127 research outputs found
A New Liquid Phase and Metal-Insulator Transition in Si MOSFETs
We argue that there is a new liquid phase in the two-dimensional electron
system in Si MOSFETs at low enough electron densities. The recently observed
metal-insulator transition results as a crossover from the percolation
transition of the liquid phase through the disorder landscape in the system
below the liquid-gas critical temperature. The consequences of our theory are
discussed for variety of physical properties relevant to the recent
experiments.Comment: 12 pages of RevTeX with 3 postscript figure
Aluminum Oxide Layers as Possible Components for Layered Tunnel Barriers
We have studied transport properties of Nb/Al/AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions with
ultrathin aluminum oxide layers formed by (i) thermal oxidation and (ii) plasma
oxidation, before and after rapid thermal post-annealing of the completed
structures at temperatures up to 550 deg C. Post-annealing at temperatures
above 300 deg C results in a significant decrease of the tunneling conductance
of thermally-grown barriers, while plasma-grown barriers start to change only
at annealing temperatures above 450 deg C. Fitting the experimental I-V curves
of the junctions using the results of the microscopic theory of direct
tunneling shows that the annealing of thermally-grown oxides at temperatures
above 300 deg C results in a substantial increase of their average tunnel
barriers height, from ~1.8 eV to ~2.45 eV, versus the practically unchanged
height of ~2.0 eV for plasma-grown layers. This difference, together with high
endurance of annealed barriers under electric stress (breakdown field above 10
MV/cm) may enable all-AlOx and SiO2/AlOx layered "crested" barriers for
advanced floating-gate memory applications.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Coexistence of Weak Localization and a Metallic Phase in Si/SiGe Quantum Wells
Magnetoresistivity measurements on p-type Si/SiGe quantum wells reveal the
coexistence of a metallic behavior and weak localization. Deep in the metallic
regime, pronounced weak localization reduces the metallic behavior around zero
magnetic field without destroying it. In the insulating phase, a positive
magnetoresistivity emerges close to B=0, possibly related to spin-orbit
interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Temperature-Dependence of the Resistivity of a Dilute 2D Electron System in High Parallel Magnetic Field
We report measurements of the resistance of silicon MOSFETs as a function of
temperature in high parallel magnetic fields where the 2D system of electrons
has been shown to be fully spin-polarized. A magnetic field suppresses the
metallic behavior observed in the absence of a magnetic field. In a field of
10.8 T, insulating behavior is found for densities up to n_s approximately 1.35
x 10^{11} cm^{-2} or 1.5 n_c; above this density the resistance is a very weak
function of temperature, varying less than 10% between 0.25 K and 1.90 K. At
low densities the resistance goes to infinity more rapidly as the temperature
is reduced than in zero field and the magnetoresistance diverges as T goes to
0.Comment: 4 pages, including 4 figures. References adde
Single and Paired Point Defects in a 2D Wigner Crystal
Using the path-integral Monte Carlo method, we calculate the energy to form
single and pair vacancies and interstitials in a two-dimensional Wigner crystal
of electrons. We confirm that the lowest-lying energy defects of a 2D electron
Wigner crystal are interstitials, with a creation energy roughly 2/3 that of a
vacancy. The formation energy of the defects goes to zero near melting,
suggesting that point defects might mediate the melting process. In addition,
we find that the interaction between defects is strongly attractive, so that
most defects will exist as bound pairs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 encapsulated figure
Metal-insulator transition in a 2D electron gas: Equivalence of two approaches for determining the critical point
The critical electron density for the metal-insulator transition in a
two-dimensional electron gas can be determined by two distinct methods: (i) a
sign change of the temperature derivative of the resistance, and (ii) vanishing
activation energy and vanishing nonlinearity of current-voltage characteristics
as extrapolated from the insulating side. We find that in zero magnetic field
(but not in the presence of a parallel magnetic field), both methods give
equivalent results, adding support to the existence of a true zero-field
metal-insulator transition.Comment: As publishe
The metallic resistance of a dilute two-dimensional hole gas in a GaAs quantum well: two-phase separation at finite temperature?
We have studied the magnetotransport properties of a high mobility
two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) system in a 10nm GaAs quantum well (QW) with
densities in range of 0.7-1.6*10^10 cm^-2 on the metallic side of the
zero-field 'metal-insulator transition' (MIT). In a parallel field well above
B_c that suppresses the metallic conductivity, the 2DHG exhibits a conductivity
g(T)~0.3(e^2/h)lnT reminiscent of weak localization. The experiments are
consistent with the coexistence of two phases in our system: a metallic phase
and a weakly insulating Fermi liquid phase having a percolation threshold close
to B_c
Single-Particle Properties of a Two-Dimensional Fermi Liquid at finite Frequencies and Temperatures
We review the leading momentum, frequency and temperature dependences of the
single particle self-energy and the corresponding term in the entropy of a two
dimensional Fermi liquid (FL) with a free particle spectrum. We calculate the
corrections to these leading dependences for the paramagnon model and the
electron gas and find that the leading dependences are limited to regions of
energy and temperature which decrease with decreasing number density of
fermions. This can make it difficult to identify the frequency and temperature
dependent characteristics of a FL ground state in experimental quantities in
low density systems even when complications of band structure and other degrees
of freedom are absent. This is an important consideration when the normal state
properties of the undoped cuprate superconductors are analyzed.Comment: Revtex, 15 pages with 13 figures. minor corrections. Accepted for
publication in Phy. Rev.
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
The Parallel Magnetoconductance of Interacting Electrons in a Two Dimensional Disordered System
The transport properties of interacting electrons for which the spin degree
of freedom is taken into account are numerically studied for small two
dimensional diffusive clusters. On-site electron-electron interactions tend to
delocalize the electrons, while long-range interactions enhance localization.
On careful examination of the transport properties, we reach the conclusion
that it does not show a two dimensional metal insulator transition driven by
interactions. A parallel magnetic field leads to enhanced resistivity, which
saturates once the electrons become fully spin polarized. The strength of the
magnetic field for which the resistivity saturates decreases as electron
density goes down. Thus, the numerical calculations capture some of the
features seen in recent experimental measurements of parallel
magnetoconductance.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
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