Compressibility of a two-dimensional hole gas in tilted magnetic field

We have measured compressibility of a two-dimensional hole gas in p-GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, grown on a (100) surface, in the presence of a tilted magnetic field. It turns out that the parallel component of magnetic field affects neither the spin splitting nor the density of states. We conclude that: (a) g-factor in the parallel magnetic field is nearly zero in this system; and (b) the level of the disorder potential is not sensitive to the parallel component of the magnetic field

The Droplet State and the Compressibility Anomaly in Dilute 2D Electron Systems

We investigate the space distribution of carrier density and the compressibility of two-dimensional (2D) electron systems by using the local density approximation. The strong correlation is simulated by the local exchange and correlation energies. A slowly varied disorder potential is applied to simulate the disorder effect. We show that the compressibility anomaly observed in 2D systems which accompanies the metal-insulator transition can be attributed to the formation of the droplet state due to disorder effect at low carrier densities.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Fate of the extended states in a vanishing magnetic field: the role of spins in strongly-interacting 2D electron systems

In non-interacting or weakly-interacting 2D electron systems, the energy of the extended states increases as the perpendicular magnetic field approaches zero: the extended states "float up" in energy, giving rise to an insulator. However, in those 2D systems where metallic conductivity has been recently observed in zero magnetic field, the energy of the extended states remains constant or even decreases as B -> 0, thus allowing conduction in the limit of zero temperature. Here we show that aligning the electrons' spins causes the extended states to once more "float up" in energy in the vanishing perpendicular magnetic field, as they do for non- or weakly-interacting electrons. The difference between extended states that float up (an insulator) or remain finite (a metal) is thus tied to the existence of the spins

Thermodynamic Signature of a Two-Dimensional Metal-Insulator Transition

We present a study of the compressibility, K, of a two-dimensional hole system which exhibits a metal-insulator phase transition at zero magnetic field. It has been observed that dK/dp changes sign at the critical density for the metal-insulator transition. Measurements also indicate that the insulating phase is incompressible for all values of B. Finally, we show how the phase transition evolves as the magnetic field is varied and construct a phase diagram in the density-magnetic field plane for this system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters; version 1 is identical to version 2 but didn't compile properl

Nonlinear screening and percolative transition in a two-dimensional electron liquid

A novel variational method is proposed for calculating the percolation threshold, the real-space structure, and the thermodynamical compressibility of a disordered two-dimensional electron liquid. Its high accuracy is verified against prior numerical results and newly derived exact asymptotics. The inverse compressibility is shown to have a strongly asymmetric minimum at a density that is approximately the triple of the percolation threshold. This implies that the experimentally observed metal-insulator transition takes place well before the percolation point is reached.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. (v2) minor changes (v3) reference added (v4) few more references adde

Physics of the Insulating Phase in the Dilute Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

We propose to use the radio-frequency single-electron transistor as an extremely sensitive probe to detect the time-periodic ac signal generated by sliding electron lattice in the insulating state of the dilute two-dimensional electron gas. We also propose to use the optically-pumped NMR technique to probe the electron spin structure of the insulating state. We show that the electron effective mass and spin susceptibility are strongly enhanced by critical fluctuations of electron lattice in the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition, as observed in experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, uses jetpl.cls (included). v.4: After publication in JETP Letters, two plots comparing theory and experiment are added, and a minor error is correcte

Absence of Floating Delocalized States in a Two-Dimensional Hole Gas

By tracking the delocalized states of the two-dimensional hole gas in a p-type GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure as a function of magnetic field, we mapped out a phase diagram in the density-magnetic-field plane. We found that the energy of the delocalized state from the lowest Landau level flattens out as the magnetic field tends toward zero. This finding is different from that for the two-dimensional electron system in an n-type GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure where delocalized states diverge in energy as B goes to zero indicating the presence of only localized states below the Fermi energy. The possible connection of this finding to the recently observed metal-insulator transition at B = 0 in the two-dimensional hole gas systems is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 Postscript figures, To be published in Physical Review B (Rapid Communications) 58, Sept. 15, 199

Phase diagram of the integer quantum Hall effect in p-type Germanium

We experimentally study the phase diagram of the integer quantized Hall effect, as a function of density and magnetic field. We used a two dimensional hole system confined in a Ge/SiGe quantum well, where all energy levels are resolved, because the Zeeman splitting is comparable to the cyclotron energy. At low fields and close to the quantum Hall liquid-to-insulator transition, we observe the floating up of the lowest energy level, but NO FLOATING of any higher levels, rather a merging of these levels into the insulating state. For a given filling factor, only direct transitions between the insulating phase and higher quantum Hall liquids are observed as a function of density. Finally, we observe a peak in the critical resistivity around filling factor one.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, some changes in the tex

Metallic behavior and related phenomena in two dimensions

For about twenty years, it has been the prevailing view that there can be no metallic state or metal-insulator transition in two dimensions in zero magnetic field. In the last several years, however, unusual behavior suggestive of such a transition has been reported in a variety of dilute two-dimensional electron and hole systems. The physics behind these observations is presently not understood. We review and discuss the main experimental findings and suggested theoretical models.Comment: To be published in Rev. Mod. Phy

Effects of dissipation on quantum phase transitions

We discuss the effect of dissipation on quantum phase transitions. In particular we concentrate on the Superconductor to Insulator and Quantum-Hall to Insulator transitions. By invoking a phenomenological parameter $\alpha$ to describe the coupling of the system to a continuum of degrees of freedom representing the dissipative bath, we obtain new phase diagrams for the quantum Hall and superconductor-insulator problems. Our main result is that, in two-dimensions, the metallic phases observed in finite magnetic fields (possibly also strictly zero field) are adiabatically deformable from one to the other. This is plausible, as there is no broken symmetry which differentiates them.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure