of the atom clouds as their exclusive source of experimental information. The most commonly used technique is absorption imaging, which provides accurate information about the shapes of the atom clouds, but requires care when seeking the absolute atom number for small atom samples. In this paper, we present an independent, absolute calibration of the atom numbers. We directly compare the atom number detected using dark-ground imaging to the one observed by fluorescence imaging of the same atoms in a magneto-optical trap. We normalise the signal using single-atom resolved fluorescence imaging. In order to be able to image the absorption of the very low atom numbers involved, we use diffractive dark-ground imaging as a novel, ultra-sensitive method of in situ imaging for untrapped atom clouds down to only 100 atoms. We demonstrate that the Doppler shift due to the acceleration of the atoms by the probe beam has to be taken into account when measuring the atom-number.     

Anomalous fluctuations of 2D-electron recombination radiation intensity in the quantum Hall regime

Anomalous intensity fluctuations are observed in the spectrum of radiative ecombination of quasi-two-dimensional (2D) electrons with photoexcited holes in a single quantum well. The fluctuations are observed exclusively under the conditions of the quantum Hall effect (QHE). It is shown that, if the QHE conditions are not fulfilled, the radiation intensity fluctuates strictly following the Poisson distribution 〈δN ²〉/〈N〉= 1), whereas in the QHE regime the fluctuation amplitude increases by several orders of magnitude (〈δ N ²〉/〈N〉～10²). It is demonstrated that the maxima of the emission noise amplitude coincide with the maxima of inverse magnetoresistance of 2D electrons in the QHE regime and correspond to establishing an anomalously high uniformity of the system.     

Cyclotron spin-wave in the 2D electron system

The cyclotron spin-wave mode of a two-dimensional electron system have been investigated by inelastic light scattering. It is observed at small electron filling factors, (v～0.1, when the electron system is spin-depolarized. As long as the electron system becomes fully spin-polarized (v>0.2), the cyclotron spin-wave disappears from the inelastic light scattering spectra. It reenters at electron filling factors v>1. Over the range of electron filling factors of 1<v<2, the cyclotron spin-wave energy is insensitive to both the experimentally accessible in-plane momenta and the electron concentration, whereas its inelastic light scattering efficiency is strongly influenced by the spin polarization of the electron system.     

On the nature of the oscillations of cyclotron absorption in InAs/GaSb quantum wells

The mechanism of oscillations of the half-width and intensity of the cyclotron resonance (CR) line of electrons in a semimetal quantum well based on an InAs/AlSb/GaSb heterostructure is investigated experimentally and theoretically. It is shown that the oscillations of the CR spectrum are due to mixing of states of the spatially separated two-dimensional electrons and holes. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 10, 753–758 (25 November 1998)     

Comments on the hole mass in silicon inversion layers

Published experimental data for hole masses m_c in silicon inversion layers on (110), (111) and (100) surfaces are critically discussed. New results are presented for the (100) orientation. It is shown that self-consistent calculations of m_c agree with those experimental data, which are compatible with cyclotron resonance results. It is demonstrated that a theoretical treatment by Falicov and Garcia, which predicts too large hole masses, is not tenable.