Impact of spin-orbit coupling on quantum Hall nematic phases

Anisotropic charge transport is observed in a two-dimensional (2D) hole system in a perpendicular magnetic field at filling factors nu=7/2, nu=11/2, and nu=13/2 at low temperature. In stark contrast, the transport at nu=9/2 is isotropic for all temperatures. Isotropic hole transport at nu=7/2 is restored for sufficiently low 2D densities or an asymmetric confining potential. The density and symmetry dependences of the observed anisotropies suggest that strong spin-orbit coupling in the hole system contributes to the unusual transport behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

K+ to pi-mu+mu+ and doubly-charged Higgs

The rate for the lepton-number-violating decay K+ to pi- mu+mu+ is calculated in a model which incorporates doubly-charged Higgs bosons. We find that for reasonable values of the parameters the decay branching ratio may be as large as 2E-16. Although this is a discouragingly small number, it is of the same order of magnitude as the rate mediated by massive Majorana neutrinos.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex, Figure1 is P

An Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

Double-slit electron interferometers, fabricated in high mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), proved to be very powerful tools in studying coherent wave-like phenomena in mesoscopic systems. However, they suffer from small fringe visibility due to the many channels in each slit and poor sensitivity to small currents due to their open geometry. Moreover, the interferometers do not function in a high magnetic field, namely, in the quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime, since it destroys the symmetry between left and right slits. Here, we report on the fabrication and operation of a novel, single channel, two-path electron interferometer that functions in a high magnetic field. It is the first electronic analog of the well-known optical Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer. Based on single edge state and closed geometry transport in the QHE regime the interferometer is highly sensitive and exhibits very high visibility (62%). However, the interference pattern decays precipitously with increasing electron temperature or energy. While we do not understand the reason for the dephasing we show, via shot noise measurement, that it is not a decoherence process that results from inelastic scattering events.Comment: to appear in Natur

Nonuniversal behavior of scattering between fractional quantum Hall edges

Among the predicted properties of fractional quantum Hall states are fractionally charged quasiparticles and conducting edge-states described as chiral Luttinger liquids. In a system with a narrow constriction, tunneling of quasi-particles between states at different edges can lead to resistance and to shot noise. The ratio of the shot noise to the backscattered current, in the weak scattering regime, measures the fractional charge of the quasi-particle, which has been confirmed in several experiments. However, the non-linearity of the resistance predicted by the chiral Luttinger liquid theory was apparently not observed in some of these cases. As a possible explanation for these discrepancies, we consider a model where a smooth edge profile leads to formation of additional edge states. Coupling between the current carrying edge mode and the additional phonon like mode can lead to {\it nonuniversal} exponents in the current-voltage characteristic, while preserving the ratio between shot noise and the back-scattered current, for weak backscattering. For special values of the coupling, one may obtain a linear I-V behavior.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

High mobility two-dimensional hole system in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells grown on (100) GaAs substrates

We report on the transport properties of a high mobility two-dimensional hole system (2DHS) confined in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells grown molecular-beam epitaxy on the (100) surface of GaAs. The quantum wells are modulation-doped with carbon utilizing a novel resistive filament source. At T=0.3K and carrier density p=1x10^11cm^-2, a mobility of 10^6cm^2/Vs is achieved. At fixed carrier density p=10^11cm^-2, the mobility is found to be a non-monotonic function of the quantum well width. The mobility peaks at 10^6cm^2/Vs for a 15nm well and is reduced for both smaller and larger well widths for these (100) samples. The mobility anisotropy is found to be small. Mobility along (0\bar11) is approximately 20% higher than along the (011) direction. In addition, the low temperature carrier density is found to have low sensitivity to light. The hole density increases by only ~10% after exposure to red light at T=4.2K. In structures designed for a lower carrier density of 3.6x10^10cm^-2, a mobility of 800,000cm^2/Vs is achieved at T=15mK.Comment: submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Theory of suppressed shot-noise at ν=2/(2p+χ)\nu=2/(2p+\chi)

We study the edge states of fractional quantum Hall liquid at bulk filling factor $\nu=2/(2p+\chi)$ with $p$ being an even integer and $\chi=\pm 1$. We describe the transition from a conductance plateau $G=\nu G_0=\nu e^2/h$ to another plateau $G=G_0/(p+\chi)$ in terms of chiral Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory. It is found that the fractional charge $q$ which appears in the classical shot-noise formula $S_{I}=2q$ is $q=e/(2p+\chi)$ on the conductance plateau at $G=\nu G_0$ whereas on the plateau at $G=G_0/(p+\chi)$ it is given by $q=e/(p+\chi)$. For $p=2$ and $\chi=-1$ an alternative hierarchy constructions is also discussed to explain the suppressed shot-noise experiment at bulk filling factor $\nu=2/3$.Comment: Typos in Eqs. (5-7) correcte

Landauer formula without Landauer's assumptions

The Landauer formula for dissipationless conductance lies at the heart of modern electronic transport, yet it remains without a clear microscopic basis. We analyze the Landauer formula microscopically, and give a straightforward quantum kinetic derivation for open systems. Some important experimental implications follow. These lie beyond the Landauer result as popularly received.Comment: LaTeX, 7pp, one fi