Wigner crystal and other insulating phases of two-dimensional electrons in high magnetic fields

Balint Podor

doi:10.1117/12.425411

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17 April 2001 Wigner crystal and other insulating phases of two-dimensional electrons in high magnetic fields

Balint Podor

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Proceedings Volume 4413, International Conference on Solid State Crystals 2000: Epilayers and Heterostructures in Optoelectronics and Semiconductor Technology; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425411
Event: International Conference on Solid State Crystals 2000, 2000, Zakopane, Poland

Abstract

A concise review of the history and of the basic physics of the Wigner crystal (electron solid) in two dimensional electron systems in semiconductor heterostructures is given. The results of our experimental study on the formation and of the properties of the magnetic field-induced insulating phase, supposed to be a Wigner crystal, in a two dimensional gas in In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP heterostructures are surveyed. These structures are characterized by a much greater disorder potential than AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures due to the inherent alloy disorder in the InGaAs layer supporting the two dimensional electron gas. In high magnetic fields, below a Landau level filling factor of 0.4-0.5 divergent resistivity, non-linear current-voltage characteristics with a threshold, and a transition from non- activated to activated transport were observed. A model is proposed for the Wigner crystal-like ordering of the two dimensional electron gas in this system with large disorder.

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Balint Podor "Wigner crystal and other insulating phases of two-dimensional electrons in high magnetic fields", Proc. SPIE 4413, International Conference on Solid State Crystals 2000: Epilayers and Heterostructures in Optoelectronics and Semiconductor Technology, (17 April 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425411

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