Solitonic Excitations in Linearly Coherent Channels of Bilayer Quantum Hall Stripes

In some range of interlayer distances, the ground state of the two-dimensional electron gas at filling factor nu =4N+1 with N=0,1,2,... is a coherent stripe phase in the Hartree-Fock approximation. This phase has one-dimensional coherent channels that support charged excitations in the form of pseudospin solitons. In this work, we compute the transport gap of the coherent striped phase due to the creation of soliton-antisoliton pairs using a supercell microscopic unrestricted Hartree-Fock approach. We study this gap as a function of interlayer distance and tunneling amplitude. Our calculations confirm that the soliton-antisoliton excitation energy is lower than the corresponding Hartree-Fock electron-hole pair energy. We compare our results with estimates of the transport gap obtained from a field-theoretic model valid in the limit of slowly varying pseudospin textures.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Effect of disorder on a graphene p-n junction

We propose the theory of transport in a gate-tunable graphene p-n junction, in which the gradient of the carrier density is controlled by the gate voltage. Depending on this gradient and on the density of charged impurities, the junction resistance is dominated by either diffusive or ballistic contribution. We find the conditions for observing ballistic transport and show that in existing devices they are satisfied only marginally. We also simulate numerically the trajectories of charge carriers and illustrate challenges in realizing more delicate ballistic effects, such as Veselago lensing.Comment: (v2)Version accepted to Phys. Rev.

Measurement of exciton correlations using electrostatic lattices

We present a method for determining correlations in a gas of indirect excitons in a semiconductor quantum well structure. The method involves subjecting the excitons to a periodic electrostatic potential that causes modulations of the exciton density and photoluminescence (PL). Experimentally measured amplitudes of energy and intensity modulations of exciton PL serve as an input to a theoretical estimate of the exciton correlation parameter and temperature. We also present a proof-of-principle demonstration of the method for determining the correlation parameter and discuss how its accuracy can be improved.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Local density of states of electron-crystal phases in graphene in the quantum Hall regime

We calculate, within a self-consistent Hartree-Fock approximation, the local density of states for different electron crystals in graphene subject to a strong magnetic field. We investigate both the Wigner crystal and bubble crystals with M_e electrons per lattice site. The total density of states consists of several pronounced peaks, the number of which in the negative energy range coincides with the number of electrons M_e per lattice site, as for the case of electron-solid phases in the conventional two-dimensional electron gas. Analyzing the local density of states at the peak energies, we find particular scaling properties of the density patterns if one fixes the ratio nu_N/M_e between the filling factor nu_N of the last partially filled Landau level and the number of electrons per bubble. Although the total density profile depends explicitly on M_e, the local density of states of the lowest peaks turns out to be identical regardless the number of electrons M_e. Whereas these electron-solid phases are reminiscent to those expected in the conventional two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs heterostructures in the quantum Hall regime, the local density of states and the scaling relations we highlight in this paper may be, in graphene, directly measured by spectroscopic means, such as e.g. scanning tunneling microscopy.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; minor correction

Exciton gas transport through nano-constrictions

An indirect exciton is a bound state of an electron and a hole in spatially separated layers. Two-dimensional indirect excitons can be created optically in heterostructures containing double quantum wells or atomically thin semiconductors. We study theoretically transmission of such bosonic quasiparticles through nano-constrictions. We show that quantum transport phenomena, e.g., conductance quantization, single-slit diffraction, two-slit interference, and the Talbot effect, are experimentally realizable in systems of indirect excitons. We discuss similarities and differences between these phenomena and their counterparts in electronic devices.Comment: (v2) Updated title, text, and references; 12 pages, 9 figure

Hydrodynamics of the quantum Hall smectics

We propose a dynamical theory of the stripe phase arising in a two-dimensional electron liquid near half-integral fillings of high Landau levels. The system is modelled as a novel type of a smectic liquid crystal with the Lorentz force dominated dynamics. We calculate the structure factor, the dispersion relation of the collective modes (magnetophonons), and their intrinsic attenuation rate. We find strong power-law renormalizations of the elastic and dissipative coefficients by thermal fluctuations familiar from the conventional smectics but with different dynamical scaling exponents.Comment: Replaced with the published versio

Hypernetted-chain study of broken rotational symmetry states for the ν\bm{\nu} = 1/3 fractional quantum Hall effect and other fractionally filled Landau levels

We investigate broken rotational symmetry (BRS) states for the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) at 1/3-filling of the valence Landau level (LL). Recent Monte Carlo calculations by Musaelian and Joynt [J. Phys.: Condens.\ Matter {\bf 8}, L105 (1996)] suggest that Laughlin's state becomes unstable to a BRS state for some critical finite thickness value. We study in detail the properties of such state by performing a hypernetted-chain calculation that gives results in the thermodynamic limit, complementing other methods which are limited to a finite number of particles. Our results indicate that while Laughlin's state is stable in the lowest LL, in higher LLs a BRS instability occurs, perhaps indicating the absence of FQHE at partial fillings of higher LLs. Possible connections to the newly discovered liquid crystalline phases in higher LLs are also discussed.Comment: 7 pages including 3 eps figure

Pancharatnam-Berry phase in condensate of indirect excitons

We report on the observation of the Pancharatnam-Berry phase in a condensate of indirect excitons (IXs) in a GaAs coupled quantum well structure. The Pancharatnam-Berry phase leads to phase shifts of interference fringes in IX interference patterns. Correlations are found between the phase shifts, polarization pattern of IX emission, and onset of IX spontaneous coherence. The Pancharatnam-Berry phase is acquired due to coherent spin precession in IX condensate. The effect of the Pancharatnam-Berry phase on the IX phase pattern is described in terms of an associated momentum.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures + 2 pages supplemental material, 3 supplemental figure

Magnetoroton instabilities and static susceptibilities in higher Landau levels

We present analytical results concerning the magneto-roton instability in higher Landau levels evaluated in the single mode approximation. The roton gap appears at a finite wave vector, which is approximately independent of the LL index n, in agreement with numerical calculations in the composite-fermion picture. However, a large maximum in the static susceptibility indicates a charge density modulation with wave vectors $q_0(n)\sim 1/\sqrt{2n+1}$, as expected from Hartree-Fock predictions. We thus obtain a unified description of the leading charge instabilities in all LLs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure